Zeiss FE Mount Manual Lens Rumors

[iiiNelson]

They will supposedly be named the Loxia line. No rumored specs yet and of course many are upset they are manual focus only. If it keeps the size of the lenses down while providing some larger aperture "Otus like" native goodness then I'm all for it. Outside the 55FE I generally only use Contax or M glass anyway.

(SR5) Zeiss will soon announce the new “Loxia” lens line for Sony Full Frame E-mount! | sonyalpharumors

 

[Thomas Fallon]

Sounds great to me. I have all MF on the Sony A7r. Counting the days to Photokina and what may be announced.

 

[jlm]

wtf? a lens with a focus ring and and aperture ring?

with the benefit of peaking and focus mag in the viewfinder?

sounds ideal

 

[ZoranC]

... and of course many are upset they are manual focus only.

... and that leaves me scratching my head. Who in their right mind would complain about high quality manual focusing lens (as long as it has refined mechanical linkage)? It is actually AF lenses with fly-by-wire focusing that leave me very unhappy.

 

[iiiNelson]

... and that leaves me scratching my head. Who in their right mind would complain about high quality manual focusing lens (as long as it has refined mechanical linkage)? It is actually AF lenses with fly-by-wire focusing that leave me very unhappy.

Agreed. I thought there was a large number of people adapting lenses to the FE bodies. The outrage over the manual lenses and no AF makes me think people simply haven't tried it to see how easy it truly is to manually focus.

Manual mechanical focusing is about the only thing (along with a distance scale) that I would add to the 55 FE to make it "perfect."

 

[ZoranC]

The outrage over the manual lenses and no AF makes me think people simply haven't tried it to see how easy it truly is to manually focus.

When I read such comments I always have impression bunch of yahoos with no serious photography experience got hold of keyboard in firm belief (hallucination) that few arrogant flippant posts indicate they are smart and important when truth is they are inexperienced and ignorant.

Manual mechanical focusing is about the only thing (along with a distance scale) that I would add to the 55 FE to make it "perfect."

Amen. My 55/1.8 renders much better wide open than my Leica 50R but using R is pure pleasure while using 55 often frustrates me (AF is not 100% reliable and fly-by-wire MF is frustrating). 55/1.4 Zeiss that would be at least same image quality as FE55 wide open with refined manual focus and full EXIF info? I say bring it on.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

We need to remember these are just offerings from Zeiss itself. This has nothing to do what Sony will announce or for that matter Samyang, Sigma , Tamron and others for the FE mount. Not to mention A mounts announced that can work with FE cams.

Here is the key here and its awesome is that others outside of Sony itself believe the FE mount is a viable product and Sony will expand on it. This is all great news for us the end user.

One big reason I like the A mount Zeiss glass outside of having AF capability but there ability to have really really good manual focus. Key word on manual focus is feel. Most AF lenses have absolutely no manual focus feel to them.

This just gives us a lot more options of what you chose to shoot with. Anyone not recognizing that is not thinking straight.

 

[iiiNelson]

We need to remember these are just offerings from Zeiss itself. This has nothing to do what Sony will announce or for that matter Samyang, Sigma , Tamron and others for the FE mount. Not to mention A mounts announced that can work with FE cams.

Here is the key here and its awesome is that others outside of Sony itself believe the FE mount is a viable product and Sony will expand on it. This is all great news for us the end user.

One big reason I like the A mount Zeiss glass outside of having AF capability but there ability to have really really good manual focus. Key word on manual focus is feel. Most AF lenses have absolutely no manual focus feel to them.

This just gives us a lot more options of what you chose to shoot with. Anyone not recognizing that is not thinking straight.

Agreed and pretty much what I stated over at SAR. This is just the Zeiss contribution and I have no doubts Sony will introduce more value priced lenses as well as the generally excellent Sony G lenses. People like to freak out though and complain when what they think they want isn't offered. The system is still less than a year old and some are expecting a full range immediately.

It takes time and a lot of the issue is perception which sadly extends to the A-mount line as well. I agree that AF can be useful but fast and small (without adapters) is as well.

 

[ZoranC]

This just gives us a lot more options of what you chose to shoot with. Anyone not recognizing that is not thinking straight.

Thinking straight was never a strong point of general "board posting" population out there. Thankfully Zeiss does understand market they cater to.

 

[ZoranC]

The system is still less than a year old and some are expecting a full range immediately.

I don't pay attention to noise from "armchair analysts". Lot of the time I have feeling vast majority of them are coming from "my favorite kind of photography is gear talk splicing hairs" camp, or "if I put down everybody else's system I will feel better about myself" camp, or "I shill for brand A so I need to spread FUD about other brand(s)" camp.

I agree that AF can be useful but fast and small (without adapters) is as well.

I use both AF and MF lenses as there is a right place and time for either one (as long as they perform as they should).

