Torn between Batis 18 & 25 plus about to by a Zhiyun Crane, I think.

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pooshda

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I'm going on a trip to Florida next month for my Fiance to meet family she's never met, I'm using it as an excuse / opportunity to finally start shooting more than just photos with my A7Rii which has me approaching two different decisions which I'm pretty much both set on but could use advice. 1) I am going to buy a Zhiyun Crane, I was thinking I needed a PilotFly H2 until I started reading about alternate firmware and up to 1800g payload which means I can probably fly any reasonable lens I might want to... back to the Crane which I originally wanted. 2) I am looking at buying a Batis 25 because it's got some amazing autofocus and I need a wider, reasonable size lens for most of the video I shoot on the gimbal. I love the idea of 25mm, however I will shoot in Super 35 a lot which means it's really a 37mm lens and I'll probably only get the 25mm when shooting in ideal lighting (set to full frame). I'm wondering if I should get the Batis 18 but I liked the idea of f2 over f2.8 since I do enjoy handheld night shooting plus the 18mm would be 27mm in crop mode, in addition to all this I already have a Rokinon 14mm which is 21mm in crop mode but don't use it much since I'm paranoid I'll blow focus on something and not realize it right away (lol).

I save about $300 going w/ the 25mm though, that's always nice, I just can't decide but I'm kind of leaning towards the 25 f2, do you guys think 37mm would be a nice focal length for shooting in general? It's not too far off from 35 I suppose.

I'm having a hard time with decisions, these aren't cheap lenses and don't want to own both of them (or can't justify it anyway) I already have a 55mm 1.8 ZA, 90mm Macro G, Rokinon 14 MF, some vintage 50's and that's it for now. Also considered renting the 24-70 G-Master but I think owning the Batis would be nicer, I feel like if I'm going to have any luck with the camera set to auto focus the Batis might be as good of a job as I can hope for based on some vimeo goodies I've watched. Does anyone else like to use a vacation as an excuse for gear acquisition, I don't really even care about the trip I just want to shoot it since I don't leave home much.
 
go for the widest. 18mm. in addition, you can use that 18mm for landscape shot. Very small and light.
 
Haha, I knew starting a thread wasn't going to make it any easier I think I might secretly want to talk myself out of the 18 (because I have the 14, which I should use more) but at the same time in APS-C mode it would work out to a pretty nice 27mm rather than 37mm. I do agree it would be great for landscape but my Rokinon is already good for that and I don't need autofocus or anything zippy for landscapes since they don't go anywhere, now for shooting video I can definitely see the Batis being a big help especially if I can't touch the camera. I do feel like I'd probably want to go wider at times than 25 (which should force me to use the Rokinon) I have gotten some very nice photos from it but never really tried to use it for video, does work out to 21mm though in crop mode which is nice.

If the 18 was the same price as the 25 I think it would be way easier to jump on, if I sold my Rokinon it would only makeup the price difference which is kind of sad. Maybe I should try shooting video w/ the Rokinon for a while since I'm not leaving for 6 weeks and if I start feeling comfortable enough with it, maybe try it on the Crane too I can avoid buying another ultra wide when I have one that works pretty well. So I might still pick the 18 but maybe I'll hold off a week or two before I make the final decision and play with the Rokinon a lot until then to see how confident I am with it. Thanks for the responses, I had a feeling I'd get everyone in favor of the 18mm though. :) F2 would definitely have some incentives for me though, I'm always in low light situations shooting random handheld shots but F/2.8 isn't that bad either but I prefer to keep my ISO lower when I can, my camera does a pretty nice job but I still like to stay under ISO 6400 usually.
 
I am watching a lot of videos shot w/ the Batis 18 on Vimeo though and I like what I see for the most part, I did the same with the 25 of course as well... Maybe I should rent them.
 
It would seem Batis 18mm vs 25mm is not an easy decision because there are few reviews, and no good site has a full review of both of them AFAIK.
BUT the Batis 25mm is just an average lens (link), whereas the Batis 18mm is absolutely awesome (link). The best comparison I can think of is indirect: that first link says the 25mm is better than the FE28mm but not by much, but the second link can be compared to this review for the FE28mm (link) and the difference is absolutely huge.

Renting them first is always a good idea. If you're sure you'll keep one, buying both and sending back one is an option too.
 
Samuel H said:
It would seem Batis 18mm vs 25mm is not an easy decision because there are few reviews, and no good site has a full review of both of them AFAIK.
BUT the Batis 25mm is just an average lens (link), whereas the Batis 18mm is absolutely awesome (link). The best comparison I can think of is indirect: that first link says the 25mm is better than the FE28mm but not by much, but the second link can be compared to this review for the FE28mm (link) and the difference is absolutely huge.

Renting them first is always a good idea. If you're sure you'll keep one, buying both and sending back one is an option too.
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I stayed up in bed watching video reviews on the Batis 18 til 4am last night and am starting to lean more in that direction, it did look great and also had really good autofocus for the effortless run & gunning I may experience at times, plus being 27mm in crop mode where I will almost always be when shooting 4K video (unless lighting is perfect or I need that wider FOV) it would be like using the Batis 25 (almost) in all it's full-frame glory anyway. I doubt I'd ever shoot photos in crop mode though I can't give up 42mp when I have it available to me so for walk around shooting I might wish it was a little bit narrower.

I honestly don't shoot a lot of landscape but having this lens could change that I suppose, I am looking for something to have on the camera a lot for all situations but mainly when I shoot on the Z Crane. I wish I could have them both and have them switch themselves whenever I wanted the other, I guess F/2.8 won't be a big issue either, I wonder if I could even sell my Rokinon for $250 to help offset some of the cost lol.
 
