So, I got my hands on the new Sony 135mm f1.8 G Master lens a week or two ago and have been putting it through its paces at weddings and commercial shoots since then, so I thought I’d do a mini review / first impressions post for other photographers out there who are considering getting one. I know there’s a lot of interest in this lens and I wanted to let people know how it’s been for me. If you’re thinking of getting one, I’m afraid the short answer is… go for it! You won’t regret it. Okay, now we got that out of the way I’ll carry on with the long answer…

Since switching to Sony I’d been eyeing up the available options for a 105mm or 135mm lens and until now I didn’t really like what I saw. I’m not a huge fan of Sigma lenses anyway, and their 105mm looks ridiculously large for the Sony mount. I’d owned a 135mm f2 when I shot Canon a few years back, and then when I moved to Nikon I absolutely loved their 105mm f1.4. So I knew that I liked both focal lengths. There’s something special about an image you get from a longer focal length and shallow depth of field, and for certain parts of the wedding day I think they can be really invaluable tools. You have to work hard to use them as storytelling lenses but when it’s done right I think it can be really powerful. Anyway, I’d been waiting to see what Sony would release as I didn’t want the existing batis 135mm lens because there just didn’t seem much point owning that focal length and only having a 2.8 maximum aperture. And like I’ve said, I didn’t want a Sigma lens.

So I waited. And waited. And waited a bit more. And then finally they announced the 135mm f1.8. Exactly what I’d been waiting for. I pre-ordered one pretty much straight away and it arrived a few weeks ago. I used it a lot for a week or two before taking it out on a job – I always like to get used to a new lens or camera fully before using it in a work situation – the last thing you need when you’re shooting professionally is to not be certain of what your equipment can do, or how certain things work. So I took the kids out to the beach and shot some images of them with it. I was thrilled with the lens – it’s fast to focus, incredibly sharp even wide open at 1.8 and it renders the out of focus areas of an image incredibly beautifully. Generally if a lens can keep up with two children under 5 then it can manage most things! And so I was confident it would be a great addition to my bag for weddings – and so it has been. This shot to the right is of Mercedes and Josh during their confetti exit from the church last week. The lens has absolutely nailed this and pretty much the entire sequence is in focus. This was shot at f2 which I would never have dared do before moving to Sony. The combination of the amazing AF system and the quality of the lens is such that you could pretty much shoot this lens wide open all day if you wanted to.

One of the things I’ve been really impressed by, as well as the sharpness and the speed of focus, is the way the lens renders out of focus areas, or the bokeh. It’s a really beautiful, delicate quality and one I’ve rapidly come to admire. It’s a lovely look, and if you’re wanting to isolate a subject then it’s invaluable. As well as a wedding, I’ve also had some commercial shoots for a BBC television series. I can’t share any images from that with you yet, but the lens has kept up remarkably well during some complex shoots and really brought a wonderful look to those images too. Overall, I genuinely cannot find a single fault with this lens – except maybe the weight. But good luck finding a similar telephoto with a similar aperture that isn’t going to be as heavy. I’ve found that the 135 has worked equally well on the a9 as on the a7iii too. Eye-AF is super accurate and fast and the lens tracks movement really well.

So there you have it – I will be using this lens A LOT in the coming weeks and months and will try and update this with new images and thoughts once I’ve had a bit longer with it. In the meantime here’s a few more images from last week with the amazing Mercedes and Josh…