p.1 #2 · Batis 25 f/2 vs Sony 24 f/1.4 - Upgrade Questions
I have had both, though never at the same time. The GM is a better lens. Slightly sharper, better bokeh, less chromatic aberration...but that's not to say that the GM is aberration free, just that it's better than the B25, which I feel can have quite noticeable CA. Now, will you notice it? The bokeh, sure, and you'll notice the extra stop if you tend to shoot wide open. But they're both very sharp, very capable lenses. At landscape apertures, you'd be hard pressed to see any difference.
You can take that any way you'd like, but making a 24 that has great bokeh wide open and functions as a sharp lens with little field curvature at landscape apertures is impressive. The Loxia 25 is a better landscape lens, but the GM is a better lens to do anything else with. Considering that I think that the L25 is the best lens ever made in that focal length, that's high praise. There is a great review on Phillip Reeve that ends with some thoughts in comparison to the Batis 25.
p.1 #4 · Batis 25 f/2 vs Sony 24 f/1.4 - Upgrade Questions
I used the Batis for 2 years. Loved it. It was my favorite all-purpose lens.
When I found a GM for a good price I tested them against each other, and immediately sold the Batis.
A few months later, I got to missing the Batis. It's lighter, and I like how it looks on the camera. So I bought another one, and tested it against the GM. I immediately sold the second Batis.
The Batis is an excellent lens, but the GM is superior in every way.
p.1 #5 · Batis 25 f/2 vs Sony 24 f/1.4 - Upgrade Questions
maestrofilms wrote:
I used the Batis for 2 years. Loved it. It was my favorite all-purpose lens.
When I found a GM for a good price I tested them against each other, and immediately sold the Batis.
A few months later, I got to missing the Batis. It's lighter, and I like how it looks on the camera. So I bought another one, and tested it against the GM. I immediately sold the second Batis.
The Batis is an excellent lens, but the GM is superior in every way.
Can you elaborate on this? Have any images that compare the two?
p.1 #6 · Batis 25 f/2 vs Sony 24 f/1.4 - Upgrade Questions
Another thing to consider is AF. I've had some trouble of misfocused pictures with the Batis. The GM is flawless.
I totally agree with what has been said about bokeh sharpness and CA between the GM and the Batis. The Batis might be a little bit more contrasty though.
p.1 #9 · Batis 25 f/2 vs Sony 24 f/1.4 - Upgrade Questions
chez wrote:
Can you elaborate on this? Have any images that compare the two?
I can, a bit. From my testing the GM is sharper at wider apertures, has better bokeh, less CA and superior handling, mostly due to the aperture ring and, for the A7RII user, the button which I use to trigger eye AF. That last point is purely subjective, of course. Stop down and they're both more than sharp enough for landscape applications, though the Loxia 25 beats them both here. The Batis build, which some don't like, hits a nice sweet spot for me, that sort of solid feeling yet still light combination. I really like that aspect. Both lenses are admirably flat field and, I think, easy to focus at infinity. My Loxia is a picky beast to focus at infinity. The GM, Batis and Loxia are, by any objective metric, excellent. If you gave me one at random and said 'there you go, that's what you're shooting with now' I'd honestly be fine.
If I really think about it, it comes down to handling more than anything. The Loxia is the one I kept and use. It's just a better lens for what I do and how I use it...mostly tripod based long exposure landscapes. The Loxia is a sublime lens for that application. The GM is a stop faster and has better bokeh. If that matters, that's the lens...I think that if one does environmental portraits or shallow depth of field at 24mm, you can't go wrong. The Batis is nearly a match, save for some extra nervousness in the background.
Anyways, life is short. It feels good to get what you want. If that is the 24 GM, go for it. Otherwise, the Batis is still an outstanding lens.
p.1 #10 · Batis 25 f/2 vs Sony 24 f/1.4 - Upgrade Questions
I had both at the same time, bought the Batis first. I tested them against each other on an A7RIV. At landscape/infinity focus, I thought they were more or less equal sharpness. The rendering of the 24mm f1.4 is superior, IMHO.
The other characteristic that distinguishes them is that the Batis had much more chromatic aberration. I had two copies of the Batis 25m. Zeiss replaced the first under warranty when I complained of lens tilt/decentering. The second Batis 25mm was well centered and sharper than the first. But both Batis 25mm suffered from a lot of chromatic aberration in the corners.
The GM has some CA, but significantly less than the Batis. Not exactly on topic, but the Sony 20mm f1.8 has virtually not chromatic aberration. Progress!
