Sony has announced the arrival of the latest member of the G Master™ series of full-frame E-mount interchangeable lenses; the 135mm F1.8 telephoto prime lens.

Loaded with Sony’s most advanced optical tech, this new, highly anticipated lens has been built to meet the high standards of Sony’s much-loved G Master series. The new FE 135mm F1.8 GM promises especially high resolution and excellent bokeh, two hallmarks of Sony’s flagship G Master lineup.

The new lens combines rapid autofocus [AF] with a lightweight, portable body and various pro functions, making it a versatile, high-end tool for a wide range of image-makers.     

Yann Salmon-Legagneur, Director of Product Marketing, Digital Imaging at Sony Europe, said: “Sony’s commitment to growing our FE lens and E-mount lens line-up remains stronger than ever. Our 31st native full-frame mirrorless lens, the highly anticipated 135mm prime brings the acclaimed G Master quality to another popular focal length for both professionals and enthusiasts to enjoy. This brings the total number of Sony’s native Alpha™ E-mount lenses to 49. We will continue to drive market-leading innovation in all aspects of our imaging business, giving our customers the opportunity to capture and create like they never have before.”

Today’s press release stated that the new lens manages to, ‘realise consistently high resolution across the entire frame, even at F1.8, the FE 135mm F1.8 GM boasts an innovative optical design that places XA [extreme aspherical] and Super ED [Extra-low Dispersion] glass elements in the front group to effectively suppress all common telephoto lens aberrations. Additionally, the Super ED element plus one ED glass element are strategically positioned to compensate for axial chromatic aberration, minimise colour fringing and maximise overall resolution, ensuring outstanding image quality. For impressive clarity, Sony’s unique Nano AR Coating is applied to reduce flare and ghosting that can occur when shooting backlit portraits.  

The new telephoto prime lens utilises its XA element, refined with Sony’s latest bokeh simulation technologies during the design and manufacturing stages, to control spherical aberration and achieve exquisite bokeh. In addition, an 11-bladed circular aperture mechanism contributes towards achieving extremely natural and beautiful background defocus. The exciting new model also features dual-autofocus groups in a floating focus arrangement for improved close-up capability, allowing a minimum focus distance of just 0.7 metres and a maximum magnification of 0.25x. 

To ensure that this lens can keep up with fast-moving portrait or sports subjects, the FE 135mm F1.8 GM has been equipped with a total of four of Sony’s proprietary XD linear motors—two for each group—that achieve rapid, reliable and speedy AF tracking and performance. There is also a control algorithm that helps to maximise control response and ensure quiet, low-vibration AF. All of this exceptional performance is packaged in a compact, lightweight body weighing in at 950g. 

The FE 135mm F1.8 GM includes a number of professional controls that enhance ease of operation for both stills and movie shooting. These include an aperture ring that allows direct, intuitive aperture control and a focus ring that features Linear Response MF for fine, responsive manual focus control. There is also a focus range limiter switch, two customisable focus hold buttons, and a focus-mode switch that makes it possible to quickly select auto or manual focus to match changing shooting conditions.

New Bluetooth controller

Sony has also launched a new wireless controller which has the jazzy name, ‘RMT-P1BT’ which should be good news for landscape, architectural, astro, still motion, group portraiture [and other] phptpgraphers.

The new remote control functions via a Bluetooth connection, dropping the need for wires or receivers to connect to the camera. The new remote highlights a quick response, [within approximately 0.05 seconds] release time-lag, that ensures the shutter can be released with precise accuracy.
There is also an LED light that shows operating status to the camera by flashing or lighting continuously. in addition to this, the new remote has been designed to resist dust along with moisture plus hot and cold temperatures.

The new RMT-P1BT, [love that name] wireless remote includes focus buttons for manual control over subtle focus changes, a remote C1 custom button that can be adjusted based on user preference. It also includes Start/Stop movie recording and control over power-zoom or digital-zoom functionality. For photographers that prefer to shoot on ‘Bulb’ exposure mode, the remote can be set to open and close the shutter with respective clicks of the main button, eliminating the need to press and hold the button throughout exposure time.

New Circular Polarising Filters

Sony has also taken the opportunity to announce a new line-up of proprietary Circular Polarising Filters. Sony has suggested that these new filters, including models for lens diameters 49mm, 55mm, 62mm, 67mm, 72mm, 77mm and 82mm, maintain image quality and resolution roughly twice as effectively as their existing circular PL filter line-up. They also feature a ZEISS^® T* Coating to minimise flare and a slim filter design to prevent image vignetting and maximise overall performance.   

Pricing and Availability

The FE 135mm F1.8 GM will ship in April 2019, priced at £1,750 [approx].
The RMT-P1BT Wireless Remote Commander will ship in Europe in April priced at [around] £65

The new circular polariser filters will ship in Europe in April 2019, priced at [approx]:

• 49mm [model VF-49CPAM2] – €110
• 55mm [model VF-55CPAM2] – €120
• 62mm [model VF-62CPAM2] – €150
• 67mm [model VF-67CPAM2] – €170
• 72mm [model VF-72CPAM2] – €180
• 77mm [model VF-77CPAM2] – €200
• 82mm [model VF-82CPAM2] – €260