Sony has three 85mm native-mount primes, all of them at vastly different price-points and also well-regarded in most respects, including center sharpness. At the top of the heap is the Sony GM 85mm f1.4 with its heart-stopping SGD2,599 price tag, followed by the Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 at SGD1,699, and finally the Sony FE 85mm f1.8 at a far more modest SGD859. Sigma is likewise also just about to release its FE mount equivalent of its 85mm f1.4 that’s already available for the Canon EF mount, and is priced at USD1,199/SGD1,606.
With so many options to choose – albeit at the opposite spectrum of affordability – it’s interesting to observe that the cheapest lens of the bunch – the FE 85mm f1.8 – is optically rated in the ‘excellent’ category. And alongside its relatively low price-point, fast AF and compactness, many enthusiasts who’re just getting into the Sony FE system have pretty much decided to go with this lens rather than spend a lot more money to get the maybe marginally better ones. This is one of those odd situations in the industry where the most expensive option isn’t necessarily the best all-round performing one, maximum aperture, build quality and weather resistance etc. aside. Looking specifically at DXOMark’s sharpness scores for instance:
| Lens | RRP (SGD) | Sharpness |
| Sony GM 85mm f1.4 | 2,599 | 36 P-Mpix |
| Zeiss Batis 85mm f1.8 | 1,699 | 36 P-Mpix |
| Sony FE 85mm f1.8 | 859 | 40 P-Mpix |
That Sony has an excellent-performing portrait prime lens in its FE 85mm f1.8 and at a great price point even accounted for the island-wide shortage of the lens in the usual group of trustworthy local street stores who were listing it at about SGD660 – lower than the recommended retail price of SGD859. So, unless paying full retail price at the official Sony Stores is appealing to one, the only way to get this lens this couple of weeks it to buy it used.
And I got really lucky. Someone did get the last piece of the lens at one particular street store, didn’t find it suitable immediately, and listed it at just very slightly under the already attractive street-price for it. Fastest fingers first, and so another lens in my must-buy list landed in my bag.
Like all of Sony’s lenses, the new FE 85mm f1.8 is a beautifully-looking piece of equipment, and its girth and length fits nicely in the palm. Shallow as this might sound, I actually like Sony’s FE lenses typical look and feel more than Olympus and Panasonic’s normal lenses so far, excepting perhaps the Olympus Pro line of lenses. Weight-wise, the FE 85mm f1.8 is lighter than it looks at just 371g and is well-balanced against the A73 too. That’s in comparison to the GM 85mm f1.4’s 820g heavyweight and the Zeiss Batis 85mm f1.8’s 47g.
While the 85mm focuses briskly, and also has the button and lever for Focus Hold and toggling between MF and AF, the lens’ minimum focusing distance of 0.80m means the FE 85mm f1.8 can’t pull occasional duty as a macro-able lens.
And pictures of course:
The posts in this series:
Sony FE 85mm f1.8
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