Batis 85mm or Sony 90mm macro for me?

[christians86]

Hi,

Currently this is the lense set up that I have. I swapped system from Nikon to A7R2 due to traveling through work. For me it was a "hellish" drag to have a d810 and grip + everything and travel with it. With the A7r2 its much easier, but you also need lenses.

 

Currently this is what I have:

 

Voigtländer 35 ultron (in order)

Leica 75mm summarit (in order)

Zeiss Otus 85 mm(from my nikon system - hard to sell so kept it)

 

 

I'm planning to ditch my Tamron 90mm macro and sigma art 50 mm at a local shop in exchange for new lenses. As I use studio from time to time, and I have a phottix strobe I also need something when shooting models that have AF...as apprently some models can't work with a photographer that uses MF...they are simply not used to working a little bit more slow and controlled, and I'm not that fast with MF..

 

So...the plan is either having a AF Batis 85 mm, or a 90 mm macro Sony. I also do food photography and there a macro is quite handy.

 

Any suggestions? After reading here I'm a bit concerned that the 90 mm isn't as sharp as I would like, but DXO sets it close to 55 f1,8 sony, and thats good enough for me. Thanks for your help.

[seb]

Any suggestions? After reading here I'm a bit concerned that the 90 mm isn't as sharp as I would like, but DXO sets it close to 55 f1,8 sony, and thats good enough for me. Thanks for your help.

 

There was written a lot about the comparison of the Sony FE 90/2.8 macro and the Batis 85/1.8. The downside of the 90 is the f2.8. I hardly use less than 2.8 in portraits and I have a contax lens for that. but for some portrait style the 1.8 would be essential.

Colors and bokeh are just great on the 90. Some even prefer it over the one of the 85. But I think you should just look on flickr and compare the results. It's a matter of taste.

 

Besides, the 55/1.8 is a great portrait lens too.

To your question about sharpness: I'll have a lot of test pictures on my flickr account. Have a look. I'll don't show pics of my portrait work there, because of privacy of the people I shoot. But there are a few of myself that shows the sharpness of the lens. e.g. the eye from this week (itred eye) and the one you can see my whole face a few weeks ago (_DSC0255). these are made with a remote, so the point of sharpness isn't always perfect, but to judge the lens this isnt important. and of course there are a lot of others with the 90 also 1:1 and 2:1 (with extention tubes) macros. I can't help you with the batis, because I don't have one.

[Gilgenberg]

Hey you have the Zeiss 85 OTUS!

 

you can adapt it, so there is IMO no need for a 85 batis lens

 

exept for AF and OSS

 

so it is logical to go for the 90 macro lens with AF and OSS

 

only argument for the batis is size and weight over the OTUS and the 90 macro

 

better MFD for food you can have with OTUS and Batis using a small macro ring

 

happy you!

[christians86]

thanks both of you

[kellis2003]

I have this same dilemma. I have the Batis 85mm on order at B&H but it's back ordered, and who knows when it will ship. It's tempting not to go for the 90mm considering its in stock and is getting good reviews (and is $100 cheaper)!

[Sator]

I suggest that you try focus peaking with a Nikon to E mount adapter and your Zeiss Otus. You need no longer be concerned about manual focussing changing the pace of a model shoot workflow and constantly having to coach some models to slow their posing down, because you can shoot even more quickly using focus peaking than you can with autofocus when doing a model shoot. When working with a really shallow depth of field, you can get more accurate results using focus peaking than you can with auto focus. I would not suggest you purchase a Batis 85mm or the Sony 90mm macro until you have tried this approach.

 

The main reason to get the Batis or the macro G lens is if you want a lighter lens. Adding an adapter to the Otus does make it even bigger and bulkier. It also takes twice as long to mount the lens as you have to fiddle with the adapter ("whoops...I left it at home" etc). Also both the Batis and macro G have smoother bokeh than the Otus, which tends to produce sharply drawn double contour bokeh especially with busy backgrounds eg lots of branches. Ming Thein suggests that even if you own the Otus, you may want to get the Batis too for smoother bokeh on portraiture work. The macro G probably has even smoother bokeh than the Batis, which, although its bokeh is less double contoured than the Otus, it still isn't as ideally smooth as that of the macro G. Lastly, as long as your depth of field isn't too shallow, autofocus will be useful.

[Sator]

BTW here is the reference for the Otus producing double contour bokeh under some circumstances:

 

https://www.ephotozine.com/article/zeiss-otus-85mm-f-1-4-zf-2-lens-review-26773

 

Here is where Ming Thein agrees with this assessment and says that the Batis suffers less from this fault:

 

http://blog.mingthein.com/2015/09/12/a-visit-to-zeiss-and-thoughts-on-the-milvus-line/#more-11721

 

The 85mm [Milvus] is even closer [to the Otus]: it carries almost the same optical design as the Otus 85, but minus one aspherical element. Again, this results in some secondary LoCA, lower apochromatic performance and slightly lower micro contrast at wide apertures, but an unexpected benefit. The drawing style is somewhat smoother than the very ‘crisp’ Otus 85 and the fully spherical design means very smooth bokeh without any texture in highlights – this is the one limitation of the Otus 85, and actually a reason to own one for portraits and other similar subject even if you have the Otus. 

 

[christer]

I had my hands on both at my dealer's. Here is what I thought:

 

The 90 mm is huge compared to the 85 Batis.

 

I like the look and feel of the Batis.

 

I don't need macro that often, and you can get old 50 manual macro lenses for less than 100 dollars or euros.

 

1.8 is very nice.

 

I bought the Batis 85mm. Here are some pictures to show the Batis 85 mm bokeh:

 

https://500px.com/Nix-Pix/sets   (you have to scroll down a bit; f-stop details are attached)

[Susi]

I bought the 90 Macro and almost returned it for the Batis , but was having so much fun with it, that I took it back out of the box I had packed to return it and could not resist going out for a drive and shooting anything I could find, close up . The fact that you can take the 90 macro and walk up within inches of anything and get a crisp clear image and beautiful bokeh is pretty compelling ! I took it to an outdoor bar at night and had zero problems with it focusing, as the distance slider was very handy in keeping the lens on spot ! I am a portrait photographer and love great bokeh... and did not think I would want to keep this lens, but it is just so versatile that I could not bear to part with it !
I have not had a chance yet to do any 'pro' portraits with it , but I am really impressed with the casual shots I have taken. It responds well in low light , it is razer sharp and really does have a smooth background which I am not so sure the Batis could improve enough on to make me switch ..So, now that I know what it can do, I need it in my bag !
For some sample test pix see:
http://susilawson.zenfolio.com/p411330252