How I came to believe now 85mm is the FL to save my money and lens weight conclusion last night.
I was debating about the FE 85mm f1.4GM, I had it in 2017 and it was stolen at an airport. That was a huge loss, indeed.
I've had the Loxia 85mmf2.4 Sonnar and Batis 85mmf1.8E for many years and I like the Loxia a lot, but not really fond of the Batis.......still it may be one of my most often used lenses , though.
The Loxia 85mm f2.4 is a sharp lens, definitely one of the sharpest lenses in the consumer lens world, for sure, if not the sharpest lens in the current E mount lineup.
Sure the Batis 135mm is sharp too , actually insanely so. it literally never needs to stop down to get extremely sharp corners at any focus range, an incredible lens.
But in my test, the Loxia 85mm f2.4 is a tiny bit sharper in the landscape aperture range and in landscape focus range.
And the Loxia 85 is just as sharp as the Batis 135mm in close to mid focus range, with a bit more micro contrast and pop(more vibrant color in a pleasing way).
But I am selling the Loxia 85mm f2.4 since it is not a very practical lens, I often leave it at home or mostly at my desk at my office since it is heavy , not really heavy but as it is not my main lens or really necessary lens in my bag , it is heavy or feels very heavy. Also, the hood is not practical, it sometimes scratches other lenses or my camera bodies in the same bag.
One of my three A7R2 got damaged its bottom part of metal many times.
Many prime only shooters argue primes are lighter than a good zoom, sure sometimes, but not always. Plus, when we really need a zoom or a couple of zooms to get some types of work done(especially where you do not know what focal range you actually really need or fast moving events such as Gay parade), some times adding a set of a few primes in addition to that two zooms we really need in our bag really get our bag heavy and difficult to use in the field. I mean it is not very practical or convenient at all.
Prime guys seem really obsessed with corner IQ but if they often or even always, as many of them admit, cropping out a bit of frame, then there is no longer IQ advantage with any prime than exactly correctly framed image with zoom.
Cropping out a bit of the frame really deteriorates potential best IQ of the sensor more than a bit softer lens. Plus changing lenses often invites a lot of dusts on sensor, removing dust spots all the time in post deteriorates the potential IQ of the sensor even further.
And how many primes needed to cover the 16-35mm plus 28-75mm f2.8 range ? In my case often 4 or 5 primes( 15, 25, 28 , 35 0r 40, 85 and still I have no 21mm covered in this prime set up). At this point there is no more weight saving there in this prime kit.
I know, then, they use ZOOM WITH FEET argument as you often see in any camera forum, but it is often impossible since you cannot back off or move around as fast as the wind or clouds move or people move or animal moves depends on the specific situation you are in.
Imagine you are shooting in an extremely crowded place like Kyoto subway Shijo station or even more crowded Shibuya station in Tokyo, how could you move faster than your shooting subject especially he or she is kind of standing or walking far away from you? Maybe you can but with your big camera(s) and lenses? While changing lenses often ?
I often experience this kind of shooting scenario in a crowded city area of this tiny country or in Bangkok , Thailand or in Hong Kong. All of these places are extremely crowded. In a big Western country, we can sometimes zoom with our feet, but in Asia , it is very very difficult if not simply impossible.
When I was Numba (south Osaka) shooting the young crowds excited about soccer world cup and jumping around the famous Dotonburi canal, I was literally stuck in the same position for about 45 minutes , I could not even move my feet a foot forward there. It was that crowded. So I gave up changing my FE16-35mm f2.8GM to my Batis 85mm f1.8E. And I just used my other A7R3 with my 24-70mm f2.8GM(now replaced with the lighter more practical Tamron) and shot it at 70mm f2.8 setup. Sure it is weaker than the Batis at f2.8, but there was no choice. In many events zooming with your feet is impossible.
And also shooting some huge architecture building(not tall but huge) such as Tokyo stock exchange market building in Nihonbashi or inside of JR Kyoto station(usually extremely crowded), it is really too crowded inside to get anything really wide with just a 24mm prime or even a 15mm prime and also impossible to zoom with your feet inside of those very crowded station buildings .
In this type of scenario, I think we simply need a FE12-24mm f4G kind of zoom and it is more important to me than the Loxia 85mm lens since it is really rarely used now since it is an awkward and heavy fixed focal lens.
