Conclusion
Pros
- Wonderfully constructed lens with tight tolerances and weather sealing
- Smoothly operating manual focus ring
- OLED display makes manually focusing for hyperfocal distance easy and accurate
- Very sharp images, even at wide apertures
- Excellent color and contrast with that Zeiss punch
- Good control of lateral chromatic aberration
- Focuses very closely
- Fast and silent autofocus
Cons
- Expensive
- Longitudinal chromatic aberration visible at wide apertures
- Vignetting never really goes away, even at small apertures
There are a fair few wide-angle primes for the Sony full-frame e-mount, but most are congregated around the 35mm focal length. The Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2 is currently the widest native prime lens in the lineup (if you don’t count the conversion lenses on the FE 28mm), and it does a very nice job. The lens shows the classic Zeiss contrast and color, with excellent sharpness to go along with it. Bokeh is average, and some longitudinal CA and vignetting are some minor downsides, but overall, the lens puts out consistently excellent image quality. The fast and accurate autofocus also ensures that you won’t come in with a bunch of missed shots due to autofocus failure and the fast aperture gives some excellent versatility for wide-angle environmental portraiture or isolating subjects close up.
The only real downside to the lens is the price, which at $1,299 US is going to be a steep barrier to entry for many shooters. Still, the lack of readily available stock for the 25mm and its 85mm brother show that there’s plenty of demand for this lens, even at this price. I personally wasn’t quite as enamored with the lens as I was with the 85mm Batis, but I still very much enjoyed shooting with the lens and realizing the quality of images it produces. If you want an excellent wide-angle prime, the Batis 25mm will fit the bill handily. It’s an outstanding addition to the Zeiss lineup and the Sony FE system.
Image Samples
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