 

[Guy Mancuso]

I use both as well. They both have a place in both my personal work and my professional work. I would prefer lenses like the A mount 85, 135 and such as they have very nice AF but also have feel for MF as well and I can chose which I want to use. I hated Nikon, Canon AF lens because on manual focus they have no feel at all. Its like spinning a wheel instead of turning something. Hard to explain in words

 

[ZoranC]

I hated Nikon, Canon AF lens because on manual focus they have no feel at all. Its like spinning a wheel instead of turning something. Hard to explain in words

I know what you mean. Combine that with short focus throw on many of them and you have recipe for being very unhappy as you keep trying to get exact focus that keeps eluding you. But lens that has well thought out / designed manual focus is mmmmm finger lickin' good.

 

[mbn]

"FE" line
Can't be adapted to any other mount, because it won't focus at infinity with added adapter.

ZE line
Can't be adapted to Nikon Bodys, because it won't focus at infinity with added adapter. No Aperture Ring.

ZF2 line
Can be adapted to Canon and sony w/o any issues. Aperture Ring helps to keep adapters simple and cheap.

Or am I missing something?
ZF2 seems like the safest bet here...



Edit:
umm, size might matter!?

 

[iiiNelson]

"FE" line
Can't be adapted to any other mount, because it won't focus at infinity with added adapter.

ZE line
Can't be adapted to Nikon Bodys, because it won't focus at infinity with added adapter. No Aperture Ring.

ZF2 line
Can be adapted to Canon and sony w/o any issues. Aperture Ring helps to keep adapters simple and cheap.

Or am I missing something?
ZF2 seems like the safest bet here...



Edit:
umm, size might matter!?

Yeah... You're missing the fact that FE lenses wouldn't need to be adapted to anything except. You're missing the convenience of having all your and automatically lens profile corrections being performed in one click plus EXIF data intact.

You're also missing the fact some hate the backwards Nikon controls on the aperture although Fuji users probably wouldn't mind. Some people seem to think Nikon's financial woes may be a bit more serious than some people may want to believe.

 

[philip_pj]

ZE and ZF lenses are heavy duty DSLR lenses, I respectfully suggest they work best on the C/N platforms. The 35/2 Distagon for example, is heavier than the a7r body.

These are indeed now fading into the rich and illustrious history of Zeiss, being as several are warmed over versions of Contax Yashica predecessors - 85/1.4P, 50/1.4P, 21/2.8D. The real standouts are the recent releases: the 15/2.8 D, 135/2 S, 25/2 D.

Which is why lens aficionados are so interested in the FE lenses - these are aimed squarely at Leica users, still smarting at the big sensor 'smearing' their M lenses, actually designs with huge beam angles causing problems never before seen, due to the expertise Leica developed in profiling them into orderliness.

Sony correctly attended first to the low-mid needs for lenses, these new ones are expected to be Zeiss rising to the challenge - their natural target body is the a7r, obviously.

Some think they will be warmed over ZM lenses with a more sensor friendly exit pupil placement. I don't agree, and feel we will see something special, a continuation of the recent output: the three mentioned above, the fine Touits (the 50mm macro is excellent), and the Otus. So more of a scaled down in size, high end set of five lenses.

The best part is Zeiss have very close-coupled technical relations with Sony's sensor team, which is much better than the distant target of C/N in the last FF series - they know just what is required in the LOXIAs and are already doing pre-release PR = confidence! They might cost...

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

I just hope they are affordable. If they take ZM prices and tack electronics mark up on top, these are going to be very expensive lenses. Oh and Zeiss, for heavens sake, release first the missing holes in the line up, the 18/25/85 lenses. If the first they release are the 50mm and 35mm it will be a real big shame.

 

[Slingers]

I can't wait to see what Zeiss come up with. The name is encouraging, that they will be small. I have the ZF planar 50/1.4 and while the lack of sharpness means it doesn't compete at all with my FE 55/1.8, it is my favourite lens. It's a joy to focus but I'm sure these new lens will put it to shame again in sharpness but also be a lot more expensive.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

I'm really hoping there max price would be 1500 on them. But love to see a good 28 F 2 since we really don't have a great 28 to chose from right now. Will see but I am excited about this announcement. Now get me a awesome replacement for my 85 1.4 and 135 1.8 and make my day.

 

[iiiNelson]

Yeah my Contax 85 is pretty darn good so if it at least compares to it then I can sell with little reservation. I'm hoping for a faster 135 and a really good fast 18-25mm lens that's at least f/2.

 

[mbn]

Yeah... You're missing the fact that FE lenses wouldn't need to be adapted to anything except. You're missing the convenience of having all your and automatically lens profile corrections being performed in one click plus EXIF data intact.

You're also missing the fact some hate the backwards Nikon controls on the aperture although Fuji users probably wouldn't mind. Some people seem to think Nikon's financial woes may be a bit more serious than some people may want to believe.

Ah, thanks.
Some pretty expensive "features", in the long term.