We summarize our experience with all the native E-mount and a few legacy lenses in the 85-135mm bracket for the Sony a7 series to give you a compact and independent resource for choosing the best portrait lens for your needs.

We also have a guide to 21-35mm wide angle lenses, 10-20mm ultra wide angle lenses and macro lenses.

Unlike most other review sites we have no association with any lens manufacturer apart from occasionally loaning a lens for a review. No fancy trips and meals.

Before any short introduction we tell you how long we have used a lens and if we have borrowed it from a manufacturer. But in most cases we have bought the lenses new from retail stores or on the used market.

If we have left any question unanswered please leave a comment and we will do our best to answer it.

If you purchase the lens through one of the affiliate-links in this article we get a small compensation with no additional cost to you.

Last update: October 2019

Thanks to Simeon Kolev for helping out with nice sample images!

Native Prime Lenses

Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM

Status: Bought and sold by Jannik. Bought and reviewed by Bastian, still in use.

Superior bokeh rendering thanks to optimized optical design (less cat’s eyes compared to competition) and XA elements (no onion ring structures despite usage of aspherical elements)

Slightly soft and gentle rendering at f/1.4, sharpens up considerably on stopping down to only f/1.6

Amazing contrast and resolution across frame stopped down

GM build quality with aperture ring and additional button

A bit big, heavy, quite expensive and not the fastest AF

This is not the highest resolving lens wide open on this list, but maybe the one with the most beautiful bokeh rendering.

825g | $1799 | full Review | aperture series | sample images

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | B&H | ebay.com | ebay.de (affiliate links)

Sigma 85mm 1.4 Art

Status: Not reviewed by anyone in the team but reliable information is available.

Very high resolution and contrast already at maximum aperture (higher than Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM)

Bokeh not as smooth as Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM and Sigma 105mm 1.4 Art

Huge and heavy

If you want the highest resolution at f/1.4 in an 85mm lens this is for you.

1130g | $1199 | Review@lenstip

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | B&H | ebay.com | ebay.de (affiliate links)

Sony FE 85mm 1.8

Status: Still in use by Jannik

Very sharp, even wide open

Bokeh is good but not excellent (especially compared to the FE 1.4/85 GM)

Shows some purple fringing wide open in harsh light

One of the fastest focusing Sony lenses, ready for action photography

Almost no distortion, ok vignetting & LoCA correction

Small size and weight, great price/performace ratio

AF/MF-switch, lens button and linear MF come in handy.

This lens does the 85mm portrait lens job for most of the Sony users really. Especially its very fast autofocus helps to get not only adults but also kids and animals in focus

Good image quality combined with very fast AF and small size/weight make it one of the best balanced choices for Sony portrait photographers.

371g | $570 | full Review | aperture series | sample images | Shootout Sony 1.8/85 vs. 1.4/85 GM

buy from ebay.de | ebay.com | amazon.com | amazon.de (affiliate links)

Zeiss Batis 85mm 1.8

Status: Not reviewed by anyone in the team, though David owns it and uses it. Used by Jannik in the past.



Superbly sharp across the range from centre to edge with high contrast. The best copies are better than the best Sony 1.8s in this regard. Excellent CA control, but not quite as good as Batis 135.

Excellent flare control.

Slightly more distortion than some of the competition, but resolution is high enough so there is no noticeable loss when corrected for architecture etc (not enough distortion to affect portraits).

Optical vignetting (catseyes) higher at f1.8 than faster lenses stopped down. But not more than other f1.8 lenses.

more than other f1.8 lenses. A little bit larger than, say, the Sony 1.8/85 but still very light.

David’s preferred travel portrait lens. Resolution and contrast are excellent from wide open. If you don’t mind the weight and cost the GM 85 is the better lens for portraits, with nicer and greater bokeh, but the Batis is smaller and lighter and can be purchased used at a good price – and for landscape etc use is in the same exceptional class. While the Sony FE 1.8/85 is a lot cheaper and and also very good, the Batis is somewhat sharper and more contrasty according to Roger Circala’s tests at Lensrentals, and handles flare a little better.

452g | from $1000 new, less used | Lensrental MTF Comparison

buy from amazon.com | buy from eBay | B&H (affiliate links)

Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 STM AF PFU RBMH

Status: Bought and reviewed by Juriaan, currently for sale.



