Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
p.2 #1Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
philip_pj wrote:
Pictorially, the Sony GM 50/1.2 is almost as good as the Viltrox 50/2 AIR at common apertures, but falls short regarding it's out-of-focus content. Bokeh never gets discussed much and we even lack the terms to describe it well. Bokeh is 75% of the average wide aperture image, so why is that? What is its job? C/N/S answer: of course, it is to blur the background.
But Sony's bokeh model is less pleasant here, it lays down a broad field of poorly differentiated material behind the subject, making it hard to mentally fit the subject into the scene. The Viltrox AIR...Show more →
Only someone who gets his "expertise" from ridiculous YouTube videos by equally ridiculous influencers, and who has never actually held, let alone used, either of these lenses, could write such nonsense. Constantly repeating these completely absurd claims doesn't make them any truer.
I own and use both lenses. If I need bokeh like the Viltrox Air at its widest aperture, I stop the 1.2 GM down to f/2.8 and that's it. End of story. Besides, the question was about a manual focus 50mm lens.
Pictorially, the Sony GM 50/1.2 is almost as good as the Viltrox 50/2 AIR at common apertures, but falls short regarding it's out-of-focus content. Bokeh never gets discussed much and we even lack the terms to describe it well. Bokeh is 75% of the average wide aperture image, so why is that? What is its job? C/N/S answer: of course, it is to blur the background.
But Sony's bokeh model is less pleasant here, it lays down a broad field of poorly differentiated material behind the subject, making it hard to mentally fit the subject into the scene. The Viltrox AIR...Show more →
Only someone who gets his "expertise" from ridiculous YouTube videos by equally ridiculous influencers, and who has never actually held, let alone used, either of these lenses, could write such nonsense. Constantly repeating these completely absurd claims doesn't make them any truer.
I own and use both lenses. If I need bokeh like the Viltrox Air at its widest aperture, I stop the 1.2 GM down to f/2.8 and that's it. End of story. Besides, the question was about a manual focus 50mm lens.
Apr 10, 2026 at 04:00 PM
p.2 #2Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
philip_pj wrote:
Pictorially, the Sony GM 50/1.2 is almost as good as the Viltrox 50/2 AIR at common apertures, but falls short regarding it's out-of-focus content. Bokeh never gets discussed much and we even lack the terms to describe it well. Bokeh is 75% of the average wide aperture image, so why is that? What is its job? C/N/S answer: of course, it is to blur the background.
.....
Clearly, this guy has never used a GM 50/1.2. Its a phenomenal lens and an optical marvel.. Any aperture, any distance.
Anyways, back to the OP's request. Firstly, can you tell us what your main use case is ? Portraits ? General walk around and travel ? ...
I own the Loxia 50/2, Sonnar 50/1.5 ZM, GM 50/1.2, EF 50/1.2, ZA 50/1.4 and LOVE all of them for various reasons.
Pictorially, the Sony GM 50/1.2 is almost as good as the Viltrox 50/2 AIR at common apertures, but falls short regarding it's out-of-focus content. Bokeh never gets discussed much and we even lack the terms to describe it well. Bokeh is 75% of the average wide aperture image, so why is that? What is its job? C/N/S answer: of course, it is to blur the background.
.....
Clearly, this guy has never used a GM 50/1.2. Its a phenomenal lens and an optical marvel.. Any aperture, any distance.
Anyways, back to the OP's request. Firstly, can you tell us what your main use case is ? Portraits ? General walk around and travel ? ...
I own the Loxia 50/2, Sonnar 50/1.5 ZM, GM 50/1.2, EF 50/1.2, ZA 50/1.4 and LOVE all of them for various reasons.
Apr 11, 2026 at 11:03 AM
p.2 #3Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
My reason for getting a Loxia, sunstars.
Leaves & Sunstars by Brian Caslis, on Flickr
Leaves & Sunstars by Brian Caslis, on FlickrSep 05, 2026 at 09:22 PM
p.2 #4Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
A question for anyone using Loxia lenses and Lightroom Classic. For the 50mm, Lightroom reports it as "E 50mm f2" lens and correctly finds the Zeiss lens profile. On the 35mm, Lightroom reports it as "Zeiss Loxia 2/35" but the lens profile picks out "built-in". I can manually set it to the Zeiss Loxia 35mm but I'm surprised by the different behavior for the 2 lenses. Has anyone else seen this?
