What’s the Best 85mm Lens for Sony?

Last Updated on 10/23/2024 by Hillary Grigonis

Because they’re one of the oldest mirrorless autofocusing camera mount, the Sony E Mount has a ton of great lenses available to it. 85mm lenses are no exception. Not only does Sony have top-tier f1.2 85mm options, but E-Mount shooters also have access to a more affordable f1.8. And that’s not even touching on other brands that work great with Sony, like Zeiss and Sigma. But, with so many options, the question is what is the best 85mm lens for Sony?

After years of real-world testing, we’re helping budding portrait photographers decide which one is the one to rule them all! Even better — the Sony 85mm that we love the most isn’t even the most expensive one.

Why You Should Trust Us

The Phoblographer has been doing real-world photography gear tests longer than any other photography publication currently run. We also have the largest database of real-world lens reviews, amongst other things like straps, camera bags, lights, accessories, and more. Here’s why that matters:

• AI Can’t Do This Job: These days, other publications do roundups, sometimes using generative AI. That’s the same as a person researching products and then making a decision without actually trying it. All of our reviews and guides are written not just by humans but by working photographers — not AI. Computers don’t use cameras, so why would you trust AI to recommend cameras for you?
• Research and Practical Experience: Here at the Phoblographer, humans consult on what roundups to do with guidance from an editor. Then, a human goes through our database of reviews and selects the best products based on our own internal research. The human creating the roundup has practical experience with photography gear and will apply their knowledge of what’s best to the already human-based experience provided in our reviews.
• We Block AI Bots: The Phoblographer blocks indexing bots from reading our site, so what’s here can only be read here.

How We Chose the Best 85mm Lens for Sony

Here’s some insight into how to use this guide to the best 85mm lens for Sony:

• The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear we’ve fully reviewed in these roundups.
• If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
• Sony E mount has a ton of 85mm lenses available. And so, we’re choosing the best 85mm lens for Sony from the ones that we’ve reviewed. Luckily, we’ve reviewed the vast majority of lenses for Sony E Mount. You can find them in this guide here.
• So what makes a lens the best 85mm lens for Sony? A few things: at the top of it all is portability. I mean, what’s the point of using a lens if you never want to handhold it or carry it for a long time? Then there’s image quality. Sony’s image quality tends to be very clean and clinical. But some have a bit of variety. We also value weather resistance because it helps prolong the shelf-life of your product.
• If you’re using a Sony lens, then the autofocus will undoubtedly be quick.
• If you’re curious, we’ve done a pretty big comparison of some key 85mm lenses for Sony. Take a look here.

The Best 85mm Lens for Sony: Sony 85mm f1.8

There are a lot of great reasons why we’re choosing the Sony 85mm f1.8 as the best 85mm lens for Sony E Mount. Quite honestly, you’re not going to see the difference between this and so many others. In our testing, we couldn’t see the difference between the f1.8 and the pricier Sony 85mm f1.2 G Master II until viewing the images at 100 percent. Even when we’ve talked to Sony Artisans, most of them reach for the 85mm f1.8 instead of the G Master because it’s got comparable image quality in a smaller package. Plus, it’s lightweight, fast to focus, and weather resistant. If you want to future proof your gear for ultra high resolution bodies, like to do major crops, or need the best possible weather sealing, the f1.2 variant may be for you. But for most photographers, the 85mm f1.8 gets the job done in a smaller, more affordable package.

It’s also much less prone to problems compared to the Sigma 85mm f1.4 DG DN Art lens. They even told us that they made compromises to get the lens down to that size.

In our Sony 85mm f1.8 review conclusions, we said:

This is in many ways, the absolute most perfect portrait lens for most Sony camera users. If you don’t need or can afford the 85mm f1.4 G Master lens, then the Sony 85mm f1.8 FE lens is a fantastic option. It’s sharp, has less saturated colors (only the Loxia is less saturated that this), focuses pretty well with most cameras (the Batis is fastest) and it has weather resistance. But it’s also small and offered at a pretty affordable price point.

Pros

• Great image quality
• Fast focusing with the Sony a7r II and in good lighting it will focus quickly with the Sony a7
• Nice feel; though not as great as the G Master 85mm f1.4 lens.
• Weather resistance built in
• Compact size

Cons

• Honestly, not a darn thing.

For Some Photographers, These May be the Best 85mm lenses for Sony

Here are three other great options that photographers will enjoy. These lenses are all larger and have a faster aperture than our choice. But for some photographers, these might be the best 85mm lens for Sony because of image quality, balance, or affordability.