I have the 18mm and love it on my Fs5 or for landscape photography. I fly it on gimbal and slider for wide stuff or handheld for some run and gun. With the better autofocus systems (a7r2, a6k) it really does shine. I've shot whole videos on it.

Also I love gear expenditures for vacations. In laws are taking the fam to Hawaii in a few weeks and I used the fact that our costs were so low to get the new Phantom drone to shoot with while there.
 
DerekDock said:
I have the 18mm and love it on my Fs5 or for landscape photography. I fly it on gimbal and slider for wide stuff or handheld for some run and gun. With the better autofocus systems (a7r2, a6k) it really does shine. I've shot whole videos on it.

Also I love gear expenditures for vacations. In laws are taking the fam to Hawaii in a few weeks and I used the fact that our costs were so low to get the new Phantom drone to shoot with while there.
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Thanks for your input, always nice to hear someone who has it and loves it to help with the decision, I just don't want it to be a little too wide for walking around casual shooting since I'll never shoot photos in crop mode only video but 18/27mm photo/video combo does sound pretty nice the more I think about it. I might actually be going to Hawaii in a year or so too for meeting some family we've never met as well so I'm sure I'll have an awesome time shooting such a beautiful place especially on hikes and stuff, the upcoming trip is just to Florida next month but I'm sure that will offer up a lot of beautiful photo and video opportunities as well.

So far the 18mm is in the lead mainly because I think 37mm in APS-C mode (the Batis 25) might be a little too narrow when I'm shooting video, I know I can shoot full frame but the S35 footage definitely looks cleaner in less ideal lighting.
 
I just finally pulled the trigger on the Zhiyun Crane so that's pretty exciting, I've wanted a stabilizer for probably 5 years now but back then they were extremely expensive or not nearly as nice (and compact) as they are now, either of those Batis lenses will be perfect balance for the gimbal I think I hear they're just awesome on the A7Rii body... can't wait to play with that thing I hope I can get over the awkwardness of carrying it around in public pretty quick so I can unleash my creativity and I also really, really hope I can make it fit in my camera backpack with an A7Rii body, batteries, 90mm Macro + ring light, 55 1.8, and Batis at bare minimum so I don't need a bigger bag. It's really going to be a downer if I get that an realize I can't cram it in there.
 
In terms of FoV, 18mm is incredibly wide, but personally I like it a lot. If I bought an a7R II, my three lenses would be the Batis 18mm, FE 35mm and GM 85mm. (Right now, on APS-C, my main lenses are the Samyang 12mm f/2.0 and a 50mm).
 
I got a Batis 18 last week and it is wide. Maybe a tiny bit to wide but I can easily crop in post when shooting 4k and when I need a more narrow gimbal shot I have a Sony 24-70 to cover that.

What I really like about the Batis 18 is the smaller size and weight in comparison to Sonys 16-35/4. It's also balanced right away because it's a fixed focal and weight doesn't change. Speaking of wide. As for me I either want as wide as possible for effect or a much tighter framing so 18 mm workes great.
 
Osslund said:
I got a Batis 18 last week and it is wide. Maybe a tiny bit to wide but I can easily crop in post when shooting 4k and when I need a more narrow gimbal shot I have a Sony 24-70 to cover that.

What I really like about the Batis 18 is the smaller size and weight in comparison to Sonys 16-35/4. It's also balanced right away because it's a fixed focal and weight doesn't change. Speaking of wide. As for me I either want as wide as possible for effect or a much tighter framing so 18 mm workes great.
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I also had this dillema 18mm vs 25mm. I went with 25mm because any reviews I read they all basically claimed that for general purpose 25mm is better. If you do something very specific for example shoot only landscapes, do astrography or have very specific needs recommended to go with 18mm. I didn't and wanted to have a superb wide lense for occasional landscapes, street photography/video, indoor usage (25mm is wide enough).

Yes, you could do the cropping out of 18mm easily but for me it was to get as more as possible usable footage without any post work.

I played around with Batis 25mm already and I think it will be the lense which I'm going to use the most. I've also got Batis 85mm, it will be nice for closeup shoots but not as a walk around lense. I just need to get used shooting using primes. Not sure how to protect sensor from dust if I will be changing lenses too many times per day during my trips.
 
why not get both? that way you will not have that "i should've get that lens" moment. :)

batis.jpg


now, if you're going to use with your Zhiyun Crane, the 18mm is better. It is super light weight. The 25mm is heavier.
 
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Bubble said:
why not get both? that way you will not have that "i should've get that lens" moment. :)

batis.jpg


now, if you're going to use with your Zhiyun Crane, the 18mm is better. It is super light weight. The 25mm is heavier.
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This is exacatly what I'm thinking to do when I can't decide :) The downside that you might end up with unwanted things.

Regarding the weight Batis 25mm - 335 g, Batis 18mm - 330 g.

Forgot to mention one more reason why I chose Batis 25mm, it's not a big deal but the thread of Batis 85mm, my other zoom lense is 67mm. That means that I would need less filters to carry around.
 
Do be aware that the manual focus with the Batis lenses is absolutely atrocious. It is impossible to repeat focus moves because there is no direct connection between the lens and the focus ring. Instead it uses some crazy algorithm to decide how decide how much to change focus which takes into account speed of the focus ring turn. And it is prone to lag, and general s*%ttiness. I own two 85mm Batis lens, and their manual focus performance should be an absolute embarrassment to Zeiss.
 
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^ Didn't know that, thanks.

Though just to point out: almost all E-mound AF lenses work that way (fly-by-wire, i.e. no direct connection between the lens and the focus ring). The difference is: some algorithms are good, some are, as you say, crazy. This could be sorted out with firmware but I doubt they'll care to fix it.
 
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