Ordinary price, extraordinary experience Sony FE 85mm f1.8 pros and cons analysis and use evaluation

For many users, affordable lenses have always been the entry-level model for beginners to learn SLR cameras. The Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 we are going to introduce today is a full-frame mid-telephoto fixed-focus lens. Sony went on sale on February 7, 2017, with an official price of 16,980 yuan. How powerful is this lens? Is it worth buying? Let’s take a look!

▲ Figure 1: Today’s protagonist is SEL85F18

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Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 pros and cons analysis

The above advantages and disadvantages are partly based on personal subjective feelings, please consider and refer to them!
 

Lens appearance and function introduction

The Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 is a full-frame mid-telephoto prime lens with a large f/1.8 aperture design that can create a shallower depth of field. Using a lens group of 9 elements in 8 groups, it can capture 18 starbursts. The lens diameter is 67mm and the shortest focusing distance is 80cm.

It weighs only 371g without the lens cap. Even after adding the lens hood and Sony A7C, the weight is only 940g, which is very light in the hand.

▲ Figure 3: Weight including front and rear lens caps and lens hood

The functions of this lens are very simple. There are only three functions in appearance. The details are as follows:

▲ Figure 4: Introduction to lens functions

Focus switch

You can adjust automatic or manual focus directly from the lens without having to set it in the camera. When manual focus is started, you can directly turn to the focus ring on the lens, so that you can freely change the focus point.

focus lock button

This button can be used to lock the current focus distance by “pressing and holding it”, and the focus distance will not change even in autofocus mode. 

focus ring

The focus ring uses a variable gear that allows very precise manual focus when turned slowly. The editor feels that the anti-slip effect is also pretty good.

Actual test comparison

1. 本次使用的機身是 Sony Alpha 7C，統一使用 2,400 萬畫素 X.Fine，風格設定為 Std +0+0+0，不使用動態範圍最佳化 (DRO)，不使用任何相片風格檔。
2. 多數測試時都有使用三腳架，並用 ISO 100 的感光度獲得乾淨的相片，並啟用鏡頭補償。

▲ Figure 5: Tested using Sony A7C + SEL85F18

Image quality comparison test

畫質就是用來評定一顆鏡頭好壞的重要指標。除了畫面中央的畫質之外，這次也會評論邊角的畫質。

This photo was taken at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. The editor gradually narrowed the lens’s aperture from the maximum f/1.8 to f/22 and took the following comparison picture. It was enlarged to 1:1 size and took out the center and corners of the picture to see how it performed.

▲ Figure 6: Cutting the center and corners of the screen

The one on the left is the image quality in the center of the screen, and the one on the right is the image quality in the corners of the screen.

▲ Figure 7: Image quality comparison test

Judging from this comparison picture, when the aperture is at f/1.8, the central image is quite hazy, giving the impression that the eyes are blurry (Taiwanese) and cannot see clearly. When the aperture is reduced to f/5.6, it is obvious that the image quality becomes much sharper, and the aperture is the sharpest at f/8. All the way down to f/16, the haze appears again.

As for the corner part of the image, the image quality is much sharper when the aperture is f/5.6, and it is also the sharpest when the aperture is f/8.

Vignetting test

暗角算是一種拍攝風格，通常攝影師會用來屏除畫面上邊緣的干擾，使相片更有藝術感。不過要拍攝產品照時，畫面邊緣有暗角是挺困擾的事情。

The picture below was taken against a wall. The editor gradually reduced the lens’ aperture from the maximum f/1.8 to f/22.

▲ Figure 8: Vignetting test

You can find that the vignetting effect is very obvious when the aperture is f/1.8, and the edges of the picture are darkened. To improve vignetting, you must narrow the aperture to around f/5.6 to get a more even tone. 

Dispersion test

逆光情況下鏡頭通常會出現色散的狀況，也是衡量鏡頭品質的指標，高階鏡頭都有色散抑制的光學鏡組，也就是常聽到的超低色散 (ED) 鏡片。

The Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 has an extra-low dispersion (ED) lens, like the one in green below.

Lens composition/from Taiwan Sony official website

When taking the following photos, I didn’t notice the focus problem, so a few of the first ones were out of focus. It was really an accident.

▲ Figure 10: Dispersion test

When the aperture is adjusted to f/1.8, you can take a closer look at the edges of the branches, which are a little purple. This is commonly known as “purple fringing.” When the aperture is stopped down to f/4, you can clearly see that the purple fringing has almost disappeared. At f/8, the purple fringing is no longer visible.

