The 85mm

 No.

This is not about which 85mm lens is better. This is about the 85mm field of view in terms of 35mm film form factor.

Yes.

I am loving it. It started when I was asked to help out my wife's school. I was asked to help out in taking the staff's photos. Just like one of those id or passport photos. Sure. 

I took my Sony a7m2 and along with it, the Rokinon 45mm 1.8. At that time the Rokinon was less than a week old and I was falling in love with its lightness and how it makes the a7m2 more accessible. It lends its compactness to the whole set up easily.

What I did not count on was that to take a half body shot, I had to be very close to the subject. I felt uneasy, being the covid-19 season and all, it was just too close. 

So I decided to get a AF 85mm lens for the sony. There were so many. Spent many nights watching and reading reviews from the internet.  Decided to get an 85mm 1.4 AF lens for my Sony. And also for the job. Got it for SGD$895.

In the meatime while waiting for it to be delivered and seeing I have other 85mm lenses from Zeiss and Nikon, I decided to reacquaint myself with  them, just to get the feel of the focal length. And the feel of the focal length I did. Sweet feels!

As mentioned, I have several lenses that fits the 85mm FOV. The lenses used should be on the captioned.

Spider lilies. Penf and YongNuo 42.5mm 1.7.

I am loving this FOV because to me, it captures more of what I have seen. The FOV allows me to capture what my eye focuses on. It cropped out the unnecessary. Thus, allows me to get my point across to the viewer, easier.

Ants. PenF and YongNuo 42.5mm 1.7.

Yes, I also agree that it is a nice focal length for portraiture. It flatters the facial features, makes the nose smaller, makes the person or the face looks more like how you see the person, without much distortion.

Meli. Sony A7m2, Carl Zeiss Planar 85mm 1.4.

Su. Sony A7m2 and Carl Zeiss 85mm 1.4 Planar.

Most 85mm lenses or equivalent has a very fast aperture that allows for immense subject separation. Bokeh-ness is subjective. I let the pictures do the talking.

Leaves. Pen F and YongNuo 42.5m  1.7.

Some 85mm fov lenses, provide very close minimum distance. The YongNuo minimum focussing distance at 0.3m. This allows me to get very close to the subject, isolating them even further.

But the wide aperture allows for greater subject separation even when compared to a 50mm fov lens or a 35mm fov lens for example. Allows me to blur the background and thus isolate the subject even more.

Ixora. Penf and YongNuo 42.5mm 1,7.

Generally, apart from each lenses characteristic, whether they were made for full frame, or even micro four third, all of them offered a greater flexibility for me to isolate the subject. However, because each lens has their own quirks, it allows me to pick and choose as to which would provide me with what I need. Compactness, lightness, portability, subject isolation and also color reproduction are all factors that makes decision making very difficult. But as I said, the general qualities of 85mm fov lenses are similar.

Idris. Sony A7m2 and Carl Zeiss 85mm 1.4 Planar.

Idris. Sony A7m2 and Carl Zeiss 85mm 1,4 Planar.

Together. Sony A7m2 and Samyang 85mm 1.4 AF.

Stay tuned for more pictures using the 85mm FOV lenses.

Until then keep on shooting.