This is a short Guest Post written by Chris from Luxembourg:

I didn’t see a lot of example of use of this [shoplink 34680 ebay]cheap apsc macro lens from Venus[/shoplink] with an A7R. Optically, it gives over the apsc area better results than a Nikon 105 macro with the A7r. But it is totally soft and full of vignetting in the corners if you use it in FF mode. Sharpess is quite amazing even at F16 as you can see on my pic. Build quality is correct but the ring is not smooth. Not a problem in normal use, thanks to focus peaking but focus stacking is nearly impossible as you will move the setup easily. Aperture ring is not very smooth too and you don’t really know where you are between F11 and F16…
The nikon adaptor is very cheap but does the work. Anyway a good solution if u cant afford the Sony macro or can’t wait until July just because of the outstanding sharpness and overall render.
Definitely worth the price.

There is a lot of PP on these pic but well, no good pp without good source, isn’t it? Click to enlarge the images:

You can buy the lens for $379 from [shoplink 34680 ebay]eBay Hong Kong sellers (Click here)[/shoplink].

Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS on 5D III (left) and Sony 90mm f/2.8 on A7r (right). Lensrentals.com, 2015

Roger Cicala from Lensrentals tested the resolution performance of the new and yet non shipping Sony 90mm f/2.8 G OSS macro lens and compared it with the yet best macro lens on market (Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS on 5D III):

At both focusing distances the Sony system is clearly out resolving the Canon system. We would expect that, to some degree, given the higher resolution Sony sensor. But the difference was, quite frankly, surprising to me. It would seem to indicate the new Sony 90mm Macro lens performs at least as well as the Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS L, from a resolution standpoint, anyway.

See the MTF chart comparison:

That sounds terrific! If you want to see a few image samples jump over at Gustavs images on SAR.

The 90mm lens will ship from July 7 at those stores:
In USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
In Europe at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony FR, Sony IT, Sony ES, Sony NL, Sony BE, Sony AT, Sony CH, Sony SE, Sony FI, Sony NO, Sony PT.
In Asia at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.

Zeiss Batis preorder in USA and Europe (UK/Germany)
Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 lens in US at Adorama, Bhphoto. In Eu at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2.0 lens at Adorama, Bhphoto. In EU at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
Lens shade for 85mm at Adorama, Bhphoto.
Lens shade for 25mm at Adorama, Bhphoto.

So, what’s the optical performance difference between the $4,490 85mm f/1.4 Zeiss Otus and the $1,199 85mm f/1.8 Zeiss Batis? Almost none! Just check out the comparison between the two MTF graph (Click to enlarge).

While the MTF performance is very close the Zeiss Otus still has the advantage of being faster (f/1.4 vs f/1.8) and it has less distortion. See the MTF and Distortion files here:
Zeiss Otus at Zeiss.de
Zeiss Batis at Diglloyd.

As our reader Seeky stated it relly looks like the 85mm Batis is a sort of mini-Otus!

Both lenses are now available for preorder in USA and Europe (UK/Germany)
Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 lens in US at Adorama, Bhphoto. In Eu at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2.0 lens at Adorama, Bhphoto. In EU at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
Lens shade for 85mm at Adorama, Bhphoto.
Lens shade for 25mm at Adorama, Bhphoto.

DxOmark (Click here) just published the [shoplink 36056 ebay]Zeiss 28mm FE lens[/shoplink] results and writes:

Ranking third for all hybrid lenses, just behind two significantly more expensive Carl Zeiss options, is a great result for the Sony FE 28mm F2 lens. At a cost of just $498, and boasting a “fast” F2 aperture and solid results in most categories, it’s an affordable wide-angle solution for Sony A7 series shooters. It’s actually marginally ahead of the Zeiss wide-angle competition overall for sharpness, but isn’t quite as strong at F2.8, where the corners drop off a little. The main area of concern is Distortion, however, with quite heavy “barrelling” that landscape and architecture photographers will want to correct in post-production.

An absolute great performance for the money!
The FE 28mm is now in Stock for the first time in USA at [shoplink 36004 ebay]Focuscamera eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

Zeiss Distagon second best lens after the 55mm FE:
It’s also interesting to note that DxO also added the Zeiss FE 35mm f/1.4 to the database. With 38 points it scores as second best FE lens right behind the 42 points of the [shoplink 36054 ebay]55mm FE lens[/shoplink].
The 35mm Distagon is finally in back in Stock at Amazon US (Click here).

All new FE lens preorder links:
In USA at:
Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Sony US.
Sony 90mm f/2.8 FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Sony US.
Sony 24-240mm FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Sony US.
Sony 28mm f/2.0 FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Sony US.
Sony Fisheye Conversion Lens for FE 28mm F/2 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony Ultra-Wide Conversion Lens for FE 28mm F/2 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony Fisheye Converter for E 16mm F/2.8 and E 20mm F/2.8 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony Ultra-Wide Converter for E 16mm F2.8 and E 20mm F2.8 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
In Europe at:
Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Sony 90mm f/2.8 FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Sony 24-240mm FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Sony 28mm f/2.0 FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Wide Angle converter at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Fisheye converter at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Wide angle converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Fisheye converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
In Asia/Australia at:
Sony 24-240mm FE lens at Digitalrev, CameraPRO, Sony Australia.
Sony 28mm FE lens at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Sony 90mm FE lens at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 FE lens at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Wide angle converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Fisheye converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.

Quick note for Germans: Since today you can preorder the Batis lenses at Amazon: 85mm (Click here) and 25mm (Click here).

Digglloyd is the first site publishing the full graph of the new Batis lenses! Links:
Batis 85mm MTF at Diggloyd.
Batis 25mm MTF at Diggloyd.

Here are some of his early conclusions:

BATIS 85mm:
– Overall contrast is superb wide open, even into the corners.
– Stopping down a bit more delivers outstanding micro contrast at f/5.6, far exceeding most lenses and no less good than the very best Leica M lens.
Has some pincushion distortion. Seems that distortion was traded off for uniformly high sharpness and a smaller/lighter design, knowing that the camera can correct for it automatically (or the raw converter).

BATIS 25mm:
– Modest micro contrast at f/2. However, overall contrast is superb wide open, even into the corners, and that very high overall contrast is critical to visual impact of the image.
– Most notable, the performance is exceptionally uniform at all apertures from center to corner. This is highly unusual for a 25mm lens.

Both lenses are now available for preorder in USA and Europe (UK/Germany)
Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 lens in US at Adorama, Bhphoto. In Eu at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2.0 lens at Adorama, Bhphoto. In EU at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
Lens shade for 85mm at Adorama, Bhphoto.
Lens shade for 25mm at Adorama, Bhphoto.

The very first full size image samples taken with the new 85mm and 25mm Batis lenses have been posted on Flickr by Zeiss:
Full set of 85mm f/1.8 Batis image samples (Click here)
Full set of 25mm f/2.0 Batis image samples (Click here)

Would like to know what you think about the quality delivered by those new lenses!

Both lenses are now available for preorder at BH and Adorama:
Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 lens in US at Adorama, Bhphoto. In Eu at WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2.0 lens at Adorama, Bhphoto. In EU at WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
Lens shade for 85mm at Adorama, Bhphoto.
Lens shade for 25mm at Adorama, Bhphoto.