Gunzorro
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jhinkey wrote:
The other Lox lenses are excellent wide open whereas the 35/2, as has been documented by users and images, is not so hot off center and needs to be stopped way down to get decently cleaned up over the entire frame. My 35/2.8 Sony easily beats the 35/2 Lox for border and corner resolution at f/2.8 and is only equaled at f/8. If you don't care about the sharpness in the borders corners near wide open, then this is the perfect lens for you if you do like contrast, great sun stars, etc. in the central part of the frame at f/2. Disappointing performance for the price. Zeiss should not have let this design go out the door....Show more →
Hi John!
Wow! That's like night and day to my experience! I'm amazed by the contrast and sharpness across the frame, even at f/4, and I'd shot many where f/2.8 was adequate. As I've been posting more of the Loxia 35, it seems more people have been coming out with images that look pretty good too. It's certainly not a matter of me not caring about the borders -- I'm pretty devoted to having sharp clean details without smearing or loss of contrast.
I'm not saying it's a "perfect" lens, but it's certainly one of my favorite non-T/S lenses for exterior architectural rendering -- and I consider that to be pretty technical and demanding subject matter. From my experience, f/5.6-f/8 shows the lens at its absolute best.
You're not alone in your experience, as I've seen nearly half of respondents indicating it not worth the price, and the other half liking it very much.
We'll see how I feel after I get the Loxia 21, and I'm pretty well decided to find a nice used Loxia 50 as well. Perhaps my enthusiasm will be tempered by those, although, having used quite a few earlier Zeiss lenses, I find the Loxia 35 the top of the heap so far (favoring it over the ZE 21/2.8, ZE 35/2, ZE 50/1.4, ZF 25/2.8 and ZF.2 35/2) -- particularly when considering distortion, vignetting, and edge-to-edge contrast.
Here's one of the very first shots I took outdoors in Aberdeen, after receiving the lens. Quick run & gun type at f/4 with no lens profile used in LR and no adjustment of vignetting. Simply exposure, contrast, color enhancement, and CA removal at 3. Focus was on the front corner of the church right above the rear of the parked car. The rear section of the building facing the camera is slightly OOF, but all along the street and curb are sharp from one side to the other. Although not perfectly sharp, even the seagull on top of the cross is acceptably sharp. f/2.8 wouldn't be much worse other than shallower DOF. The lens DOES have slight curvature of field, with edges coming forward, but I find that more of an asset if knowing where to position the central point of focus.
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