Sony FE 85mm F1.8

Really sharp for portraits and an “almost” a close-up for small objects

It has a focus hold button on the barrel, and I customized it for Eye AF. It is a very sleek short-telephoto prime lens that is easy to be carried around. It is lightweight, fast and produces creamy photos when the aperture is wide open.

Even though it was meant for portraits, I have used this lens to take photos of small objects in nature. The results were surprisingly good! I tried this lens for landscape but really have to walk back quite far to put large/tall objects into the frame.

Verdict

I prefer to keep this lens for object close-up and for half-body portraits.

I used this lens for a wedding. It works fantastic for a one-person or two-person half-body portrait. It is also good for small object close-ups; for example, flowers, table-setting and food at the buffet area. During speeches, it works amazing as I can stand a bit far away and do not need to invade the space between the speaker and the audience. Somehow, other situations require 28mm (group photos) and 50mm (guests and other larger objects).

While this lens (can) works on all occasions, it has to be complemented by other lenses when it comes to tight space.

Sample Photos

Half-body portrait using 85mm. It separates the subject from the creamy background.
ISO 100 f/1.8 1/250 sec.
Snowdrop. Taken from 1 meter away and cropped.
ISO 200 f/3.5 1/125 sec.
Copenhagen, winter sunset.
ISO 100 f/3.2 1/500 sec.
Two full-body portraits were taken using 85mm.
Left: ISO 100 f/3.2 1/250 sec.
Right: ISO 100 f/3.2 1/320 sec.

Key Features

Aperture range: f/1.8 to f/22

The angle of view: 29?
Minimum focus distance: 80 cm
Maximum magnification ratio: 1:7.7 (0.13?)
Filter size: 67 mm
Dimensions (? ? L): 78 ? 82 mm
Weight: 371 g

Sept. 2022: I sold this lens off as it duplicates Sony FE 90mm Macro G OSS.