But still, I really wanted the 85mm f1.4GM back, because I really loved the way it rendered at f2 -f2.8 range(no zoom can open up to f2), and actually I was ordering it , then Sony announced the incredible FE24mm f1.4GM.......and that has immediately become the top of my next lens shopping list.
I preordered it and I got it in this week, I love the rendering and resolution at f1.4 and I think it is a great event lens at those places where the f2.8 of my 16-35mm zoom is not fast enough or my Tamron is not wide enough.
Unlike the huge 85mm f1.4GM or the heavy metal bodied Loxia 85mm f2.4, the FE24mmf1.4GM is light and small, relatively cheap.....I mean it is a true bargain lens. You can never get a lens of this class in any other FF system, period.
So if I decide to keep it , and I will have to buy back my lost FE12-24mm f4G zoom(I think I will since 16mm or 15mm is not wide enough for me and in super wide range I often find primes never work since I cannot change lenses in a very crowded city area), I need to save my money and especially some weight some where......and I am thinking about the 85mm FL is it since there are two decent cheap but great 85mm primes already existing in the current E mount lineup.
I need to sell something after I get the FE24mm f1.4GM and I was thinking about selling the Loxia 25mm f2.4 and the Batis 25mm f2 and I sold the Batis, but I cannot sell the Loxia 25mm just yet. I like the feel of that lens a lot and I very often use it when I just walk around a mountain area or a city area alone.
And selling the Batis 25mm f2 was a easy decision but it made me just a bit less than 500 USD. No one wants the Batis 25mm when everybody knows the GM is coming.
And even before the GM 24mm announced, the Batis 25mm f2 was often regarded as the worst Batis lens ever produced.
I really hate the Batis 25mm and I think it does not deserve its current 1200 price, it should be priced under 800 USD brand new, or there is no reason to even consider trying it.
It is a CA monster as I wrote about it many times and even DPR scientist Rishi and his colleagues admit it.
Oh ,also Fred Miranda mentioned it in many of his pots at his forum and Lloyd also said it very clearly, "the extremely annoying axial CA of the Batis 25mm is almost impossible to remove in post".
And it is quite distorted as a prime, I found my FE16-35mm f2.8GM at 24mm is better corrected and sharper than the Batis 25mm. Also important to note that the Batis 25mm is wider than 25mm , it is already well documented by likes of FM, JK, LC, and myself.
I think the Batis 25mm f2 is actually a 23mm lens(Fred once said it might be a 22.5mm lens uncorrected) before all kinds of lens corrections applied.....and the monstrous amount of distortion is never really corrected even after the lens profile applied.
So to me it was a easy decision to get rid of it after I acquired the GM. I am not a lens collector of any kind and I just keep lenses I actually find using a lot (my lens room is not big), so I will have to sell a few more lenses to lighten my camera bag.
Now the next selling candidates are :
1 FE55mm f1.8(amazing I still have it , how many times I have sold this one and still have it , that might mean I might actually use it although I hate this lens).
2 FE50mm f1.4ZA (I thought I may be able to replace it with the new Batis 40mm f2 CF, but I do not like the images I got from the Batis as much as the images I could produce with the FE50mmf1.4ZA. So I may keep this one as well).
3 FE24-105mmf4G OSS(I hate its distortion at 24mm and the black corner issue of it at 24mm is very annoying, and I always want to replace it with something else, but I find I use it quite a lot when I do have to travel light with just 2 or 3 lenses). I am still debating on this one.
4 Tamron 28-75mm f2.8(I think I will keep it since I really need a f2.8 zoom in this range now for parade stuffs and I do not find the GM any better than this one for what I need to do with f2.8 zooms. The GM is sharper in the edges and corners, but not sharper in the center or most 2/3rd of the frame. In fact, the Tamron is a bit sharper at 70mm f2.8 setting or even at f4).
5 Batis 135mm f2.8APO( many times I thought replacing it with the Sigma or the Sony 85mm GM, but every time I test it , I have to admit I am really impressed with its extremely high resolution across the frame in any focus range. It is simply an outstanding lens, no doubt about it). So I just keep it for distant shot or flower shots and formal portrait work I sometimes do at a studio. The problem with this lens is its much less effective OSS. The image stabilization in this Batis 135mm is fine but not as effective as the one in the Sony FE24-105mm f4G OSS zoom. Plus this lens does not work well with any type of close up filter which I often use with my Loxia 85 or Batis 85. But the 67mm filter thread of this lens is a big plus for me since I have many 67mm filters and lenses with a 67mm filter thread. So I guess I will have to keep it.