Sep 08, 2026 at 01:17 PM
p.2 #5Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
bcaslis wrote:
A question for anyone using Loxia lenses and Lightroom Classic. For the 50mm, Lightroom reports it as "E 50mm f2" lens and correctly finds the Zeiss lens profile. On the 35mm, Lightroom reports it as "Zeiss Loxia 2/35" but the lens profile picks out "built-in". I can manually set it to the Zeiss Loxia 35mm but I'm surprised by the different behavior for the 2 lenses. Has anyone else seen this?
"Earlier" Loxia lenses, from a perspective of when they were manufactured, show different EXIF values for the same lens. The older ones report like you say, like my 21mm reports as "E 21mm F2.8". Later ones report more verbose like you mention. I think they updated the approach and lenses with newer firmware have the more verbose (nicer) EXIF.
A question for anyone using Loxia lenses and Lightroom Classic. For the 50mm, Lightroom reports it as "E 50mm f2" lens and correctly finds the Zeiss lens profile. On the 35mm, Lightroom reports it as "Zeiss Loxia 2/35" but the lens profile picks out "built-in". I can manually set it to the Zeiss Loxia 35mm but I'm surprised by the different behavior for the 2 lenses. Has anyone else seen this?
"Earlier" Loxia lenses, from a perspective of when they were manufactured, show different EXIF values for the same lens. The older ones report like you say, like my 21mm reports as "E 21mm F2.8". Later ones report more verbose like you mention. I think they updated the approach and lenses with newer firmware have the more verbose (nicer) EXIF.
Sep 08, 2026 at 01:28 PM
p.2 #6Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
Thanks! Both lenses say version 02 but good to know.
Sep 08, 2026 at 01:55 PM
p.2 #7Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
bcaslis wrote:
Thanks! Both lenses say version 02 but good to know.
It's possible I am wrong then. I bought the Loxia 21 right when it was released, and it reports as "E 21mm F2.8", but my Loxia 25 an 85 have the more descriptive EXIF.
It took me a few years, on and off, trying to get a centered copy of the Loxia 25. I could have sworn I had some that reported the old way. But when I went back and looked through my photos, it seems as though the RAW files were consistent using the new naming convention.
So maybe it is purely not by when the lenses were made, maybe it is consistent to each lens.
And....when I ask AI, it says I was wrong. The 21, 35, and 50 use the "E ..." EXIF nomenclature and the 25, and 85 use the "ZEISS Loxia ..." nomenclature. Which does jive with what my lenses report (of the ones I have).
So my apologies, was definitely wrong in my first post.
Thanks! Both lenses say version 02 but good to know.
It's possible I am wrong then. I bought the Loxia 21 right when it was released, and it reports as "E 21mm F2.8", but my Loxia 25 an 85 have the more descriptive EXIF.
It took me a few years, on and off, trying to get a centered copy of the Loxia 25. I could have sworn I had some that reported the old way. But when I went back and looked through my photos, it seems as though the RAW files were consistent using the new naming convention.
So maybe it is purely not by when the lenses were made, maybe it is consistent to each lens.
And....when I ask AI, it says I was wrong. The 21, 35, and 50 use the "E ..." EXIF nomenclature and the 25, and 85 use the "ZEISS Loxia ..." nomenclature. Which does jive with what my lenses report (of the ones I have).
So my apologies, was definitely wrong in my first post.
Sep 08, 2026 at 03:00 PM
p.2 #8Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
If anyone wants to change that, you can use a free plugin called LensTagger - https://www.lenstagger.com/
I have all the Loxias and some do have the E style exif. I prefer the Zeiss-style exif and have created presets in LensTagger for each Loxia that needs it. After import, It’s easy to select images by lens, then run LensTagger on the batch and then all the exif is consistent between my Loxias. It also works well for manual lenses with no exif so you can add which lens it is in Lightroom. It embeds the metadata so even exported from Lightroom it will keep that info intact.
tsdevine wrote:
It's possible I am wrong then. I bought the Loxia 21 right when it was released, and it reports as "E 21mm F2.8", but my Loxia 25 an 85 have the more descriptive EXIF.
It took me a few years, on and off, trying to get a centered copy of the Loxia 25. I could have sworn I had some that reported the old way. But when I went back and looked through my photos, it seems as though the RAW files were consistent using the new naming convention.