Very sharp from wide open at every distance

Good bokeh with less cat’s eyes than the FE85, but not as nice as the bokeh of the GM85

Large and very heavy at 636 grams, but with a nice focus ring

AF reliability wasn’t great on my a7II, at longer distances I had some back focus issues

A lot of pincushion distortion, it reminded my a bit of the Samyang/Rokinon 2.8/14

Very cheap, a serious option for whoever is on a budget and looking for a portrait lens, especially one with AF

636g | 399$ | full review | sample images

Buy from ebay.com | ebay.de (affiliate links)

Zeiss Loxia 85mm 2.4

Status: reviewed and bought by Bastian, still in use. Bought and sold by Jannik. Bought and still in use by David.

gentle and unobstrusive Sonnar bokeh rendering

due to small lens diameter cat’s eyes are quite pronounced, if that bothers you have a look at FE 85mm 1.4 GM instead

Amazing contrast and resolution across frame at all apertures

Almost no distortion, good flare resistance, very nice sunstars

A bit on the heavy side and quite expensive

If you like manual focus and you are not after super shallow depth of field this lens offers a very gentle, unobstrusive bokeh rendering and still makes for a great landscape lens. Used it became very affordable lately.



594g | $1399 | full Review | aperture series | sample images

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | B&H | ebay.com | ebay.de (affiliate links)

Sony FE 90mm 2.8 Macro OSS

Status: Phillip owned it for about a year, David still owns it but uses it mostly for macro photography.

This is a very sharp lens. From wide open you will get excellent results wherever you place you subject.

Bokeh is very smooth without onion rings. Some won‘t like the stronger cat-eyes. You are of course limited in how much you can blur the background by the moderate speed.

One of the bigger and more expensive lenses on this list. AF isn’t the fastest.

This is a good choice if you want to cover a wide range of applications. It works well enough for portraits but if your focus is on portraits, then other lenses are a better choice.

602g | $1098 | Review

buy from Amazon.com | Amazon.de | Ebay (affiliate Links)

Sony FE 100mm 2.8 STF OSS

Status: Guest review by Stephen

This lens uses an apodization filter to progressively darken the bokeh balls like a neutral density filter farther away from center. If the effect is used efficiently, the bokeh won’t have any hard edges and will look like gaussian blur that was applied afterwards.

Although this lens has a bright aperture of f/2.8, it has a very bad transmission (T5.6) and will behave like a f/5.6 lens in exposure. Therefore, this lens is more limited to good weather applications or tripod work.

This lens is very sharp, most optical errors are well corrected and it offers a maximum magnification of 1:4.

This lens is not cheap, you can get most of the other lenses of this list for its price.

The look of this lens is very special. Look closely at the sample images and make sure that you like it.

This is a special purpose lens with unique bokeh. Check out the samples in our review to decide if the look is for you.

700g | $1498 | full Review

buy from Amazon.com | Ebay.com | B&H (affiliate links)

Sigma 105mm 1.4 Art

Status: Not reviewed by anyone in the team but reliable information is available.

Similar design criteria to Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM with emphasize on smooth out of focus rendering and therefore called “Bokeh Master” by Sigma

cat’s eyes more pronounced compared to Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM

Very high resolution lens already at maximum aperture

Huge, heavy and expensive lens, make sure that 20mm more are worth it for you to choose it over the Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM

If weight is no concern and you really want 105mm and not 85 have a closer look at this one. Maybe the Sigma Art lens with the nicest bokeh rendering.

1640g | $1599 | Review@lenstip

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | B&H | ebay.com | ebay.de (affiliate links)

Voigtlander APO 2.5/110 Macro

Status: Owned by Phillip since it was released in December

Since it is a manual focus macro lens, focus throw is a bit steep at portrait distances but still manageable.

Very smooth bokeh with average cat’s eyes. The aperture shape is decagonal stopped down.

One of the sharpest lenses in this guide. Not that it is important for a portrait lens.

Excellent CA correction.

Big and expensive.

Not a lens you buy first and foremost as a portrait lens but it is a fine portrait lens none the less. Also the only native manual focus lens in this list beside the Loxia 2.4/85.

771g | $1099 | review

Sony FE 135mm 1.8 GM

Status: Bought and reviewed by Jannik. Still in use.

Quote from Roger Cicala on sharpness: “No lens we’ve ever tested has resolved 100 lp/mm this well at any aperture. […] What does this mean for you? Well, in a couple of years if you are shooting a 90-megapixel camera, this lens will be the one that wrings the most detail out of that sensor. Right now it looks at your 43 megapixels and goes, “that’s cute.””

