Cine Gear interviewed the Zeiss US manager and here are some info spilled out:
– Batis is a “progression” of the [shoplink 37732 ebay]Touit lens series[/shoplink].
– A7 platform is “exploding” on the market. It’s a hot camera mount system and our job is to do lenses for it.
– Also women are interested in the A7 series
– Batis focusing is quick and silent
– Documentary shooters prefer autofocus lenses like the [shoplink 37734 ebay]Batis[/shoplink]
– Strategy with Batis lenses is not to compete with other lenses from Sony
– Difference between Sony-Zeiss lenses ([shoplink 37736 ebay]like 55mm FE[/shoplink]) and Zeiss lenses (like [shoplink 37735 ebay]Loxia[/shoplink] and [shoplink 37734 ebay]Batis[/shoplink]): Sony follows Zeiss and design protocol but manufacturers and distributes the lens independently from Zeiss
Both Batis lenses are now available for preorder in USA and Europe (UK/Germany)
Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 lens in US at Adorama, Bhphoto. In Eu at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2.0 lens at Adorama, Bhphoto. In EU at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
In Europe and Asia the Loxias can be found in Stock via [shoplink 36456 ebay]eBay sellers (Click here)[/shoplink] and Digitalrev (Click here).
80 Responses
Yes, with all the complaining I predict that by the end of 2016 there will be more e-mount FE lenses then a-mount and most of them will be brand new with all the latest lens technologies. I will probably still be with a-mount, maybe get the A99 mk2
End of 2016 is too early – there will be still more A-mount lenses than FE-lenses.
Not all of them are FF though
Even if I limit A-mount only to FF:
I am quite sure, end of 2016 there will be still more A-mount lenses available. My guess is 2018 when E-mount will catch up.
if sony had a marketing clue they would make the A7R II cheaper so people HAVE to buy the camera.
that way sony could build a strong userbase for the future.
sony is in the same situation as canon was with the 5D (MK2) only that today the market is way more saturated.
to get people into your camp and buy lenses for years to come you better make the body cheaper. even when you make only 50$ profit on the body.
it will pay out in the long run.
As you can see on Amazon, they don’t have too, because it’s the most sold camera right now anyhow. The strategy that Sony now have is to keep selling old models for cheap, so I guess prices will go down by the time the A7R III and A9 are out.
but these amazon statistics don´t say much.
they are pre-order statistics.
preorders can be chanceld at any time.
and they are calculated on an hourly basis.
there are companys who manipulate those pre-order statistics.
im not saying sony does it.
for example when i check amazon right now the bestselling camera is the NX300
bestselling DSLR is the nikon D3300 .. followed by some canons.
bestelling mirrorless is again the NX300
well, I guess we will see in two months time.
@Mortimer888:disqus
You just don’t want to accept whats going on in the industry, do you?
He just doesn’t want to accept that Amazon’s statics are representative of “whats going on in the industry”.
That’s precisely the problem – looking around, it does seem that plenty of people are adapting lenses, so Sony is probably relying on the profits from the bodies much more than any other system. And they are still generally cheaper than pretty much anything out there.
BS. Sony will release cheap body with such 42 mp BSI sensor when most who could buys a7rm2
“We made them because the A7 system is exploding”. You don’t say! If the system is so small and light, why not try to make the lenses smaller and lighter? At least, let’s hope they’ll make more than three lenses.
a few small pancakes would be nice.
Mmm, pancakes….
lol at the sales speak. He didn’t have any answers for the important things!
If they make a 50mm Batis, I would jump in on the set. Not until then though.
There is the FE55 – what is your reason why you would prefer a Batis with similar specs?
It’s very important to have a set of matching lenses for continuity. It’s quite iritating – 2 brilliant Loxia’s, Batis and Otus. Minimum I need is 35, 50, 85 (or close to) before I will look at them.
Then it seems you have to wait longer.
The Zeiss guy said in the interview that the Batis 85mm is a good complementary lens to the FE55. And he always speaks about the FE55 if this lens would his child, too. I don’t expect Zeiss to make a 50mm Batis. It would be much better for Zeiss to introduce another focal length into the market: 105mm or 135mm.
