Amateur Photographer – 13 July 2019

subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 13 July 2019 47

LENS TEST Testbench

Sony has made a truly stunning portrait lens,

says Andy Westlake, but it comes at a heft y price

O

ver the past year, full-frame

mirrorless has dominated the news

when it comes to new camera and

lens releases. But while Canon,

Nikon and Panasonic have all jumped in on the

act, Sony’s fi ve-year head start means that its

lens line-up is vastly more developed than those

of its competitors. As a result, the fi rm now has

the luxury of fi lling out its FE range with the kind

of fast primes that are appreciated by serious

photographers. Its latest is the FE 135mm F1.8

GM, a short-telephoto lens at a classic focal

length for head-and-shoulders portraits.

As a member of the fi rm’s premium

G Master range, this optic is designed to

deliver both high levels of sharpness and

attractive background blur. Given its eye-

watering £1,749 price tag, Sony users will

be fully expecting it to deliver on this promise.

In context, this is £600 more than the

stunning Sigma 135mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art,

which costs £1,149 in its native E-mount

incarnation. It’s also a signifi cant premium

over the Zeiss Batis 2.8/135 (£1,350), which

may have a slower maximum aperture but is

still capable of producing absolutely beautiful

images, while being considerably lighter and

including optical stabilisation. At the other

end of the scale, those prepared to live

with manual focus could pick up a Samyang

135mm F2.0 ED UMC for just £419. So

why pay extra for the Sony lens?

The Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM

combines stunning sharpness

with beautiful out-of-focus blur

Sony Alpha 7R III, 1/4000sec at f/1.8, ISO 100

Sony FE

135mm F1.8 GM

Features

One argument in favour of the G Master lens

is that it’s the most fully featured of these

135mm primes. It’s built around a brand-new

optical formula with 13 elements in 10 groups,

including one element made from extra-low

dispersion (ED) glass, one from super ED glass

and one Advanced Aspherical (AA) element to

minimise chromatic aberration and distortion.

Nano AR coating suppresses fl are and

ghosting, while fl ourine coating on the front

element is designed to repel water and grease.

An 11-blade diaphragm maintains a circular

aperture for attractive out-of-focus blur, aided

by the AA element that eliminates unsightly

‘onion ring’ bokeh.

The optics are housed within a magnesium

alloy barrel that’s resistant to dust and water

ingress. It features a traditional aperture

ring, with click-stops at one-third EV

1.8 GM