Sony announces FE 85mm F1.4 GM II lens

The new lens measures 107mm x 85mm, slightly smaller than the original's 108x90mm size and 13% smaller by volume. At 642g, it's about 20% lighter than its predecessor too.

The front lens element features a fluorine coating, helping to remove fingerprints, dust, oil, and other contaminants from the lens surface, and as expected a dust and moisture resistant design provides extra reliability for outdoor use.

Optically, the lens is built around two XA (extreme aspherical) and two ED (extra-low dispersion) lenses, which Sony says the combination of offers corner-to-corner resolution and rendering.

In addition, Sony’s Nano AR Coating II technology works to subdue flare and ghosting, and an 11-blade circular aperture provides the 'beautiful, soft bokeh that is the hallmark of G Master series,' according to the company. 

Other features include an aperture ring with a Click on/off switch, allowing users to switch between standard 1/3-stop detents or click-less operation for smooth aperture adjustments, and an aperture lock to prevent the ring from accidentally moving.

In addition, two focus hold buttons can maintain focus when pressed and are customisable. Speaking of focus, autofocus is driven by a high-thrust XD linear motor, which should be faster than the ring-type ultrasonic motor found on its predecessor.

In fact, Sony claims it will deliver 3x faster AF performance and up to 7x faster subject tracking performance than the GM I. It also supports continuous shooting at up to 120fps for use with the A9 III.