Getting high-quality portraits without spending a fortune is a common goal. The Astrhori 85mm f/1.8 lens, priced at under $300, offers a budget-friendly option. Let's see if it delivers the quality you need.
Coming to you from Christopher Frost, this detailed video review explores the Astrhori 85mm f/1.8 lens, originally made for Sony E mount cameras and now available for Nikon Z mount as well. Priced at under $300, it offers an accessible option for those seeking a full frame autofocus portrait lens. The appeal of a wide-aperture 85mm lens lies in its ability to produce beautifully blurred backgrounds, perfect for portraits, while maintaining a moderate telephoto reach that keeps the background an integral part of the image.
Frost highlights the build quality and handling of the lens, noting its deep black textured metallic body, which feels solid and looks sleek. However, it’s heavier and bulkier than typical 85mm f/1.8 lenses. The metal rear mount adds durability, but it lacks weather-sealing. A USB-C connector is included for firmware updates, and the lens features a stiff manual focus ring. Despite the excellent build quality, the lens lacks an aperture ring, likely to keep costs down.
The video then moves to the all-important image quality. Tested on a Nikon Z7 with a 45-megapixel full-frame sensor, the results at f/1.8 show good contrast in the center but softness around the edges. Unfortunately, as you move towards the corners, the image quality degrades significantly. Stopping down to f/2.8 improves brightness but not sharpness in the corners. Even at f/4 and beyond, the corners remain unimpressive, making this one of the softer 85mm lenses Frost has tested. Astrhori confirmed that these results are within their factory specifications, which might be a letdown for those hoping for better performance.
Distortion and vignetting are also present, with noticeable pincushion distortion and very dark corners at f/1.8. While stopping down helps with brightness, it doesn't eliminate these issues entirely. The lens' minimum focusing distance is 79 cm, which is farther than average for this type of lens. Close-up shots at f/1.8 show low contrast and strong color fringing, though this improves slightly when stopped down.
Flare and glare are moderate, with some bright flashes when light sources are just outside the frame. However, Frost expected worse performance in this area, so it's a small positive. The bokeh produced by the lens is soft and pleasing, although the out-of-focus highlights show a cat eye shape towards the corners. Chromatic aberration is quite strong at wider apertures, lingering even at f/4 but disappearing by f/5.6.
In summary, while the Astrhori 85mm f/1.8 offers an affordable entry point into full frame portrait photography, its compromises on image quality are significant. The lens performs decently in the center at wider apertures but falls short in edge sharpness and overall clarity. Its low price will attract budget-conscious users, but those seeking higher quality might need to look elsewhere. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Frost.
I do not believe edge and corner sharpness is a problem when it comes to portrait, people, street and wedding photography.
Where is the focus of the image? 99% of the time the focus point varies from 1/4, through to the center of the image.
How many professional photographers make 3m x 4m size poster prints that will be viewed at 1m - 7m distances.
To me at least, to much hipe is made about edge and corner sharpness.
We go and spend a years profit on a lens just to get edge/corner sharpness none of our client's are going to notice.
Worst part is we are in an age where most people are extremely happy with low quality mobile phone images.