One of the few problems with the A7III is the cost of lenses. I can easily spend twice as much on a lens (albeit a very high quality one) as on the camera body itself. While the quality of the lens matters, there is a point where it gets ridiculous - especially when I can buy a new motorcycle for less.

The reason for this cost is mostly due to the electronics, (that and labor - I expect Zeiss doesn't pay minimum wage on piecework). So I decided to try the relatively inexpensive Sam Yang 85mm F1.4.  I wanted the speed as my kit lens is f4-5.5, and since I'm usually using it on manual there isn't a big advantage to having automatic focus or F-stop.

Finn on his first birthday

The lens is really sharp. Finn's nose is in crisp focus - even though the depth of field limits where it's sharp. This is great in a portrait lens.

Focussing is a little trickier than with the kit lens because the camera doesn't shift into "assisted focus" where it enlarges the middle of the image. Still it's just like my old film SLR and that was a blast.  The lens doesn't focus quite as close-up as the kit lens (no closer than one meter). The contrast is a little lacking, but that's easy to fix in Darktable.

Azaleas Still our deciduous Azaleas come out well, even if I can't qet quite as closeup.

white Azaleas So I'd say the lens is a success - as long as you're willing to live with the limits.  I wouldn't use it for sports photography or anywhere where rapid - nearly unconscious - focusing is needed, but it shines when you're a more controlled environment. I was able to use it in both manual mode and aperture preferred mode (A) where the camera adjusts the shutter speed to get the exposure right.