I really enjoy using an 85mm lens for landscape photography in the forest, especially shooting wide open. The color rendering, microcontrast, and three-dimensional depth of the Batis 85 are spectacularly beautiful. Plus, images taken with a Batis lens never look flat at all.
My Zeiss Batis 18 was delivered yesterday. For the price, I could have also bought an FE 14mm f1.8 GM (100 euros more). A friend had the Batis 18 for quite some time and then swapped it for an FE 20/1.8G, which he later really regretted because, in his opinion, the images with the 20/1.8 look flat compared to the Batis. I’ve read several similar comments online. I had looked at some sample images taken with the 14/1.8 GM and the 20/1.8G beforehand, but they didn’t convince me.
Since I already own all the other Batis lenses and didn’t want to give up the Zeiss T* coating, I went with the Batis 18. Today, while out and about, I took a few test shots and am really impressed. The lens was introduced about 9 years ago, yet it is still extremely sharp, has rich, beautiful contrast, and delivers great colors—just as I know from the other Batis lenses—and it is very well corrected for chromatic aberrations. The images are anything but flat and instead convey a strong sense of spatial depth. I’m a bit annoyed that I didn’t buy it 5–6 years ago. I actually thought I wouldn’t have much use for this focal length, but now I’m finding that it’s very suitable for everyday use.
I am truly surprised and did not expect this. I thought the Batis 40 had the highest microcontrast. However, the Batis 18 appears to clearly surpass all other Batis lenses. The rich contrast, colors, and especially the microcontrast are really extreme. In the pictures of the shopping street, the ground is very dark and saturated straight out of camera, yet the overall impression with the buildings is simply beautiful. I actually noticed this a few days ago already. The tree was shot at f/5.6, and practically everything in the image is sharp from front to back. Even during the on-site image review in the viewfinder, I thought the tree was about to leap right out at me. The colors have been just fantastic so far, and I haven’t taken many pictures yet. Subjects are separated by the colors, the contrasts, and the intense microcontrast. Achieving subject separation through depth of field is difficult anyway at 18mm, even if you had an f/1.8 aperture. The Batis 18 has a unique rendering.
