Pre-Order the new Zeiss Batis Lenses at B&H Photo!

11 Comments

1. Steve will you be reviewing these?

   • YEs, as soon as I get them! Thank you.

2. Currently I have the a7s with the 55 1.8. I was going to buy the new 90mm f2.8 but this 85mm batis seems really good. The 90 is 5mm long and has OSS, can be macro and portrait. The batis only portrait but is 1.8.
   What do you recommend me? (I dont do a lot of macro but is nice to have a lens for that, who knows!)

   • The 85mm Batis also has OSS but it remains to be seen how it compares to Sony’s implementation. I am in a similar situation and I think I will go with the Batis. I prefer MF for macro anyway and adapter MF macro lenses are much more affordable. Where the Zeiss promised to be the better portrait/mid-tele lens.

3. I’ve looked at both this and the mikaton samples
   I like the bokeh better on the Mikaton samples. The zeiss isn’t so dreamy.I love the look of the distagon 35 1.4 but that is pricy. I preordered the Mikaton going to see if the characteristics are good enough to skip on the zeiss Batis. I got the 35 1.4 sigma art and voigtlander 35 1.4 along with sonar 35 2.8 so not too sure about the distagon either.But who knows if prices drop and they become more affordable than maybe it’s possible the Batis is definately more like to fit the budget than the 35 1.4 distagon.

   • In an ideal world, we would have a high mp/resolution body/lens combination for the sharpest result while a second combination for softer look and feel. The ideal lenses for sharpness would be Canon 11-24mm zoom to cover wide angle (use with Sony A7R or A7MK2 combine with Metabone Canon adaptor), Sony Zeiss Sonar 35mm f2.8 or Sigma 35mm f1.4 for standard wide. Sony Zeiss 55mm f1.8 or Sigma 50mm f1.4 Art for standard, Zeiss Batis 85mm f1.8 for portrait and Zeiss 135mm f2 Apo Sonnar for telephoto (Nikon mount with E mount adaptor for Sony).

     For moody/dreamy look and feel, I would choose Voigtlander M 12mm, 15mm for wide, 35mm f1.4, (all to use M to E mount adaptor for Sony), Mitakon 50mm f0.95 for standard, Mitakon 85mm f1.2 for portrait and 2nd hand Nikon 135mm f2/2.8 manual focus lenses.

     I guess not all would agree with manual focus lenses, but it’s natural for those who have been shooting since the film days as old habits die hard.

4. Zeiss had released some sample images on Flickr, the 85mm looks fantastic! Also the MTF charts suggest this lens can compete with the Otus 85mm, which is considered as the ‘best lens in the world’ by MTF chart lovers. Basically we should expect Top optical performance and crrrazzzy sharpness with this lens, together with the beautiful rendering and the smooth bokeh that only Zeiss Sonnar lenses could offer. The AF should be good, if we’re looking at the new firmware Zeiss has recently released for their Touit line, which fixed most AF issues on Sony E mount cameras.

5. Both this and the Mikaton 85 1.2 are going to be excellent. Even though the Mikaton is faster the Zeiss should also perform extremely well. I think the Zeiss will be much sharper than the Mikaton while the Mikaton will be more dreamy than the Zeiss. I think the Zeiss will have a similar look to the Otus and the Mikaton will be similar to maybe a 75mm Summilux.

   • I really hope it renders like the summilux, I love that Mitakon are so affordable compared to the competitors, I get the impression they are trying to be Chinese Leica.

     Have you seen the Zess sample photos? They have me tempted.

6. I hope you review the new Mitakon 85 F1.2 when it comes out as well as these 🙂

   • Indeed, I’m really happy with the Mikakon 50mm f0.95 and ordered the 85m f1.2 because I have every confidence with their lenses.

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