Zeiss Loxia 50mm f/2

[verysmallloboKeymaster]

Hi and welcome to the Zeiss Loxia 50mm f/2 forum topic. Use this opportunity to ask questions about the lens and share your ideas and comments about testing itself. I will try to answer every single one, but I am sure you guys will manage to have interesting discussions anyway.

[Tongram]

Hi Viktor,

I know Zeiss Loxia is semi-electronic.
Its operation is manual, but it does have electronic contacts, so it sends out EXIF data to A7/r/s. Can you see the aperture numbers inside EVF like other full-electronic lenses such Sony Zeiss FE 55mm?

Thanks,
Tongram

[viktor pavlovicKeymaster]

Hi Tongram, I will check it out today and will let you know.

Cheers, Viktor

[viktor pavlovicKeymaster]

Hi Tongram,
I just got a second to look at it and I can confirm that you can see the f-stop number in the EVF (LCD) while you change the aperture on the lens itself.

Hope it helps.

Cheers,
Viktor

[Tongram]

Thank you Viktor.

I look forward to your full review of Zeiss Loxia 50mm f/2.

I also want to let you that I enjoy reading your blog.

Best regards,

Tongram

[viktor pavlovicKeymaster]

Thank you Tongram, your support and kind words means lot to us here.

[Tero]

Thanks for your review effort, very good stuff. This site has been the best source for concrete information on Loxias, the report from Photokina was great as well. The lenses look great and I’m a big fan of Zeiss lenses, but the manual only aperture control is a bit bummer: no automatic wide open manual focus regardless of chosen aperture when setting Live View Display to “Setting Effect off”. I’ve grown quite used to it (as it gives best peaking with least color noise on lower light levels) with Sony FE lenses and Canon EF mount lenses with Metabones adapter. Zeiss ZE lenses are best in this regard as they have the fully manual focusing ring combined with electronic aperture.

[viktor pavlovicKeymaster]

Hi and thanks for your comment.
Are you sure that Zeiss ZE lenses have aperture rings? None of my Zeiss ZE (28/2, 21/2.8, 35/2, 50/2 Macro) has it 🙁 I think that Nikon ZF has it, but there is no electronic adapter for Nikon.
Otherwise I agree that if you get used to wo focusing in low light, it might be annoying. Maybe there is some work around, I didn’t think about it, because at low light levels I used lens wide open anyway.
On the other hand, real manual focusing with hard stops is a gods gift in the dark, when all you need is to focus to infinity.

Cheers,
Viktor

[Tero]

The ZE lenses do not have Aperture ring, I formulated that a bit poorly in my original post, but as a still only shooter I do not miss it. In that sense adapted ZE is near-perfect (perfect if there were no infinity issues 🙁 ) solution in terms of functionality for me; real manual focus ring with electronic aperture. But given the possibility to go stepless aperture for video I can understand why no electronic aperture is not possible Loxias. Automatic wide open focusing is most useful for indoor manual flash or strobe shooting and it helps nailing millimeter perfect focus when stopping down a bit even in decent light; not a make or break thing but kind of hard to give it away after getting used to it. Dierk Topp also seems to be fan of it with the Otus 85 + A7R

Dierk Topp Otus 85mm review: “The Sony A7R is the best camera for the OTUS today!”

[viktor pavlovicKeymaster]

Hi Tero, I agree that automatic aperture have its advantages, no doubt about it.
That Otus 85/1.4 is a killer lens, but so is its price. At that focal length, refraction caused by Sony sensor toppings wouldn’t affect lens performance by much, but I would still like to have one with Loxia optimization 🙂 or would use it with Nikon D800E/D810 to get most out of it. Lens is huge though and quite heavy, but there are really no traces of any kind of CA, it is razor sharp and it has very creamy bokeh. With Zeiss micro contrast and colors it worth selling arm or leg 🙂

Cheers,
Viktor

[GreenLensParticipant]

Hi Viktor,
I wonder what happens with the aperture values if you declick the ring? Are they reported in 1/3 steps as well?
Thank you,
Alex.

[Tero]

The Otus lenses are a bit should I say paradoxical since they are only available on Canon/Nikon Mount. They are stellar wide open yet critically focusing them wide open and hand held is extremely hard on bodies they are made for. Ming Thein said the only way to get accurately focused pics with the Otus 85 wide open on a Nikon using the OVF was to slowly rack the focus ring and shoot bursts. Sounds like a hack to me. Now if you adapt those lenses to a A7 or A7R the hand held focusing is very easy. The Otuses are out of my price range and I already have the FE 55/1.8 and the Sony Zeiss 85/1.4, but the ZE APO Sonnar 135/2 is tempting, been looking for a used copy for some time now. As sharp as Otus, nearly as well corrected, short MFD for near-macro and about half the price. The focal length should make the A7 sensor topping non-issue. Long Fl also means that if we ever see anything that fast/good for FE mount it will be as big or even bigger if it is AF.

[viktor pavlovicKeymaster]

Hi Alex,
aperture values are always properly reported and recorde to the EXIF.

Cheers,
Viktor

[GreenLens]

I mean are the aperture values continuous or discrete in 1/3 steps IF the ring is declicked?
/Alex.

[viktor pavlovicKeymaster]

Sorry Alex, I haven’t check de-clicking at all. I am not shooting video so I didn’t really care about that feature and lens has already new owner, I sold it today.
But from what I have seen, I assume that aperture will be continuous – reporting increments of 1/3rd of a step no matter if it is in clicking or de-clicking mode. De-clicking seems to be purely mechanical thing.

Cheers,
Viktor

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