Hmmm . . . so my 85mm options are for a travel lens appear to be
85/1.8 Sony:
371 grams
3.07 x 3.23" (DxL)
85/2.4 Lox:
594 grams
2.46 x 3.73" (DxL)
85/4 ZM:
310 grams
2.1 x 3.7"
Nice to have choices!
Currently have the super compact, very very good IQ, and light ZM, which is great, but AF would be handy during travel uses.
The Sony is a little heavier and a bit larger, while the Lox likely has the best IQ of the three, but is pretty dense @ nearly 2x the weight.
I say bravo to Sony, especially if the flare is OK and the sun stars pretty good compared to the ZM and Lox.
jhinkey wrote:
Hmmm . . . so my 85mm options are for a travel lens appear to be
85/1.8 Sony:
371 grams
3.07 x 3.23" (DxL)
85/2.4 Lox:
594 grams
2.46 x 3.73" (DxL)
85/4 ZM:
310 grams
2.1 x 3.7"
Nice to have choices!
Currently have the super compact, very very good IQ, and light ZM, which is great, but AF would be handy during travel uses.
The Sony is a little heavier and a bit larger, while the Lox likely has the best IQ of the three, but is pretty dense @ nearly 2x the weight.
I say bravo to Sony, especially if the flare is OK and the sun stars pretty good compared to the ZM and Lox....Show more →
Just a minor clarification--the ZM length is with the caps on and the Sony and Loxia lengths are with the caps off. The ZM is about the same length as the Sony if they both have caps (or both don't have caps). It is clearly the smallest option. Don't expect wonders from the Sony for sunstars. Nine rounded blades are nice for bokeh for portraits, but that aperture arrangement tends to produce crappy sunstars, IMO. The 10 straight blades of the ZM and Loxia in my view are much better. From the reviews it looks like the Sony could handle flare a bit better too, so you get AF with the Sony but not without costs. My view is that if you are traveling and you are primarily shooting landscapes the ZM is a fantastic choice. Smallest and handles landscapes with aplomb. If you are primarily interested in portraits, the Sony will be great and you would have AF if you like it. The Loxia is the most versatile lens and still small in volume if not in weight, but you have to like manual focus. If you need AF and you want versatile, then I think the Batis is you best choice.
Why some of us have two 85's in our bags. I have the ZM with me right now on the road shooting basically landscapes with these wind turbines and getting very nice results. I bought the Sony for fast AF for outside this area of shooting.
Could the Sony be the landscape type lens. In a pinch sure but not sure it can perform like the Loxia and ZM. Although I'm going to find out for sure as I get the Sony tomorrow
Steve Spencer wrote:
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Just a minor clarification--the ZM length is with the caps on and the Sony and Loxia lengths are with the caps off. The ZM is about the same length as the Sony if they both have caps (or both don't have caps). It is clearly the smallest option. Don't expect wonders from the Sony for sunstars. Nine rounded blades are nice for bokeh for portraits, but that aperture arrangement tends to produce crappy sunstars, IMO. The 10 straight blades of the ZM and Loxia in my view are much better. From the reviews it looks like the Sony could handle flare a bit better too, so you get AF with the Sony but not without costs. My view is that if you are traveling and you are primarily shooting landscapes the ZM is a fantastic choice. Smallest and handles landscapes with aplomb. If you are primarily interested in portraits, the Sony will be great and you would have AF if you like it. The Loxia is the most versatile lens and still small in volume if not in weight, but you have to like manual focus. If you need AF and you want versatile, then I think the Batis is you best choice....Show more →
Steve, I honestly don't know - the FE 85 is impressing the crap out of me. I honestly don't know if I'd choose the Batis over this even if there was only a $200 price difference. It can flare, but the situations where it flares are pretty limited to be honest. Contrast might not be quite as biting, but it's still very good, and honestly I think the Sony looks better in portraits.
I think unless you truly need a specific thing that the Batis look has, most people will be better off with the Sony, and pocketing $600.
the FE 85, great size, great optics, other 75's, 85's, 90's simply dont interest me. Good luck finding something much smaller with the same aperture and optics at said aperture.