Samples show smooth bokeh, low CA and moderate cat’s-eyes

Better AF than the E-Mount Sigma 1.8/135, especially in low light. (Manuel Ortiz)

The 1.8/135 GM is an ultra high resolving lens with very fast autofocus. Bokeh is very good but not as butterly smooth as GM 85mm 1.4 though.



950g | $1898 | Review | Sample Gallery at DPR | OLAF-Test at LR

preorder at amazon.com | B&H (affiliate links)

Sigma 135mm 1.8 Art

Status: Not reviewed by anyone in the team but reliable information is available.

Class leading resolution and high contrast already at maximum aperture

Bokeh not as smooth as Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM and Sigma 105mm 1.4 Art but still on a high level

Huge and heavy.

This is a slightly smaller option compared to the Sigma 105mm 1.4 and a cheaper option compared to the GM 135mm 1.8. Many people are very happy with this one.

1130g | $1399 | Review@lenstip

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | B&H | ebay.com | ebay.de (affiliate links)

Zeiss Batis 135mm 2.8

Status: Reviewed owned and still in use by David, and used by Jannik in the past

At f/2.8, Image quality is stellar. Extremely sharp and contrasty across the frame and low aberrations. Stopping down is only needed to increase depth of field. A way to get premium state of the art medium tele performance without the size and weight of faster premium lenses.

Bokeh is good but not as good as larger faster 135s when stopped down. Wide open it shows as expected, more cat eyes than an f2 class lens stopped down. Contrast is also higher in the bokeh area than the 2/135 Classic. No onion rings, no LoCA

Silent, fast and reliable AF, OSS, weather sealed,

Flare resistance is good

Quite large compared to classic simpler f2.8 lenses, but not too heavy

No lens accessories like AF/MF switch, button or aperture ring, non linear MF

Very good and very expensive option.

A premium lens with best in class image quality in a relatively compact body. The very high price tag, the lack of switches/buttons and the moderate speed may take away some of its appeal.

614g | $1500 | David’s full review

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | B&H (affiliate links)

Native Zooms

Sony FE 70-200mm 2.8 GM OSS

Status: Not reviewed by anyone in the team but reliable information is available.



Good but image quality. Not quite as sharp as CaNikons equivalents though.

Mostly smooth bokeh but strong cat-eyes and onion rings.

Very flexible because of speed, zoom range and AF.

Very big and expensive.

It has pretty poor reliability and repairs are super expensive.

In a professional reportage setup you often need a lens like this and because adapted alternatives aren’t as fast to focus this is your only option then.

1480g | $2598 | full Review | compared to CaNikon

buy from amazon.com | B&H | Amazon.de | ebay (affiliate Links)

Sony FE 70-200mm 4.0 G OSS

Status: Owned by Phillip for more than a year, since sold.

Good enough sharpness.

Decent bokeh but you are quite limited in isolating your subject by the slow speed.

This is a pretty large, heavy and expensive lens.

This is a jack of all trades which fills many roles well enough, portrait photography among them, but it doesn’t excel at any of them.

840g | $1498 | full review

buy from Amazon.com | Amazon.de | Ebay (affiliate Links)

Adapted AF lenses

Canon EF 135mm 2.0L

Status: bought and reviewed by Bastian, sold to fund Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM



Very well balanced lens with a good combination of sharpness, contrast (already at maximum aperture) and bokeh

correction of longitudinal CA not as good as Zeiss Batis 135mm 2.8, Sigma Art 135mm 1.8 or Samyang 135mm 2.0 but not bad either

Decently priced 135mm portrait lens with a fast maximum aperture of f/2.0 and autofocus

Still a great deal today with more than enough resolution, very smooth bokeh and all that at a reasonable size and price.

708g + adapter | $700 (used) | full Review | aperture series

buy from ebay.com | ebay.de | Amazon.com | Amazon.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Adapted manual focus lenses

Using manual focus for portraits requires some skill and won’t work for any subject, but you can save a lot of money or get special lenses if it works for you.

Canon FD 85mm 1.2 Aspherical

At f/1.2, the center has usable sharpness, the midfield and the edges are not sharp. This is rather limiting for portrait photograph where you often do not want your subject dead center. Because of spherical aberrations contrast is quite low. Still at f/1.2 you can create rather special atmospheric portraits with it.

The whole image sharpens up a lot at f/1.6, the center is very good as is the contrast from this aperture.

