I've been reorganizing my seven 3tb hard drives since the final week of Sept. And I've actually found there are a few lenses that I own but I never seem to use in my lens collection.
So I decide to re-organize my lens kit to make it much simpler than it is now.
In the process of doing so, I have got a few really difficult lens dilemmas.
My main lens dilemmas are :
1 FE12-24mm f4G vs FE16-35mm f2.8GM:
I have had both for a while and now I only have the GM zoom , but I always feel it is not wide enough. When I had the FE12-24mmf4G, which was unfortunately stolen at a airport, I thought it was not as sharp as the FE16-35mm f2.8GM. And its short 24mm long end forces me to swap lenses more often than the FE16-35mm f2.8GM. For me most of times, the 35mm end of the FE16-35mm f2.8GM is long enough.
When I walk around with the 16-35mm GM plus Sony FE50mm f1.4 or 85mm f1.8 Batis or Sony, I really seldom need to do lens swapping. I just use two bodies and eliminate lens swapping most of times. So I am not sure if I have to re-buy the FE12-24mm f4G, but I think I will since I know a ultra wide prime does not work for me, in the 12-24mm range, I need a zoom. But buying the Sony super wide zoom leads me to the next complicated dilemma.
2 FE24-105mmf4G vs Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 vs Batis 40mm f2 CF:
This one is even a tougher problem to solve, I thought the Batis 40mm f2 would make it much easier for me , but it did not.
It was really a disappointing lens , considering it is from Zeiss.....honestly, I prefer the Sony FE50mm f1.4ZA much better , the Sony 50mm is sharper, faster, better made but a bit heavier than the Zeiss Batis 40mm.
I expected the Zeiss Batis 40mm f2 to be able to replace both my Tamron 28-75mmf2.8 and Sony FE50mmf1.4ZA.......but it could not.
But still, its close focus ability is very attractive, it is very useful for table photography, food photography and maybe for plants or accessories,too.
The main issue of the Zeiss Batis 40mm f2 CF lens, which I think was actually designed by Tamron just like all the other Batis lenses, is it is not very sharp at infinity or near it, so it can not replace my FE50mm f1.4 or even the a good copy of the FE24-105mmf4GOSS , which is actually quite sharp at infinity from f4.5. In close focus distance, the Batis 40mm f2 CF produces very nervous bokeh with some catseye bokeh ball in the edges and corners.
Now, I am kind of forced to decide to keep either my Tamron or my Sony FE24-105mmf4G zoom.
But in order to do that , I must decide firmly on the first dilemma first.......because if I go with the FE12-24mm f4G route, then I would need to keep the Sony FE24-105mmf4G to go with the 12-24mm. If I go with the FE16-35mm f2.8GM route again, then I'd definitely prefer the Tamron to go with it.
This leads me to the next dilemma.
3 FE24mm f1.4GM vs Loxia 25mm f2.4 Distagon vs Sigma 24mm f1.4 Art.
Currently, I have the first two lenses, and I am ordering the Sigma very soon to compare these 3 at infinity and mid focus distance(say 20 feet).
I thought the Loxia would be the sharpest lens at near infinity, but the GM is actually a bit sharper, and IMHO, the GM renders everything more naturally. The Loxia lenses tend to have too much contrast and thus often produce blocked shadow which I really hate.
I think the superficially sharper look of Zeiss lenses actually comes from their stronger global contrast level, not from actual resolution or detail resolving power.
If you honestly compare the GM series lenses vs the Loxia or the Batis, you can clearly see it.
Usually, the more contrasty image, the sharper it superficially appears on screen or in print, but if you compare a bit less contrasty but very smooth GM images vs typical hyper contrasty Zeiss images at 100 percent magnification level , I bet you'd often find the GM actually sharper.
I realize this when I compare 3 copies of the GM 85 vs the Loxia 85 side by side at our shop and office, then headed with these to a small mountain hill to shoot down the city area of our town.
I often thought the Loxia is sharper at least at infinity, but it was an illusionary effect of some sort of fake detail or sharpness that the stronger(not necessarily better) global contrast of the Loxia produces.
Even the Batis 85mm f1.8 seems to be a bit sharper than the GM at a superficial casual glance , but when you pixel peep them at 100 percent or even 50 percent magnification level, you'd quickly find the GM quite much better. I think its signature of very smooth tonal transition makes it look super smooth(or natural) and that tend to give us an illusionary effect of softness to its image.