Actual shooting and usage evaluation

In fact, among the lenses that support the Sony E-mount, there are a lot of mid-telephoto lenses such as 85mm, especially many fixed-focus lenses. Like Sony’s own highest specification GMaster lens FE 85 mm f/1.4 GM, and Zeiss lenses Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8, with the deputy factory Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN Art, but among themThe most affordable one is the FE 85mm f/1.8 introduced today., very suitable for players who are just getting started.

The editor is used to using zoom lenses, so when I got this fixed-focus lens by chance, I took a photo and found that the imaging effect is very sharp. This is the benefit of a fixed-focus lens. Although fixed-focus lenses cannot zoom, which is sometimes inconvenient when shooting landscapes, this can be overcome. When traveling, you are all about portability, so a fixed-focus lens is naturally on your pocket list!

Aperture f/8/Shutter 13 seconds/ISO 200, Sony Alpha 7 body straight

The f/1.8 large aperture is quite suitable for use in low-light environments, such as at night, and it can also use a shutter speed of 1/100 second, and the sensitivity is only 4000, which is incredible. This not only facilitates handheld shooting at night, but also saves the time of setting up a tripod. The quality of the photos is quite good, even when magnified, they are still sharp. The price of less than 20,000 is really a great value!

Aperture f/1.8/Shutter 1/100 sec/ISO 4000, Sony Alpha 7 body straight

Many students were practicing dancing in front of the National Theater. It was so youthful!

Aperture f/1.8/Shutter 1/100 sec/ISO 3200, Sony Alpha 7 body straight

Look, don’t you think they are all beautiful when you take a photo like this?

Aperture f/2.5/Shutter 1/1000 sec/ISO 100, Sony Alpha 7C body straight

This is the Xinxikou Suspension Bridge. I heard that this suspension bridge is a new generation Internet beauty spot, so I came to take a look. When I have time, I will sort out the information about this attraction for everyone to see. It is a new attraction that is very suitable for outings.

Aperture f/2.5/Shutter 1/800 sec/ISO 100, Sony Alpha 7C body straight

This colorful pattern is made with great care. Don’t forget to miss it if you pass by!

Aperture f/8/Shutter 1/250 sec/ISO 100, Sony Alpha 7C body straight

The 85mm viewing angle is narrow (only 29°), which is narrower than the 24-70mm telephoto end (70mm) of the commonly used travel scope. At this time, it is very suitable for taking long-range shots. Like when the editor took the picture of this suspension bridge, the angle of view was just right, and it was all taken in at once.

Aperture f/2.5/Shutter 1/1000 sec/ISO 100, Sony Alpha 7C body straight

The product positioning of SEL85F18 is a portrait lens. When taking portraits, proper use of the bokeh effect brought by the large aperture can add extra points to the photos.

Aperture f/1.8/Shutter 1/1250 sec/ISO 100, Sony Alpha 7C body straight

This lens is very versatile. From the front, I can see that I use it to shoot landscapes, portraits, and night scenes. This one is for still life photography. At full aperture (f/1.8), it can achieve a pretty perfect bokeh effect, making it easy for the audience to know who is the protagonist in the photo.The lizard in the corner creature is quite silly, no wonder it’s so red!

Aperture f/1.8/Shutter 1/100 sec/ISO 640, Sony Alpha 7C body straight

Aperture f/2.5/Shutter 1/500 sec/ISO 100, Sony Alpha 7C body straight

Finally, let’s take a look at shooting the starlight of street lights at night when the aperture is narrowed. Because there are 9 aperture blades inside the lens, 18 starbursts can be photographed. At the same time, when used at intersections with heavy traffic, the light and shadow of the train tracks can be captured.

Aperture f/16/Shutter 13 seconds/ISO 100, Sony Alpha 7 body straight

Conclusion

This concludes the introduction of the Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 entry-level full-frame prime lens introduced this time. Based on the above advantages, the editor highly recommends everyone to buy this lens. Excellent and sharp image quality, extremely shallow depth of field, and night scenes that are not easily blurred by hand shaking are all advantages brought by a large aperture lens.

In terms of functionality, there is always a need for anti-shake and focusing distance. At full aperture, purple fringing will be seen after strong light exposure, affecting color performance.

However, after considering the price, don’t worry too much about the above-mentioned shortcomings. If you want to find a cheap and large lens, check out the sub-factory. If I have the opportunity in the future, I will try it out and express my subjective feelings.

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by Engineer Blake

Source: KOCPC Chinese