Perfect portraits made easy - the new one Rollei 85 mm f/1.8 in the practical test of Stephan Wiesner
The new Rollei 85 mm f/1.8 is there - and promises professional portrait photography at a surprisingly low price. Even before the official launch, our partner Stephan Wiesner, professional photographer and specialist for portrait photography, had the opportunity to test the new lens in detail.
In this article we share your personal impressions and technical assessments with you - and provide a practical insight into what this portrait lens has for photographers of all levels of experience.
Whether image quality, bokeh or autofocus behavior: Stephan took a closer look-and we have summarized his experience for you.
Why 85 mm is the ideal portrait fountain range
It is not for nothing that 85 mm is considered The portrait frame range par excellence. The reason for this lies in the perfect balance between image effect and practical handling: you can make the background beautifully fault and at the same time have enough distance from your motif.
This is particularly advantageous in photography of children or pets, as Stephan stated in his test. With the 85 mm focal length, you can take pictures from the distance without disturbing-the children ignore them and they get real, undisturbed moments. Whether indoors or outside: the focal length is versatile enough for the apartment, but not as extreme as a 200 mm telephoto lens.
Processing and feel-retro design meets modern technology
The Rollei 85 mm f/1.8 convinced with a high quality Metal construction and an appealing retro design. Despite the low price, the objectively valuable and robust feels - the noticeable weight underlines quality impression.
Particularly practical: the Stepless aperture ring works without rush and enables flowing adjustments during the recording. A Function button As well as the switch between auto and manuell focus round off the well-thought-out operation.
A modern detail is that USB-C connection For any firmware updates-a future-proof solution that is rarely found on lenses in this price range. The lens is also weatherproof interpreted and is both for Sony E-Mount as well as Nikon Z-Mount be available.
Image quality and bokeh - surprisingly close to the expensive Sony
In Stephan's direct comparison with the Sony 85 mm f/1.8 - which is about twice as expensive - this showed Rollei an impressive performance. Visually, both lenses can hardly be distinguished from each other, Even on closer inspection on the monitor.
The Bokeh - the representation of blurred areas - is one of the great strengths of the Rollei-Bian. The creamy, appealing background blur makes up the characteristic look of high-quality portrait photography and justifies the purchase for everyone who has only photographed with kit lenses.
Sharpage - already openly convincing results
The Sharpness in the center of the picture Is already very good with open aperture F/1.8 - exactly what portraits you need. If you want a little more sharpness, you can easily fade away, but for portrait photography, the open aperture performance is already completely sufficient.
To the Picture edges As expected, the sharpness is somewhat lower for f/1.8, but quickly improves when it comes down. This is completely uncritical for classic portrait photography, in which the main motif is central.
Car focus - quickly and precisely for all standard situations
The Autofocus works quickly and precisely - for people, walking cats and normal portrait situations, it is completely sufficient. In combination with modern Sony cameras, the Animal and eye recognition Faultless, as Stephan demonstrated in his test with the Sony A7R V.
For sports and action photography, the autofocus is not quite as fast as the Sony counterpart, but that is not the main purpose in an 85 mm lens either. It offers more than enough speed for all normal portrait situations.
Working with backlight - creative opportunities for atmospheric portraits
Portrait lenses are often used with sunlight or artificial light to achieve atmospheric flares and lighting effects. The Rollei 85 mm f/1.8 offers nice opportunities here: Whether with recordings with long hair in the backlight or in sports photography - the resulting lighting effects can be very appealing.
As with all lenses, a little contrast is lost in the event of direct incidence of light, but this can be enthusiastic for the characteristic, slightly dilated look at portraits. With the removable backlight panel, this effect can be checked well.
Vignetting - typical behavior with a large aperture opening
With an open aperture, the lens shows a clear vignetting - The typical dark edge, which appears in many bright objective appearances. This effect is noticeably reduced when it comes down. This behavior is completely normal and corresponds to the expectations of an F/1.8 lens of this price range.
Compared to the competition - why not the expensive?
The question of more expensive alternatives such as that Viltrox 85 mm f/1.4 is justified. The Viltrox costs more than twice and offers a aperture more light intensity. This can be relevant for theater photography or other low-light situations.
For most photographers, however, it is mainly about that Bokeh and the image effect - And here it delivers Rollei An impressive performance at a significantly cheaper price. The difference is available, but significantly lower than the price difference suggests.
Conclusion - exceptionally a lot of performance for 299 euros
You get a lot of objective for 299 euros - Above all, a lot of the beautiful bokeh that makes up the characteristic look of high -quality portrait photography. The Rollei 85 mm f/1.8 proves that you do not have to spend a fortune to achieve professional portrait results.