Overall the GM is the slightly more desirable lens. If the GM is a 100 the Batis is a 95.
If you need 1.4 at that focal length the choice is clear.
Thank you for posting. Excellent review, even google-translated and I'm not one to spend more than a few minutes if that, looking at yet another lens comparison and test photos. Bookmarked and now interested to see what other reviews these guys have done.
p.1 #12 · Batis 25 f/2 vs Sony 24 f/1.4 - Upgrade Questions
LBJ2 wrote:
Thank you for posting. Excellent review, even google-translated and I'm not one to spend more than a few minutes if that, looking at yet another lens comparison and test photos. Bookmarked and now interested to see what other reviews these guys have done.
p.1 #13 · Batis 25 f/2 vs Sony 24 f/1.4 - Upgrade Questions
I have both and regard them excellent.If I had to stay with just one it would probably have been the G 24/1.4 for slightly better overall feel,versatility and IQ.The choice however would have been though.
p.1 #14 · Batis 25 f/2 vs Sony 24 f/1.4 - Upgrade Questions
Peire wrote:
I have both and regard them excellent.If I had to stay with just one it would probably have been the G 24/1.4 for slightly better overall feel,versatility and IQ.The choice however would have been though.
Why would it be a tough choice? What aspects of the Batis do you prefer?
p.1 #15 · Batis 25 f/2 vs Sony 24 f/1.4 - Upgrade Questions
I have owned both lenses, and I liked both very much. I chose to keep the Sony after comparing the two for a week.
But I sometimes miss the Batis, and I do think that I prefer the Batis colors, which seemed a little warmer, brighter, and more appealing to me, while the Sony 24/1.4 colors sometimes seem just a touch flat and subdued.
There are optical characteristics of a lens that one can tease out with magnification in testing, but that may be very hard or impossible to see in actual prints or web images or that may make very little difference to the visual impact of the photograph, especially when the image itself has some intrinsic interest that is the basis of the viewer's attention (in other words, is not an image of a brick wall).
And there are other optical differences that may have a large impact on how images are seen in prints or on the web, and some of these may be subtle and difficult to reduce to a quick, exact measurement. I think that the colors produced by a lens is the kind of difference that almost always matters to how the image is reacted to by a viewer. In other words, it is a difference that makes a large difference to how the image feels and is seen.
I do think that colors are one of the real strengths of many Zeiss lenses and that this is especially true of both the Batis and Loxia lines of lenses. I can see that it would be a basis for preferring the Batis 25mm, especially for someone who is very sensitive to colors and for whom they are very important.
p.1 #16 · Batis 25 f/2 vs Sony 24 f/1.4 - Upgrade Questions
I have the batis which I bought for astro before the GM was even announced. If I had known, I probably would have waited and got the sony. If OP is concerned about bokeh, my use in astro is probably not exactly the use case he/she had in mind.
Anyway in my experience the batis is a great lens and I feel no lack of image quality necessitating an upgrade. The f/1.4 of the GM would be nice in some situations, but even for astro, I find the f/2 is fast enough for everything but single exposure of the night sky (and even there it's pretty good). However whenever possible I will stack or track so the difference between f/1.4 and f/2 is not really an issue. The limiting factor is typically doing focus stacking on the foreground for which I'll usually go to f/2.8 or f/4.
Batis is a little smaller and lighter. It also has a distance scale on the lens which I've found handy for focus stacking in the dark. Sony camera's show distance in the LCD overlays, but the scale on the lens has more digits of precision.
p.1 #18 · Batis 25 f/2 vs Sony 24 f/1.4 - Upgrade Questions
chez wrote:
The colours and contrast from the Batis keeps me from looking elsewhere. The weight of the lens just adds to its appeal.
+1... couldn't say better. I'm sure I would also love the 24 GM, but my copy of the Batis 25 is a gem, at least for landscapes and more generally for stopped down shots.
p.1 #19 · Batis 25 f/2 vs Sony 24 f/1.4 - Upgrade Questions
PhilG21 wrote:
+1... couldn't say better. I'm sure I would also love the 24 GM, but my copy of the Batis 25 is a gem, at least for landscapes and more generally for stopped down shots.
I use mine mainly for travel / documentary type of photos. It excels in those cases.
p.1 #20 · Batis 25 f/2 vs Sony 24 f/1.4 - Upgrade Questions
chez wrote:
I use mine mainly for travel / documentary type of photos. It excels in those cases.
Exactly. For those who don't absolutely need f/1.4 at this focal lentgth, the Batis remains a very interesting option to consider, with a specific character.
