Hey everyone!
I'm John Sison and today we're taking a look at the Zeiss 85mm F1.8 Batis lens, for the
Sony E-mount system.
The 85mm F1.8 is a lens primarily targeted towards street and portrait photographers.
So that includes anything from your editorial work, all the way down to weddings and fashion
and so on.
Now in keeping in line with the other Batis lenses it keeps to the same design and aesthetic
as the 25mm F2 and 18mm F2.8 lenses.
Now these lenses are designed for full frame cameras so that includes the A7 series but it
can also be used on crop sensor cameras like the A6000 and A6500, although the effective
focal length would change to 127.5mm.
Now in this video, I'm going to give you a brief rundown on the lens showing you its
features, image quality, build and handling and of course at the end of the video, I'll
let you know what I personally think of it so stay tuned.
The lens looks to have a mix of metal and a plastic construction with a rubber focus
ring in a modern sleek black finish.
An OLED display like the other Batis lenses are one of its standout features.
The lens is advertised as weather sealed and is evidenced through its rubber gasket on
the mount of the lens.
67mm filters can be adapted to the lens and its also supplied
with a plastic barrel type lens hood.
Now the lens weighs approximately 452 grams which isn't exactly heavy to hold for long
periods of time and of course, if you are using it with the Sony A72 series cameras,
its going to feel very well balanced in your hand.
The minimum focusing distance is 80cm.
The lens adopts a fly-by-wire system and does not change in physical size while autofocusing.
Autofocus speed is quick, quiet and snappy.
Just a quick note to mention, eye autofocus works with this lens.
To quickly explain the OLED display on the top, the advantage of having it is that it
makes it a lot easier to see in any lighting conditions, especially in the dark.
I don't imagine people needing it so much with the 85mm but its still a great thing
to have.
To change a few settings on the OLED display, all you need to do is turn the lens all the
way to the left.
After a few turns, a menu will appear where you have the OLED display off all the time,
on only during manual focus or on all the time.
I prefer to have it on all the time but to switch between these settings, all you need
to do is turn the focus ring again to the left.
Now to change the metric from metres to feet or vice versa, all you need to do is turn
the focus ring continuously to the right.
Now I've been shooting with this lens now for a while now in different conditions and
it has performed flawlessly.
It also has optical stabilisation which isn't even featured on its higher end rival, the
G Master 85mm lens.
While it would work great with the A72's in body stabilisation, rest assured that if you
have a camera that does not have stabilisation, the stabilisation in the lens would help compensate
for any shake in photos or videos.
Speaking of video, the lens worked great for shots where I wanted to blur the background
to get a more focused look on a particular subject.
The autofocusing speed was quick but this is also dependent on the camera that you are
using.
For this, I was using the A7R Mark 2.
The stabilisation worked well for when I was standing still but don't expect it to replace
a gimbal.
Bear in mind, there is a fair amount of focus breathing.
Now the lens is impressively sharp in the centres and still does a fantastic job on
the edges.
I would say this is a great option for anyone who wants to take their photography to the
next level if you're upgrading from your kit lens.
Flare was well controlled but there was a bit of vignetting when shooting wide open.
Also, I did notice there was a bit of pincushion distortion while I was shooting with it.
Having that F1.8 aperture is going to help you for when you're shooting in low light
conditions but it will also give you more creative flexibility when you want to control
how much you want in focus or how much you want blurred when you're shooting your photos.
Out of focus blur is smooth and the bokeh balls tended to be a bit oval shaped towards
the edges of the frame.
The colours and contrast from Zeiss is what I'm a big fan on and with this lens it didn't
disappoint.
Its not a perfect lens but to me it shows a lot of character.
The Zeiss 85mm F1.8 Batis delivers some impressive images with a unique OLED display, optical
stabilisation and a construction that's well made to withstand the elements.
Its quick and accurate to focus, although not as quick as the G Master but I also did
notice a bit of pincushion distortion and chromatic aberration while shooting with it.
Other than that, I absolutely love the classic Zeiss colours and of course, it is impeccably
sharp.
Alternatively you've got the Sony 85mm G Master that you can consider adding to your kit.
That adds an aperture ring, a focus hold button and of course you do get that F1.4 aperture.
Now I'd highly recommend this lens for anyone that shoots portraits and street photography
and while it is more on the expensive side, its definitely a lens worth saving up for.
Now thats it from me but if you have anymore questions, please feel free to leave a comment
below and if you already own one, let me know what you think of it and remember to like
this video if you found it helpful and subscribe to my channel for more Zeiss reviews and tutorials.
You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more photo updates and sample photos and
don't forget to take a look in the description below for more information about this lens.
Until then, happy shooting and thanks for watching!
Hey everyone!
I'm John Sison and today we're taking a look at the Zeiss 85mm F1.8 Batis lens.
Aw its so bright mate.
Hmm what did I say before?
Heh!
Now the lens
*Giggles*
Shoo fly!
Aesthetic
That's not anaesthetic
It is, it keeps to...
Its a lens
???
I'm going to kill this fly.
Bah!
It keeps to the ??? It keeps to the.. *laughs*
Ahh!
Features and of course its image quality and of course..
Baka!
I burnt.. here.
It hurts to talk.
How now brown cow.
62 grams so its not going to be a very heavy *laughs*
You say toe-may-toe
I say toe-mah-toe
But Edna, you're timeless to meeee
Hemlines are shorter