Sunstars are ok despite being 9 blade (FE 55 pretty poor in that regard).
soon enough, people will be raving about this lens, it's great. I'm hoping sony makes a 135 in the spirit of this lens......
Note if you have the a7rii, you can ignore this as everyone with the r ii body seems to find the AF great. Otherwise read on!
Jannik Peters wrote:
The AF performance of the A7ii with the FE 1.8/85 in studio conditions is not good, I prefer the A6500...
jchapell wrote:
I found the focus (indoors) pretty rough in regular indoor (medium low) light. Trying to focus on my 2 year old running around was a no go, and particularly struggled at closer distances...however, I stepped outside in a cloudy day and focus was nearly immediate from near to infinity. I'm planning to use this in a lightweight 28/85 hiking kit so it probably is fine, but it will take some getting used to relative to the 55mm F1.8's lightning speed.
Jman13 wrote:
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
After a few days of use, I'm returning my FE 1.8/85mm. Similar to Jannik's and jchapell's experience, I found the AF indoors (even with additional sunlight coming in windows) to be not good. Unlike jchapell, I have found AF outdoors to be hit or miss. While jman13 is correct about turning the Live View Display off can help when the lens is stopped down, I found these AF problems even when the lens is wide open.
Indoors, the lens hunts a lot and often does not achieve focus lock. Many times it is obviously out of focus while others it seems at least close. More troubling are the times when attempting AF does nothing at all and there isn't even the gray focus box area displayed as if the camera is in MF even though it is not. While this is more than likely a body issue, it only seems to occur on the FE 2/28 and the FE 1.8/85.
Outdoors day 1 mid-day cloudy skys: the camera exhibited much of the same poor AF behavior just less often. It still would hunt, miss focus lock and sometimes do nothing at all in pretend MF mode. This was focusing on a non-moving objects at 10-20 feet.
Outdoors day 2 mid-day partly cloudy skys: the camera did great. It missed focus occasionally but nothing beyond what is normal with other reliable native lenses such as the 55mm.
Part of why I am returning this lens is that I have seen this same behavior on 2 FE 2/28mm lens. My first copy was worse than the second, but the second copy still does the same things just less often. I put up with it on that lens because it is only $400 and I mainly use it when I need the extra stop over the 2.8/35mm. With the 1.8/85mm being more money and having an alternative that isn't much more (used), I'll just get a Batis instead.
As far as image quality goes, I find the FE 85 quite sharp (potentially slightly sharper than the Batis) and exteremely similar in bokeh to the Batis, but somewhat worse at flare and slightly worse at CA than the Batis. All and all a great value other than all the missed shots due to poor AF on the a7ii. The sad part is that the people most likely be really excited about the FE 85's value are the most likely to be using an a7ii instead an a7rii body.
Jman13 wrote:
Steve, I honestly don't know - the FE 85 is impressing the crap out of me. I honestly don't know if I'd choose the Batis over this even if there was only a $200 price difference. It can flare, but the situations where it flares are pretty limited to be honest. Contrast might not be quite as biting, but it's still very good, and honestly I think the Sony looks better in portraits.
I think unless you truly need a specific thing that the Batis look has, most people will be better off with the Sony, and pocketing $600.
In time the price difference will grow, but right now it is about $250 between the Batis used and the Sony new--given the price discrepancy between the Batis new and used unless you hate buying used I would think you would want a used Batis. Don't get me wrong, I think the Sony is a great option and I agree it might be a bit better for portraits but for me both the lower CA and the better control of flare would make the Batis a better option for landscapes and a better option as an all-around lens.
I haven't used this lens much yet as it's dark when I get home and like other comments this doesn't apply to any other camera but the A7S. I was shocked at how fast it was on the A7S in the night time conditions compared to the 35/2.8, 55, and 70-200/4. It was accurate, Eye focusing, face recognition all worked. The eye af was slower as usual compared to pressing the shutter button.
Slingers wrote:
I haven't used this lens much yet as it's dark when I get home and like other comments this doesn't apply to any other camera but the A7S. I was shocked at how fast it was on the A7S in the night time conditions compared to the 35/2.8, 55, and 70-200/4. It was accurate, Eye focusing, face recognition all worked. The eye af was slower as usual compared to pressing the shutter button.
