When Sony first announced the 135mm F1.8 GM, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it until I saw the price.
Years flew by until I found one on sale from Sony Australia’s ebay store being sold directly as ‘Sony Seconds’ which refers to a Sony refurbished lens.
So with that preamble out of the way; What do I think about the lens? In one word: Incredible.
The build of the 135mm GM is spectacular with the typical G Master premium plastic/magnesium alloy build. Its a weighty lens at 950g with an 82mm filter thread. There is a lot of glass and two XD linear autofocus motors which explains the weight. Of note is that some of the competitors to this lens are generally heavier and usually larger.
Like other G Master lenses, the lens comes with an assortment of manual controls like the Aperture ring, AF/MF switch, Focus range limiter, a switch for declicking the aperture ring and two customisable buttons for use in portrait/landscape orientation.
Sony A7III – 135mm f/1.8 GM – 1/2500, f/1.8, ISO 125
The Sony 135mm F1.8 GM has the special ability to render incredible details with its sharpness and has dreamy bokeh when taking photos with a shallow depth of field.
Autofocus is extremely fast with Sony’s XD linear motors with both my A7III and A7R4. AF-C mode and Eye AF nails it every time with this lens even at F1.8. I’ve found that the continuous autofocus was able keep up with sports.
I mostly use this lens for portraits and in street photography for its ability to isolate subjects and blow out the background with the wide F1.8 aperture.
Sony A7R IV – 135mm f/1.8 GM – 1/250, f/8.0, ISO200
The performance of the lens while stopped down is impressive; offering extreme levels of details from f2.8 onwards as seen in the 100% crop below.
100% crop – no sharpening.
There are competitors now in 2025 that challenge the 135GM such as the Viltrox 135mm F1.8 LAB, Samyang 135mm F1.8 however I have not tried these lenses so I cannot comment on them. Other reviewers have positively commented on their performance so I’d urge you to check those reviews out too.
Sony A7III – 135mm f/1.8 GM – 1/1000, f/1.8, ISO 500
This lens is challenging to use as its quick to run out of room when used on the streets or indoors. I’ve found that i had to think more on my feet when using this lens than a 70-200 zoom for sports and documentary however the hard work is rewarded by stunning images. These results keeps me coming back to using this lens in addition to a standard zoom lens on a second body for documentary work.
The price for this lens is high, however its become an indispensible part of my kit. While it does not offer the most flexibility in its use cases, it does its specific job magnificently.
Sony A7III – 135mm f/1.8 GM – 1/1000, f/1.8, ISO 125
Sony A7R IV – 135mm f/1.8 GM – 1/2000, f/1.8, ISO 100