see my previous post at the previous page. Zeiss is planning to release a firmwire upgrade for the Batis 2/40 and users will be able to upgrade the lens via camera (no need to send the lens). 'Eye-AF' and 'AF in magnified view' are known issues and Zeiss is working to find a solution for them. I know that the firmwire upgrade will, at least, change the aperture behavior at close distances, but I'm sure that *if Zeiss has progressed with these issues* the upgrade will solve them too. The upgrade is planned at early 2019, Jan or Feb I would guess. ...Show more →
Wow, that's very encouraging! Sorry for not following this thread so closely. It got my attention when @Chuck Coyne started posting some sample images.
Steve Spencer wrote:
Only the 25 and the 85 have Sony competitors at the moment and they do in very different ways. The Batis 18 has no real competitor and I really wish somebody would make a pretty small MF alternative, but so far nothing. Similarly the Batis 135 has no Sony competitor and is a fantastic lens. Sure it is expensive, but it is a fine lens. Now it does look like the Batis 25 has been outclasses by the GM 24, but at least the Batis is a bit cheaper and lighter. The Batis 85, in contrast gets beat for price and size by the Sony FE 85 f/1.8. So those two Batis lenses are beat (if you consider them beat) by Sony in very different ways....Show more →
I don’t think the B85 is beaten by the Sony. The Sony is very good, but Rogers tests show that on average the Batis has higher Rez. And it has better contrast and flare control. Sure the best Sony 85 is a touch better than the worst Batis (as you can see from Rogers variation charts) but the best Batis is useful,y better than the best Sony 85, and the average Batis is better than the average Sony, whether these differences are worth the extra $$ is a personal decision.
Agree that the GM24 outclasses the Batis. But the Batis remains a good ‘budget’ option given the best deals and used prices.
Dec 13, 2018 at 08:42 PM
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DavidBM wrote:
I don’t think the B85 is beaten by the Sony. The Sony is very good, but Rogers tests show that on average the Batis has higher Rez. And it has better contrast and flare control. Sure the best Sony 85 is a touch better than the worst Batis (as you can see from Rogers variation charts) but the best Batis is useful,y better than the best Sony 85, and the average Batis is better than the average Sony, whether these differences are worth the extra $$ is a personal decision.
Agree that the GM24 outclasses the Batis. But the Batis remains a good ‘budget’ option given the best deals and used prices....Show more →
I didn't mean to say the Sony FE 85 f/1.8 beats the Batis in anything except price and size. I agree that except for those two things I would generally prefer the Batis--perhaps that is why I have it . The point I was trying to make is that the Batis 25 and Batis 85 compete with Sony in very different ways. Sony made an excellent 24 GM that is only slightly bigger and slightly more expensive, but with generally better IQ which competes with the Batis 25. In contrast, Sony made a surprisingly good but slightly smaller and slightly cheaper FE 85 f/1.8 which although not generally as good as the Batis is a competitor in a different way. Of course Sony has the 85 GM as well, but that is a very different much larger, more expensive and purpose (porttraits) designed lens.
If anyone was hoping the Sigma 40/1.4 would offer an alternative option, Lloyd just posted some early thoughts from his review. For as much as this thing weighs, it really needed to be stellar right off the bat. He shot with the Nikon SLR version so I doubt the front-focus would happen with Sony as well (though it seems to have with the Batis at times).
"The Sigma 40mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art is a spectacularly good lens—the best yet from Sigma, impressive by just about any standard. I rank it up there with Zeiss Otus lenses overall and yet it falls grievously short in one key area: pronounced (stunningly unexpected!) focus shift (flare resistance is also a concern).
Add in troublesome front-focusing errors on the Nikon D850, and the Sigma 40mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art is a sort of idiot-savant lens in that front-focus errors tend to cancel out focus shift by f/2.8 or so, so that sorts itself out, which is good or hundreds of shots would have been junk. Problem is, using Fine Focus Adjust to cancel out focus errors for f/1.4 and f/2 screws up stopped down performance because the focus shift no longer cancels-out the AF error"
I really want a 40mm to keep me staying with Sony. To bad this lens has the eye AF issue. Any update? Look like Zeiss cannot keep up with Sony GM.
Fred, have you received a copy for review? thanks
bjornthun wrote:
Lloyd Chambers' writes in a quite snarky way, saying "sort of idiot-savant lens".
I have not used the Sigma 40/1.4 Art myself, so no strong opinions about it, but mr. Chambers could use a different language, imho.
I don't know who is Lloyd C and I don't know why his opinion is important. A lot of camera/lens reviewers/youtube bloggers are paid by certain companies now.
umsl12 wrote:
I really want a 40mm to keep me staying with Sony. To bad this lens has the eye AF issue. Any update? Look like Zeiss cannot keep up with Sony GM.
Fred, have you received a copy for review? thanks
No, but I'm not pushing either. I requested it very late and B&H had already sold all copies. They are still waiting for the second wave.
Let's hope, after the holidays...
Fred Miranda wrote:
No, but I'm not pushing either. I requested it very late and B&H had already sold all copies. They are still waiting for the second wave.
