Sony SAL-85F14Z 85mm f1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar T Coated Telephoto Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera

by Sony

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 3.8 x 3.5 inches ; 2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000JE5CQO
• Item model number: SAL-85F14Z
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 4, 2006

Product Description

Manufacturer Description

The Sony Carl Zeiss SAL-85F14Z lens is a brilliant lens for portraits, low light and midrange telephoto shooting. It's a beautiful piece of glass--and for intimate or low-light portraits, fashion shots, and quick candid photographs with superior visual accuracy, this professional lens will satisfy the most uncompromising demands. Its performance at fully open aperture is astonishingly precise--and its 35mm-equivalent 125.7mm focal length gives you sharp midrange close-ups and natural, distortion-free portraits at relaxed distances.

Features:

• Superb Sharpness at Fully Open Aperture: In conjunction with the Super SteadyShot image stabilization system of the Sony α (Alpha) DSLR-A100 camera, this superb Carl Zeiss lens achieves pinpoint sharpness--even working with hand-held camera by available light.
• Excellent Contrast Reproduction: Precision optical design and advanced T* coatings help to reduce flare and increase contrast.
• Smooth Backgrounds: Smooth, visually pleasing out-of-focus backgrounds give portraits and close-ups an extra dimension of beauty.
• Focus Hold Button: For full creative control, a focus hold button located on the lens can lock auto-focusing even in continuous advance mode--and focus lock can also be set on the spot-focus center frame area.
• Auto Clutch: In auto-focus mode, the manual focus ring does not rotate--and in manual focusing, you'll have a solid, hands-on feel.

Compatible Models
Sony DSLR-A100, DSLR-A100K.

What's in the Box:
Lens, front and rear lens cap, SH0002 lens hood.

Product Description

A brilliant lens for portraits, low light and midrange telephoto shooting. It's a beautiful piece of glass - and for intimate or low-light portraits, fashion shots, and quick candid photographs with superior visual accuracy, this professional lens will satisfy the most uncompromising demands. Its performance at fully open aperture is astonishingly precise - and its 35mm-equivalent 125.7mm focal length gives you sharp midrange close-ups and natural, distortion-free portraits at relaxed distances.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best portrait lens ever!, November 20, 2007

By 

Steven W. Miller - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony SAL-85F14Z 85mm f1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar T Coated Telephoto Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera (Electronics)

The sharpness creamy bokeh are unmatched by any other alpha mount lens. The auto clutch is a fine addition, since this lens has some heft to it, so you'll find yourself balancing the camera by the lens with your left hand. When it is in AF, the focusing ring doesnt turn. Nice. The colors are reproduced as true as any glass on the market. My only issue is minor, I wish the lens hood had a filter window, similar to the 70200SSM.
Very fast focusing even in low light, but to really get the most out of it, mount it on the A700. It does tend to lag a tad in low light when mounted on the KM 7D.

You'll forget the hit to your pocketbook as soon as you print your first shot!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On A League Of Its Own, March 11, 2011

By 

Andrew Siew (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony SAL-85F14Z 85mm f1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar T Coated Telephoto Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera (Electronics)

The SAL85F14Z has been around for as long as the Sony Alpha 100, and for the few of us who is lucky enough (or have a deep enough pocket) to finally own it, the rewards are boundless.

It is very difficult to describe the picture quality of this lens in a few words. For one thing, regardless of which alpha-mount body you have been using, this lens will unveil a whole new dimension of optical clarity to your camera's sensor. The lens features a whole different level of optical clarity and sharpness over conventional alpha-mount lenses, combined with an effective defocusing so strong that during wider aperture settings, it practically captures your attention at the center of its focal point with razor sharp details while quickly blankets everything else away so vigorously that these elements quickly slide into this hazy blend of soft lights and shadows.

When used at smaller apertures at F8 and beyond, the massive prime lens pinches every drop of incoming light so tightly across the entire diameter of its optics that every pixel of your camera's digital sensor will struggle to capture all the details it has to provide. When used for landscape composition, the resulting details are so breathtakingly sharp from corner to corner that viewing the pictures on your computer monitor is nothing short of an insult to the makers of this lens.

The SAL85F14Z is not without faults though, however. Without the use of a single (super) extra low dispersion glass (ED glass or Super ED glass) or any aspherical elements, at maximum aperture of F1.4, you will see color fringing while shooting under very bright sunlit conditions. There is visible purple bleed around high contrasting edges, but the fringe melts away quickly when you dial the aperture from F1.4 to around F2.2. The lens is also unsuitable for close-up work, with a minumum focusing distance of 85 cm and a maximum magnification ratio of just 0.15x. It's immediate cousin, the SAL135F18 on the other hand, has a minimum focusing distance of around 70cm and has an impressive maximum magnification ratio of 0.25x.

The SAL85F14Z is probably one of the heaviest prime lens under the alpha mount line-up, next to its above close cousin, the SAL135F18Z, which is even larger and weighs around 30 percent more. The construction of the lens however is nothing short of elegant, with large, finely polished glasses and precision-milled metal parts assembled probably by hand. There is not a single element on the SAL85F14Z that suggests a hint of frailty, and the lens looks and feels as though it is a piece of optical accessory taken out from an Aston Martin.

A great investment for those who shoots portraits for a living.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent portrait lens, February 7, 2008

By 

Photo/Video Gearhead - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sony SAL-85F14Z 85mm f1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar T Coated Telephoto Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera (Electronics)

I am astonished by this lens, as well as its sibling the 135mm f/1.8 lens Sony SAL-135F18Z 135mm f/1.8 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T Telephoto Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera. Each lens is razor sharp at its widest aperture. A discussion of this lens, as well as of the Minolta 85mm f1.4 lens, may be found at the Photozone site. Compared to the Minolta lens, this lens is sharper and exhibits less vignetting, although it does exhibit slightly more chromatic aberration but to no serious extent.