So I most likely get rid of the Loxia 25mm very soon, it is a good landscape type of lens, but its bokeh in close distance is not as good as that of the GM. Plus, the GM 24mm f1.4 obviously has the edge in CA and vignetting.
So will I just keep the GM and sell the Loxia? I may not actually keep both , I may replace these with a Sigma FE24mm f1.4 Art, which I find equally sharp as the GM and more future-proven.
To be very honest, the Sigma has a bit more axial CA(green CA) in the edges wide open, and the GM is tiny bit sharper with a bit better micro contrast, but is the GM 450 US better?
And I am not sure how long I will stay within Sony system, and for me the mount swapping service Sigma is now providing is very attractive. I may switch to Panasonic in next year or add a Nikon Z7 plus their outstanding 35mm and 50mm prime.
If I do that, I may have to sell my GM lens, if it is a zoom then it is ok, since highend f2.8 zooms keep their resell value very good for a long time. But primes even the best ones tend to lose their resell value very quick. My Batis 25mm f2 (not very good one but I just sold it , so use it as an example case here), I think I paid 1200 US for it in 2015, and I really seldom used it and sold it in last month for 500 US or less......so I lost about 700 USD on the Batis 25/2.
I also sold my FE24-70mm f2.8GM in this June, I did not lose much at all, I could sell it for 1900 US(I paid about 2100 for it in 2017).
I sold my Loxia 85mm f2.4 after testing it against a rented GM 85mmf1.4. I think I lost about 900 US on that. I paid 1300 US for it and I could sell it for about 400.
In Japan, now Zeiss is no longer a coveted premium brand any more, not many people here respect for that name as much as they did in the past before electronics lens era, so Zeiss lenses tend to hold very poor resell value here. And it seems to be the same in Korea or Thailand.
Many of us already know that cheap Samyang 35mm f1.4 is actually better than the Batis 40mmf2 CF. The Batis 25mm f2 is really a pathetic lens considering it costs more than over 1k..... The Batis 85mm f1.8 is not much better than the super small and cheap Sony FE85mm f1.8. So how can so many people still respect for the name of Zeiss or fork out some premium over the rival lenses from Sigma, Tamron or Samyang?
It is really sad but no Batis Loxia primes are special, I mean none of these line lenses are outstanding or even just great ,at least not any better than the Sigma, Sony or Samyang rival lenses in pure objective senses...I understand some people prefer the subjective look of Batis or Loxia over that of GM, Sigma or Samyang, but to me resolution is more important and color neutrality is also very important and I do not see any Zeiss advantage in these area any more.
Still, selling the Loxia 25mm is a very tough decision for me since I love the tactile feeling of the pure manual lens, and there are no other tactile manual focus primes in 25mm range.
There is the 21mm f3.5 Voigtlander lens and I like it but it is not a 25mm lens.
So over all, I think the Loxia 25mm is a unique lens but it is not better than the GM in most of areas to justify keeping it in addition to the GM or the Art 24mm lens.
I think if I keep the 24mm f1.4 GM and in addition to have something in the same focal range , it's got to be really really special lens and I think the Loxia 25mm or any Loxia is not that special.
I tried all the Loxias and Batises and none really impressed me , or my expectation for Zeiss was just too high? I do not think so, since all Leica and many Voigtlander primes still really impress me, even the cheap ones like the E mount VC 50mm f1.2 , 40mm f1.2, 65mm f2 APO and new 110mm f2.5 APO, the 110 is a flawless lens, the sharpest E mount prime at the half the cost of the overpriced Batis 135mm f2.8 APO.
The 65mm f2 APO is an outstanding lens as well, but still the new 110 f2.5 APO is better.
In any case, most of Zeiss primes in E mount system are not any better than equivalent Voigtlander primes.
4 FE50mm f1.4 vs Sigma 50mm f1.4Art vs Batis 40mm f2CF:
I wanted to love the Batis 40 and replace my FE50mmf1.4ZA and FE50mm f2.8 macro lens.
Because it can replace two lenses the Sony 50mm f2.8 macro and FE50mmf1.4ZA......and it saves some big space in my camera bag.
But unfortunately(very unfortunate indeed) the Zeiss is less sharp than the 300 US Sony macro from f4 and on, this very fact shocks me. I could not sleep well for a few nights after comparing these at a local show room.