Then it’s no deal. Do they want the professional market or not?
No – they want develop lenses they can sell to more customers. They want to make more money. I think you are the exception, insisting on buying only ONE lens line for covering the entire focal range.
After introduction of Batis 85mm and 25mm Zeiss will figure out that 85mm will sell very well because it’s the only 85mm FE AF lens on the market right now. And the 25mm will sell very bad compared to the 85mm, because many customers will go for the much cheaper FE28/2 instead. After learning this, Zeiss will not make the same mistake again by competing a Sony FE lens – at least not before 2017.
and all the while, it will remain an amateur camera.
LOL – you already have a complete Zeiss pro lineup you already can buy for E-mount:
http://www.zeiss.de/camera-lenses/de_de/cine_lenses/compact_lenses/compact_prime_lenses.html
Okay – it’s a cinema-linup, but A7Rii is a hybrid-camera. Looks like this turned the A7-line already into a pro-line.
As if your feelings are representative of the entirety of the profressional market. As a professional, I’d rather that Zeiss and Sony work somewhat in tangent to quickly fill-out the FE lens portfolio. I prefer the fact that Zeiss filled the void in the 85mm focal length rather than releasing ANOTHER 50 (we already have 3 FE 50mm primes)
Not representative of the entire industry, no. If you and your clients are happy with sloppy continuity then why should I care?
why not? adding motor is a lot simpler than developing new lens.
Good point – indeed!
Shaping the lens-barrel to an organic style, adding OLED and Zeiss-label while increasing the price tag isn’t too complicated, either 🙂
“It’s very important to have a set of matching lenses for continuity.”- So I must not be the only one that suffers from this!
it’s called duckling syndrome.
With the pro missing AF speed from Canon lenses on A7R2, Sony should update us with their lens road map so people can plan accordingly on lens purchase. I don’t want to purchase a few lens that I need from other manufacturers, but later on find out I can purchase the similar lenses from Sony.
Kai at DigiralRevTV cames out with a positive review for the two Zeiss Batis lenses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6d9OeMPdTo
It is like the firs time he really serious in reviewing a thing… He will be a Sony fanboy soon and start bashing the Canikon one day…
I’d say second time. The Zeiss Loxia review (link in the beginning of the video) was the first.
Oh Freddo, Freddo, why so serious~!? The world is not gonna end or someone will die just because it is not the first video~
lol i noticed hes becoming more and more positive about Sony.
He said he can’t wait for the A7R2 but don’t know whether he will flop or not. But nonetheless, fun to watch. But I really wish he can do more crazy shit like in top gear since it is too short for me even to finish my chips~
The interview is absolutely horrible filmed.
Probably with a Canon or Panasonic ;p
I was referring to the person behind the camera who filmed the interview like he had Parkinson. The focus was most of the time in any other part of the frame except on the subjects. 🙂
3 minutes 45 seconds in. “When you’re shooting a doc… it’s gotta be in focus. If it’s not in focus, it’s worthless”. The camera guy (whose reflection you can see) even seems to be using a camera rig and still all we get is out of focus and camera shake. I guess he wasn’t really paying much attention to Richard Schleuing during the interview.
So the Batis lenses were designed to protect subjects from beeing hit by exploding E-Mount cameras ?
Zeiss should make a full line of f/2 Loxia, 25, 28, 35, 50, 85, 100, 135 (basically mini-lineup of CP.2 t2.1) as it doesn’t compete with anything else out there except adapted vintage lenses. I’d buy nearly the whole lineup. Nothing else with true manual focus and manual smooth iris. I just sold 2 of my Leica lenses to go Loxia. When I shoot docu style, no autofocus for me, and auto focus zoom and assist with A7x series and Loxia make it even easier.
I agree fully. I need and want a full line of matching lenses before I can consider them. With 2 of each line, Otus, Batis, Loxia, it is quite useless at this stage in the game. I also agree about manual focus.
I would be very interested in the line you suggest. Ideally I want a set of Otus lenses. Design them for Sony E mount so I can use them without any adapter and I will consider the a7r II.
