Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II Battle of the Bokeh Vs. GM & Other Bokehlicious 85mm Lenses

Bowkuhhh was better in the old one

The perfect synergy of trolley ladies and bokeh

The Sigma 85mm art is the best bang for your buck. Gorgeous bokeh, sharp, and not too heavy.

Where's your family Tony???

The gm ii has pretty busy bokeh. The EF looked the best to me lol. That's why I've kept my EF 200L prime and EF 35L version 1. Samyang 85 for the win though I'm my book for price to performance. GM ii is only viable for video or if you are shooting sports with an 85 prime for some reason IMO

I liked the I bokeh vs the II

I've got the 85mm f1.8 from sony and its excellent, I see no reason to upgrade. Underrated for sure!

I'm very happy with my 85/1.4 GM mark I. If you can buy one with a discount then do it!

Would've been nice to see the Sigma 85 and Canon 85L for comparison. I have the Canon 85 f/1.8 and it's a nice lens for the buck. The Sony looks pretty good.

Viltrox 85mm is the best value

Always a good time with Dan!

kinda weird not to include the Sigma 85 1.4 Art. its basically the same lens as the GMII for half the price

Given that you cannot improve upon perfection, I'm willing to bet that there won't be an FE 135mm f/1.8 GM II.

I still love my Sigma 85 1.4 art for the Nikon DSLR.....If you can't take a great photo with it, you shouldn't be taking photos.

It bothers me that the word Sigma means something completely different now lol. Anyway, I have a Samyang 85mm 1.4 and it is more than adequate for my purposes.

Great vid Kai! Been watching you since the early digital rev days and every time you release a bokeh video it always hits me with a wave of nostalgia. Cheers!

why don't you have Sony FE85F1.8.!!!

Yeah yeah, what about sigma? Hm

Fox poo. 🤣

85GMII is a sterile lens that lacks character, just like the 50 1.4 GM. Sony can’t make a 85 1.2 on the level of Nikon or Canon, due to their 46.1mm mount. 85GMII is the third best mirrorless 85 Prime behind the RF & Z glass

Helios 40-2 85mm f1.5 is the ultimate in bokeh. Soft as a comfy blanket thought.

I have to laugh… you are the third reviewer I have seen, in 24 hours come out and say basically the same thing… all lenses have gotten really good. Enjoy what you have.
Makes me feel smart, when I bought my Sony 7r4 I had a great set of Canon EF lenses, so I bought a converter. They work fabulously. Then when I got an R5… I got another converter. It works great. And my kit of 10 year old lenses are still working well.

Original literally looks better lmao

I’m holding out for a 1.2

Thanks for raising awareness around fox poo.
Also Fuji 56mm F1.2 FTW!

Ill take the Zeiss Otis anyday tbh.

You can buy Bokeh, but you can’t buy fox poo.

hat looked nicer w the otus

Viltrox 85 1.8 mk II is bokehlicious enough for me. My favourite bokhlicious lens is 75 1.2 from Vilrox on aps c

Before drawing, consider Meike 85 1.4 as it quarter the price 🤣

Everything is not about "bokeh", for me size, weight and SHARPNESS and the ability to perform with 60 megpixels is very important, I do a lot Landscape Photography, so I want as many details as possible to be visible. The new Sony 85mm 1.4 GM II are much sharper than the old one, so for me it is a win-win, sharper and lower weight, I never bought the first version because it was not sharp enough and a bit too heavy for my use. Until now I have been a happy user of alternative Lenses.

Good conclusion. For pure bokeh, any of the lenses will do. If you want the best sharpness, then get the GM II. I'd get the regular GM for half the price, myself.

I had an opportunity to try many many 85mm lenses on my Sony camera, first was Batis, then Sony FE 1.8, then Otus, old ART sigma, GM I, cyclop, helios 40, nikon 1.8, nikon 1.4, ef 1.2 L, FDn 1.8, FD 1.8 ssc, new Sigma, samyang 1.4, GM II...
and for now from the AF ones I'm keeping just the 1.8 FE Sony... it isn't the best, but it's good, light, fast focusing... and if something happens to it, easy to replace
also I'm keeping cyclop, because it's cool

Great job on the video folks! Thanks for making it.

I think Dustin Abbott reported that the GM II has not the magnification of a 85mm Sigma in his experience. Did you find the same ? Could it be that this is not really a 85mm but more like a 80mm lens and therefore the bokeh is more nervous ?