6 Batis 85mm f1.8E(I probably sell it since it has too much Axial CA. And it is hard to remove completely in any type of post work. Its distortion is really odd pincushion type, it has really bad bokeh, the cheap Sony FE85mm f1.8 is better in this regard. But it is really convenient and good for landscape type of shot, so for me it is a practical lens but I think the Sony FE85mm f1.8 is even more practical since it is cheap small, ergonomically better with the focus hold button. I think the two clear advantages of this Batis 85mm over the Sony FE85mm f1.8 are: 1 a bit better color and contrast in mid focus range. 2 it is clearly sharper at infinity or near it). So I guess I will sell this one with the FE55mm f1.8 or the FE24-105mm f4GOSS.
7 Batis 18mm f2.8 (I do like it sometime. But, it is neither convenient nor practical in many of my use cases. And It is not better than my FE16-35mm f2.8GM at 18mm in most of regards, except distortion and color). So I will definitely sell it.
Now the real problem in my Sony set up is what I should keep or buy in the 35-50mm range.
I do not really love any of the current offerings but I really need one or two primes in this range:
1 FE55mm f1.8-- I find it too long most of times for just one lens solution, or walk around with my dog at night. But it is a good environmental portrait lens or some flower shots with a close up filter. But like the Batis 85mm, I found its axial CA annoying and difficult to correct in any type of post work.
2 FE50mm f2.8 Macro-- I will get it soon since I need a cheap table macro lens for food and computer chips photography, but it has severe vignetting and color fringing issue for landscape type of work. But as it is cheap and in the right focal range for my specific needs I will forgive its very terrible axial CA and vignetting at f2.8. I never use it at f2.8 anyway.
3 FE50mm f1.4 ZA-- no doubt it is a superb lens, very well corrected for a super fast 50, and it is very sharp in any focus range, I love its beautiful rendering of people and especially flowers. But it is so heavy,I find I do not often use it outside of my house or studio.....it is a great lens but not a bread and butter kind, and it often cannot find any room in my relatively small camera bag when I leave my home. After I put my FE12-24, FE16-35mm GM, Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 or 85mm f1.8 Batis and the Loxia 25 or the 24 f1.4GM, there is no more room for any other lens , and it is often a big problem for me.
That is why I may sell it, but I am sure I will miss its beautiful bokeh and color.
4 new Batis 40mmf2 CF--I think it is a sharp lens and it is very well corrected without too much axial CA...there is almost no distortion. It renders a bit like an APO lens, not sure if it is , though. But the problem is it is not much sharper than much cheaper lenses like the FE55mm f1.8ZA, the FE50mmf2.8 Macro at f4 or near it. In fact, the cheap 400 US macro is sharper at f4 and it can shoot true macro.
So now I doubt I will really need and buy this lens, sure it will be a fun lens to play with for a month or two, but after that?
Still, I am kind of interested in it since it is really a nice lens for Christmas decoration stuffs or winter night walk...but just for that , it is kind of expensive to buy. I may get the Loxia 35mm f2 instead since I like the Loxia line much better than the Batis line. The 135mm Batis is exceptionally good, but all the other Batis are I say just average quality lenses or some are even mediocre lens(I mean the 25mm one and the 18mm one).
So I guess I must get the FE12-24mm f4G again, I am really reluctant to do it , but there seems like no other lens that can shoot that wide without too much of resolution penalty in the current E mount lineup.
I expected the new Laowa 10-18mm zoom to be that, but it was a crap, seriously mediocre lens, the image looks terrible.
The Voigtlander 10mm f5.6 is just too soft in the corners and edges.
And at this hyper wide focal range, a prime does nor work for my needs. And after having used the Batis 135mm, the Voigtlander 110, the Sony FE24mm f1.4GM, the Loxia 85mm f1.24 and the Sony 85mm f1.4GM , I am getting picker than before and it is hard for me to accept real mediocre lenses like the Laowa 10-18mm , the Batis 25/2 and the Samyang 35mm f2.8 or their 1.4/35.
All cheap lenses have a few reasons to be cheap, and many of these cheap lenses are just fine for fun but not great for anything require really good corners or color reproduction SOOC or near it.
There is no free lunch.....