At f2.8 , the Zeiss 40mm f2 is a bit sharper in the corner than the macro, but still the Sony FE50mmf1.4 is sharper than the Zeiss Batis 40mm f2 CF at f2.8, actually significantly so.
Also the FE50mm f1.4 is better corrected with respect to CA, distortion, color and vignetting at f2.8.
Also, there is the Sigma 35 and 50mm art and both lenses are sharper than the Zeiss Batis 40mm f2CF with less distortion.
But I do not like the color and subjective look of the Sigma 50 Art, so I think I will not get that. I may get the 35mm f1.4 Art since it is a relatively small lens and optically quite good, at least as good as the Sony 35mm f1.4 ZA in every objectively measurable aspect of IQ.
That said, I think the real bargain lens in this range is the Samyang 35mm f1.4 AF. I think any one looking for a reasonably priced 35mm prime without committing too much to the E mount system should try the Samyang 35mm f1.4. It is a cheap lens but not a crappy lens, far from it. It is actually sharper than the Batis 40mm f2 CF from f2 and on at any aperture and focus distance.
I know,in an ideal world , keeping the FE50mm f1.4 ZA and also buy a dedicated macro lens is the best. But I do not use 50 really often to justify the cost of keeping two different 50m's and thus I want the Batis 40mm f2 CF(close focus) to replace both.
My macro needs are not serious , I just need half macro ability in some 50-ish lens for flowers and foods.
I had the Sony 90mm f2.8G , a good lens , sharp across the frame and very well corrected (no distortion) but I hated the ergonomics of it and for my needs it was just way too long.
I do not shoot insects or anything like that. I just shoot food or relatively big flowers with my macro lens........so I replaced the 90G with the Voigtlander 65mm f2 APO.
The VC 65mm f2 APO was an exceptionally sharp lens , but it was a bit heavy lens for me to carry in addition to my usual camera kit (two A7Rx bodies, FE16-35mmf2.8GM, FE50mm f1.4 , FE85mm f1.8 or Loxia 85mm f2.4, which is now sold).
So I sold the Voigt 65 APO for the Sigma 70mm f2.8 Art. The Sigma was a great lens but I did not like the build quality of it and it was a touch too long for me.
So I returned it and got the Sony FE50mmf2.8 macro. Sure it is not in the same league as the Voigt or the Sigma macro, but it is sharp enough for casual semi macro images I make with my macro lenses.
And I find it very versatile since it is quite sharp at infinity too, and at least from f4.5 it is just as sharp as the FE50mmf1.4 and the actually sharper than the Batis 40mmf2CF, I find it incredible.
So now, I am more inclined to keeping the Sony FE50mm macro and sell all my other 50'ish lenses. After all, 50mm is not my very favorite FL. I rarely use these.
5 Batis 85mm f1.8E vs Sony FE85mm f1.8E vs Sony FE85mm f1.4GM:
If I were rich enough like those guys at Fred Miranda forum, I may keep the GM and the FE85mm f.8 in addition to my Loxia 85mm f2.4.
But for me , it is now just too unrealistic , too expensive as I have to pay a lot for fixing my typhoon damaged garage. If I did not have the terrible typhoon attack last month, I may still have the money to keep buying and replacing my lenses every few weeks , but I am now broke.
So I must choose 1 or 2 85mm primes not 3.
I have the Batis and the small Sony FE85mmf1.8 , and initially I was just replacing these two with the GM and go with the GM plus Loxia 85mm setup.
But now, I have to choose between the Loxia or the GM. So,in early October, I have tested these two side by side a few times and found actually the GM sharper even at long focus distance.
This very fact has seriously shocked me , and I am sure if I could have only one 85mm lens , then that would have to be the GM, no doubt about it.
But as we all know, the GM is a huge lens, I think it is almost 800 g or so, so I need a small travel 85mm lens in addition to the excellent GM...
So some people may wonder why just keep the Batis for traveling stuffs?
Well it is a light lens, but it is neither as light as the Sony FE85mmf1.8 nor as small as the Sony , nor as fast focusing as the Sony. So I think I will sell the Batis soon. I never really loved it any way. I always hated its bokeh and always needed a lot of post work to sooth over the harsh bokeh.....
