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Steve Spencer wrote:
After looking and comparing here are my thoughts on these lenses. First I think they are all very good lenses and all would do a very nice job for what most people would like to shoot at the focal length. With that in mind let me say a big about each one.
Batis 85 -- It is the smallest; it is sharp in the centre and in the off centre test too. Nice colour response as well. It has autofocus. I find its bokeh the worst of the lot. Just mediocre, IMO, among some real stars. Has less fringing but that is to be expected with a slower lens. For me that means I will almost never use this lens, but I will get it for me wife because the small size is most important to her and she want AF.
Sony 85 GM -- Quite nice bokeh. It gets beat by the Minolta Limited but IMO not by any of the others. Good centre and off centre sharpness. Nice colour response. Has AF. Has a lot of colour fringing, which as a modern lens one might expect to be reduced but i don't see it here. If I wanted AF, then this would be my pick. Pretty good in all areas but not quite the best in any, but it looks like a fine lens.
Zeiss C/Y 100 f/2 -- Very nice bokeh. IMO, right up there with the Sony GM in second to the Minolta Limited. Decent centre sharpness and off centre sharpness. Not quite as much as the modern lenses, but that is ok with me. Nice colour response. A MF lens. Less colour fringing as would be expected with a slower lens. As I want MF this lens would be my choice.
Zeiss Contax N 85 f/1.4 -- I find the bokeh of this lens to not be quite as nice as the Sony GM or C/Y 100, but noticeably better than the Batis. I like the Minolta Limited quite a bit more. Decent centre sharpness but the off centre sharpness suffers a bit. Very nice colour response. Adapted AF. Lots of colour fringing as would be expected for a faster lens. I would have guessed this lens would have shown up better in the testing but I didn't find it to distinguish itself in any area except colour response. I expected the bokeh to be better. It is still a fantastic lens, but in this tough competition I am not sure I could find a reason to select it.
Minolta 85 f/1.4 Limited -- The lens IMO with the best bokeh. It has decent sharpness in the centre but suffers a bit off centre. Nice colour response. Adapted AF. Lots of colour fringing, however, probably the worst of the lenses tested--see the upper right corner of the fence shot--some even quite a bit of fringing is expected in such a fast lens but it seems to lag a bit in this area behind the competition. I see this lens as the choice if bokeh is your primary consideration, but if you can handle a bit worse bokeh I think there are better choices. Still an outstanding lens.
Samyang 85 f/1.4 -- This lens has quite nice bokeh almost as good IMO as the Zeiss C/Y 100 and Sony GM. It is sharp in the centre but with what looks to my eye like lower contrast and it has decent off centre sharpness as well. What I don't like about this lens is the colour response. I find the colours muted. Despite that it has plenty of fringing as would be expected for such a fast lens. It is MF. I think this lens is a great choice if you can live with the colour and you are on a budget.
Minolta Rokkor 58 f/1.2 -- I love this lens but I can't help but thinking this kept coming up as the one that doesn't belong. It has very nice bokeh, but the focal length difference made the bokeh shots non-comparable, IMO. The sharpness is not bad even off centre, but again the framing must have been different because of the focal length difference. The colour was effected by the yellow cast--this lens could benefits from a few days in the sun or under a UV light unless you like the yellow cast. It is MF, and has a bit less fringing I think because of the focal length. It is a great lens if you are looking for something 50ish, but IMO not really comparable here.
So my choice would be the C/Y 100 f/2 but mostly because I prefer manual focus and that rules out a bunch of these. I will probably get the Batis 85 for my wife but I doubt I will use it much if at all. I think if I wanted an 85 with AF I would go with the GM, but I would be sorely tempted by the Minolta Limited....Show more →
Good write up Steve, I have done the same thing myself, but more extensive, and I'll post that later tonight--I have been out of town and busy here lately. Just a couple notes:
The bokeh on the N 85 isn't great, and if you look at it in isolation such as this test, it doesn't do as well as others. And I am not one for busy bokeh, but in photos it's gorgeous and highly distinctive. I'll post some examples  And Hiep tested the N85 on a modded A7 and found the corners and such sharpened up better, so we have some interference from Sony sensor stack.
The test here somewhat shows the color differences, but not to the extent that actual shooting does. The Minolta Limited color is the most delicate and best for people I have seen--the way it renders to me is just stunning. I do hate the fringing though.
You're right--the Mino 58 here doesn't belong in terms of IQ, size, specs or price but I thought it would be nice for people to see.
Edited on May 22, 2016 at 04:54 PM · View previous versions
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It's does very well though for bokeh