Let's hope, after the holidays...
see my previous post at the previous page. Zeiss is planning to release a firmwire upgrade for the Batis 2/40 and users will be able to upgrade the lens via camera (no need to send the lens). 'Eye-AF' and 'AF in magnified view' are known issues and Zeiss is working to find a solution for them. I know that the firmwire upgrade will, at least, change the aperture behavior at close distances, but I'm sure that *if Zeiss has progressed with these issues* the upgrade will solve them too. The upgrade is planned at early 2019, Jan or Feb I would guess. ...Show more →
This is the news I was waiting for. Very good to know Zeiss has recognized and trying to do something about it. Batis 40 is back on my list. Thank you Kalainen. I am sure your feedback to your contacts at Zeiss helped escalate and get needed attention. 👍
Chambers has long received advanced sets of 'all aperture' MTF charts of Zeiss lenses, something Zeiss never publish even on their own website.
These data (from the inventors of MTF) are the most representative scientific descriptions of focal plane lens performance and are used very widely by knowledgeable people - the sort who wish to know what is to be expected at all functional apertures from optical equipment costing four figure sums.
Want to see the effects of diffraction in that multi-thousand dollar Otus or see the aperture at which curvature levels out for landscape shooting?
Zeiss don't want you to see more than two apertures freely in their data charts, and Chambers hides many of them (not all) behind his paywall, for example:
'Aperture series 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16 available in full article'
umsl12 wrote:
I don't know who is Lloyd C and I don't know why his opinion is important. A lot of camera/lens reviewers/youtube bloggers are paid by certain companies now.
No exception here either. I’ll leave the rest of my comments at the door.
Lloyd Chambers favorably reviewed the Basis 40 in the field a bit ago. He did not test the eye autofocus at all. I emailed him asking about this since it had been brought up on this forum. He responded promptly and politely, as he always does, saying that he was awaiting another copy. That's the last I've heard. He is most definitely opinionated but mostly spot on in his reviews. Like all those who rely on subscriptions, he tends to push the envelope to encourage people to subscribe. I've made use of his consultation services for my Mac Pro, worthwhile then for such an expensive machine, and did subscribe for a while, though not currently. I do not believe he takes money from manufacturers. He does tend to favor Zeiss optics but then, they tend to be pretty decent lenses.
bjornthun wrote:
Lloyd Chambers' writes in a quite snarky way, saying "sort of idiot-savant lens".
I have not used the Sigma 40/1.4 Art myself, so no strong opinions about it, but mr. Chambers could use a different language, imho.
He often writes in a snarky way, and often his prejudices will be be expressed in how he writes: but not usually *what* he writes.
So some marque he hates will produce something great, and he will reluctantly admit it. And when his favourites do the same he is all joy.
But so what: mostly the info is pretty good. I subscribed for a while though not any more.
As for his review of the Sigma 1.4/40 Art he thinks for all his snakiness that except one flaw it's state of the art - Otus level for a fraction of the price. Genuinely otus level, not "otus level" in the way people claim the 1.8/55 to be - similar resolution, worse other features, smaller aperture. Here we have an f1.4 that is Otus like. The one flaw: focus shift. A real pain on a DSLR. But on Sony it may not matter, assuming that you can get it to focus stopped down at wide-ish apertures in the FE mount version.
So it may well be the as perfect as you can get 40mm lens. I won't be getting one. It's just too big. That little bit of correction in the outer field at wide aperture is expensive in both mass, size and price. Actually the Sigma price is fine for the quality. But it would be a very rare image that would benefit from the extra resolution wide open in the outer field over already excellent recent lenses, and the size and mass would be with me every time I used it.
Ivo Silva wrote:
Some of the benefit will only be realized, perhaps, on newer sensors(60Mp/8k?), Sigma did say the 40mm was designed with 8K in mind. We shall see.
8K is only 33MP! So saying a lens has 8k in mind is like saying it is designed for less than the highest current resolution. Of course it’s just meaningless marketing fluff.
Admittedly most current sensors cannot produce 8k video (it’s a video standard) and Sony’s new 60MP sensors will. But so will lower resolution sensors (not lower than 33MP of course)
So I've been enjoying the Batis 40mm since I got it in mid November. Love the field of view since I favor more normal focal length for general use. Up until now the weakness of the Eye-AF had not raised its ugly head until today when shooting my grand daughter around the house. Some where sharp but many were not.
While a little longer I switched over to the Zony 50mm f/1.4 ZA which does not have that Eye-AF issue. Its not as light and as wide as a I wanted but when there is cute little 3 year old in the shot I want her eyes to be in focus. They are so bright and clear make such a difference in the final results.
So I am hoping that there will be a firmware fix and that it won't take too long. Until then I will just I also made sure I completed the online registration in the short period after purchase to make sure the extended warranty was put in place. Not that it will help with this issue but its nice to know its there when you needed it. Used it on one of my Loxia that I had an issue with.
Well wish those of us the foolishly took the risk and went ahead with the pre-orders and purchases get a fix. Then when we do we can tell you how great the lens is.
I really want a fast af lens at 40mm and was hoping this was the one but the eye af not working is a deal breaker. I really hope they fix it in a update. Will wait and see.
In fairness, I never tried it with landscapes, so I can't say if it's off at all for that type of work.
. The point I was trying to make is that the Batis 25 and Batis 85 compete with Sony in very different ways. Sony made an excellent 24 GM that is only slightly bigger and slightly more expensive, but with generally better IQ which competes with the Batis 25. In contrast, Sony made a surprisingly good but slightly smaller and slightly cheaper FE 85 f/1.8 which although not generally as good as the Batis is a competitor in a different way. Of course Sony has the 85 GM as well, but that is a very different much larger, more expensive and purpose (porttraits) designed lens.