ZEISS Batis 1.8/85 for mirrorless, full-frame system cameras from Sony (with E-mount)

What can you say, it’s another cracking Batis lens!When I moved from my APSC Sony a77ii I decided I was only going to buy the very best glass available to make the most of my Sony a7ii, So far I have the Batis 85mm 1.8, Sony 70-200 f4 and now this Batis 25 f2 and my god I love these lenses.To make this easy I will break it down rather than tell some long story.BUILD9.5/10There is mixed things about the batis lenses online, however as far as I am concerned they are fantastically designed and built. Yes the lens cap is not th best ever and the hood is plastic, but lets be honest plastic is the best materials for cameras. it doesn’t feel cheap, it feels solid and well weighted, all the batis lenses are well balanced on the a7 cameras, I find the 35 2.8 sony lens way to small and hard to use, although i do always have a grip only cameras. Overall I love the lens/s and can’t fault them… except that bloody rubber grip, it gets so dirty and offends my OCDs. wish it was a metal with a little texture.OLED SCREEN9/10I am glad they went for OLED with this as it does help disability, however its usefulness is down to the user… I think it makes much more sense on a landscape lens like this than my basis 85mm… But overall its a great addition.OPTICAL QUALITY9.5/10Being an f2 and a close focusing distance this is a really versatile lens. Great for low light, close up food photography and full body portraits if needed! the booked is buttery and very nice, not quite as smooth as the 85mm but that is too be expected. Overall this lens is razor sharp, from f2 down to f11 and starts to tail off at f16. Sweet spot I have found is f4 and f11 depending on your need. There is pretty much nothing I would change in this respect and it has that beautiful Zeiss pop that you just can’t explain.ABERRATIONS AND FALLOFF9.5For a wide angle with a f2 apperture aberrations are present in extreme situations, but in general are very very well controlled and are as far as I am concerned a non issue. Light falloff is minimal and virtually gone at f5.6. Distorition is very slight and easily corrected.OVERALL 9.5I have attached a few samples and please of ask if you have any questions

The sharpness, the feel of it, everything is divine. Well done Zeiss.. But, I did not check, the focal distance, which should appear on the lease, does not appear! Do I do anything wrong?

Excellent all purpose lens. Extremely sharp, close focusing, great contrast and colours.

The image quality of this lens is amazing along with the build quality and just the aesthetics of the lens as well

In my opinion this is the worst Zeiss lineup in terms of design, it feels and looks a bit cheap, the little display is stupid, the focus ring is also useless, but it’s a great lens otherwise.

I used this to film a performance in dark arena recently and was blown away. This coupled with the A7Sii in 4K full frame mode makes the lens roughly 16mm and in APS-C mode a 25mm. As for quality, this...alongside the Sigma 30mm 1.4 are the 2 sharpest lenses in my bag. And the autofocus for video is snappy and quiet.

Very good lense

This is a good lens, but not a great one - especially at the RRP - with rebates the case is a bit clearer and it becomes a better proposition.Like the other Batis lenses, it has a distinctive look, it's light and well built but the body is prone to scratches and the rubber focus ring is a dust magnet. It's on the large size for the modest focal length and aperture.Image quality is very good, with excellent sharpness, contrast and colour. Bokeh quality is so so, thanks to the lack of curved aperture blades. The close focus is excellent and I've found it very useful for studio tabletop work.It's not the last word in background separation, but as a do it all prime, it's very good - just not 1k+ good to my mind, you are paying for the name in this case.When released the lens was much maligned for a couple of issues which have largely been fixed by firmware updates.