Sony 85mm f/1.4 G Master – Thoughts/Decision

The Sony E-Mount system has been lacking in fast glass. When the first A7 line of cameras got released, most lenses were f/4, and they had a couple of primes which with varying apertures.

The reason for this, I believe, is that the mirrorless system was released for size and compactness, and the second Sony started building wider aperture lenses, the size would inevitably go up!

We saw evidence of this in the Sony 35mm f/1.4.

I’ve enjoyed the Sony Mirrorless system regardless, and although I did initially buy-in to the Sony A7 system for size and weight issues, they are not the only reason why I enjoy this system.

I have casually shot this system for over a year now using various lenses, but since this is a full frame system I did want to shoot something bokehlicious and there were no real bokehlicious lenses!

Yes there were lenses which produced bokeh, but I was looking for something more creamy looking like a good 85mm lens.

The Batis f/1.8 lens was released last year, some photographers dubbed it the Baby Otus. I assumed mainly due to it having a Zeiss badge. Although the reviews have said that lens is sharp! It’s still only an f/1.8.

I was actually in fact about to buy it, except no-where had it in stock. Not only that, some orders were being cancelled when they were not fulfilled within a certain time. In addition to all that, the only places I found it available were on eBay via sellers charging a premium. So I never did take that plunge.

The 85mm f/1.4 G Master was announced not long after and I was relieved I didn’t get the Batis as this lens is now f/1.4. I watched many, many, many reviews which all said the same thing.

The 85mm f/1.4 G Master is extremely sharp wide open with very rounded and smooth Bokeh Balls. They did also mention the AF is loud, but IQ is amazing.

With that said, I went to order the lens and discovered its price!

With the Batis being around 2/3 the price of the G Master, it was a struggle to make that purchase.

However after a month of adding it to my online shopping cart and deleting it, I’ve made the payment and should be expecting it in a few days.

Once I receive it, I’ll update my experiences with the lens and some sample photos.

I won’t do a full review as there are plenty online, and a few reviews I have watched multiple times are below.