The Zeiss Batis 135mm 2.8 On The Sony A7R3

Dale Matson

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I begin this with the usual caveat that this is not a professional review. The article is about some thoughts and photographs I have taken. I primarily photograph wildlife and landscape. Thus far, I find this lens most useful in landscape venues and not long enough for wildlife. I included some photos to demonstrate this. I would guess that most photographers who buy this lens use it for portraits.

I’ve heard plenty of criticism about the “slow” 2.8 but as a landscape lens, compared to a 1.4 or 1.8, it is more portable, smaller and fast enough for me. I resisted buying this lens because of the price but when Zeiss offered the lens for $500.00 less, my resistance was broken.

While I already own the Zeiss Batis 85mm 1.8, I find the photographs of landscapes sometimes rendered smaller than I would like. This is especially true of individual mountains. Additionally, while very sharp, the 85mm color seems muted to me for a Zeiss lens.

This 135mm is still a lens, when mounted on my A7R3, that easily fits in a belt holster. This is important for me since when I am on mountain trails, I usually am also using trekking poles for the steep up and down parts and need both hands free for the poles.

The lens is image stabilized and combined with the internal camera stabilization, I have not noticed any problems shooting without a tripod. A tripod is an item that is not practical for me because of the weight. I am an ounce counter especially when out on a multiday backpack trip. Most of the photos in this article I took with the lens, were convenient and did not require a long hike.

Frankly, I haven’t used the 135mm lens in manual focus mode nor have I had a need to do so. For wildlife I use my 100-400 GM lens in manual mode more than autofocus mode because of obstacles in front of the animals (mostly birds) that cause it to front focus in autofocus mode.

The autofocus is trustworthy and fast. The color is excellent and I have included some photos of subjects with some color. This time of year, the mountains have more character because of the snow but less color because of the snow. I must say that the mountains near Big Pine (CA) and Bishop are some of my favorite shots. I wasn’t disappointed even taking shots mid-day and, in the afternoon, which are not optimal. The early morning light on Mt. Humphreys and Mt. Basin near Bishop gave me some of my most pleasing shots of those particular mountains. I also got some shots of the Sierra from the canyons to the east.

This is my mountain ‘long lens’. If I shoot cropped, I have about 200mm. this means I don’t have to buy the big and heavy 70-200mm GM lens. When I include the 55mm 1.8 lens, combined they are smaller, lighter, cover about the same range and have excellent I Q. Each mountain is a ‘new’ mountain when photographed with this lens.

 Bald Eagle In Tree 135mm

 Same Eagle 560mm

 Mt. Whitney Morning Light-Poor Sky-Alabama Hills Foreground

 Mt. Williamson 2nd Highest Sierra Nevada Mountain

Many Many Mule Deer 135mm 

Same Group 560mm

 Birch Mountain With Red Cone In Foreground

 Mt. Tinnemaha With Split Mountain To Right 

 Near Birch Lake Trailhead-Not Easy To Find/Get There

 Overcast Mt. Humphreys and Mt. Basin

Sunrise Mt. Humphreys 

 Mt. Basin

Mt. Tom

 My Very Mundane Backyard Photo

 Millerton Lake Foggy Sunrise

 Millerton Lake Approaching Storm

 Mt Tom From Black Canyon

 Red Rock Canyon

 Split Mountain My Favorite 14er

Mt. Whitney About 3pm