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Loxia 35 and 50. My take on them

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I was asked by a member to weigh in here if I could add my take on these two lenses. I had the 35 and 50 with my A7r . I also had the 35 2.8 and 55 when I first started with the A7r previous to the Loxia. I'll start with the 35 2.8 and I just had bad corners with my copy even at 5.6 it just did not look good. I also had the 55 which I tested against the Zeiss 135 F2 and the Sony Zeiss 84 1.4 ZA lenses . I ran a big test between the 3 and long story short the 55 was brillant against them with the 135 taking a slight edge over the 55 that folks is outstanding performance and the 85 ran in third. My only criticism of the 55 was just a bit clinical in look. But in the end at some point I needed something else and sold it, dumb move considering I just rebought it this week. Lol

Anyway let's move on to the the Loxia 35 which I really liked the Zeiss look of it and I love how both of these lenses preform in regards to use and focus. I tested both of these lenses pretty hard and I found at F2 the 35 had some coma but still pretty sharp wide open but the one thing all along was I wanted the 35 1.4 more. What made me sell the 35 Loxia was when I got a good run with it in NY shooting the city, I was not really thrilled with the bokeh of it and the 50 was so much smoother looking. Now the 50 is a different story as wide open its very sharp the corners are very nice and had really nice bokeh. But more importantly they both have nice character to them there small and the best OEM hoods around. I never use OEM lens hoods and always replace them with metal screw ins. But these Loxia lenses have great hoods.

Now I should point out because I do buy and sell lenses a lot but no one should take those actions as a negative. I mostly do that because I want something else. Honestly there's not many lenses that are something I would call out of my dead cold hands. I am very neutral to gear , I need something I'll figure out a way to get it and sell whatever I need too. So please never take those habits as a negative because I do get email like why did you sell that you loved it. Well I married one person that's enough being married too. lol

Now I really like the Loxia 50 as there is nothing bad about it , it has great sharpness and a great look to it with very nice rendering and it's really hard to have anything bad to say. The 35 F2 is also very good and the coma is there but stopping to 2.8 it pretty much goes away and some may like the bokeh on it. I just found the 50 a very sweet lens which brings me to my latest decision last week between the 55 and 50. Honestly a really tough choice but in the end the deciding factor just came down to AF. For some work I just need AF and if this was not my Profession I would be more just manual as there would be that freedom. But a working shooter you try to avoid the risks of blowing things when the heat gets turned up on some gigs where time is of the essence so you lean more to AF glass and the 55 is very good at it and with Eye AF being so good it's hard not to use it as often as you can. So the 55 right now makes sense.

Seriously if I was not a working Pro these comments would be slightly different because I would lean more to manual focus lenses because that has been a very large part of my career. But I'm not a spring chicken anymore either. So I like having the AF option and I'm also very much into trying to stay native to make use of all these AF abilities. I know I jumped off the Loxia lenses but I think it's important to understand the logic you have to think about when deciding these things.

Honestly I get a lot of emails and PMs a lot of them with folks looking for help. I even get other Pros and why I go through these kinds on open conversations because I think they help folks think better and on a more logical level and figure out what may work for them.

But in all honesty the Loxia 50 is just a very nice smooth looking lens. I'm hoping they just keep coming with them but I also think they need to redesign them like they did with the 21 coming. We are in anew era with very large demanding sensors and we have to refresh.
 

Lucille

New member
I want the Loxia 50, but haven't purchased due to me owning the 55 f/1.8, I also own the Mitakon 50mm f/.95 but that lens is falling out of favor with me, and I may sell. I am finding I don't use it often.
 

ohnri

New member
I have never enjoyed the bokeh on the Loxia 35 and I own the marvelous 35/1.4 so I would not be in the market for that one.

OTOH, I am tempted by the Loxia 50. It just looks like a great all-around lens. Sharp, nice bokeh, great colors, very easy handling.

I have been reluctant to get a 50 because the 35/1.4 and 90/2.8 seem to cover almost everything for me. But I handled the Loxia the other day and it was a treat. Small, light, smooth as glass MF ... just very, very nice.

But, do I ever want to buy another lens that disallows the insanely helpful Eye Detect AF?? Do I want to miss shot after shot of slightly moving subjects? Do I care that when Uncle Bob's head is nodding back and forth I have to time my shot perfectly? Do I care that when my head is nodding back and forth that I have to time my shot perfectly?

I used MF most of my life, even recently shooting low light sports with a Leica M9 and Noctilux. Well, I still have the Noctilux and, possibly, that is enough for me now.

I'll probably pass on the sweet Loxia 50, crop in on my 35 and try and forget how the Loxia felt in my hand.

Really, really nice. That's how.

Really nice.

-Bill
 
Thanks Guy for the post.
I am very interested in these Loxia lenses, but also in having a minimum number of good autofocus lenses for the eye focus.

Will be interesting to see if Batis attempts to compete with the FE 55mm. I do not have the FE 55 yet, and am considering opting for the Loxia 50 first.

There is something attractive about the rendering of the Loxia 50 on images that I see on Flickr, often with that classic subject separation from the background that suggests 3d. And I find the colors to be very interesting, perhaps more film like. Likely software can do this, but the colors often seem very rich.