So maybe it is purely not by when the lenses were made, maybe...Show more →
I have all the Loxias and some do have the E style exif. I prefer the Zeiss-style exif and have created presets in LensTagger for each Loxia that needs it. After import, It’s easy to select images by lens, then run LensTagger on the batch and then all the exif is consistent between my Loxias. It also works well for manual lenses with no exif so you can add which lens it is in Lightroom. It embeds the metadata so even exported from Lightroom it will keep that info intact.
tsdevine wrote:
bcaslis wrote
Thanks! Both lenses say version 02 but good to know.It took me a few years, on and off, trying to get a centered copy of the Loxia 25. I could have sworn I had some that reported the old way. But when I went back and looked through my photos, it seems as though the RAW files were consistent using the new naming convention.
So maybe it is purely not by when the lenses were made, maybe...Show more →
Sep 08, 2026 at 03:46 PM
p.2 #9Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
Well my 50 uses the "E 50mm f2" but the 35mm use "Zeiss Loxia 2/35" so as normal I would not trust what AI says. 
Sep 08, 2026 at 03:48 PM
p.2 #10Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
adventure_photo wrote:
If anyone wants to change that, you can use a free plugin called LensTagger - https://www.lenstagger.com/
I have all the Loxias and some do have the E style exif. I prefer the Zeiss-style exif and have created presets in LensTagger for each Loxia that needs it. After import, It’s easy to select images by lens, then run LensTagger on the batch and then all the exif is consistent between my Loxias. It also works well for manual lenses with no exif so you can add which lens it is in Lightroom. It embeds the metadata so even exported from Lightroom it...Show more →It's possible I am wrong then. I bought the Loxia 21 right when it was released, and it reports as "E 21mm F2.8", but my Loxia 25 an 85 have the more descriptive EXIF.
It took me a few years, on and off, trying to get a centered copy of the Loxia 25. I could have sworn I had some that reported the old way. But when I went back and looked through my photos, it seems as though the RAW files were consistent using the new naming convention.
So maybe it is purely not by when the lenses were made, maybe it is consistent to each lens.
And....when I ask AI, it says I was wrong. The 21, 35, and 50 use the "E ..." EXIF nomenclature and the 25, and 85 use the "ZEISS Loxia ..." nomenclature. Which does jive with what my lenses report (of the ones I have).
So my apologies, was definitely wrong in my first post.
Thanks for the info about lenstagger. I was asking mainly because for one case Lightroom automatically selects the right lens profile (in the case of E 50mm f2) but in the case for the 35mm (Zeiss Loxia 2/35) it doesn't automatically select the right lens profile, I have to manually set it.
If anyone wants to change that, you can use a free plugin called LensTagger - https://www.lenstagger.com/
I have all the Loxias and some do have the E style exif. I prefer the Zeiss-style exif and have created presets in LensTagger for each Loxia that needs it. After import, It’s easy to select images by lens, then run LensTagger on the batch and then all the exif is consistent between my Loxias. It also works well for manual lenses with no exif so you can add which lens it is in Lightroom. It embeds the metadata so even exported from Lightroom it...Show more →
tsdevine wrote
bcaslis wrote
Thanks! Both lenses say version 02 but good to know.It took me a few years, on and off, trying to get a centered copy of the Loxia 25. I could have sworn I had some that reported the old way. But when I went back and looked through my photos, it seems as though the RAW files were consistent using the new naming convention.
So maybe it is purely not by when the lenses were made, maybe it is consistent to each lens.
And....when I ask AI, it says I was wrong. The 21, 35, and 50 use the "E ..." EXIF nomenclature and the 25, and 85 use the "ZEISS Loxia ..." nomenclature. Which does jive with what my lenses report (of the ones I have).
So my apologies, was definitely wrong in my first post.
Thanks for the info about lenstagger. I was asking mainly because for one case Lightroom automatically selects the right lens profile (in the case of E 50mm f2) but in the case for the 35mm (Zeiss Loxia 2/35) it doesn't automatically select the right lens profile, I have to manually set it.
Sep 08, 2026 at 03:53 PM
|
p.2 #11Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
bcaslis wrote:
Well my 50 uses the "E 50mm f2" but the 35mm use "Zeiss Loxia 2/35" so as normal I would not trust what AI says.
Yeah, I don't generally trust AI for anything important. In this case, it seemed to corroborate what my files say. Glad you chimed in and proved it wrong, and I guess I was sort of right in saying it can be different even within a given Loxia model.
Well my 50 uses the "E 50mm f2" but the 35mm use "Zeiss Loxia 2/35" so as normal I would not trust what AI says.
