Is there something wrong with this Batis?

[vett93]

If you have both lenses, why not do some shots of the same scenes? It would be easier to compare them.

 

[vett93]

I agree. The bokeh from Batis 85 is harder.

 

[forpetessake]

Don't get me wrong. I love the photos that come out from the Batis 85mm f/1.8 mounted on my Sony A7s.

But, in some occasions I saw some strange lines doubling, or how should I call it? Well, below is an example. Look at the leaf on my girl's hand



And here a crop to see what I mean

The double lines in OOF area is typical in heavily corrected large aperture aspherical lenses. That's the price you have to pay for the high resolution. If you take an old large glass you can notice a lot of spherical aberrations and also a great smooth bokeh. Out of the three lens characteristics: smooth bokeh, high resolution, fast aperture -- you can have only two.

 

[brick33308]

Admittedly the Batis 85 is a nice lens. However, I'm finding the 55 is fine for my portrait needs. It's wide enough to easily encompass a group portrait shot, unlike the Batis 85 where you would need in that situation to back up far enough that eye focus would no longer work, and wide open it has a pleasing bokeh.

 

[HFLM]

Admittedly the Batis 85 is a nice lens. However, I'm finding the 55 is fine for my portrait needs. It's wide enough to easily encompass a group portrait shot, unlike the Batis 85 where you would need in that situation to back up far enough that eye focus would no longer work, and wide open it has a pleasing bokeh.

 

[olstrup]

The double lines in OOF area is typical in heavily corrected large aperture aspherical lenses. That's the price you have to pay for the high resolution. If you take an old large glass you can notice a lot of spherical aberrations and also a great smooth bokeh. Out of the three lens characteristics: smooth bokeh, high resolution, fast aperture -- you can have only two.

Exactly. That's why resolution charts don't tell the whole story about a lens. I have two Leica M 50mm lenses - the very first Summilux 50/1.4 and the very last non asph. Summicron 50/2.0. If I want it super sharp with high resolution, I pick the last (and live with the not overwhelming bokeh). If I want smooth OOF I pick the first (and live with the lower resolution and the "Leica glow"=pronounced sherical abbaration wide open).

 

[Alithenake]

I had the macro in the past for review purposes. Maybe I'll ask my local dealer again for it soon
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http://www.allinpopescu.ro

 

[vett93]

I had the macro in the past for review purposes. Maybe I'll ask my local dealer again for it soon
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http://www.allinpopescu.ro

Great! Look forward to it.

 

[Rey66]

I had the macro in the past for review purposes. Maybe I'll ask my local dealer again for it soon
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http://www.allinpopescu.ro

I like the 90mm G lens by far the best macro/portrait in one... You can't go wrong with this lens

 

[Alithenake]

Again, I saw this bad doubling in bokeh zones. I don't like the bokeh this lens produces, too bad for my eyes

Look at the font near the girl.







No commercial work, just tests with family members

--

http://www.allinpopescu.ro

 

[HFLM]

What is wrong with that? Quite some distance to subjects, background very close to subjects, ISO 8000. I don't expect a great falloff of sharpness in such a situation.

We use the Batis almost exclusively now and I know some others specialised on portraits doing the same. I find it an awesome lens. Nice bokeh, incredible sharpness. My wife just had a session yesterday.

 

[Alpha Photo]

Never seen such UNIDIRECTIONAL doubling in any of my pictures. Looks like the background has shifted up/down during exposure. I don't see, how a lens could create such effect. If this is indeed caused by the lens, than IN THIS PARTICULAR EXAMPLE I also would be disappointed by the bokeh performance.

 

[vett93]

The double lines in OOF area is typical in heavily corrected large aperture aspherical lenses. That's the price you have to pay for the high resolution. If you take an old large glass you can notice a lot of spherical aberrations and also a great smooth bokeh. Out of the three lens characteristics: smooth bokeh, high resolution, fast aperture -- you can have only two.

Can you explain more why one can only have two? Thanks.

 

[Alpha Photo]

Depends a bit on price point. Zeiss OTUS lenses manage to have all three. Affordable lenses need to compromise somewhere...

 

[Dennis]

Again, I saw this bad doubling in bokeh zones. I don't like the bokeh this lens produces, too bad for my eyes

I'm with you - you've posted two examples of not very pleasant bokeh. I would not be enamored with that in a lens that cost $1300 (US price, anyway). I don't know if it could be related to IBIS or some kind of electronic shutter option ... or if it's just the lens. But I wouldn't be thrilled with it.

• Dennis
  --
  Gallery at http://kingofthebeasts.smugmug.com

 

[Alpha Photo]

except the vertical shift of the letters doesn't look like a bokeh effect....

 

[PaulR]

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http://www.allinpopescu.ro

The bokeh on the 90mm is MUCH nicer than the Batis shots. I received the 90mm a few weeks ago and returned it because the lens was decentered but except for that my test shots were exceptional. The replacement comes today. Hopefuly this copy will be perfect. My experience with Sony lenses is that 40-50% of the lenses are less than optimal but once you get a good copy the lenses are terrific. At least that has been my experience with the 15-35mm, 24-70mm, 35mm F2.8 and 55mm F1.8. Only bad lens in my opinion is the 28mm. I tested two copies and both were equally bad. I'm surprised about all the glowing reviews of that lens. But I guess the price is right.

 

[vett93]

The bokeh on the 90mm is MUCH nicer than the Batis shots. I received the 90mm a few weeks ago and returned it because the lens was decentered but except for that my test shots were exceptional. The replacement comes today. Hopefuly this copy will be perfect.

These are close-up shots. From my reading of online reviews, FE90mm generates good bokeh for close-up and macro photos. But for portraits, FE90mm has worse bokeh than Batis 85mm. An example of such review can be found here:

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www.mirrorlessons.com

Steve Hoff also states that in his blog.

My experience with Sony lenses is that 40-50% of the lenses are less than optimal but once you get a good copy the lenses are terrific. At least that has been my experience with the 15-35mm, 24-70mm, 35mm F2.8 and 55mm F1.8. Only bad lens in my opinion is the 28mm. I tested two copies and both were equally bad. I'm surprised about all the glowing reviews of that lens. But I guess the price is right.

Steve Hoff compared Sony FE28mm and Zeiss Batis 25mm. He states that he can barely tell the differences. So it is not just the price....

 

[HFLM]

The bokeh on the 90mm is MUCH nicer than the Batis shots. I received the 90mm a few weeks ago and returned it because the lens was decentered but except for that my test shots were exceptional. The replacement comes today. Hopefuly this copy will be perfect. My experience with Sony lenses is that 40-50% of the lenses are less than optimal but once you get a good copy the lenses are terrific. At least that has been my experience with the 15-35mm, 24-70mm, 35mm F2.8 and 55mm F1.8. Only bad lens in my opinion is the 28mm. I tested two copies and both were equally bad. I'm surprised about all the glowing reviews of that lens. But I guess the price is right.

You can't compare shots of different situations at different distances and different apertures.

 

[Alithenake]

Never seen such UNIDIRECTIONAL doubling in any of my pictures. Looks like the background has shifted up/down during exposure. I don't see, how a lens could create such effect. If this is indeed caused by the lens, than IN THIS PARTICULAR EXAMPLE I also would be disappointed by the bokeh performance.

I just hope its only my sample and not the entire Batis range. I completely agree with you here.

Here is my post and story about the Zeiss Batis 85 mm f/1.8 - http://www.alinpopescu.eu/blog/a-story-on-zeiss-batis-85-mm-f1-8/