Hi all, I just had confirmation today from the Australian distributor, that Zeiss are discontinuing all of their still lenses and filters: no more Loxia, Batis etc.
End of an era
Petegh wrote:
Hi all, I just had confirmation today from the Australian distributor, that Zeiss are discontinuing all of their still lenses and filters: no more Loxia, Batis etc.
End of an era
Yes, I think it's a well-known sort of "quiet retreat" for a few years now. Written about all over the forums/internet. What few write about is how Zeiss is designing lenses for some mobile phone cameras for a few years now too. As some might say, Zeiss optics appears to have moved over to where the money is...
Sad indeed. I've used and loved many Zeiss lenses over the years. Here's my two favorites, the 80mm Planar on the incomparable Rollei SL66 and the still brilliant 135mm Batis.
I think it is a bad decision for consumers, perhaps not in a financial sense for the company, but the product is excellent. I am glad a have a few and will treasure them even a bit more.
I feel badly for those who loved Zeiss lenses but clearly Zeiss got a lot of things wrong along the way.
I am most familiar with Zeiss in the ophthalmic imaging world and almost went to work for them at one point. Similar story. Their flagship optical coherence topographer is still unavailable in the US after being recalled by the FDA in 2021.
A bit worse than the Z-X1 fiasco.
Imo they make some good product but have some serious management/ decision making issues.
Nonsense. The lenses are excellent and reviewers said as much, everywhere, when they were released. The Zeiss decision is to exit the photography business altogether. The break with Sony probably contributed -- that is 'business 101'
If Zeiss were producing optical marvel, as you are claiming, and selling tons of those, they wouldn't be exiting the market. They would expand their footprint to cover the two other major players (Canon and Nikon). Here are some examples for you to see this more objectively without basing everything on your feelings:
rob_ww wrote:
Nonsense. The lenses are excellent and reviewers said as much, everywhere, when they were released. The Zeiss decision is to exit the photography business altogether. The break with Sony probably contributed -- that is 'business 101'
ramesesthe2nd wrote:
Zeiss dug its own grave by producing objectively inferior and overpriced lenses, but sad to see them go.
Zeiss lenses are optically superior, but unfortunately for them, their superior characteristics are too subtle for clueless YouTube shills to articulate or to measure with "test charts" taped to their basement walls.
Zeiss lenses have contrast and colors that most other lenses lack. I would not say that they are superior to Voigtlander lenses and Sony GM lenses in every way. They are, however, always the most expensive lenses.
Youtube shills are the worst.
Molson wrote:
Zeiss lenses are optically superior, but unfortunately for them, their superior characteristics are too subtle for clueless YouTube shills to articulate or to measure with "test charts" taped to their basement walls.
Hmmm. I wonder what this means for repair over the long term? Something has happened to the alignment of my Loxia 25mm, so maybe I should get off my butt and send it in now! I guess Loxias are made by CV, so perhaps they're the ones who'll make parts. Batis...speculation has always been Tamron, but never fully confirmed.
MikeEvangelist wrote:
Sad indeed. I've used and loved many Zeiss lenses over the years. Here's my two favorites, the 80mm Planar on the incomparable Rollei SL66 and the still brilliant 135mm Batis.
My favourite is the 85 Loxia, but the 135 Batis isn't far behind. What a lens! My dad had one that I used to steal for long periods...he has sold it as he's downsized with age, I keep trolling the usual spots for deals on used ones
The Zeiss 50 MP is still one of my favorite lenses of all time. I can tell which photos I took with that lens with just a quick glance. The 100MP is way up there too.
The lenses are great, but I don’t think they’ve made what the market wants. And a series of bad, expensive decisions like investing in development and manufacturing of the Otis and Milvus lenses just before dslr sales tanked. And I liked the Batis lenses and owned a few but clearly the market wants lenses with external controls vs their bulbous minimalist aesthetic sacrificing functionality except for that pointless silly LED display. And the Batis 40 AF fiasco was a case study in how not to manage poor press / reviews at product release.
This is not where Zeiss should be and we all lose out what could have been when they exit.
Has Zeiss actually built any mirrorless mount stills lenses in-house? Seems like they've just been licensing their coatings and subcontracting manufacturing for many years.