As nice as it would be, I think Zeiss needs to consider revenue, too. I would be interested to learn how many Loxia lenses they are really selling. As Sony still has a low market share overall, this probably isn’t enough right now to justify developing as many new lenses as suggested. But who knows.
Zeiss are working with Sony. Sony needs to commission it if they are interested in the pro market.
Yet they are developing two lines for that low market share. I imagine the growth rate must be inspiring.
Sony have a still a lot of catching up to do with Canon and Nikon but don’t forget Carl Zeiss are not a huge company. They are now a major player supplying lenses to a camera system with year on year growth and it will be easier for them to get a bigger piece of that pie.
It’s nuts we don’t have a 135mm yet. It’s like Sony knows…they know it’s anchoring people in A mount. It’s the last nail.
Come on, the first FE camera, A7, was announced less than 2 years ago, maybe about 18 months, you already talking about it like a mature system.
Zeiss have stated they are planning 5 lenses in the Loxia line, they can’t add them at one.
More lenses coming in the Batils line as well, but they are looking to fill in gaps in current lenses first.
I don’t see anything illogical here.
With the exception of the 85mm, it certainly doesn’t look like they are filling the gaps.
I get what you’re putting down. What I’m saying is that- well, we don’t have a 135mm! 25 Batis instead of 135? Pfft. We only need the 135 and portrait lenses are covered. Well, a 500mm F4 Fe for crazy portraits- now I’m just getting off track.
we as in you? I want the 135 too but like Everlast said, its a new system. You think they’re some kind of god holding back lens to tease you or something. Its going to take time. A lot of people were asking for wide lens.
100mm required too as if that resolves this complex argument you are making. 135mm can be generally too long and I don’t even like 80/85/90 so much as the 70mm, wheres that incidently?
I agree.
Curious to know which Leica lenses you had? Were the Loxias really that much better? I never tried one myself but judging from the sample photos and reviews I’ve seen online, I really didn’t feel like they were superior to any of my M-mount lenses. Also, I’m not sure what the minimum focus distances are for the Loxias, but being able to use M-mount lenses with Voigtlander’s close focus adapter really gives you a lot more possibilities by being able to get so much closer to your subject, almost brings a new life to them. The only disadvantage with the M-mount lenses is no smooth aperture and I guess exif data, both of which are not really a big deal to me though.
Edit: But I gotta say I was surprised Zeiss decided to release a 35mm and 50mm lens consider Sony already had those two in their line up. I felt like they should have released a 135mm first.
Summilux-R 35 and 50 (also have 80 and some Elmarit, but not for sale until / if Loxia line is fleshed out a bit). There’s no better, just differences and at the end, day to day usability of Loxia is better. (automatic focus zoom alone is worth it) Leica has superb rendering, but constant struggle with CA issues at brighter end, and electronic correction of native lenses is attractive. Exotic super car vs high performance daily driver, and end of day, driving the exotic really only serves me, as most of my lens use is on the working man’s “highway”.
Got ya, I did forget about the constant lens corrections lol.
I have to say that the auto-magnification makes using the Loxia a much different experience than using my M-glass. The 35mm Loxia allows for quite close focusing. I would guess that it focuses closer than the Voigtlander and my M 35mm Biogons, but I mostly use this adapter on my 90mm APO Asph. The Loxia’s focus is much smoother than using the adapter.
Naming after birds?
Shall we expect the “cheap” soon?
Actually, aren’t we overdue an update? The 90/2.8 is out soon (finally!), which is the last of the named lenses on the last roadmap…
What is “plenty”. Until now, the enthusiasts do it. and people not having the funds to buy a whole set of native lenses. Will the large majority of users do it, too? Depends probably on how good the focussing with adapters of Canikon lenses works in the future.
As I said, it is what I see when looking around, no more, no less. Flickr, 500px, countless threads on forums, reviews of adapted lenses etc. The interest is most definitely there. And when you mention enthusiasts and those who lack funds, well, that is kind of the majority already.
Most importantly, whether the “majority” adapts or not is irrelevant to my point. This is the only system allowing this level of adapting lenses and there is a clear interest in adapting by both those searching for “ultimate IQ” and those looking for the lowest price. Hence, the rather valid assumption that “Sony is probably relying on the profits from the bodies much more than any other system”.