Yeah, I don't generally trust AI for anything important. In this case, it seemed to corroborate what my files say. Glad you chimed in and proved it wrong, and I guess I was sort of right in saying it can be different even within a given Loxia model.
Sep 08, 2026 at 04:25 PM
p.2 #12Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
bcaslis wrote:
A question for anyone using Loxia lenses and Lightroom Classic. For the 50mm, Lightroom reports it as "E 50mm f2" lens and correctly finds the Zeiss lens profile. On the 35mm, Lightroom reports it as "Zeiss Loxia 2/35" but the lens profile picks out "built-in". I can manually set it to the Zeiss Loxia 35mm but I'm surprised by the different behavior for the 2 lenses. Has anyone else seen this?
My Loxia 50mm behaves like yours in Lightroom, automatically the correction profile is applied. My Loxia 35mm is reported in the EXIF as "E 35mm F2" and also the correct profile is automatically applied in Lightroom.
You might want to try to rename the lens in the EXIF and see if then the appropriate profile is automatically applied.
A question for anyone using Loxia lenses and Lightroom Classic. For the 50mm, Lightroom reports it as "E 50mm f2" lens and correctly finds the Zeiss lens profile. On the 35mm, Lightroom reports it as "Zeiss Loxia 2/35" but the lens profile picks out "built-in". I can manually set it to the Zeiss Loxia 35mm but I'm surprised by the different behavior for the 2 lenses. Has anyone else seen this?
My Loxia 50mm behaves like yours in Lightroom, automatically the correction profile is applied. My Loxia 35mm is reported in the EXIF as "E 35mm F2" and also the correct profile is automatically applied in Lightroom.
You might want to try to rename the lens in the EXIF and see if then the appropriate profile is automatically applied.
Sep 09, 2026 at 08:49 AM
p.2 #13Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
This thread has been quite useful. I’ve been changing my intended kit for a short South Korean vacation. I finalized upon 16-35mm GMii, 24mm GM and 100mm Macro GM. That left me thinking about 50mm. I only take two lenses out on a given day, but the 100 will stay in the hotel safe most of the time and the 24mm for night/interiors, I really do like Loxia lenses. I have the 21/35 & 85mm and like the 85mm, the 50mm is a Sonar. That said, the 50mm APO Lanthar fits in better with the more modern rendering lenses in the kit. I have this lens for my Leica rangefinders and while it doesn’t have the Sonar draw, it does fit better this trip. So, I ordered from Mr Gandy and will have it tomorrow. All that said, I’ll keep my eyes open for the Loxia 50mm, because it certainly fits
The real bottom line is that these are two exceptional lenses with differing presentation.
The real bottom line is that these are two exceptional lenses with differing presentation.
Sep 09, 2026 at 03:09 PM
p.2 #14Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
The Loxia 50/2 is a beautiful lens, I realy do like mine. It was the first Loxia I bought. I liked it so much that soon after the L50 I bought the Loxia 85 and Loxia 25 as well, and later also added the Loxia 35.
When I use the lens it feels like I'm using a precision tool, the manual focus is just soo smooth and precise. Just a joy to use. I realy love the colors and micro contrast I'm getting. In my eyes the Loxia 50 has the nicest colour rendering of the Loxia line.
I have a few Loxia 50 images on my flickr page if you're interested.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/62121798@N08/albums/72177720315443280
When I use the lens it feels like I'm using a precision tool, the manual focus is just soo smooth and precise. Just a joy to use. I realy love the colors and micro contrast I'm getting. In my eyes the Loxia 50 has the nicest colour rendering of the Loxia line.
I have a few Loxia 50 images on my flickr page if you're interested.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/62121798@N08/albums/72177720315443280
Sep 09, 2026 at 04:00 PM
p.2 #15Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
Michel85 wrote:
The Loxia 50/2 is a beautiful lens, I realy do like mine. It was the first Loxia I bought. I liked it so much that soon after the L50 I bought the Loxia 85 and Loxia 25 as well, and later also added the Loxia 35.
When I use the lens it feels like I'm using a precision tool, the manual focus is just soo smooth and precise. Just a joy to use. I realy love the colors and micro contrast I'm getting. In my eyes the Loxia 50 has the nicest colour rendering of the Loxia line.
I have a few...Show more →
Very nice images. In addition to the beautiufl colors that the Loxia 50 and the other Loxias produce, they also have what Zeiss calls "rounded sharpness," which to me is seen in an overall smoothness in the images and a very natural transition between objects and elements of the images. But clarity is retained. I think your images show this well.
