Being able to swap lenses on your camera opens up limitless worlds of creative
potential, but it's easy to find what you like and stick with it forever.
Even though I got my first interchangeable lens camera all
the way back in 2007, I didn't get an 85mm lens until 2021.
And I wish I'd gotten one sooner because this prime lens is a prime example
of how certain focal lengths can deliver really special results.
All of the photo and video samples that you're going to see in this video
were taken with my 85mm lens, which is the Zeiss Batis 1.8, and the
Batis really is a bada*s lens 😬 but this isn't really a review of this lens
specifically, but rather of what the 85 millimeter focal length has to offer.
So let's focus on that focal.
Now if you do want a review of this lens, I will give a
few of my thoughts right now.
If you want to use chapter markers to skip ahead past the specifics
of this lens, feel free to do that.
But otherwise when it comes to the Zeiss Batis 1.8, which I've had now for
about six months, it is an amazing lens.
It's not the cheapest, but it's also not the most expensive. It's kind of, as far
as Sony lenses go, right in the middle. Sony has a cheaper 85 1.8 and a more
expensive 85 F1.4 or F 1.2...the G Master lens, which is their top of the line.
And this sits right in the middle.
I got mine on a Black Friday deal for about $900
and overall it's absolutely amazing.
The build quality is great.
It's made out of all metal.
It does have this little digital display right here, which
is actually kind of helpful.
It's kind of gimmicky, but kind of helpful.
I like it, but it would be sort of easier if the lens.
Just had regular markings on it. But instead you use this display and
it is helpful to let you know what your focal distance is and some certain
settings and things like that in the lens.
The most important thing though about this lens is that it
gives amazing image quality.
So sharp, but still organic and full of life. (like me)
When I was looking for which lens to buy, I was originally
going to get the cheaper one.
And then I kind of wanted to see, like well, the really expensive one seems
super nice, but a lot of the reviews that I saw and that I read said that
the Zeiss lens had a really specific, like intangible character that you
couldn't really put your finger on. And you wouldn't want to put your finger on
it anyway, because then you would smudge up the lens.
But that is really true.
I can't really describe it to you, but you might be able to see it in some
examples that I show. There's something just very special about the image quality,
the results that you get from this lens.
Now I mentioned there are a few downsides to this lens, nothing major though.
There are no markings on it, which is sort of strange, but
you do have the little screen.
The focus ring is made out of this rubber material, which does make
it easy to grip, but it also makes it like a magnet for dust and dirt.
So I'm constantly wiping off the lens, trying to keep it nice.
And just as there are no markings,
there are no buttons on this lens at all.
So there's no manual to focus button.
There's nothing like that.
You have to program it all in your camera, which is not difficult,
but it's slightly inconvenient.
Sometimes you just want to flip a switch and then have your camera
in manual focus or auto focus.
And the auto focus on this lens is really
super fast and super silent.
But since this is kind of an older lens, I think it's like seven or eight years
old at the time I'm recording this video,
it doesn't have the same auto focus capabilities that modern lenses have.
And when doing video, I've noticed that it kind of tends to hunt.
It almost seems anxious, like nervous is the way I would describe it.
Whereas with a more modern lens you can
lock on a subject and that just stays on that subject.
It's not a problem at all for still photos because the focus locks on and it's great.
But in video, sometimes you can be moving the camera or the subject
will move and you'll see these little like focus adjustments happening.
It sounds like a big deal, but it's really not, at least for my workflow, I've been
able to work around it pretty easily.
You just sort of get to know your tools after using them for awhile
and then you know how to use them and how to work around their limitations.
So sometimes I'll just switch it into manual focus to deal with it,
or I'll just make sure to select a focus point on a subject that is really high
contrast so that the lens has an easier time identifying it and sticking with it.
So all in all an absolutely great lens and it has helped me completely fall in
love with the 85 millimeter focal length.
But again, even though right now I'm using a Zeiss lens on a Sony camera,
no matter which camera system you're using,
if you can change lenses, there's probably an 85 millimeter lens for your camera.
And most 85 millimeter prime lenses also tend to have really wide
apertures like F 1.8 F 1.4, even F 1.2.
But speaking of aperture, this lens has been a portal into me
learning that not all f-stops are created equal. For a long time.
I really did think that, you know, F1.8
Is F1.8 and it's going to be the same, no matter what the focal length is of the
lens, and that's not necessarily true.
So let's actually take that a little bit further because IRISk
causing confusion.
If we don't talk about iris and aperture when talking about an 85
millimeter lens. As you might know, a lens' aperture is what controls
how much light gets through the lens and into the sensor of the camera.
A wider aperture lets in more light, which is great for lower light environments
because it's sucking up more light in the environment.
It also gives you a shallower depth of field, while a smaller
aperture lets in less light
and then it gives you a wider depth of field, which means more
of the frame is going to be in focus.
And neither is better or worse,
they're just different ways of using the tools.
A portrait photographer might want a really shallow depth of field
where only the subject is in focus
and the background is blurry, while a landscape photographer might want
the entire scene to be in focus from super close to super far away.
Personally, as you might know, I like a blurry background with a shallow depth
of field, which is why I pretty much always film the talking head parts of
my videos at F1.4. Growing up filming on camcorders, the ability to film with a
shallow depth of field is still amazing
and I will continue to do it forever because I love it.
But as I mentioned earlier, the focal length does affect the depth of field.
