So I got my lenses today. There was not too much time to test but I did manage a few comparisons.
The Batis 25 f2:
This is an absolute no brainer. I would say it is a must buy for anybody looking for the best and sharpest wide angle on the A7R. I compared it to my 16-35 Sony/Zeiss f4 set at 25mm and there is simply no comparison.
Sharpness: At f2 it is sharper than the Sony at f4 (both wide open) in the center as well as corners. The Sony never catches up, while the Batis gets a bit sharper up to say f4-5.6 beyond which there is not much improvement. Even when fully stopped down at f22, I did not notice much diffraction.
Contrast: Zeiss wins hands down, the color is also much better, seems like there is a foggy film in front of the Sony in comparison.
Vignetting: Slight (half stop) at f2, gone by f2.8
CA: Well, the only thing it does worse than the Sony is that it has more CA, which almost disappears at f5.6 and is completely gone at f8.
Flare: I shot directly into the sun and was pleasantly surprised to note that there was minimal flare if any while the Sony had huge flare issues.
Distortion: Minimal to none
The weight and heft are better than the 16-35 and the focus ring is so smooth. Did not test the AF much.
Tomorrow I will test it against the Canon 16-35 f4 IS and the 24-70MkII with the Metabones adapter. I also tested it against an older Zeiss 21 f2.8 Biogon, will evaluate those images later.
The Batis 85 f1.8:
Have not had much time with this one. I did compare it briefly with my Leica 90 Elmarit and both are about equal in terms of sharpness -center and edge, interestingly, the Zeiss is able to provide as good an image at f1.8 as the Leica at 2.8 (both wide open). Will do some more testing tomorrow.
Surprisingly, both the 25 and the 85 are very similar in size and weight.
A couple of images, straight out of the camera, no sharpening, no exposure adjustments, just corrected the rotation a bit. Both with the 85 at f1.8. The bokeh is beautiful.
The Batis 25 f2:
This is an absolute no brainer. I would say it is a must buy for anybody looking for the best and sharpest wide angle on the A7R. I compared it to my 16-35 Sony/Zeiss f4 set at 25mm and there is simply no comparison.
Sharpness: At f2 it is sharper than the Sony at f4 (both wide open) in the center as well as corners. The Sony never catches up, while the Batis gets a bit sharper up to say f4-5.6 beyond which there is not much improvement. Even when fully stopped down at f22, I did not notice much diffraction.
Contrast: Zeiss wins hands down, the color is also much better, seems like there is a foggy film in front of the Sony in comparison.
Vignetting: Slight (half stop) at f2, gone by f2.8
CA: Well, the only thing it does worse than the Sony is that it has more CA, which almost disappears at f5.6 and is completely gone at f8.
Flare: I shot directly into the sun and was pleasantly surprised to note that there was minimal flare if any while the Sony had huge flare issues.
Distortion: Minimal to none
The weight and heft are better than the 16-35 and the focus ring is so smooth. Did not test the AF much.
Tomorrow I will test it against the Canon 16-35 f4 IS and the 24-70MkII with the Metabones adapter. I also tested it against an older Zeiss 21 f2.8 Biogon, will evaluate those images later.
The Batis 85 f1.8:
Have not had much time with this one. I did compare it briefly with my Leica 90 Elmarit and both are about equal in terms of sharpness -center and edge, interestingly, the Zeiss is able to provide as good an image at f1.8 as the Leica at 2.8 (both wide open). Will do some more testing tomorrow.
Surprisingly, both the 25 and the 85 are very similar in size and weight.
A couple of images, straight out of the camera, no sharpening, no exposure adjustments, just corrected the rotation a bit. Both with the 85 at f1.8. The bokeh is beautiful.
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