Loxia Love

Barry Duggan Photography · May 6, 2016

Is it just me or does anyone else wish that the Loxia 50mm had an added feature of Autofocus, therefore having the ability of using both manual and AF?

I own a Sony/Zeiss 55mm, amazing results....but I used a Loxia and its so enjoyable to use...but I am regularly in conditions where AF is helpful.

Robgo2 · May 6, 2016

Life is full of tradeoffs. If Zeiss had made the Loxia 50 with AF, then it necessarily would have been larger and heavier. Moreover, the MF mechanism might have been by wire rather than by helicoid. You can't have everything in one lens, but you can have two lenses that you use in different situations.

Rob

Bobo Hodls · May 6, 2016

Barry Duggan Photography said:
Is it just me or does anyone else wish that the Loxia 50mm had an added feature of Autofocus, therefore having the ability of using both manual and AF?

No. I need AF at times, which is why I keep the 55/1.8. But as I don't chase fleeting moments as a rule, and enjoy more the MF practice. I suppose it has me feel more engaged with the practice , letting the control-freak have its way.

Barry Duggan Photography said:
I own a Sony/Zeiss 55mm, amazing results....but I used a Loxia and its so enjoyable to use...but I am regularly in conditions where AF is helpful.

The right tool for the right job. Or, just use the MF more and the AF less, so it becomes a more naturally fluid practice. Sort of like. . . see something, start to raise camera while checking/setting aperture, turn focus ring towards a near or far focus as the EVF is reaching the eye, then fine tune through EVF and snap. It gets easier with practice and the process doesn't require conscious thought - but it's still not AF.

--
...Bob, NYC
.
"Well, sometimes the magic works. . . Sometimes, it doesn't." - Chief Dan George, Little Big Man
.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobtullis/
http://www.bobtullis.com
.

Neurad1 · May 6, 2016

Bob Tullis said:
Barry Duggan Photography said:

Is it just me or does anyone else wish that the Loxia 50mm had an added feature of Autofocus, therefore having the ability of using both manual and AF?

Click to expand...

No. I need AF at times, which is why I keep the 55/1.8. But as I don't chase fleeting moments as a rule, and enjoy more the MF practice. I suppose it has me feel more engaged with the practice , letting the control-freak have its way.

Bobo Hodls said:

I own a Sony/Zeiss 55mm, amazing results....but I used a Loxia and its so enjoyable to use...but I am regularly in conditions where AF is helpful.

Click to expand...

The right tool for the right job. Or, just use the MF more and the AF less, so it becomes a more naturally fluid practice. Sort of like. . . see something, start to raise camera while checking/setting aperture, turn focus ring towards a near or far focus as the EVF is reaching the eye, then fine tune through EVF and snap. It gets easier with practice and the process doesn't require conscious thought - but it's still not AF.

xizang · May 6, 2016

The L50 is almost an orphan in our a7x world. It's a slight digression on the simple 6/4 design of the ZM 50/2 and comes with built-in midfield curvature yet has the Zeiss drawing style, old world charm and great haptics. They got the corners up in the transition (despite the Planar design) but lost the middle to FC.

Times are moving on, so many 50s from today on will have large numbers of elements for better correction but tasteless rendition - think Sigma ART.

So manual focus is a part of all that for the 'heritage' L50.

We need at least two more 50s, and both need AF, which is far more important in a 50 than an 85/100 IMO.

Sony will do a fast 50 in GM to milk the 'gotta be fast' market, Zeiss need two themselves ideally -

. a 50MP landscape style lens, could even be f2.8; and also

. a Batis 50/2 for AF and family style so people can build a range of Batis lenses.

They might do a 'two in one' here, like the 50MP. 50mm is a fantastic FL for landscapes, but needs to be capable and versatile enough to 'do it all'. Not everyone wants lots of 50mm lenses.

Time has also come for Sony and Zeiss to work independently, not complement each others' lens ranges - which are drifting apart anyway. Zeiss would never make a GM 85 (very different everything to B85) and Sony could never make a world class wide angle Distagon, which Zeiss have three of already.

[The reasons 50s need AF to a greater extent are manifold - you stand much closer to the subject so the urgency to get the shot done is greater than an 85/100; your OOF is more important because you have less blur / rapid fade of focus (the selling point of Sony's GM85) and this is harder to shoot; slightly mis-focused images are less forgiven than longer lenses because there is more of the face/person visible for a given aperture; telephotos tend to 'click into focus' using focus assist with MF far better than 50s - due to a better defined plane of focus; 50s are fast and furious multi-faceted shoot everything lenses - a wider gamut than more dedicated portrait lenses.]

So, Sony will go the portrait --> all rounder route (FE55 and GM50 f1.4) plus the entry level unit just released - and Zeiss the old school manual focus L50 (rushed out when they realized a7x was a winner) and (my guess) a Batis 50/2 oriented to the 50MP style of lens: a landscape/'depth' lens that gets much better rather than worse on stop down --> typical 50mm duties. There are already three 50-55s, so we might end with five, plus the Koreans, maybe CV. We'll see.

No account anymore · May 7, 2016

Barry Duggan Photography said:
Is it just me or does anyone else wish that the Loxia 50mm had an added feature of Autofocus, therefore having the ability of using both manual and AF?

Manual helical focus is what makes it a real Loxia!

There are quite some autofocus lenses out there already.

joger · May 7, 2016

Barry Duggan Photography said:
Is it just me or does anyone else wish that the Loxia 50mm had an added feature of Autofocus, therefore having the ability of using both manual and AF?

Yes - it is just you!

Don't buy a Loxia - go for Batis from Zeiss.

