If there ever were a lens in every wedding and portrait photographer’s wish list or is already in his/her arsenal of current lenses, it would have to be the 85mm f/1.4. The short telephoto of range of the 85mm enables the photographer to create images that are flattering to the subjects, while the wide-open aperture of f/1.4 gives superior bokeh qualities that blur the background in a buttery smooth manner. The Sony FE 85mm F1.4 G Master lens does all these while also providing for high resolution and ultra sharp high quality images.
I love using this lens for wedding photography. On the day of the wedding ceremony, I usually start by photographing the bride’s getting-ready. Often, the little details like the design of the wedding shoes, the lace trimmings on the gown, and the wedding rings are equally as important as the obvious ones. The wide apertures of this lens allow me to perform selective focus to draw the viewer’s eye of the image to the story that I want to convey, while the smooth foreground and background blur rendered by the 11 rounded aperture blades simply melt unwanted distractions away.
When coupled with a camera body like the Sony A9, features like the eye autofocus makes my job a lot more fun, because the eyes of the subject are continuously tracked to maintain focus while I compose the photograph. With reliable fast and accurate focus, I can concentrate on communicating with the bride and getting the shots that I want. This lens features a focus hold button on the lens itself, which can be customized to activate helpful modes like the eye autofocus.
Being able to capture sharp and in-focus photographs are imperative on the wedding day. Moments like the bride walking down the aisle with her father, the expression of the groom when he sees the bride in her wedding gown for the first time, or that split second when the bride’s mother sheds a little tear of joy witnessing her daughter’s significant milestone in life; none of these can be repeated in a genuine manner, so getting sharp and high resolution images from corner-to-corner on this lens is a crucial element in my workflow that I appreciate.
Chromatic aberration, the purple/green halos that appear in high contrast areas in an image, is commonly the bane on lower grade lenses. Not only is it an annoying occurrence, but it can also be difficult to remove in post processing. I’m pleased that this lens manages to control chromatic aberration very well.
The AR Nano Coating does a good job in keeping flare to a minimum. I’m able to compose a shot with one or more light sources shining directly into the lens and still come away with flare-free images. This is very apparent when I a backlit image with the sun low against the horizon, or in a wedding dinner banquet where multiple spotlights illuminate the ballroom.
This lens houses 11 elements in 8 groups in a highly robust lens housing. With the high quality glass on board, I’m constantly blown away by how much the Sony FE 85mm F1.4 G Master lens impresses me. The results are truly remarkable, easily making this one of my favourite lenses that I have ever used.