The bokeh is smooth at typical portrait distances but gets a bit nervous at longer distances

Flare resistance is bad.

Large size and weight, very good built quality.

The FD L is optically the same with one aperture blade less and coatings might be better.

It was a revolutionary lens in it’s day but today it is a little hard to recommend unless having a f/1.2 lens is very important to you.

756g | $600 used | full review

buy from ebay.com (affiliate link)

Samyang 85mm f1.4

Status: Bought and sold by Bastian and Phillip.

Good enough sharpness from wide open

Very smooth bokeh

Average flare resistance

Below average build quality, probably won’t last that long

Very affordable

If you feel like you need a f/1.4 lens and are on a limited budget this might be your lens since it offers an excellent price/performance ratio. You should be aware though that it might break one day.

480g | ~$290 new | comparison with other 85mm lenses | photozone review on Canon FF

buy new from amazon (affiliate link)

Jupiter-9 85mm 2.0

Status: Bought and reviewed by Bastian, in use on special occassions.



Small low cost rangefinder portrait lens

Smooth Sonnar out of focus rendering (vintage like)

Sharp enough for portraits but not that great contrast and across frame resolution

Watch out for lens flares (or make use of them in your pictures)

Cheap, small, very smooth bokeh. But if you are looking for high resolution, high contrast and good flare resistance this is not for you.

318g + adapter | $140 | full review | aperture series

buy from ebay.com | ebay.de (affiliate links)

Leica Summicron 90mm 2.0 pre Asph

Status: Bought, reviewed and sold by Bastian, replaced with Zeiss Loxia 85mm 2.4

Very nice contrast and resolution across most of the frame already wide open, corners need stopping down to f/5.6

Bokeh generally very nice, but not as smooth as some modern lenses (“Mandler bokeh”), slightly stopped down “crown cork” shaped highlights

Nicely balanced on mirrorless cameras

A bit on the expensive side due to red Leica dot

It is a bit expensive for what it is, but it is a joy to use and has very high contrast for such an old design.

475g + adapter | $850 | Review | aperture series | sample images

buy from ebay.com | ebay.de (affiliate links)

Olympus OM 100mm 2.0

Status: Owned by Phillip for several years, recently sold.

Sharp across the frame with good contrast from f/2 so you can place your subject anywhere in the frame

Average flare resistance

Very smooth bokeh

Moderate size and weight, very good handling

Rather rare and pretty expensive

If you enjoy manual focus for portraits then this could be your lens. It gives excellent results and is very enjoyable to handle since it is very well balanced.

520g | $750 used | full Review | aperture series

buy used from ebay.com (affiliate link)

Minolta MD 2.5/100

Status: Owned by Phillip for several years.

At f/2.5 it is sharp across most of the frame.

Bokeh is smooth with some CA and average cat’s eyes.

CA is quite strong but for portraits that is not much of an issue.

Prone to flare.

Small size and weight, average built quality.

Good price/performance ratio.

A very well balanced legacy lens and a good lens to get started on a budget.

310g + ~80g for the adapter | $120 | full review

buy from ebay (affiliate link)

Carl Zeiss APO Sonnar T* (ZF2) 2/135

Status: owned and used by David when AF not needed but a faster lens is.

Superbly sharp and ultra low CA at every aperture. When first released many thought it the best full frame lens for any mount. Still very competitive.

Beautiful lower contrast bokeh in comparison to focal plane.

Low optical vignetting for a 135mm lens

Good flare performance. Milvus version of the same design is even better in this regard, but probably not worth the extra money.

Nice handling, though not light.

Best purchased used.

If manual focus for portraits is something you are comfortable with, this is a gorgeous rendering and very sharp lens that you can probably get used for a lot less than the very promising new GM

930g | from $1000 used



buy from eBay | amazon.com | B&H (Milvus version) (affiliate links)

Samyang 135mm 2.0

Status: used by Jannik in the past



At f/2 already very sharp, almost no chromatic aberrations

Good bokeh despite of some cat eyes wide open

Quite prone to flare

Different color cast compared to Sony or Zeiss lenses (slightly warmer)

I never heard of broken samples due to bad quality (In contrast to the Samyang 2.8/14) but the build quality still feels not great.

Excellent lens. Optically, you get 90% of the Zeiss Batis 2.8/135 performance at a very low price. Keep in mind that AF is useful for some portrait scenarios.

A high end lens in a budget body with a budget price.