6 Batis 135mm f2.8 APO vs Sigma 135mm art vs Voigtlander 110mmf2.5 APO:
IF the resolution and optical quality are my two main concerns here, then the Voigtlander 110 f2.5 APO wins hands down. It is literally sharpest lens ever made for the E mount system, period. Before the 110 APO was announced, the 65mm f2 APO held the sharpest lens in the E mount title for about a year.......but now it is superseded by the new 110 APO.
The Batis 135mm f2.8 APO is also a very very sharp lens, but in mid to long distance focus range it is not as sharp as the Voigtlander 110 APO. And the most importantly, the Batis 135mm cannot close focus anything.....
Also, the Batis is just a bit too slow both in AF and optical speed compared to other similar lenses in its focal range.
If f2.8 is fast enough , I much prefer the more versatile Sony FE70-200mm f2.8GM.
When I re-bought the Batis , I thought it would be fine, fast enough at least for my type of things.
But I am often at the shutter speed limit at f2.8 with it whenever I am shooting something at dusk or in a bit dim forest.
So now, I use it for landscape type of stuffs or formal people shot in a well lit studio.
I think the Batis 135mm f2.8 APO might be one of the best optics I still own now, but at the same time it is the most rarely used lens of mine by far. I do not like the 135mm FOV, I find it very boring , I bought it because I knew I'd need it for a couple of events I needed to shoot without flash..........a couple of months later, now I really regret why not just rented it twice for the specific events I was paid to shoot in the last summer. Stupid. It was a big waste of money, since I would not need it after the paid event shootings in this summer. It is always left at my office collecting some dead insects on it. I usually force myself to go out with it but I find there is no place to use it in a city area, just too long and too intimidating to many people walking by me.
I really regret if used the money for the Batis 135mm for the Sony FE85mm f1.4GM........I actually debated it for a long time but the Batis 135mm f2.8 APO was discounted about 35 % or so at the time , so I pressed order on it. In retrospect, it was the biggest mistake.
I knew it I would not like that lens, I had it once in 2017 and I sold it for the Sony FE50mm f1.4 Planar.
It does not matter how sharp the lens actually is if I never use that particular FL at all.....it is really a lens I will never love outside of test chart shooting contest.
Plus, when I really need that FL , I would prefer the Sigma , it is faster , even sharper and produces a bit better bokeh. Sure the Sigma is heavier but not much bigger. And when I need that kind of lens I know it way in advance when I'll need it, so the weight and size of the Sigma 135mm f1.8ARt is not a big issue. It is not a walkaround lens , it is not a causal hiking lens.
The only real reason why I actually chose the Batis over the Sigma Art 135mm and the Sony 85mm GM was that the Batis 135mm APO was the lightest and smallest of the 3 and was hugely discounted. I really regret it.
Now , I think I've learned a several things by stupidly buying and selling many lenses that some one in a forum or famous recommended me over the last 4 years or so:
1 never trust anyone esle's opinion on any lens. I need to test and evaluate any lens I might buy myself , to make sure if I really like it.
2 all reviews and online opinions are useless most of times except from some extraordinary sourses like Fred Miranda , Roger Cicala and Imaging Resources.
3 just because most of reviewers and forum people rave about a certain lens, it does not mean I will also love it.
4 trust my own intuition more than any one else's opinion or any review when choosing a lens.
Some times even an optically perfect almost flawless lens like the Batis 135mm APO lens does not work for a particular person with very specific needs or taste. none of reviewers or famous online figures know your /my taste or needs , so they cannot tell what you or I or any one should chooce for our specific work.
Now matter how sharp it might be or is , if the focal length is not right for you or me or any one, it might not work for you or me(or any one), I learned this in a very hard way --the Batis 135mm APO and the Loxia 21mm f2.8 have really forced me to learn it. I wasted almost 1500 US for each of these lenses twice and bought it twice just because of the raving reviews these lenses get. But I never really liked the Loxia 21 and the Batis 135mm -if I have to be 100 percent honest , I never like these even a bit, never. I almost hate the 135mm APO, to be very honest.
Now, DPR upped their short interview session with Sony's Kenji Tanaka and I actually liked it.
He seems a more genuine or honest than most of those reps from Nikon, Canon Olympus,etc. He seems to understand importance of customer relation more than Nikon or Canon guys. He said he does not care what competitors are doing but his customers.
I think this is a great attitude.
So I think I will get the FE12-24mm f4G, the 85mm f1.4GM and FE24mm f1.4GM again, I had all of these once but returned or sold it.
Now the problem is: Which one to re-buy first?