John
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
The 50 just has a nice smooth look to the files. Still very sharp but the transition areas are really nice falloff.
 
V

Vivek

Guest
My Yashinon 40/1.7 (remounted from an Yashica GX) takes care of both the Loxii.

I may make an exception for the 21/2.8 distagon because it is new and not a recycled design.

I sincerely hope that there will be enough demand from one and all that Sony will come up with a set of affordable f/2 primes like the 28/2.

Sony 35/2 and 50/2 would be nice.
 

dchew

Well-known member
A bit more on the Loxia 35:
I decided to get this because I wanted a good manual focus 35, and felt this was the best option. All my other glass is manual focus and it was just weird using the 35 2.8, and manual focusing the FE lenses is not my thing; I just can't figure it out.

I have mixed feelings about the 35. The good:
It focuses very nicely on the a7r / a7rII
It is better than the 35 2.8 wide open
It fits nicely in my chest pouch, lens shade on and extended

The not so good:
Corners are so so wide open, but get very good by f/4
The aperture ring is pretty hard to find and turn
The aperture ring is backwards!!

Those last two are really annoying. I wish the knurls were bigger and/or not right up against the lens mount.

Dave
 

biglouis

Well-known member
I own the Loxia 2/35 as the compromise for there not being a good 2/35 AF lens in the Sony range.

Yes, I know the 1.4/35 is astounding but it is too large and hardly inconspicuous in an urban environment.

I owned the 2.8/35 but found that like a lot of users to be uninteresting.

I hope to get a RX1RII as soon as they are announced/available in the UK. At that point I may well sell the Loxia 35 as I can't see using both.

Maybe Zeiss will do us all a favour and produce a Batis 2/35?

The Loxias are very good, no doubt about it and I did write a very positive review of my experiences with the lens when I first got it. But to be honest, I am now using my FE 2/28 more and just cropping due to the AF support.

Just my two cents

LouisB
 
V

Vivek

Guest
Zeiss' name already is associated with all the 35mm lenses for FE. I would like just a plain vanilla Sony lens just like the 28/2. :)
 

fmueller

Active member
I own the Loxia 2/35 as the compromise for there not being a good 2/35 AF lens in the Sony range.

Yes, I know the 1.4/35 is astounding but it is too large and hardly inconspicuous in an urban environment.

I owned the 2.8/35 but found that like a lot of users to be uninteresting.

I hope to get a RX1RII as soon as they are announced/available in the UK. At that point I may well sell the Loxia 35 as I can't see using both.

Maybe Zeiss will do us all a favour and produce a Batis 2/35?

The Loxias are very good, no doubt about it and I did write a very positive review of my experiences with the lens when I first got it. But to be honest, I am now using my FE 2/28 more and just cropping due to the AF support.

Just my two cents

LouisB
Despite less than perfect reviews I bought the Sony 28/2 due to unavailability of Batis 25 (I have one on order, should be here in about another year as far as I can tell...)

I have been pleasantly surprised. I don't care that, uncorrected it displays a lot of distortion, the lens profile fixes it quite nicely.
 

ShooterSteve

New member
I too am searching for a perfect compact 50mm lens for my A7R2. The FE seems hard to beat but can't help wondering how the older Zeiss and Leica M mount lenses perform? I don't hear much talk about a Leica 50mm f2 Summicron or 1.4 Summilux or even the Summarit? I've been using a set of R primes on my Canons, (and now Sony) and love the look of the images. They are just a bit bulky and heavy for the Sony. M lenses seem perfect for it but I know some of the wide angle lenses have issues.

Has anyone here used any of the Leica or Zeiss M 50's on their Sony with perfect results?
 

michaelstokes

New member
I have number of Leica lenses that I now only use with my Monochrom having sold the M9 two years ago. The Novoflex adaptor works fine with them on the A7R11. On a casual look images taken with the Leica 24 2.8, 35 1.4FLE, 50 1.4 and 90 2.8 seem ok on the laptop screen. As I am heading to India next week for a two week photography trip I decided to compare the 35mm 1.4 FLE to the 85mm Batis to see whether it worth bringing the Leica lenses. Attached is an image from both lenses. If you look at the leaves on the ground to the left of the coloured bag, they do not look very sharp on the Leica and this is the better of two images taken at 5.6 using the Leica. There is not appreciable difference with shots taken at other apertures. Disappointing!!
 

Attachments

ShooterSteve

New member
Thank you for that info. My R lenses, including the 19 2.8, seem to be superb on the A7R and R2, but I guess being designed for an SLR makes the difference. I just love the smaller M lenses, though, and was hoping for that wonderful Leica look and feel.
 

seb

Member
Thank you all for your oppinions on the 35/2. It sounds like it is a good lens, but the 35/1.4 (or even the 28/2 croped) is all in all the better choice.

I miss a good 35/2 AF(!) aswell. I have a leitz wetzlar summaron 35/2.8 that performs well, but sometimes I want a stop or two more and autofocus.
Is there a any legacy lens that performs great at f2, has AF and isn't as big as the native 35/1.4?
 

Viramati

Member
After a lot of research I have just bought a used loxia 50 after finding my FE55 is ever so slightly decentered and I wanted a manual focus lens. First impressions are very good, IQ is impressive and it's great to have a manual lens that communicates with the camera.
 
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