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 less than 10 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.
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 helping 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 less than 10 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.
Apr 06, 2017 at 05:13 PM
Previous versions of scottsoapbox's message #13990156 « Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens Review »