I had to exchange the initial pre ordered 85 GM II...it was not AF correctly..I tested it with different distance of subjects and it would focus on one, then get caught up on not focusing on the next subject..pressed focus a few times..did'nt work right...I guess I got a bad copy...now waiting on my new one arriving soon..haha hopefully this one is a good copy...haha anyone else got a "bad copy"?

The GM II is much sharper than the older version at 1.4/f

The winner in the bokeh competition is the original GM 🤷‍♂️
Just like I expected

As always, great content and questions asked here. We are clearly at point of diminishing returns with gear. I would be happy with the f1.8 results. So I'm good on this focal length.

Oh, Sony's 85 1.4GM2 has worse bokeh ~ Sony's aperture and bokeh are not the same thing ~

The winner in the bokeh competition is the original GM 1
It's wrong for Sony to deceive players like this

I got currently the Mk1 GM, the Sony 1,8/85, the Sigma 1,4/105. I am still testing them and think wether to get the Sigma 85 or the Sony MK II or just being fine.

My experiences with these lenses, they differ quiet a bit:

AF:
-Sony 1,8/85 best, Eye Af works reliable
- Sigma 105mm
- Sony MK1...somehow only few shots get really sharp using eye AF...

Contrast/Haze when shooting again the light in the backround like a window with day light
- Sony 1,8/85mm...wow. great contrast without to much haze. Maybe MK2 is a tat better, but this is great
- MkI...dreamy look, but nice
- sigma...too dreamy low contrast

Bokeh
- Gm I...just beautiful and maybe a reason to keep it...its a special purpose lens.
- Sigma
- 1.8/85...the bokeh is similar to the MKII ...nervous to say at least.

Sharpness
- 1,8/85 and Sigma in the lead wide open
- Gm1 far less sharp at 1.4, BUT at 2.8 it surpassed the 1,8/85mm at 2,8....Ca go away at 1.6 already and damn sharp at 2.0

Contrast and Colour saturation when shooting normal subject and light
- Both Sony are better saturated that Sigma. Black is blacker and White are whiter on Sony. Much better Micro contrast and 3D Pop. The Sigma pics do look flat despite the nice Bokeh !!!

Maybe the Signa 85mm has a different coating and does not show this effect, but this hazing effect is a deal killer for me. The MKI I would keep if the AF would be reliable enough as optically it is just fine for a portrait tool. You want a dreamy imgage...dont need a mist filter, just use 1.4. You want it sharp ...2.0+

The new one is a different animal. This give a level of clarity and moüicrocontrast as the best Leica lenses use to do....at a price of a nervous bokeh and a lower magnification than the original...its more like 80mm, not 85mm.

Tbh, i do love the Zuiko 45(90)mm f1.2 way more than the sony once, even though its mft

Of course, the one to buy if you want f/1.4 is the Sigma 85 DG DN. Old 85 GM has nicer bokeh. This is the trouble with newer designs, they go for all out sharpness and correct spherical aberrations which give the older lenses their wide open character. Too bad we didn't have the Zeiss Milvus and Sigma to compare. Nikon's Z mount 85 f/1.8 is superb and renders like a faster lens. The ultimate 85mm currently is the Nikon Z 85 f/1.2 IMO, but stupid price, weight and size.

Overall, the best 85/1.4 is the Sigma DG DN ART!

Canon EF 85 1.8 USM all day

i like when kai got all existential toward the end..

85 mm is my primary street photo lens and I use an Alpha 7RV with human eye detection focus. For me the autofocus speed is very important and that is for me enough reason to choose the new GM II lens. I also own the Sigma DG DN and it is definitely not as precise and fast (or silent) as the new GM II.
I also have a Sony 135mm GM. The new 85mm GM II lens is as good and fast to autofocus as the 135mm GM.
So if you want to get the most out of your newer Sony bodies and their ability to super focus speed and accuracy, then you should consider a fast focusing lens. Especially, if you are into street or action photography and you want portrait look on your people in the streets.

Спасибо за сравнение. Это было здорово. Думаю что главное отличие от всех автофокусных остальных объективов наличие более точной фокусировки при использовании следящего автофокуса. В остальном можно отнести к улучшению уменьшенный вес объектива по сравнению с первой версией. Боке же действительно сложно сравнивать, это скорее на собственный вкус.... Сам пользуюсь Sigma 85 1.4 DG DN Art.

stop suckkk scony bithces