Two days ago, I took this lens to a photo shoot in the woods. I was surprised I got some swirley bokeh off the trees in the background. I will try to post an image tonight.
Go look at the FE images board(formerly the A7X thread) and check out the MANY EXCELLENT images taken by users with Batis 85...then report back....The images I've seen so far have been incredible, with the lens having gorgeous bokeh, IMHO. Like Dave said, shoot many images(I mean, it's digital for god sake!!), and learn the lens...I think you'll learn to love it. I have, and I don't even have it yet...
Gregg
Would love to see some of what you are seeing. And I don't find this post to be overly evil. In fact, the details and rendering perspectives are highly useful. I look forward to your images.
The bokeh in general looked very smooth. As you can see some of my images below. Just when I started shooting in the woods, maybe when some trees were just exactly in the right location, the swirly appeared. It's not bad. I personally like swirly. It gives lens character. In my second image, the swirly disappeared.
First image was shot at F2 (the swirly one, pretty much no edits except adjusted exposure and resized) and second image was shot at F1.8 on a Sony A7.
Don't get me wrong. I really like mine. The swirly is just a pleasant surprise. Next time, I should shoot the same scene with this lens and my Canon 85mm F1.2L and see if there are any differences. I would be interesting.
Greggf wrote:
Go look at the FE images board(formerly the A7X thread) and check out the MANY EXCELLENT images taken by users with Batis 85...then report back....The images I've seen so far have been incredible, with the lens having gorgeous bokeh, IMHO. Like Dave said, shoot many images(I mean, it's digital for god sake!!), and learn the lens...I think you'll learn to love it. I have, and I don't even have it yet...
Gregg
I have been around for many years and owned lots of lenses. I think I know what I'm seeing. It's nothing bad. It gives lens a character in my opinion.
davewolfs wrote:
This is like Verbal Diarrhea. Why not spend some time with the lens and then show some shots you like and some others where it disappoints.
I was simply reporting what I was seeing. I love my lens. It's sharp and bokeh is smooth and it has IS. Money well spent! The swirly gives character. I curious if all the Sonnar design lenses give that look. So far, more or less, I find my Zeiss Biometar/Helios 58mm, Leitz Summarit 50mm f1.5 give me that background swirly look sometimes when shooting them close to wide open. It's very interesting.
TheEmrys wrote:
Would love to see some of what you are seeing. And I don't find this post to be overly evil. In fact, the details and rendering perspectives are highly useful. I look forward to your images.
This is just pathetic. A guy posts about something he has seen from his lens. He doesn't make any judgement and if he did, he bought the lens, it's his right. If it has swirly bokeh and I assume he has photos to prove it, that is important information for someone looking to buy what is after all an extremely expensive f1.8 portrait lens. Some like the OP sees it as a plus, to others it may be a problem. But he gets slammed by fanboys immediately leaping to the defence of a what they presume is a slur on a lens they don't even own, adding condescending insults and presuming that their interpreted 'issue' will disappear by taking more photos, another condescending presumption that the OP has not done so extensively.
The forum has become so pathetic of late that I don't bother coming on here that much any more. The Sony talk used to be about people excited to explore and share their experiences in a new world. For good or bad, to allow educated decisions. Now it's become DPReview mkII. To be frank I wish Fred hadn't separated Sony from Alt. The atmosphere there would have loudly welcomed information like this. We would have learnt how to use and how to avoid the swirls depending on how we want to draw a particular image.
Thank you. I agree with you. Sometimes people just assume too much. It's their rights I guess. I know I will always keep my mind open, even though I admit I'm sort of a Leica/Zeiss fan. For me, swirly is not a bad thing. It makes the images more organic. I like it anyway.
Yes, I have only been shooting since 1996.
Beni wrote:
This is just pathetic. A guy posts about something he has seen from his lens. He doesn't make any judgement and if he did, he bought the lens, it's his right. If it has swirly bokeh and I assume he has photos to prove it, that is important information for someone looking to buy what is after all an extremely expensive f1.8 portrait lens. Some like the OP sees it as a plus, to others it may be a problem. But he gets slammed by fanboys immediately leaping to the defence of a what they presume is a slur on a lens they don't even own, adding condescending insults and presuming that their interpreted 'issue' will disappear by taking more photos, another condescending presumption that the OP has not done so extensively.
The forum has become so pathetic of late that I don't bother coming on here that much any more. The Sony talk used to be about people excited to explore and share their experiences in a new world. For good or bad, to allow educated decisions. Now it's become DPReview mkII. To be frank I wish Fred hadn't separated Sony from Alt. The atmosphere there would have loudly welcomed information like this. We would have learnt how to use and how to avoid the swirls depending on how we want to draw a particular image....Show more →
A lot really depends on the background itself as someone that has shot hundreds of lenses, some lenses depending on distance to to those areas and focus distance to subject will really show some interesting backgrounds. But many times it really comes down to the patterns of the background itself. Here in the Desert with certain trees and cactus it can get downright weird looking. Even the famous Noctilux I have seen some really disturbing backgrounds so much so I won't buy one. Your shots look nice and Ido see some swirling although it does lend some character here it's not disturbing. Actually maybe kind of normal given the background itself. But most of it comes from a combination of focus distance, out of focus areas, aperture and the patterns or how busy the background is. Honestly I try and get as simple as a background I can find and it helps just giving you a better look. These really don't bother me. I do like the separation though of the girl versus the background or 3d look presented here. To me that's far more important
GMPhotography wrote:
A lot really depends on the background itself as someone that has shot hundreds of lenses, some lenses depending on distance to to those areas and focus distance to subject will really show some interesting backgrounds. But many times it really comes down to the patterns of the background itself. Here in the Desert with certain trees and cactus it can get downright weird looking. Even the famous Noctilux I have seen some really disturbing backgrounds so much so I won't buy one. Your shots look nice and Ido see some swirling although it does lend some character here it's not disturbing. Actually maybe kind of normal given the background itself. But most of it comes from a combination of focus distance, out of focus areas, aperture and the patterns or how busy the background is. Honestly I try and get as simple as a background I can find and it helps just giving you a better look. These really don't bother me. I do like the separation though of the girl versus the background or 3d look presented here. To me that's far more important...Show more →
I agree. I also see some of the swirly bokeh, but it's not that bad and not as bad as some other lenses I've seen. The 3D separation is rather nice. The contrast is also very nice. Gotta love that T* coating.
For me, it's hard to decide between the Batis and the 90mm. The FE 90 has nicer bokeh and probably sharper through the entire frame, but the images from the Batis seems to pop more.
For me I need to shoot some more with the 85. I just really got some decent test shots I posted last week but have not had time in it since. Driving across country right now but anyway the 85 lends itself better to me with speed and probably faster AF plus it's pretty light weight which is nice.
GMPhotography wrote:
A lot really depends on the background itself as someone that has shot hundreds of lenses, some lenses depending on distance to to those areas and focus distance to subject will really show some interesting backgrounds. But many times it really comes down to the patterns of the background itself.
sflxn wrote:
I agree. I also see some of the swirly bokeh, but it's not that bad and not as bad as some other lenses I've seen. The 3D separation is rather nice. The contrast is also very nice. Gotta love that T* coating.
For me, it's hard to decide between the Batis and the 90mm. The FE 90 has nicer bokeh and probably sharper through the entire frame, but the images from the Batis seems to pop more.
What's the difference in size/weight between the two?