Zeiss 85mm f1.8 Batis

While the Zeiss 85mm f1.8 is an older lens, it’s still an option worth considering. The lens created soft colors and creamy bokeh. While sharp, it’s not the I-can-see-your-pores sharp that causes more harm rather than good. It’s also weather-sealed and a good size.

Our review concluded by saying:

Still though, this isn’t a terrible lens. In fact, it’s far from it. There isn’t a single major problem with this lens and it shares characteristics with many others out there with the exception of the Zeiss 135mm f2–which has Micro Contrast. You won’t be as excited about the images straight out of the camera, but this lens will help set you up for beautiful photos that your clients will really fall for.

Sony 85mm f1.4 G Master II

If you want pixel-peeping perfection, the Sony 85mm f1.2 GM II should be at the top of your list. The lens is technically superb, with excellent autofocus speed and sharpness. The lens also has a more durable build than both the first version and Sony’s f1.8. The high-end lens is too technically perfect for the photographers that love the look of the nylon hack or soft focus filter. But, for those that demand the fastest autofocus and the sharpest performance for Sony’s high megapixel count cameras, the Sony 85mm f1.2 GM II has a lot to offer.

In our Sony 85mm f1.2 GM II review, we said:

Sony has done a lot of work to make the Sony 85mm f1.4 GM II an exceptional lens. They strive to make optics as plain as possible, which requires lots of engineering. And in 2024, that’s fading out of style very fast. But we have to acknowledge that this lens is very sharp and can make beautiful photographs.

Sigma 85mm f1.4 DG DN Art

The Sigma 85mm f1.4 DG DN Art is the compromise lens for the photographers that can’t decide between Sony’s 85mm f1.8 or the f1.2. The Art lens is priced a few hundred dollars less than the Sony 85mm f1.2 GM II, but still delivers sharp images and beautiful background blur. It’s also lighter than Sigma’s earlier rendition, which is a much-needed change.

Our review concluded by saying:

The Sigma 85mm f1.4 DG DN Art offers tremendous value for just $1,199. It retains the excellent image quality of its predecessor while addressing many of its shortcomings: It’s smaller, lighter, and features markedly improved autofocus performance. In fact, this lens performs on par with the highly-rated Sony 85mm G Master. Talk about punching above its weight. Be sure to check out our upcoming direct comparison between these two lenses. Unfortunately, the Sigma falls just short of perfection due to its severe pincushion distortion. Otherwise, it would have been a shoo-in for the Phoblographer’s Editor’s Choice Award.

Using this Guide to the Best 85mm lenses for Sony

If you’re considering purchasing anything from this list, consider the following:

• All the product images and sample photos in these roundups are shot by our staff. In fact, we don’t talk about products at length in roundups like this unless we’ve done full reviews of them. But you can surely know that we’ve done all the research ourselves.
• We’d never recommend a product to you that we haven’t tested or that we really didn’t like. You can reference our linked reviews, for more information on this.

Tips on Choosing the Best 85mm Lenses for Sony

Sony has a number of 85mm lenses to choose from, while there’s no shortage of options from other brands as well. As you debate each option consider:

• What camera do you use? If you are using a high-end, high-megapixel camera, it may make more sense to choose a high-end lens to match it.
• What’s your style? If you love technically sharp images, you’ll want a super sharp lens., If, on the other hand, you prefer a softer, vintage look, you can get away with using a more affordable lens with filters and editing adjustments to fit your style.
• How long will you be shooting with this lens for? Those f1.2 and f1.4 lenses tend to get heavy fast, particularly with the longer 85mm focal length. If you plan on shooting with this lens for several hours straight, considering how the weight will impact you in the long term.
• Do you really need to pixel peep? Some of the lenses on this list only really have a benefit when looking at the images at 100 percent. But most people don’t actually view images this way. If you’re into heavy cropping or need to blow up a billboard-sized photo, then this level of pixel peeping may make sense. But for most photographers, it doesn’t.

Picking the right Sony 85mm lens for you

• What’s your budget?
• How will you use the product?
• What lighting situations are you in, and how will that affect what you’re doing? Our reviews hyperlinked in this article can help with that.
• Are you traveling a lot with it?
• Will you be using it in a situation that’s a bit rougher?
• Who else uses this product? How are they using it?
• What’s so appealing about this product that I can’t get from what I have already or something else?
• When will I really have time to use this product?
• Where will I bring this product?
• How will this product help bring me joy and joy in my photography?