ZEISS Batis 18mm f/2.8 for Sony E Mount Mirrorless Cameras, Black

I recently added the ZEISS Batis 85mm f/1.8 Lens to my Sony E Mount mirrorless setup, and it has quickly become one of my go-to lenses for portrait photography. As a commercial photographer with decades of experience, I'm always on the lookout for lenses that deliver both optical quality and practical usability, and the Batis 85mm absolutely delivers on both fronts.Optical Quality:The image quality is nothing short of stunning. The sharpness this lens delivers, even at its widest aperture of f/1.8, is remarkable. It renders skin tones beautifully, capturing every detail with precision. The colors are rich and true to life, and the contrast is excellent, typical of ZEISS lenses.Bokeh:One of the highlights of this lens is the bokeh. The 85mm focal length combined with the f/1.8 aperture produces a smooth, creamy bokeh that makes the subject pop against a beautifully blurred background. This is perfect for portraits where you want to isolate your subject and create a sense of depth.Build Quality and Handling:The build quality of the Batis 85mm is top-notch, as expected from ZEISS. It feels solid and well-balanced on my Sony A7 series camera, and the weather sealing gives me confidence when shooting in less-than-ideal conditions. The lens is also relatively lightweight, making it comfortable to use for extended shoots.OLED Display:The innovative OLED display on the lens barrel is a nice touch, allowing me to see the focus distance and depth of field at a glance. It’s a feature that, while not essential, adds to the overall usability of the lens.Autofocus:The autofocus is fast and accurate, which is crucial when shooting portraits. It locks onto the subject quickly, even in low light, and tracks movement effectively. While it’s not the absolute fastest lens on the market, it’s more than adequate for my needs.Overall, the ZEISS Batis 85mm f/1.8 is an exceptional lens that delivers stunning image quality and beautiful bokeh, making it perfect for portrait photography. The build quality, innovative features, and reliable autofocus make it a valuable addition to any photographer's kit. Whether you're a professional or an enthusiast, this lens is worth every penny.

First off, I'm a newb at photography. I've used some disposable cameras, used my dad's P&S for a day or two, played around with a Canon Powershot S60 back in the day, and recently tried using a Nikon D5300 for a month or two. I didn't know how to use Photoshop until around the time I started taking photography somewhat seriously.I'm giving you my experience as a person learning how to shoot and use Photoshop from nearly 0/100. At the moment, I'd say I'm 15/100. Got this lens and the Sony A7III about 4 months ago.When the lens was delivered, I was super excited to finally have a proper set of lenses (25mm, 135mm Batis and a 50mm manual Loxia) to fool around with on an A6300 from my partner's job and the results were great on the APS-C camera. Compared to the kit lens that she brought home from work, the Zeiss had better colors, better low-light performance/less grain, better bokeh due to the larger aperture. We finally got the A7III and I started taking it out everywhere.But, let me rewind to the moment I got the lens out of the Amazon box.The packaging feels so premium and protective, I almost want to put the lens back in it every night. Getting the lens out and holding it in my hands left a major impression. I definitely gulped taking it out of the foam. I'd never held a lens that felt this premium in my life and the weight and solid feeling gave me a sense of quality. Compared to the Nikkor lenses we also own, the Zeiss makes me feel as though dropping it would destroy it. Whereas the Nikkor lenses feel like they could take the drop and be fine. Not sure if it's because I know we paid $1000+ vs $500 or the materials or both. The lens hood slips on pretty easily and can take a bump and a fall (oops).Using the lens was a bit of a challenge at first. I had an idea from reviews and using a telescope I'd need to stand back a decent bit. In tighter spots, like a small museum, home, or studio, it might be a pain to use and a 50mm or maybe 85mm might be a better choice so you can stand closer to the subject. Where this lens works for me is outside. I can shoot gigantic panoramas with the camera setup vertically and grab a lot of the details of buildings. I've shot birds off at a medium range using Super35 mode to get some extra reach and got decent results (a proper telephoto would be better though). Candid, outdoor portraits where you can move around and shoot are pretty amazing. The background melts away in bokeh or dial the aperture down and get a bit more surrounding detail -- it's all very smooth.Autofocus and auto eye focus is pretty fast (compared to Nikon D5300) and manual focus is decent too, but I wish the ring was more textured. Focus assist and peeking helped me a lot to manually get tack sharp pics with eyes in focus. Can't say I heard any noise from the lens when it was autofocusing at any point.I can't say for sure if it's worth the price for everyone and it is heavy and yes you would have to stand back more if you're doing portraits, but it is very capable of producing lovely pictures in quite a few scenarios. I'd say skip it if you don't have other, shorter focal length lenses so you can shoot in tighter spaces with less of a hassle. For those that want to do some wildlife, more candid portraits and maybe those crazy detailed panoramas, this is pretty good at those things.