BOKEH KINGS: Sony 85mm f/1.4 prime portrait lens comparison: GM vs GM II vs Sigma!

Tony Northrup reviews Sony’s new professional portrait lens, the Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II. He tests it for sharpness, video autofocus, macro/closeup, flaring, and bokeh. He also complains about the fact that it’s not an 85mm f/1.2 lens, because of course he would.

0:00 Introduction
0:40 Who news an 85mm f/1.4 lens
1:43 Design
2:04 Video Autofocus
2:56 Bokeh
3:03 Sharpness
4:44 Macro/Closeup
5:20 Flaring & Contrast
6:28 It’s not an 85mm f/1.2
7:58 Summary

[joshthelegend]

I gotta say your video makes me realize how good the sigma one is 😂

[patka]

Last time I've used the Sigma Art at a wedding. It was spot on. Actually, it turned into my absolute favourite lens.

[nathanaelkugler]

I would have loved a photo AF comparison, especially against the sigma!

[reek]

It's late, and I am watching a lens review. I never held a camera in my life.

[tonygerassi]

6:59 having a 1.2 option would be nice, but canon doesn’t give you a 1.4 option and that extra $1000 between a 1.4 GM and RF 1.2 is a big chunk of change to cough up for the extra 1/3rd of a stop. Not to mention the size and weight of the RF because it’s a 1.2

[stevefantini]

I have the Sigma, no plans on trading that one in any time soon. Just got the Sigma 50 1.2 as well, great combo.

[JamesSingleton-lo]

I carry lenses with me all day at weddings, and honestly, I love the choice to keep these things light weight and portable. I stopped using my 135 1.8 because it was too much extra weight to carry around..

Keeping my Sigma 85 for now.

[etra]

I recently got the Meike 85mm f1.4 and I was incredibly surprised with the results. It has nothing to envy to my 35mm GM regarding lens quality imo unless you're really pixel peeping, do you think you'd be willing to compare it?

[HappyHubris]

This was a ten minute advertisement for the Sigma 85mm.

[RM-hyso]

I was hoping for a Sony 85mm 1.2 GM. I have the Sony 50mm 1.2 GM and it’s awesome. I already have the Sigma 85mm 1.4 DG DN and it’s pretty good. So, the Sony 85mm 1.4 II is really not something I would consider at all.
Disappointing, because I would have purchased a 85mm 1.2 lens. Hoping that Sigma make one instead.

[cameraprepper]

"3 greatest", well I am VERY happy with my ZEISS Batis Sonnar 85mm 1.8 T* which are more light weight, I also have the Sony 135mm 1.8 GM, the Voigtländer MACRO APO-LANTHAR 65mm 2.0 Aspherical and the Voigtländer MACRO APO-LANTHAR 110mm 2.5, I will also mention the SONY ZEISS Sonnar 55mm 1.8 T’*ZA which I often use in APSC mode for portraits.

[mbismbismb]

The first version of GM is so green hahaha

[jonoy]

If Sigma 85 had a better looking, less bulky lens hood, it will be my pick

[jonoy]

In term of the weight, the Sigma 85 is shorter and feels less front heavy than new GM ii.

[RohannvanRensburg]

Would love to see eye AF tracking comparison for photos with these lenses. Do they keep up with newer AF performance in camera bodies? Sigma often lags behind in this department.

[arnaudmilnerWildbillhickock]

I started photography in 1990 with a Ricoh xr-10 and I have quite a collection of 35mm film cameras and lenses still. I have watched many of the people on YouTube talk about the new digital cameras that have come out since film went digital. I have listened to many others who also talk about digital cameras and out of ALL OF THEM I HAVE FOUND THAT THESE 2 people are the most NON-BIAS OF ALL OF THEM. This is the best thing I can say about them and what they are doing for the digital camera world.

[tommytexter]

My theory of 1.4 instead of 1.2:
1. I heard SONY E mount is too small to make 85 1.2. I don’t know if it is true.
2. SONY wants to avoid the 50mm GM 1.2 and 1.4 situation. They released the 50 1.2 first then most people bought it then a lot less people bought the 1.4 version when it came out much later. SONY wants to sell as much 85 1.4 GM II as possible to make as much money as they can, then release the faster and more attractive 1.2 version to force the real enthusiasts to buy them again. (Just my theory)

[Photo-eg]

The color of the older GM😢. In my opinion, the Sigma is still the winner because of size and cost. Yeah, I know about distortion and still think it’s super sharp corrected.

[jukeboxjohnnie]

Ive moved back to Sony so will get the GM 85mm ii. Your results show a bigger difference to the old one than some other tubers 🙂 lots of bokeh makes me feel sick and queasy so no urge for a 1.2

[DigiDriftZone]

This new lens is a miracle for how small and light it is, don't forget on APS-C you would need 56mm f/0.95 to match the light gathering, depth of field and field of view.