830g + adapter (native 900g) | $400 | review | sample images

buy from ebay.com | ebay.de | Amazon.com | Amazon.de (affiliate links)

MS-Optics Aporis 135mm 2.4 MC Fluorit

Status: Bought and reviewed by Bastian, still in use.

Very compact and lightweight for what it is and superior color correction (especially compared to legacy lenses) thanks to Canon made CaF2 front element

Bokeh can be adjusted to taste from soft to harsh by using the SA (spherical aberration) adjustment ring

Handling needs getting used to as the whole lens rotates when you focus

Veiling flare can be an issue with the sun in or close to the frame

Very rare as only produced in limited quantity and therefore not cheap

It is a shame this lens is so rare, in my opinion it is Miyazaki’s masterpiece.

360g + adapter | $1200 | full Review | aperture series | sample images

buy from ebay.com (affiliate link)

Sony 135mm 2.8 [T4.5] STF

Status: Used by Jannik in the past

This lens uses an apodization filter to progressively darken the bokeh balls like a neutral density filter farther away from center. If the effect is used efficiently, the bokeh won’t have any hard edges and will look like gaussian blur that was applied afterwards.

Although this lens has a bright aperture of f2.8, it has a very bad transmission (T4.5) and will behave like a f4.5 lens in exposure. Therefore, this lens is more limited to good weather applications or tripod work.

To increase the efficiency of the apodization filter, this lens has neither mechanical nor optical vignetting. Bokeh balls are perfectly round.

This lens is very sharp. It can show some purple fringing in harsh light.

It is an MF only lens and quite cheap these days

The look of this lens is very special. Look closely at the sample images and make sure that you like it.

A unique portrait lens that is special in positive and negative ways. Those who like the look, manual focus and focal length won’t find anything better than this.

730g + adapter | $700 | sample images | more information

buy from ebay.de | ebay.com | recommended adapter (affiliate links)

Canon nFD 135mm 2.8



Status: Phillip has reviewed it but not used much since then.

At f/2.8 it is sharp across the frame with pleasant bokeh, vignetting is present but not really a problem. When enlarged a lot you will notice that modern lenses are sharper but most of the time this will matter very little.

CA is quite strong but for portraits that is not much of an issue.

prone to flare.

Small size and weight, average built quality.

Great price/performance ratio.

While not up to modern standards results are usually close enough to those of modern lenses and it only costs a fraction of those. A good lens to get started on a very tight budget.

398g | $60 | full review | sample images

buy from ebay (affiliate link)

Bonus coverage: Super Fast Tele lenses

As Bastian is keen on those super fast 170-200mm lenses we decided to include a few of those as bonus coverage. Some people say these lenses are the holy grail for portrait photography as they draw the smoothest and most beautifully blurred background bokeh. But they are not easy to handle and usually very expensive.

Canon EF 200mm 1.8L USM

Status: Bought, reviewed and sold by Bastian.

Absolutely gorgeous bokeh rendering and at the same time super high resolving

adapts well to Sony cameras, on gen 3 cameras you even have eye AF

super heavy, very expensive, unclear spare parts situation

An absolutely amazing portrait lens. Apart from the high weight and price the real issue is that these are hard to get repaired these days.



3020g + hood + adapter | $3000 (used) | full Review | aperture series | sample images

buy from ebay.com | ebay.de (affiliate links)

Canon EF 200mm 2.0L IS USM

Status: Bought, reviewed and still in use by Bastian.

Maybe the highest resolving lens I ever used on my camera

Great bokeh

adapts well to Sony cameras, on gen 3 cameras you even have eye AF and the in lens IS is very effective

heavy (still light compared to the competition), very expensive

An absolutely amazing portrait lens. This is a 1/3rd of a stop slower than its predecessor but imho the better lens in the end.



2520g + hood + adapter | $3500 (used) | full Review | aperture series | sample images

buy from amazon.com | B&H | ebay.com | ebay.de (affiliate links)

Olympus OM Zuiko Auto-T 180mm 2.0

Status: Bought, reviewed and sold by Bastian.

Bokeh rendering not as great as the 200mm 1.8 but still amazing

Small and lightweight for what it is

Very complex and modern design for its age with superior minimum focus distance and sharpness at all distances

Extremely rare and super expensive

Extremely rare and therefore super expensive. I wish and doubt we will ever see a lens like this again.



1700g + tripod collar + adapter | $2500-5000 (used) | full Review | aperture series | sample images

buy from ebay.com (affiliate link)

Carl Zeiss Jena Visionar 168/183mm 1.9

Status: Bought, reviewed abd sold by Bastian.