I would love a 35mm f/1.8 Batis (Though I do not expect them to compete with the monster that is the 35 1.4 anytime soon). While the 55mm 1.8 Sonnar is an amazing lens, I feel I miss the 35mm focal length I had with the RX1 as a walk around, daily lens.
They might not release a 35 because of the reason you stated but I feel like it is still a possiblity if they are able to make it a relatively small lens. The 35mm 1.4 is sort of big on the A7x and I feel that some people are hesitant to get it because of that fact. A small 35mm 1.8 batis would be perfect if that can pull it off.
I need macro. Sony FE 90 2.8 or Batis 85 and an extension tube?
Batis has a lot of fringing and huge amount of distortion. I’d go for Sony.
Makro Planar 100mm f2. No contest. Thats if you dont mind manual focus, higher price point and only 1:2 macro. But, if IQ is your only concern, Zeiss MP is no1.
If true, would be a good sign indeed.
21 Super Elmar, 21 Summilux, 24 Summilux, 24 Elmar, 24 Elmarit asph, 28 Summilux, 35mm Summilux, 75mm Summilux and Summicron are not in any way overated. Infact I’ve not found better in almost all of these cases in the 35mm format. They are so little known and used by photographers, in the great scheme of things, that I would say they are grossly under rated.
Well – I am not a pro at all. I don’t know if a Sigma Art lens really sticks out of the rest of the Canon-lenses and I doubt it. Especially if the lenses are made for different focal lengths: So the lenses have different constructions anyway.
And I met many wedding photographers with 2 different bodies: E.g. 5Dmk3 and a 60D. Different sensor-sizes and different body-generations. I don’t believe in that lens-line Voodoo. I made this mistake already in my life in believing in Hifi-Voodoo: If the brain is convinced there is a difference, you find it.
No – I am cured: Always test it out by your own in a classic A/B comparison and not knowing what you are listening/looking on!
But if you can give me a link to a row of photos where another lens like the Sigma Art sticks out of a Canon lineup I am really interested to have a look on it and maybe it is really different than Hifi-Voodoo!
Oh – forgot to mention:
to get the synergy of the photo-album: I think it is much more to do with postprocessing than with the lens:
Making all pictures look equal sharp (or unsharp for portraits) and most important: Have the same color-temperature as far as possible.
The 2nd part of having good synergy in an album is the photographers style – the picture composition. And this has really nothing to do with the lens.
Wedding albums should always have continuity and synergy. I get what you guys are saying from the standpoint of lens rendering and character, but continuity is an element of composition, lighting and post processing than anything else. Besides, even within Canon’s line of L lenses, (which I’ve shot lots of weddings on) there are some pretty stark differences in rendering that I can readily spot without remembering what lenses I was using (i.e., compare the 50L to the 24L…totally different)….This is particularly the case between Canon’s zooms and their primes, which render VERY differently from one another
well, there are couple 35’s, one 55/1.8, a 90/2.8 macro and they are adding the Batis 25/2 and 85/1.8.
So this leaves the system missing something longer 135 or even 200, and wider like 14-18.
If they had come out with a 135mm, people would be complaining “there is not 85 or wide lens like 25 and they are making 135”!
Not necessarily whining; I simply don’t really agree with the gap filling part, when they introduce a 25, 35 and 50 in a system which has 28, 35 and 55. Otherwise, I am all for options, even in a single focal length.
Oh, yeah I totally forgot about the Sony 28/2 thats reported to be quite good and cheap too 🙂
Yes, the Batis 25 is a bit close there, but the 35 and 50 Loxias are totally different market and there a total of 5 of these expected as well.
You are no fun~
> but their zooms don’t breathe that much.
LOL – for someone who consider himself a pro, you really don’t know much about this topic. Canon 70-200 is breathing, too. But it’s breathing to the longer focal range unlike its competitors. And that is an advantage of the Canon lens.
The A7 system is exploding as in bursting violently with a loud noise due to internal pressure?
Sony cameras make me explode too… 🙂