I remember a comparison of the Loxia 21 to the Voightlander 21. The image was, if I remember, of a bridge over water. While the Voightlander image looked sharper, and many people therefore considered the lens to be better, to me the Loxia image looked more beautiful.
I think it is very hard to have an adquate vocabulary for the qualities of visual images. Are Vermeer's images sharp enough? What is it that makes his painitngs, including their purely technical characteristics, so special?
The Loxia 50/2 is a beautiful lens, I realy do like mine. It was the first Loxia I bought. I liked it so much that soon after the L50 I bought the Loxia 85 and Loxia 25 as well, and later also added the Loxia 35.
When I use the lens it feels like I'm using a precision tool, the manual focus is just soo smooth and precise. Just a joy to use. I realy love the colors and micro contrast I'm getting. In my eyes the Loxia 50 has the nicest colour rendering of the Loxia line.
I have a few...Show more →
Very nice images. In addition to the beautiufl colors that the Loxia 50 and the other Loxias produce, they also have what Zeiss calls "rounded sharpness," which to me is seen in an overall smoothness in the images and a very natural transition between objects and elements of the images. But clarity is retained. I think your images show this well.
I remember a comparison of the Loxia 21 to the Voightlander 21. The image was, if I remember, of a bridge over water. While the Voightlander image looked sharper, and many people therefore considered the lens to be better, to me the Loxia image looked more beautiful.
I think it is very hard to have an adquate vocabulary for the qualities of visual images. Are Vermeer's images sharp enough? What is it that makes his painitngs, including their purely technical characteristics, so special?
Sep 09, 2026 at 05:53 PM
p.2 #16Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
chiron wrote:
When I use the lens it feels like I'm using a precision tool, the manual focus is just soo smooth and precise. Just a joy to use. I realy love the colors and micro contrast I'm getting. In my eyes the Loxia 50 has the nicest colour rendering of the Loxia line.
I have a few Loxia 50 images on my flickr page if you're interested.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/62121798@N08/albums/72177720315443280Very nice images. In addition to the beautiufl colors that the Loxia 50 and the other Loxias produce, they also have what Zeiss calls "rounded sharpness," which to me is seen in an overall smoothness in the images and a very natural transition between objects and elements of the images. But clarity is retained. I think your images show this well.
I remember a comparison of the Loxia 21 to the Voightlander 21. The image was, if I remember, of a bridge over water. While the Voightlander image looked sharper, and many people therefore considered the lens to be better, to...Show more →
I think that of all the lenses that I own in various systems, the Loxia 85mm best meets your description. It really is a special lens, especially for portraiture.
Michel85 wrote
The Loxia 50/2 is a beautiful lens, I realy do like mine. It was the first Loxia I bought. I liked it so much that soon after the L50 I bought the Loxia 85 and Loxia 25 as well, and later also added the Loxia 35.When I use the lens it feels like I'm using a precision tool, the manual focus is just soo smooth and precise. Just a joy to use. I realy love the colors and micro contrast I'm getting. In my eyes the Loxia 50 has the nicest colour rendering of the Loxia line.
I have a few Loxia 50 images on my flickr page if you're interested.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/62121798@N08/albums/72177720315443280
I remember a comparison of the Loxia 21 to the Voightlander 21. The image was, if I remember, of a bridge over water. While the Voightlander image looked sharper, and many people therefore considered the lens to be better, to...Show more →
I think that of all the lenses that I own in various systems, the Loxia 85mm best meets your description. It really is a special lens, especially for portraiture.
Sep 09, 2026 at 06:00 PM
p.2 #17Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
addieleman wrote:
My Loxia 50mm behaves like yours in Lightroom, automatically the correction profile is applied. My Loxia 35mm is reported in the EXIF as "E 35mm F2" and also the correct profile is automatically applied in Lightroom.
You might want to try to rename the lens in the EXIF and see if then the appropriate profile is automatically applied.
Yes, if I manually edit the EXIF information to "E 35mm F2" Lightroom automatically applies the correct profile. It's more effort to edit the EXIF instead of just applying the lens correction in Lightroom. I just wanted to see what others were encountering. It looks like Lightroom was never updated to use the updated lens information.
bcaslis wrote
A question for anyone using Loxia lenses and Lightroom Classic. For the 50mm, Lightroom reports it as "E 50mm f2" lens and correctly finds the Zeiss lens profile. On the 35mm, Lightroom reports it as "Zeiss Loxia 2/35" but the lens profile picks out "built-in". I can manually set it to the Zeiss Loxia 35mm but I'm surprised by the different behavior for the 2 lenses. Has anyone else seen this?You might want to try to rename the lens in the EXIF and see if then the appropriate profile is automatically applied.
