Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II vs Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM — Optical Ray-Tracing & Bokeh Comparison

Portrait At-a-Glance Comparison (Upper Body Framing)

Optical & Portrait Metric	Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II	Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM	What It Means in Practice
Upper-Body Working Distance	3.41 m	5.40 m	The Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM requires 2.0 m more room behind you for the same subject size.
Effective Focal Length (Breathing)	83.0 mm (-2.4%)	130.8 mm (-3.1%)	Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II frames like 83.0 mm (-2.4%) at 3.4 m; Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM frames like 130.8 mm (-3.1%) at 5.4 m.
Depth of Field (Sharp Zone)	20 cm (3.31 m – 3.51 m)	25 cm (5.28 m – 5.53 m)	The Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II has a 22% thinner focus zone (20 cm vs. 25 cm)—requiring more precise eye focus.
Entrance Pupil Diameter	60.7 mm (f/1.4)	75.0 mm (f/1.8)	Distant background blur discs are 24% larger on the Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM.
Minimum Focus Distance	0.85 m	0.7 m	Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM focuses 15 cm closer (0.85 m vs. 0.7 m) for tighter close-ups.
Patent Prescription	WO2025239028A1 (14/11)	WO2019187633A1 (13/10)	Published optical prescriptions traced in the 3D simulator above.

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Questions

Which blurs the background more, Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II or Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM?

At the same subject framing, distant background blur scales with the entrance pupil diameter (focal length ÷ f-number). Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II at f/1.4 has a 60.7 mm entrance pupil, while Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM at f/1.8 has a 75.0 mm entrance pupil.

How does working distance differ between Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II and Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM?

For an upper-body portrait, Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II stands 3.41 m from the subject (sharp zone 20 cm, from 3.31 m to 3.51 m), whereas Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM stands 5.40 m away (sharp zone 25 cm, from 5.28 m to 5.53 m).

How do the optical designs of Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II and Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM compare?

Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II uses 14 elements in 11 groups (WO2025239028A1, effective focal length 83.0 mm at portrait distance). Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM uses 13 elements in 10 groups (WO2019187633A1, effective focal length 130.8 mm).

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Also see: depth of field, bokeh, crop factor, lens compression.