Philip I love your work with the 85 Loxia. How would you compare the rendering to the 100 Makro Planar at similar apertures and subject distances, accounting for the small focal length difference? I don’t use mine wide open too much, but I often use it for landscapes, closeups, and occasional portraits.
matt, thank you for your kind words. That is an interesting comparo with one of the very best modern Zeiss designs. A few thoughts, bearing in mind I am no expert on the 100MP, but have seen literally thousands of images from that one. The MP is stronger contrast in its drawing, but they share this taut control of the image. Some of the contrast perception of the 100MP is from the lower DR of the cameras back then. I shoot the Loxia 85mm alongside CY strong contrast/color lenses, the 35-70/3.4, 100-300mm and the 28/2.8, sometimes the 21/2.8.
The Loxia is deceiving in this hand-picked company I use for landscapes and general travel work. Resolution is through the roof but the lens is a 'shy bearer', softer in natural contrast and more laid back in color. It needs pushing to deliver the impact look I want. Sometimes it's better for people to judge for themselves, however, you have one and you asked: the bokeh is unworldly graceful to my taste. I'm not concerned with outer frame elipses and always use a hood, the 85's hood is one of the best. So I regard it as more oriented to portraits, but it is no slouch at open field and MFD - a fine all rounder.
It has very accurate neutral color, a bright Sonnar palette that takes a lot of saturation when needed. Field is very flat, IQ is even into the wide edges, leading to excellent apparent depth. Focus fade is very forgiving of wider apertures than ideal - I often use f6.3-f7.1 just for the pleasure of seeing what turns out, rather than f8. CA almost does not exist, and LoCA seems well under control (I see a lot of this in brightly lit hair in the 55/1.8 and CY 100/3.5). It's so good people may not notice it. Wide open you have to watch out a little, it is less forgiving of focus error than any longer Zeiss lens I've used, so f2.4 suits me fine. People get f3.2-f3.5 and still their skin stays smooth, after this big step up in IQ. Here are a couple more, I am slowly winding through last trip's images.
philip_pj wrote:
matt, thank you for your kind words. That is an interesting comparo with one of the very best modern Zeiss designs. A few thoughts, bearing in mind I am no expert on the 100MP, but have seen literally thousands of images from that one. The MP is stronger contrast in its drawing, but they share this taut control of the image. Some of the contrast perception of the 100MP is from the lower DR of the cameras back then. I shoot the Loxia 85mm alongside CY strong contrast/color lenses, the 35-70/3.4, 100-300mm and the 28/2.8, sometimes the 21/2.8.
The Loxia is deceiving in this hand-picked company I use for landscapes and general travel work. Resolution is through the roof but the lens is a 'shy bearer', softer in natural contrast and more laid back in color. It needs pushing to deliver the impact look I want. Sometimes it's better for people to judge for themselves, however, you have one and you asked: the bokeh is unworldly graceful to my taste. I'm not concerned with outer frame elipses and always use a hood, the 85's hood is one of the best. So I regard it as more oriented to portraits, but it is no slouch at open field and MFD - a fine all rounder.
It has very accurate neutral color, a bright Sonnar palette that takes a lot of saturation when needed. Field is very flat, IQ is even into the wide edges, leading to excellent apparent depth. Focus fade is very forgiving of wider apertures than ideal - I often use f6.3-f7.1 just for the pleasure of seeing what turns out, rather than f8. CA almost does not exist, and LoCA seems well under control (I see a lot of this in brightly lit hair in the 55/1.8 and CY 100/3.5). It's so good people may not notice it. Wide open you have to watch out a little, it is less forgiving of focus error than any longer Zeiss lens I've used, so f2.4 suits me fine. People get f3.2-f3.5 and still their skin stays smooth, after this big step up in IQ. Here are a couple more, I am slowly winding through last trip's images. ...Show more →
Thanks for your summary and hands-on experience, Philip.
BTW -- what is the minimum focusing distance of the Loxia 85? I always run into trouble with 85s being further away than I prefer for close-up subjects. I have a Samyang in Canon mount with a variable helicoid adapter to Sony that gives me a close-up option, and the total price is very affordable, but the Loxia certainly has a softer look near wide open and up close!
Thanks much Philip, love your write ups. I wouldn’t mind downsizing my 100MP and gaining a native mount lens, I’m guessing the Loxia handles much less awkwardly than the adapted MP. Will have to get one to handle in the flesh.
I've been playing with Loxia lenses this trip, and the other day used my first Loxia 35 as my only companion. I'm still loving this lens -- thanks so much Chuck Coyne!