Amazing bokeh rendering

no aperture diaphragm, no focus ring (see reviews for further information)

portrait specialist and great choice for Brenizer/Bokehpanorama

somehwat rare but comparably cheap

The handling needs getting used to, but these lenses offer bokeh rendering of lenses usually 10 times as expensive (see the two before).



2500-3000g | $300 (used) | full Review 168/183 | sample images 168/183

buy from ebay.com (affiliate link)

Editor’s Choices

All of us have used many lenses and we all have bought and sold some of them for whatever reason. Nevertheless there are a few lenses that simply stick, so we decided to let each of us pick one of the aforementioned lenses and tell you why we like it and/or keep using it.

Bastian’s Choice: Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM

As you can see from the list on top I have used many portrait lenses. And this list does not even contain the ones I was using on Nikon cameras (including AF-S 85mm 1.4G and AF-S 200mm 2.0G VRI).

But of all these the Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM really stands out to me as it has an outstanding optical design. The spherical aberration is oh so slightly undercorrected which leads to an amazingly smooth bokeh rendering which you rarely see in modern lenses. But unlike many older lenses it is still more than sharp enough already wide open.

On top of that the cat’s eyes effect is the lowest of any fast 85mm lenses so far which makes the bokeh look more natural to me.

Being able to use eye AF makes it easy to focus despite the shallow depth of field (AF is not the fastest though).

Because of all this I think the at first sight high price is more than justified and easily forgotten after using the lens and looking at the resulting images.



Jannik’s Choice: Sony FE 1.8/85

Although not being cheap in absolute terms, this lens won’t cost you an arm and a leg in comparison to the premium FE offerings. This doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good performer. Optically, it has very balanced properties without being particularly excellent like the Sony FE 1.4/85 GM. Nevertheless, I personally chose the Sony FE 1.8/85 over the latter because I greatly prefer to have its very fast and virtually silent autofocus packed in a very small and handy lens. Being a proud family father in first and a photographer in second, these properties are a blessing for me. The good MF implemenatation, lens button and the AF/MF switch on the lens are the icing on the cake for me. The new FE 1.8/135 GM will complement this lens on the long end and has some potential to rival the FE 1.8/85 as my favorite portrait lens.

David’s Choice: Zeiss Batis 1.8/85

In fact the majority of portraits I take are with slightly shorter focal lengths, typically 50-75mm, and sometimes with moderate wides. But I also like the classic portrait lengths, and when I was thinking about which classic lens I’d take as my choice it was the Batis Sonnar 1.8/85. I will review it soon: but it’s my choice because it’s such an amazing allrounder. I have access to some pretty special glass which I never take with me, so it’s my dogs and those who live nearby who get photographed with that. But the Batis 85 comes with me on long trips, and doubles as an absolutely outstanding landscape/cityscape lens with remarkable contrast and saturation. Its commercial problem is that, in the AF 85mm market, it sits between two other good choices. The GM 1.4/85 has lovelier bokeh, especially wide open and even at f1.8. But it’s bigger, heavier, and more expensive. The Sony FE 1.8/85 is very much cheaper, and while it does not have quite the same contrast and resolution, is itself excellent (and better than any older 1.8/85s I know of). It’s Jannik’s choice and I see why. But for me the Batis is a perfect combination. It’s a no-compromise lens for stopped down use, and it renders very nicely and is very sharp for portraits while travelling.

Phillip’s choice: Voigtlander 2.5/110 Macro

I don’t shoot many portraits at the moment so I don’t maintain a dedicated portrait lens. When I need to take portraits I usually use my Voigtlander 2.5/110 Macro which I bought mostly as a nature and landscape lens. It isn’t super fast and manual focus can be a challenge for portraits but I usually get along with it quite fine.

Closing Remarks

Yes, we didn’t include a bunch of interesting lenses. We have reviewed many lenses but there are far more lenses we haven’t reviewed yet and we prefer to know what we are talking about. So with time the list will grow, but have some patience with us 🙂

Articles like this require many hours of work. If you found it helpful, you can support us by:

Using one of our affiliate links if you buy a lens (or anything else), won’t cost you anything extra but helps us a lot.

If you own an interesting and/or exotic lens and you would lend it to us for a review, just leave a note.

It also helps a lot if you share this article on social media and with your friends.

Thanks! Juriaan, David, Jannik, Bastian and Phillip