Yes, if I manually edit the EXIF information to "E 35mm F2" Lightroom automatically applies the correct profile. It's more effort to edit the EXIF instead of just applying the lens correction in Lightroom. I just wanted to see what others were encountering. It looks like Lightroom was never updated to use the updated lens information.
Sep 09, 2026 at 06:30 PM
p.2 #18Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
Michel85 wrote:
The Loxia 50/2 is a beautiful lens, I realy do like mine. It was the first Loxia I bought. I liked it so much that soon after the L50 I bought the Loxia 85 and Loxia 25 as well, and later also added the Loxia 35.
When I use the lens it feels like I'm using a precision tool, the manual focus is just soo smooth and precise. Just a joy to use. I realy love the colors and micro contrast I'm getting. In my eyes the Loxia 50 has the nicest colour rendering of the Loxia line.
I have a few...Show more →
Very nice images. The focus ring is much stiffer on the 50mm I have than the 35mm (that one is very very smooth). Do you see a difference between the 50mm and 35mm or are they the same resistance?
The Loxia 50/2 is a beautiful lens, I realy do like mine. It was the first Loxia I bought. I liked it so much that soon after the L50 I bought the Loxia 85 and Loxia 25 as well, and later also added the Loxia 35.
When I use the lens it feels like I'm using a precision tool, the manual focus is just soo smooth and precise. Just a joy to use. I realy love the colors and micro contrast I'm getting. In my eyes the Loxia 50 has the nicest colour rendering of the Loxia line.
I have a few...Show more →
Very nice images. The focus ring is much stiffer on the 50mm I have than the 35mm (that one is very very smooth). Do you see a difference between the 50mm and 35mm or are they the same resistance?
Sep 09, 2026 at 06:32 PM
p.2 #19Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
I picked up a used Zeiss Loxia 35mm in 2015 and since then acquired the 21mm, 50mm, and the 85mm. The 21mm is my favorite landscape lens.
Its a crime what they are selling for these days, but that serves as an incentive for me to keep them.
My Loxia 35mm & 50mm feel identical when focusing - the smoothness rivals my Leica lenses.
Its a crime what they are selling for these days, but that serves as an incentive for me to keep them.
My Loxia 35mm & 50mm feel identical when focusing - the smoothness rivals my Leica lenses.
Sep 09, 2026 at 07:20 PM
p.2 #20Zeiss Loxia 50mm, still a good choice? Or...
bcaslis wrote:
Very nice images. The focus ring is much stiffer on the 50mm I have than the 35mm (that one is very very smooth). Do you see a difference between the 50mm and 35mm or are they the same resistance?
My L35 has a little bit less resistance compared to L50, but only by a small margin. Not sure if that is by design or if the resistance relaxes over time/use. The L50 I bought new, L35 I bought used so I expect L35 has been used (much?) more and longer.
From all my 4 Loxia's I'd say all have well dampened and smooth focussing rings but a different stiffness/resistance. My L35 has least resistance (I'd prefer a tad mopre stiffness), L50 and L85 feel perfect and L25 has a significant more stiffer feel. I don't like the stiffness of my L25 as much, I'd prefer it to have less resistance. Maybe there is copy variation, I don't know.
I just acquired a Voigtlander 28mm F2 Apo Lanthar and focus ring feels about similar to my L35.
Very nice images. The focus ring is much stiffer on the 50mm I have than the 35mm (that one is very very smooth). Do you see a difference between the 50mm and 35mm or are they the same resistance?
My L35 has a little bit less resistance compared to L50, but only by a small margin. Not sure if that is by design or if the resistance relaxes over time/use. The L50 I bought new, L35 I bought used so I expect L35 has been used (much?) more and longer.
From all my 4 Loxia's I'd say all have well dampened and smooth focussing rings but a different stiffness/resistance. My L35 has least resistance (I'd prefer a tad mopre stiffness), L50 and L85 feel perfect and L25 has a significant more stiffer feel. I don't like the stiffness of my L25 as much, I'd prefer it to have less resistance. Maybe there is copy variation, I don't know.
I just acquired a Voigtlander 28mm F2 Apo Lanthar and focus ring feels about similar to my L35.
Sep 09, 2026 at 11:22 PM