Sony announces FE 135mm F1.8 G Master lens

Sony has announced a new member of the G Master family, the FE 135mm F1.8 G Master telephoto prime lens.

The 135mm F1.8 has 13 elements in total, which include XA (extreme aspherical), and Super ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass elements in the front group to help suppress 'common' telephoto lens aberrations.

Additionally, the Super ED element and an ED element will help compensate for axial chromatic aberration, minimise color fringing and maximise overall resolution. A Nano AR Coating is also applied to reduce flare and ghosting that can occur when shooting backlit portraits.

An 11-bladed circular aperture mechanism will help with background defocus, and dual-autofocus groups in a floating focus arrangement also help provide close-up capability, allowing a minimum focus distance of just 0.7 meters and a maximum magnification of 0.25x.

The FE 135mm F1.8 GM has four XD linear motors—two for each group—to ensure speedy AF tracking and performance. There is also a control algorithm that helps to maximize 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 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 customizable focus hold buttons, and a focus-mode switch that makes it possible to quickly select auto or manual focus to match changing shooting conditions.

Pricing on the lens hasn't been confirmed yet, but it should be available from April.