GMPhotography wrote:
This is not what I wanted to hear. Thanks for letting us know. If you can test that would be great.
I'll definitely try that. I've just build up the studio in my basement so that won't be a problem.
Jman13 wrote:
Jannik - Can you elaborate a little on the studio focusing? I'm actually doing a business portrait shoot next Saturday, and I was going to put the 85/1.8 through its paces there, but I was curious if it was small errors that you don't notice until later, or just that it would be slower to lock in some cases, or perhaps something different.
I wasn't really happy with the combination of A7II and 1.8/85 at f8-f11 to be honest. I have encountered small errors as well as hunting. I have used the 150W modeling light of my Flashes (Godox DE300) to light my model. I mean, I still have a ~70% keeper rate but that's not what I expect in the studio. The best show was slightly misfocused, I was pretty annoyed yesterday. Hope that you have more luck.
Are the A7II and A7rII different in regards how it's acts on stop down. The A6300 I believe is more like the A7rII. Can someone please check this with a A7rII. From a description I read this lens acts more wide open on AF than like the GM. Why I sold the GM. This is really important for me to know. I'll buy the lens anyway this week but be nice to get to the bottom of this.
I'll say this, and Jannik, you can test to see if you get better results. If I turn 'Live View Display' to 'Setting Effect OFF', the lens appears to focus wide open, or at around f/2, depending on the amount of light available, even when set to f/11. Now, if shooting outdoors, it still seems to stop down to around f/5.6-ish when focusing, but in dimmer indoor light it seems to be focusing at a much wider aperture in lower light.
Since this is probably the better choice for Studio work anyway, given the strobes, I'd imagine you'd get faster and better AF turning this setting off in a Studio environment. I'll try both at my shoot on Saturday and report as well.
Yes, you are right, Jordan. I'll report asap. I use the setting usually for any strobist work but somehow I could see enough with the setting turned on.
justruss wrote:
Too bad the lens came so late-- I'm briefly in Amherst. I'd have let your try the two side-by-side, since I have them on my camera right now.
Take a look up at my previous post (and consider reading the thread)-- directly above yours... since it talks to AF speed. There are other posts in the last page or two that corroborate the story.
AF is pretty close. Close enough that casual use hasn't revealed any notable differences yet.
Ah! You still in Amherst? I may have to hold out for the new 85, though it looks pretty stellar. Welcome home, man
Jannik Peters wrote:
I'll definitely try that. I've just build up the studio in my basement so that won't be a problem.
I wasn't really happy with the combination of A7II and 1.8/85 at f8-f11 to be honest. I have encountered small errors as well as hunting. I have used the 150W modeling light of my Flashes (Godox DE300) to light my model. I mean, I still have a ~70% keeper rate but that's not what I expect in the studio. The best show was slightly misfocused, I was pretty annoyed yesterday. Hope that you have more luck.
Two more, this time at f/2.8 and f/2.2 with flash. This lens is just really impressive. I looked back through my Batis shots from when I tested that lens, and honestly, this might be sharper wide open, and bokeh is about the same. The Batis might have a touch more contrast, but it's subtle. I didn't have any accuracy problems testing on other shots at small apertures either (tested f/9 and f/11). Of course, I only took around 8 shots. I'm really, really liking this lens so far.
This lens looks impressive, especially for the price. I have the batis 85, and I'm sure i would have bought the fe85 1.8 if it was released before the batis 85. Well played Sony.
Jannik Peters wrote:
Took a few business portraits yesterday.
The AF performance of the A7ii with the FE 1.8/85 in studio conditions is not good, I prefer the A6500 which I will use in the studio from now on. Aperture opens to estimated f/5.6 when shooting at f/8, don't know the reason. I will make a test for focus shift soon.
I just got my FE 85mm f1.8 yesterday and did some test shots last night and had similar issues on my a7ii. A lot of focus hunting and some lack of focus confirmation. This was in "indoor lighting", but not what I would consider "low light".
I did have the live view effect setting on so I will try some more tests, but so far I'm pretty disappointed with the AF. I'm not sure how much is the lens and how much is the a7ii. To be fair to the lens, I've been considering upgrading to the a7r ii as I've become increasingly dissatisfied with the a7ii AF.
Isn't it that the lens focuses stopped down on the a7ii and wide open on the a7rii? I read that in one of the first reviews... Doesn't make any sense though, what's the reason if that's the case?
