p.1 #1 · Loxia - After a Decade is There Anything Unique/Special?
I purchased the 21mm/35mm/85mm and then let the lenses sit and eventually forgot about them. Construction is first rate and weather sealing looks to be quite impressive.. at least by judging by the body/lens seal. Some control surfaces are a bit cramped and large hands might have a bit of a time removing a lens from the body. I believe they are still in use for video work. I don’t remember why I never used them and I can say that as a portrait lens the 85mm is an appealing choice, but just now I searched Flickr and it seems that as of the A7Rv, these lenses are rarely used. Is there a use case for these lenses? I ask because with the bright, high resolution EVF’s manual focus seems so much easier than when these lenses were introduced.
p.1 #2 · Loxia - After a Decade is There Anything Unique/Special?
I love my Loxia 21, but also do not reach for it often as most of my shooting has switched to family and action shots right now. But when I have time to go for walks or landscape shooting the Loxia is always my favorite.
p.1 #3 · Loxia - After a Decade is There Anything Unique/Special?
What I remember was/is the micro-contrast.. perhaps mostly after f/4-5.6 with the 35mm. This generally gives a more saturated look right out of the camera. Skin tones with the 85mm were impressive as was bokeh and the sharp to blur smooth transition. I have Zeiss lenses for my RTS series, G2 lenses, Contax T2 as well as 21mm Biogon and two 35mm ZM lenses..for the ‘M’ mount. I always liked the look. So, this makes it even more surprising that these lenses lived in my safe.
p.1 #4 · Loxia - After a Decade is There Anything Unique/Special?
The only "weather sealing" on Loxia lenses is that rear gasket. There are no other seals. It's more an effort to protect the camera from ingress at the mount rather than protecting the lens in any meaningful way.
p.1 #5 · Loxia - After a Decade is There Anything Unique/Special?
They are a genuine cine-style range, same placement of rings, same external diameter, filter sizes, fine build. I have the 85mm and it surprises with portrait ability, flowers and nature work in less harsh environs. Rich but balanced saturation.
The lenses were designed, branded, and engineered by Carl Zeiss. The production was handled in Japan by Kenko Tokina through an official partnership with Zeiss. Kenko Tokina ceased production of the Loxia line, and the lenses have been officially discontinued in 2025.
p.1 #6 · Loxia - After a Decade is There Anything Unique/Special?
I’ve been regularly using Grok 4 as a means of doing searches and analyzing issues. I don’t take the output at face value and many times need to correct the assumptions, but this one threw me a bit of a curve ball.. for baseball cultures.. I provided a list of all of my Hasselblad X2D2 and Sony FE lenses. I recently purchased the 20-35mm E and 35-100mm E XCD lenses..and then the A7R6 was announced where I have sold most of my Sony equipment short of small lenses. I purchase camera equipment these days to help me copy film images, or for travel. I have an opportunity to return to South Korea with my wife, who has never been to South Korea. My previous month trip covered Seoul, Gyeongju and Busan with an X2D and a 38mm v lens. My photographic intent was to return to the exact same locations, but come away with very different looking images. I decided to pickup the 16-35mm GMII and 50-150mm GM and my 24mm GM for low light. My intention was to challenge myself with shooting mainly the long zoom at f/2.0. I added all of my other XCD and FE lenses and listed them for Grok 4 and to my amazement the suggested kit was to take the Loxia 21, 35 and 85mm lenses. It made a strong argument regarding all the characteristics of these Zeiss lenses and recognized what I was attempting to do with my selection. Other than inclement weather, there is a good argument that the A7R6/Loxia make the best counter to the X2D/38v of my first trip…. Wow, lenses that i forgot about and running counter to thousands spent recently. As Phillip mentioned in a previous post.. more with less.. simplify.
p.1 #7 · Loxia - After a Decade is There Anything Unique/Special?
There is no shortage of advice out there, everything from a single lens (I read the other day that the Q series sells twice the volume of M cameras) right through to 'take it all with you'. It's a challenge which ever way you go.
I do think it's best to work through the images you want to take, down to what focal lengths, what range3 of subjects etc. Travel work is very rewarding but being a bit of a masochist helps. all the best.
p.1 #8 · Loxia - After a Decade is There Anything Unique/Special?
I just found a new trio - 21, 25, & 85mm Loxia lenses, so I bought them. I had them years ago, and sold them off. Testing on the A7r5 and A7r6 show the lenses are still very good on those bodies. From what I remember, the 35 & 50mm were a little behind, but my memory could be suspect.