Bigger, bulkier and less useful for persice manual focusing and it consumes power from the battery and most of all they suffer from the missing aperture ring.

But in case you'd like to trade in AF vs aperture ring go for it ;-)

(btw - my initial images on my CV 15 are not focussed at all - just set 2 m distance and f/8 and you're done)

--
__________________________________
A7R II - one camera to rule them all
ISO 9000 definition of quality: 'Degree to which a set of inherent characteristic fulfills requirements'
I am the classic “Windows by Day, Mac by Night user'
“The horizon of many people is a circle with zero radius which they call their point of view.” Albert Einstein
"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." Douglas Adams

Dan_168 · May 8, 2016

Barry Duggan Photography said:
Is it just me or does anyone else wish that the Loxia 50mm had an added feature of Autofocus, therefore having the ability of using both manual and AF?

I don't mind they put AF on any Loxia/Milvus....or whatever MF Zeiss lenses, as long as they don't put that Sony Focus-by-Wire garbage in there and mess up the manual focusing operation, besides the superior optic, silky smooth MF operation of the Zeiss lenses is another main reason I am not shooting Sony lenses, I am mainly a landscape guy and shooting in Manual focus 99 % of the time whether I am using a AF or MF lenses.

joger · May 8, 2016

Dan_168 said:
Barry Duggan Photography said:

Is it just me or does anyone else wish that the Loxia 50mm had an added feature of Autofocus, therefore having the ability of using both manual and AF?

Click to expand...

I don't mind they put AF on any Loxia/Milvus....or whatever MF Zeiss lenses, as long as they don't put that Sony Focus-by-Wire garbage in there and mess up the manual focusing operation, besides the superior optic, silky smooth MF operation of the Zeiss lenses is another main reason I am not shooting Sony lenses, I am mainly a landscape guy and shooting in Manual focus 99 % of the time whether I am using a AF or MF lenses.

buttery smooth manual focus plus AF won't happen any time soon - I have had tons of lenses with AF on my Canon (at least for test purpose) and none of them was a winner in haptic terms.

Almost all pure MF lenses were near to perfect in terms of focussing.

Don't forget: Electronics and driving of the lens (motor) need some space - we have a clear picture when we compare Batis with Loxia - both have the same origin in terms of design but the Batis is just unbelievably bigger and bulky only because of the AF drive - in case you need AF no problem - but in case of you (and surely myself including with > 80 % MF) the extra size and missing precision with focus by wire is not what i would trade in

Zeiss Batis 25 vs Zeiss Loxia 35 (the 21 mm has a similar size and design - but it's not in the data base)

--
__________________________________
A7R II - one camera to rule them all
ISO 9000 definition of quality: 'Degree to which a set of inherent characteristic fulfills requirements'
I am the classic “Windows by Day, Mac by Night user'
“The horizon of many people is a circle with zero radius which they call their point of view.” Albert Einstein
"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." Douglas Adams

Beaverhelmet · May 9, 2016

joger said:
Don't forget: Electronics and driving of the lens (motor) need some space

And a friction coupler so the focus ring doesn't spin when AF is working, a window showing the focal scale since it can't be on the ring any more, and maybe even an actuator that slaps the aperture wide open so the AF can do a better job and probably correction algorithms for focus shift... Once you start messing with AF in a lens design, a lot follows.

The Loxias are perfect the way they are, the supply/demand ratio has proved that over and over again. Guys needing AF, look elsewhere or get your MF act together, it's as simple as that.

joger · May 9, 2016

Beaverhelmet said:
joger said:

Don't forget: Electronics and driving of the lens (motor) need some space

Click to expand...

And a friction coupler so the focus ring doesn't spin when AF is working, a window showing the focal scale since it can't be on the ring any more, and maybe even an actuator that slaps the aperture wide open so the AF can do a better job and probably correction algorithms for focus shift... Once you start messing with AF in a lens design, a lot follows.

The Loxias are perfect the way they are, the supply/demand ratio has proved that over and over again. Guys needing AF, look elsewhere or get your MF act together, it's as simple as that.

Fully in line with my view - in case I need AF I buy AF lenses - in case I want the utmost and perfect MF I bu MF lenses.

The introduction of the CV15 and the Loxia line made me partially switch to Sony - it's all about the lenses!!

The Loxia lenses are perfect as they are.

I am most presumably going to buy the 21 / 35 and 100ish macro (in case they do one)

jlehet · May 9, 2016

I just sold my 55 1.8 to keep the Loxia 50, with a pang for the loss, sad to have to choose. But for me the AF was not really so much a part of what the difference was. The main difference is in the optical characteristics of these lenses, and also to some extent in the "feel," the experience of using them. The Sony 55 is sharper and clearer with better corners up to f4, but beyond f4 through f8 and maybe beyond the Loxia becomes sharper. Also the Sony has smoother bokeh while the Loxia has more detailed bokeh. So the Sony can give creamy smoothness sometimes, but sometimes the background can be dull and mushy. The Loxia gives, to me, more interesting and better drawn bokeh in many situations, at the risk of it sometimes getting more nervous. For my general use, the Loxia takes it, but it's not that I won't miss the style of the Sony sometimes. If I were rich I would certainly keep both lenses, as they are often very different.

Search

Loxia Love

Barry Duggan Photography

Senior Member

Robgo2

Veteran Member

Bobo Hodls

Forum Pro

Neurad1

Senior Member

xizang

Well-known member

No account anymore

Guest

joger

Veteran Member

Dan_168

Forum Pro

joger

Veteran Member

Beaverhelmet

Senior Member

joger

Veteran Member

jlehet

Well-known member

Similar threads

Keyboard shortcuts