One of the biggest critiques we’ve had about Sony’s mirrorless cameras is a lack of lenses. But that's becoming an infinitesimally smaller problem as it continues to release more glass and last week the Japanese camera company introduced the 20th and 21st additions to its FE lens family with the FE 100mm f/2.8 STF G-Master OSS and FE 85mm f/1.8.
Both lenses are specialized for portraiture photography, though, very differently priced for professional and amateur photographers. We got a chance to take both of Sony’s latest lenses for a spin, so let’s take a look at the image quality these pieces of glass can produce and what makes them really tick.
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The FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS is officially Sony’s fourth G-Master lens, which is to say the company’s pro-series of lenses. It comes sporting a new advanced optical structure, 11-bladed circular aperture and an apodization filter to help it render truly creamy bokeh – more on this in a bit.
Externally, the FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS features a few additional controls over your everyday Sony lens. On the side there’s a custom function button along with two switches to toggle manual focusing and image stabilization.
The Sony FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS is also unique in that it has an aperture ring that starts with T-stops at t/5.6 that’s equivalent to f/2.8. Turn the ring and you’ll find F-stops only start in earnest at f/8.
This is due to the lens being equipped with an apodization filter, which is essentially an ND-filter with a ring-shaped gradient pattern. Think of the element as a piece of glass with a smoked ring that clearer towards its center.
This apodization filter or APD element helps to feather the out of focus areas in the frame. However, as a consequence the lens losses a stop of light from the get-go – thus resulting in the lens starting at a t/5.6 (or an equivalent f/2.8) when wide open.
You might be asking why in the world would you give up a stop of light for this apodization filter? The reason is for smooth, creamy bokeh.
Normally light entering a lens can cut off on the edge of the sensor causing the out of focus areas to become like cat eyes. The APD element prevents this from happening by decreasing the amount of light streaming through on the edges. This results in rounder bokeh balls and focus areas that better hold their shape without distortion.
On top of creating nearly perfect bokeh, the Sony FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS is one of, if not the sharpest lenses we’ve ever used. We shot the lens with a Sony A7r Mark II and as the images show you can capture plenty of detail from the center of the frame to the corners.
Sony FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS can also be used to capture incredibly up close images with a minimum focusing distance of 0.57m (1.87-feet). Rather than having a focus range limiter switch, users will have to turn a ring behind the aperture ring to enable macro mode. From there, the lens offers a 0.25x magnification on the finest details.
The Sony FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS will release by the end of March 2017 with a $1,499 or £1,699 price.
For amateur and enthusiast photographers, Sony also introduced a new FE 85mm f/1.8. Although, it doesn’t feature an APD element or macro mode, it offers a great focal length to shoot portraits.
The lens also comes outfitted with nine aperture blades and an extra-low-dispersion element to help reduce chromatic aberration.
Without an APD element, oval-shaped bokeh balls are extremely evident on the Sony FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS. However, in certain cases we actually prefer this effect. Combined with the barrel distortion, it makes the background look like it’s almost swirling around our model in this shot above.
Without an APD element, the FE 85mm f/1.8 also gains an extra stop of light over Sony’s latest G-Master lens that may come in handy for low-light shooting situations.
The Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 also comes later this March, but for a much more approachable $599 or £549.
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