Has anyone in the USA receive there 85 1.8 yet , I ordered it in Aug from B&H pre paid and have not received ....keep getting e-mail's that it's back ordered . Totally unprofessional  how Zeiss has handled this .

For the first time,Sony outsold Canon and Nikon in Germany in August 2015. Official figures stated openly by Zeiss:http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/zeiss-says-in-on-german-market-in-august-sony-sold-more-system-cameras-than-canon-and-nikon/We used to talk about the changing of the guard like it was going to happen in 2-3, maybe 5 years..It was suspicious when all the (unknown to Sony users) 'pro reviewers' started talking Sony, generally to trash talk the brand and a7 cameras. But these characters actually bought in, or so it seems. They are simply stuck in their old ways - that happens to a lot of people as they age.I was watching a Steve McCurry doco yesterday, man he looked overwhelmed by that Nikon gear on the street in NY - no hiding that huge body and lens, everybody knew he was around with that giant camera. Hopefully guys like him will help stem the flow somewhat, for a while.Anyway, what is happening is that Zeiss have been overrun with orders from would-be buyers of Batis lenses, and that is the reason why.Frankly I now advise all and sundry to stick with their DSLRs, because they are causing Sony people a lot of headaches with their flight from C/N. I had hoped they would stay out for another year or two, would not see what we saw two years back. C'est la vie, however.It's a new age for Zeiss too. They have already risen to the challenge technically with the five lenses thus far, now just need to get production up fast without losing QC.

f dinaro wrote:Has anyone in the USA receive there 85 1.8 yet , I ordered it in Aug from B&H pre paid and have not received ....keep getting e-mail's that it's back ordered . Totally unprofessional how Zeiss has handled this .Yep; I got mine from Adorama about a month ago. I ordered pretty soon after they were announced.I don't blame Zeiss; Loxia sold OK - better than they thought - but not *much* better.I've seen estimates that the demand for Batis was 5x to 10x what they thought!And who knows if Sony shared with them the A7rII specs (it came out out more impressive than the wildest forum imaginings) - and that's driven more sales.And once this happens, it's hard to react. Lenses are made in batches: and you have to book time on the fab line. Zeiss don't have a line for AF lenses -- so Cosina or Tamron or whoever actually do the building may just not have had slots available to make new batches in the near future.With luck they are booking line time well in advance for the next Batis!

Is this your first time ordering something that's back-ordered?

HiI ordered mine in late June from BH. I finally got it a week ago.I often pre-order, and it seems to happen more often than not that the manufacturer does not ship  the items until later than promised. A month or two delay seems common. It was unusual for it to take this long.It was worth the wait, however.Rick

I most certainly feel they are responsible for the back order situation, and it has other flow on effects and implications for the Sony user community.If they were selling most other products, the senior marketing people would be wondering what they will be doing next month after they are thrown out on their behinds. They get paid large $$ to be sufficiently competent to see what is happening in real time, to anticipate changed conditions, and to respond to them expeditiously and capably.This is what successful businesses do that sclerotic ones do not.What happened was that they were still working off the same old paradigm of DSLRs staying strong, with a ready market for their great manual focus lenses, which are heading in exactly the wrong direction - they are getting heavier and larger at a time when Blind Freddy could see the (near) future direction of form factors in full frame cameras.This happened because they are excessively focused on the tiny 'pro' market, and it's supposed needs. They also associate with a cadre of old school types who are antagonistic towards what Sony is doing. Ming, Lloyd, etc. are guys who are the very last people you would be wanting to listen to, they are old paradigm guys, with old school ideas and they are very mouthy about their position.C/N ran apro -> consumer trickle downregime, whereas Sony runs anenthusiast outwardsregime, so instead of forcing consumers to hanker after pro gear, they made great light/small gear at good prices .. it was always going to work really well, because advanced amateurs outnumber the 'elites' perhaps 50:1.So what did we see? A bunch of cosmetic updates of four pre-existing manual focus DSLR lenses plus two fresh DSLR lenses, all tarted up with new livery, cosmetic knock-offs of Otus lenses. This was a move that would have worked a treat 6-8 years back, before Sony's a7 cameras were even a twinkle in the design team's eye.BTW, all a7 models are moving very well and have been since the beginning. Even before then, Sony reported that their assembly line was full trying to keep up with the demand for the a7 precursor model, the RX1.So even now Zeiss is taking reality lessons - they plan only five more L/B lenses for the next 13 months. They now sheepishly agree this is their new developmental focus.The Batis fiasco happened for a very simple reason, and ironically it is something Zeiss never had before -the rights to make AF lenses for a successful platform.They are famous advocates for manual focus lenses and rightly so, but businesses that want to succeed see past their collective prejudices.The success of the Batis line was guaranteed the moment it was announced, all due to the market preference for those two little letters than mean so much in modern photography:AFBut time is passing them by, while they spin their wheels. They make VW look good.

I happened to stop by our local camera store yesterday and they had both the 25mm and 85mm (one of each). I shouldn't have but I picked up the 85. Impressive lens to say the least.I used it at my boy's basketball game and even when cropping some of the photos the results are impressive. -- Sony A7rii Sony rx100

I only waited a week to get mine.

philip pj wrote: just need to get production up fast without losing QC.Agree.My speculation is that Zeiss was caught unprepared for the a7x family cameras, especially the a7Rii. Some evidence might be that they didn't manufacture the Otus lenses for the e-mount.Predicting the future is tough, obviously.

Well I've got one that was pre-ordered along with the 25mm f/2 on the first day back in April but it still took 4 months for me to receive the 85mm. The 25mm I got when the first started to ship way back in July.Its a long wait but IMHO its worth it. Love both of them.