So for super scientific reasons that I DEFINITELY understand
and I'm just choosing not to bore you with, an F1.8 aperture on an 85 millimeter
isn't going to give you the exact same depth of field as an F1.8
aperture on a 24 millimeter lens.
But of course, a lot of that has to do with how close your subject
is positioned to your background.
So lens have a compressed discussion on lens compression,
which is how close the background appears to be in your final image.
It will make sense, I promise. (That's a "Thomas Promise")
Here's the same subject with two different lenses at F1.8. At 24 millimeters, which
is pretty wide on a full frame sensor,
the background looks far away.
You can actually pretty easily tell that there's space between the subject and
the background. In that same composition at 85 millimeters, the background looks
like it's right behind the subject.
Both backgrounds do have blur and toneh, but the difference in compression
gives them a totally different
"vibe" as the kids say.
So in general, higher numbers– longer focal lengths will give you more
background compression and make the background feel closer to your subject.
And if you're closer to your subject with a wider lens, that wide lens can then
start to distort them and make them look unnatural causing almost a fisheye effect
even if you're not using a fish eye.
So with all of that in mind, what's so special about 85 millimeters?
This is very subjective of course, but I think that the 85 millimeter
focal length gives you kind of the perfect balance of everything.
It's great for portraits and
it's great for interviews. There is some really great
background blur, background compression, background isolation.
There's a very shallow depth of field, but it doesn't seem super unnatural.
It's very pleasing and not artificial,
and just kind of has a very special quality that you won't
get with a lot of wider lenses.
It also seems like from what I found, basically every
85 millimeter lens is good.
Some are obviously better than others and there are build quality
differences, but image quality from just about every 85 millimeter lens
is going to be pretty darn good.
It seems like no matter which manufacturer you're talking about, which lens mount,
you're going to get a lens that gives you really sharp, really pleasing images.
So what do I use my 85mm lens for?
I do love using it for photos and videos, even if it's
just for fun stuff that you'll never see.
But for me, the main reason I got it is that it is an absolutely.
phenomenal b roll lens for product photography,
and that's something that I do a lot of in just about every
video that I make for YouTube.
It is a bit too tight to use as a talking head lens in this room.
It would have to be too far away.
I can't put a camera that far away, but it's a great for b roll where
I can take a product, set it on the desk and then start getting really
cool, very pleasing images with this.
In fact, even without mentioning this lens at all over the past six months
that I've had it, I've gotten a lot more compliments about my b roll shots
and my insert shots and all that stuff.
And I don't think that's a coincidence, but I do think it is
a clear indicator of how pleasing an 85 millimeter image can be.
Of course, a lens is a super personal decision and a lot of it just comes
down to your personal style and what you're going to take photos and videos of.
For me for many years, I've always loved wider lenses
so that's just kind of what I used and what I stuck with.
And I always thought that something like an 85 millimeter lens would be
way too tight and it would be too much money to spend on something
that I wouldn't ever really use.
It turns out I was totally wrong. (Wouldn't be the first time...)
And by thinking that I ended up limiting my creativity for a really long time.
Plus I think that the visual contrast between my wider lenses and the
85 millimeter lens is terrific.
I think a lot of what
helps people to stay interested in a visual medium like video is contrast.
Changes between different subjects.
So having a nice wider shot and then jumping to a tighter shot with an 85
millimeter lens or a 50 millimeter lens really helps build in some visual
variety that holds somebody's attention.
But if you're like me, and trust me, that would be a very
fortunate thing for you to be. 🥸
You might have a question of what about a zoom lens?
So this is a 24-105 millimeter zoom lens, which means I can just move it to
right about here and be at 85 millimeters.
Why do I need to buy an 85 millimeter lens
if I can just take a general purpose zoom lens, put it at
85 and get the same results?
Is there a difference?
The first limiting factor is going to be that this zoom lens
and most 24-105s
have a maximum aperture of F4.
So here's a quick comparison with my 85 millimeter lens and the zoom lens set to
85 millimeters, both on the same camera.
Now, even though the framing and the composition is the same, you
should be able to see a pretty big difference between F4 on the zoom
lens and F1.8 on the prime lens.
But even if I set the Zeiss to F4 to match the zoom, I still think that
the image from the Zeiss, the prime lens, is sharper and more pleasing.
Could just be my personal opinion though.
And I'm not knocking the 24-105. I actually really love
this lens, and it's one of my favorite general purpose lenses.
But when you have a zoom lens, this needs to be good at everything from 24
millimeters to 105 millimeters, and that's a lot to cover in one lens. A prime
only needs to do one thing, which means it can usually do
that thing really, really well.
And I know you might be thinking, "But Tom, that's a mid range F4 zoom lens.
What about a higher end lens with a wider aperture?"
That's a great question.
The downside is that very few zoom lenses
will cover the 85 millimeter focal length and go below like F2.8.
So while there are really great zoom lenses out there, what makes a prime
lens special is it's specialization.
And that was a realization I had to come to on my own...journey.
The creative options and flexibility that adding an 85 millimeter
lens to my lineup is something that I wish I had done a long time ago.
And it's really been one of the smartest gear-based decisions that I've ever made.
And speaking of smart decisions, thank you to everyone who helps support my channel
through Patreon and YouTube Channel Memberships.
And as much as I do love my 85 millimeter lens, 24 millimeters
has been my main focal length for many years. To see why I love it
check out this comparison between the Sony and Sigma 24 millimeter
F1.4 lenses right here.