subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 13 July 2019 47LENS 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 andattractive 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 100Sony 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 EV1.8 GM