I am relatively new to Sony MILC's with the a7rV. I am well aware of the Zeiss "look" and the 3D "pop". I interested to know from those in the know which of the Zeiss lenses is consider to be a "must have" for its character. I am a freelancer who does street photography, nature and wildlife, and macro.
I am huge Zeiss fan and currently have totally 14 of them across 3 systems, all the "real" manual focus Zeiss including those DSLR Milvus series and more modern E-mount Loxia, Out of totally 7x E-mount Zeiss Loxia and Voigtlander combined, my vote goes to the Voigtlander 35 F2 APO, to my own eyes is the is the best of the best out of them, followed by the Voigtlanader 21 F1.4, then the Zeiss Loxia 85 and Voigtlander 65. The Loxia 50 and Voigtlander 50 F2 is not far behind but since I am no fan of 50 in terms of the Focal length, two Loxia to stay away is the 21 and 35, both have massive field curvature and it's a pain to deal with. they both have the signiture Zeiss pop and local contrast though, just the massive field curvature you have to be careful with. if you are the kind of person does a lot focus stacking, then no issues, I just go lazy these day ever since I got the Voigtlander 21 and 35 APO.
Notice I did not include any Batis in my list, I had totally 3 of them at one point, pre-ordered, and not knowing what I am getting into, LOL, but all sold shortly after, I don't see anything " Zeiss" about those plastic AF lens, they are all just over-priced Tamron with a Zeiss logo to me.
For your street photography, the Voigtlander 40 F1.2 may be a good option for you, and if you are going after the " classic" look, there is also Voigtlander 35 F1.4, pretty cheap and small, i personal hate that lens and one of the handful of lens I sent it back with in a week, but those who love the so called " classic" look love that, to me it's just plain soft, . there is also the Auto Focus Sony/Zeiss 55 1.8, used to be pretty popular, but I hate that lens also, it produces pretty ugly Bokeh to my eyes, and I sold it long time ago and never look back, but the lens still have a lot of supporters even today in this forum.
For macro, both Voigtlander 65 and 110 will do, not exactly a 1:1 macro but pretty close, both are fantastic, both optically and mechanically.
I would not recommend Zeiss for Wildlife at all, a cheap Sigma telephoto will serve much better than any Zeiss in this application.
But why are you telling me this
