Howdy again everyone and today I'm Checking out the Zeiss batus 40 Millimeter F2 I'm going to review it to Smithereens doesn't it look nice there What a gorgeous lens although that Rubber Focus ring is a bit of a dust Magnet it's an autofocus full frame lens For Sony e-mount cameras and at 1 300 US Dollars or 1 100 pounds in the UK it is Very expensive so I'm expecting this Thing to shoot fireworks out of its lens Mount and make Cups of Tea for me while I'm writing this review it'd better be Good is what I'm saying I am a secret Admirer of that 40 millimeter focal Length on a full frame camera it's a Slightly wide angle but your field of View is still tight enough to get to a Nice little emphasis on your subject F2 Is not the brightest maximum aperture Out there but it's certainly helpful for Shooting in Darker situations and Getting out of focus backgrounds in your Images the build quality of this thing Is as you'd expect wonderful it's Panic It feels like it's carved out of granite And it looks good too it's advertised as Being properly weather sealed including A thin gasket around the rear lens mount It's a simple lens to control really Having just a focus ring and a focus Limiter switch the focus ring feels Lovely and turns incredibly smoothly and It works with the Focus motor to give
You a lot of precision in use Unfortunately as you can see here the Lens does suffer from considerable Focus Breathing that'll be annoying for video Makers [Music] The lancer's autofocus Motor Works Silently accurately and quickly As is often the case on Sony cameras it Works a little faster and autofocus Continuous mode Above the focus ring is a smart little OLED display to show you where you're Focused those things are my favorite Gimmicks although admittedly it could be Genuinely useful when shooting in the Dark and trying to focus to Infinity if You switch the lens to manual figures And keep turning the ring in either Direction you can access some basic Options for that display too switching It from metric to Imperial measurements Or setting it to be turned off Altogether or for it just to turn on While manually focusing The Lens comes With a plastic Hood why not metal at This price and its filtered red size is 67 millimeters it does not feature image Stabilization overall the build quality Of this lens and its functionality are All gorgeous although video makers will Be a bit disappointed by that Focus Breathing okay let's move on and look at Image quality now I'll start by testing
The lens on a full frame camera my Lovely Sony a7r III in camera Corrections are turned on at f2 in the Middle of the image we see plenty of Sharpness but contrast is a little low And we're also catching some slight Magenta color fringing the image Corners Are slightly softer but still quite good They look just as sharp as F 2.8 but Image quality back in the middle now Looks much cleaner and sharper stop down To F4 for perfection in the middle of The image and also a big Improvement in The image Corners which now look almost Perfect the stays their sharp down to F11 where a little softness from Diffraction is beginning to creep in Overall this is a very sharp lens but Considering its enormous price I was Hoping for a little more contrast and Slightly sharper Corners at f2 at Thirteen hundred dollars we really Should be expecting complete Perfection Here alright let's mount it onto an Aps-c camera now my 24 megapixel Sony A5100 at f2 it's the same story in the Middle of the image really plenty of Sharpness slightly low contrast and the Color fringing there is emphasized a Little more by the extra density of the Smaller aps-c sensor that extra density Also causes problems in the image Corners where the lens can no longer Keep up with demand looking notably soft
F 2.8 looks marginally sharper in the Corners but excellent back in the middle Of the image F4 looks absolutely perfect In the middle and just like on full Frame the corner now greatly improve Looking virtually as sharp and F 5.6 Looks razor sharp in the corners albeit With just the tiniest tiniest hint of Color finishing on contrasting edges if You're really pixel peeping to the max Stop down all the way to f11 or darker And the image begins to soften a little Again due to diffraction so as you can See the lenses image quality Deteriorates a little on the aps-c Center at the brightest apertures crop Sensor Shooters I think should find Other ways to spend thirteen hundred Dollars okay let's turn off in-camera Corrections and look at Distortion and Vignetting now on a full frame camera The lens essentially projects no Distortion at all here which is great at F2 the image Corners are certainly a bit Dark but that vignetting falls quite Gently across the image frame so it's Not terribly noticeable stop down to F 2.8 or F4 for even illumination I have To say this is one of the few lenses for Mirrorless cameras nowadays that I'd Actually be happy shooting with without Using Corrections might as well leave Them on anyway but that's comforting to Know for people who like to shoot in raw
This lens can focus down to 24 Centimeters which is a fantastic bonus Feature for shooting smaller subjects at F2 sharpness is holding out fairly well Although color fringing and lower Contrast still rear their ugly heads F 2.8 looks about the same but F4 now Looks excellent Let's see how well the lens works Against Bright Lights now it is a Performance on a good side of average Here flaring is visible but it's not too Heavy or opaque And while we're working in the dark Let's see about the lenses coma levels Great news here right point of light in The corners of your images show no coma Smearing at all that's encouraging for Nighttime photography let's zoom out and Look for sunstars Less luck here I'm Afraid only had to have 11 or F-16 to The mildest of sunstars make an Appearance Now let's take a look at the quality of This lens is bokeh slightly Disappointing here at f2 we sometimes do See a bit of busyness and slight Colorful outlining in outer Focus Backgrounds it's not horrifying but also Not great stop down to F 2.8 and those Backgrounds look smoother but of course Not as out of focus anymore and finally Related tobacca let's take a look at Longitudinal chromatic aberration at f2
As you can see it's pretty strong here F 2.8 is about the same although at F4 it Is reduced and finally at F 5.6 it is Gone overall then well build quality Beautiful the bat has 40 millimeter F2 Is really really a nice lens to handle And the image quality well if this lens Cost five or six hundred pounds or so Then I'd be pretty happy but considering The lenses actual price it's a Disappointment image quality isn't as Punchy as it should be at f2 and there Are issues with the lenses blocker as Well including longitudinal chromatic Aberration it has some nice advantages Like awesome image quality when the Aperture is topped down no coma and no Distortion it is actually a nice enough Lens it's just not worth thirteen Hundred dollars unless you're really Itching for that gorgeous metal lens Body [Music] Well I'm starting to sound like a broken Record with these Iceland reviews aren't I maybe I should just read the same Conclusion for each one just changing The focal length honestly they really Are lovely lenses but those prices well Thankfully something that doesn't cost The Earth is supporting this channel on Patreon of course I love making these Reviews for everyone but they do take a Lot of time and expense thankfully my
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