USA: Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama
Europe: FotoErhardt, FotoKoch, Calumet, WexUK.

You can finally preorder the super compact 28mm f/4.5 FE lens on Indiegogo (Click here). Here is a first collection of review of the new lens:

SonyAlphaBlog concludes:

The Viltrox 28mm F4.5 (99$ / 109 Eur) , is a pancake with very good performances. Most of the package lack AF, or have bad quality, but this Viltrox is one of the first very good pancake I have really enjoyed to use : very good to Excellent sharpness, very good AF, low distortion, good color rendering, very nice sunstars and a very low price.
The main weak point would be the average resistance flare in difficult situation.

Philip Reeve concludes:

Designing a tiny pancake lens – and offering it at a very affordable $99 – means there must be some optical compromises. And with the pancake lenses I previously reviewed, there certainly were a lot of those compromises – and those lenses didn’t even feature auto focus.
Here some of those compromises are also obvious: fixed f/4.5 aperture, no manual focus ring, no filter thread, high vignetting. But in the field, you may not even notice these on a regular basis. The fixed f/4.5 aperture in fact proved to be less of an issue than I initially expected and I ended up enjoying my time with this lens – something I cannot say about most of the competitors.
So out of all the pancake lenses for fullframe E-mount cameras (I think I have used all of them) this is actually my favorite so far. The inclusion of auto focus also makes it appealing to a broader audience than a purely manual focus lens.

You can preorder it now at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, FotoErhardt, WexUK.

Here are the first youtube reviews of the new lens:

In German:

Our reader MooYoul (Thanks) just spotted the first unboxing pics of the new Samyang pancake lens. Samyang just delivered their 32mm pancake lens to their pre-sales customers and customers shared some photos on SLRClub (which is largest camera community in South Korea):

Product shots:
– Lens: https://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=minolta_forum&page=33252&no=1125773
– Updated Lens Cap: https://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=minolta_forum&page=33254&no=1125831
– Mounted: https://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=minolta_forum&page=33252&no=1125774
– Mounted 2: https://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=minolta_forum&page=33252&no=1125786
– Mounted 3: https://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=minolta_forum&page=33252&no=1125796
Image samples:
– Sample 1: https://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=minolta_forum&page=33252&no=1125788
– Sample 2: https://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=minolta_forum&page=33252&no=1125789
– Sample 3: https://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=minolta_forum&page=33252&no=1125791
– Sample 4: https://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=minolta_forum&page=33252&no=1125794
– Sample 5: https://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=minolta_forum&page=33253&no=1125797
– Sample 6: https://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=minolta_forum&page=33253&no=1125798
– Sample 7 (Comparison with 85GM II in same composition, for just fun): https://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=minolta_forum&page=33254&no=1125821

We don’t know yet if and when this lens will be sold outside South Korea.

Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II preorder links:
USA: Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama.
Europe: FotoErhardt, FotoKoch, Calumet, WexUK.

Here is a roundup of all the popular reviewers who have tested the new Sony 85 mm GMII lens. They all think it is an outstanding lens–with one exception from Chris Gampat who thinks it’s too perfect and therefore boring.

PCmag writes:

Sony tends to pull out all of the stops for its GM lens series, and that is true of the FE 85mm F1.4 GM II. Photographers who want a short telephoto prime with loads of background-blurring power for portraits, fast focus performance for high-speed action photography, exceptional optical performance, and a carry-friendly design should look no further. It easily earns our Editors’ Choice award and is worth the splurge for discerning professionals. The Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG DN Art, another Editors’ Choice winner, offers comparable image quality for a lower $1,199.99, though it can’t take advantage of the faster drive speeds and breathing corrections of Sony’s first-party offering.

Dustin Abbott writes:

While the 85GM II is a lens improved in every way, I think that Sony might have missed an opportunity to create a standout lens by swinging for the fences with an F1.2 lens. There are some really solid 85mm lenses optically available for far less, with both the Samyang AF 85mm F1.4 II and the Sigma 85mm F1.4 DN ART being the standouts. The Sigma, in particular, isn’t really much behind in performance or features, but happens to cost a good $600+ less. And while there once was a time when certain photographers were a little “snobbish” towards third party brands like Sigma, I think that Sigma has largely overcome that. That makes the $1800 USD price tag of the new GM lens a bit of a harder sell, no matter how good it is.

Fstoppers writes:

Updates are bound to happen. though not all updates warrant an upgrade. But in this situation, I feel like any owner of the original Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM should seriously consider the Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II. It’s lighter, it’s smaller, it’s faster, and it’s optically better. All around, I think this is one of Sony’s best lenses on the market today, and I have an empty slot in my bag ready for when it starts to ship.

Techradar writes:

The original Sony FE 85mm F1.4 G Master lens was so good it was pretty hard to fault; but it was launched back in 2016, and a lot has happened in lens design since then. As a result, the new Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II is a long way from just a simple makeover. It has more advanced optics, improved autofocus performance, better aberration control and, to cap it all off, it’s both slimmer and 20% lighter than the old lens. It does cost more than the original, though, and the difference will depend on where you are. Optically, physically and operationally, though, the Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II is simply spectacular.

Amateur Photographer writes:

Overall, this is a lens which offers the best possible image quality in a well-sized and well-designed housing. It’s expensive, but sometimes in life you really do get what you pay for.

The only “negative” review comes from ThePhoBlographer. They write:

Sony is going to do what Sony does. What I mean by that is that they’re going to constantly find a reason to try to one-up themselves. I applaud the capitalist and consumerism-centered need to improve their products. But at the same time, they start to feel kind of soulless. Bearing this in mind, shooting with the Sony 85mm f1.4 GM II doesn’t feel like I’m shooting with a camera or a lens. It instead feels like I’m using a computer. The image quality feels just as sentient.
Is it sharp? Yes. Is the bokeh nice? Yes. Are the colors great? Totally. But to get them that way, Sony gives you the blankest slate you can possibly work with. There’s no character, and if you want that, then you have to do it in post-production or use a filter.
And then if that’s the case, what’s the point of getting the lens? Sharpness, too, can be made to look gorgeous in post-production. So this leaves us with the bokeh.

Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM II preorder links:
USA: Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama.
Europe: FotoErhardt, FotoKoch, Calumet, WexUK.

Chelsea & Tony Northrup review three full-frame mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras in the $2000-$2500 range: the brand new Nikon Z6 III, the 3-year old Sony a7 IV, and the 2-year old Canon EOS R6 II. The professional photographers compare the cameras for general photography, portraits, video, sports, travel, sensor stabilization (IBIS), dynamic range, megapixels, and Wi-Fi app performance.