Carl Zeiss Batis 1.8/85

[Zoom] Wide-zoom | Standard-zoom | Tele-zoom | High-zoom  
[Fixed-focal] Wide angle | Standard | Telephoto | Macro

The ZEISS Batis 1.8/85 is an ambitious new lens released from Carl Zeiss for SONY Alpha's E-mount and I had an opportunity to test it. While the Loxia series is manual focus, the Batis series is autofocus. While it's certainly wonderful to focus manually, we cannot deny the convenience of autofocus. It adopted the Sonnar type lens construction with 11 elements in 8 groups and the minimum focus distance is 0.8m. Speaking of 85mm, the impact of the ZEISS Otus 1.4/85 is still fresh in our minds and it is created by combining their optical technologies using plenty of high quality glass materials. The Batis 1.8/85 is slower than the Otus by half a step and uses relatively orthodox construction. I was excited to try it and it think it is a great lens.

( Photography & Text : K )

The motorcycle must be the YAMAHA SR400. It looks cool because of the standard cafe racer style with the low clip-on handlebars and the small meters. I could focus on the headlight, but chose to focus on the right hand holding the brake lever because I imagined the moment it starts to run after the lever is released. The back bokeh is extremely smooth and the focal peak is sharp and clear. It has some falloff in the corners wide open, but I personally welcome it.

The sunbeam was so intense and it was very humid. The silver glass frame has halation, but it can't be helped and it's not spherical aberration. I focused on the man at the table and it's sharp, clear, while the aberration is unnoticeable. Yet, the image has some round feel, which should work perfectly for female portrait photography.

I think the 85mm focal length is a traditional one for Carl Zeiss. I have used almost all their successive 85mm lenses, and as I expect from latest lenses, the Batis 1.8/85 is very clear wide open. I know the Otus 1.4/85 is in a class by itself, but this lens is also an excellent one created with modern technologies while inheriting the old taste. It's a wonderful lens, everyday.

I took this shot as soon as I found the subject. I tried to focus on the person walking behind the two people in the center, but misfocused slightly. Yet, I think the focal plan has some depth and it should come in handy in portrait photography shot around the minimum focus distance.

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Excitement in capturing streets with 85mm

Speaking of 85mm, portrait photography comes uppermost. Meanwhile, I think it's a very interesting focal length for street photography. 50mm may be the most useful because it can be used like a wide-angle and a telephoto lens. But, the great thing about 85mm is that it lets us keep a good distance to the subject. With such distance we can take an approach to capture the "time." So, if you have a 85mm, you can enjoy wider variety of expressions.

The texture rendition is very ZEISS and it's also because of the very rich tonal gradation of the Alpha 7S body. But, I also believe that ZEISS has a tradition of making lenses of excellent tonal gradation. Thanks to the optical performance that clears the extremely high modern standards, it does an excellent job in shooting automobiles. The bokeh is smooth and beautiful.

To be honest, I want this lens just because of this back bokeh! The outlines are not distracting, but round and soft. Yet, they are not completely dissolved and have some volume. This makes me wish for the Batis 50mm. The Loxia 2/50 is a wonderful lens, but it has a bit of quirks. Of course, they are also interesting, but Mr. ZEISS, how about making another 50mm with the image quality like this 85mm? I'm sorry I digressed.

I shot with the RAW+JPEG setting and developed the RAW file making no adjustments using universal developing software. In this plain environment, it7s hard to eliminate aberrations such as chromatic on PC, no matter how closely SONY and ZEISS work together. Yet, it's free from undesirable chromatic aberration even though I expected to see some aberrations around the edges. Did they work to eliminate it fundamentally? I'd like to ask them about this.

What I don't understand is this pincushion distortion. I think its negative impact is minor because this lens is used primarily for people. Still, I believe that ZEISS is the last manufacturer to make a lens with such issue. Maybe they had to do it in order to maintain the balance with the lens size. Anyway, it's well within the level that can always be fixed with software. Even though I shot from a long distance, I could see the focal peak very clearly while focusing manually. The resolution is quite high.

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I stopped down to F8, even though it's not the type of lens to be used in such a way. Except for the falloff, I even felt the image quality (resolution, in particular) peaks at wide open. The lines don't thicken by stopping down and they keep forming images minutely. So, the increase of the aperture only increases the depth of field and the rendition doesn't get harder. IN addition, image quality remains to be excellent in high and low keys, meaning the lens has an excellent tonal gradation as well.

I shot way over. What do you think?

I decided the exposure and the composition taking the falloff into account. At wide open, the tonal gradation is perfect without being too light or heavy. This lens can capture the air of the scene.

At the port just before the sunset. The bokeh is not something we can get from a 50mm. I'm becoming addicted to shoot streets with this 85mm. The set of this moderately sized lens and the compact body won't give you a hard time to carry.

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This is a short-telephoto lens with an extremely fine-tuned balance

ZEISS lenses are big and heavy, and I used to wonder if they even consider the size. One concept of the Alpha series is the compactness. Of course, they can make the F1.4 lens, but it won't even be able to shoot if the size becomes too big to carry. In this sense, I feel this lens has such a great balance. It may not have the crazy characteristics like the Otus series, but the total image quality can rival with the Otus series. This lens should be used not only purposefully but also regularly, or multi-purposefully. And, the size and price realizes such use. The focal length around 85mm allows an approach to capture the conductive wire of the subject and the flow of time by shooting it in a small size having wider margin in the frame. This is an interesting angle of view for streets and it's also essential for landscapes. I strongly recommend you to include this new choice in your bag.

( 18.07.2015 )