Makes me want to try it at least for live music (pub/club rock/blues) with my A7s.
Only thing I am wary of is at some venues, I am shooting with some of the lights in the frame or at least coming at me.
notherenow wrote:
Makes me want to try it at least for live music (pub/club rock/blues) with my A7s.
Only thing I am wary of is at some venues, I am shooting with some of the lights in the frame or at least coming at me.
I think this lens will work quite nicely for live music. I was taking some outdoor night shots with AF and had no problem getting focus. The two bike shots below are here as example. Granted, they are stationary but it was low light dusk and handheld.
rji2goleez wrote:
I think this lens will work quite nicely for live music. I was taking some outdoor night shots with AF and had no problem getting focus. The two bike shots below are here as example. Granted, they are stationary but it was low light dusk and handheld.
I only got my copy yesterday and haven't done a lot with it yet. But I took it out at dusk too and was surprised at how quickly and accurately the AF found focus.
I've not had this experience at all. I'm not saying I haven't had it occasionally go past the focus point and miss, but it hasn't been often. It almost sounds to me like you're occasionally activating the focus hold button accidentally.
scottsoapbox wrote: Sony FE 85mm f1.8 focus issues on the a7ii
Note if you have the a7rii, you can ignore this as everyone with the r ii body seems to find the AF great. Otherwise read on!
After a few days of use, I'm returning my FE 1.8/85mm. Similar to Jannik's and jchapell's experience, I found the AF indoors (even with additional sunlight coming in windows) to be not good. Unlike jchapell, I have found AF outdoors to be hit or miss. While jman13 is correct about turning the Live View Display off can help when the lens is stopped down, I found these AF problems even when the lens is wide open.
Indoors, the lens hunts a lot and often does not achieve focus lock. Many times it is obviously out of focus while others it seems at least close. More troubling are the times when attempting AF does nothing at all and there isn't even the gray focus box area displayed as if the camera is in MF even though it is not. While this is more than likely a body issue, it only seems to occur on the FE 2/28 and the FE 1.8/85.
Outdoors day 1 mid-day cloudy skys: the camera exhibited much of the same poor AF behavior just less often. It still would hunt, miss focus lock and sometimes do nothing at all in pretend MF mode. This was focusing on a non-moving objects at 10-20 feet.
Outdoors day 2 mid-day partly cloudy skys: the camera did great. It missed focus occasionally but nothing beyond what is normal with other reliable native lenses such as the 55mm.
Part of why I am returning this lens is that I have seen this same behavior on 2 FE 2/28mm lens. My first copy was worse than the second, but the second copy still does the same things just less often. I put up with it on that lens because it is only $400 and I mainly use it when I need the extra stop over the 2.8/35mm. With the 1.8/85mm being more money and having an alternative that isn't much more (used), I'll just get a Batis instead.
As far as image quality goes, I find the FE 85 quite sharp (potentially slightly sharper than the Batis) and exteremely similar in bokeh to the Batis, but somewhat worse at flare and slightly worse at CA than the Batis. All and all a great value other than all the missed shots due to poor AF on the a7ii. The sad part is that the people most likely be really excited about the FE 85's value are the most likely to be using an a7ii instead an a7rii body. ...Show more →
It is entirely possible the strange and bad AF issues are partially my copy of the FE 85mm. My first copy of the FE 28mm was terrible in this regard, while the second copy still does it but far less often (worse AF than the 55mm but not so bad that I didn't use it quite extensively on a recent trip). I would say the FE 85mm is worse than my 2nd/current FE 28mm, but not nearly as bad as the first FE 28mm.
I don't think it is accidental focus hold activation, primarily because I've remapped that to Eye AF.
For me it is less of an issue as I plan on upgrading to the a7r ii in a few months unless Sony announces something amazing that fits my budget before then.
I mostly wanted to warn a7ii owners considering this lens that AF could be an issue (since most reviews are raving about the AF) and at least order it from somewhere with a good return/exchange policy.
Some shots around the North Market today...some challenging bokeh situations there, as there are lots of reflections and bright lights and so on. It can expose a few of the minor flaws in CA control with the lens, but overall it handled them quite well.
