When the Zeiss Touit lenses for Fuji X were launched back in spring 2013, the Fujinon lens choice was still very limited. X-shooters needed more lens options, and the new X-mount Zeiss glass could have been a great addition… however…
… there was one major deal-breaker: the Zeiss Touit were offered in focal lengths very close to the already existing Fujinon 35 and 14mm. Also, the Fujinon’s were cheaper (at the launch, the Touit 12mm cost $1,250 and the Touit 32 came for $900) and probably even superior… all you have to know is written in Rico’s excellent Fujinon Vs Zeiss Touit Comparison.
The X-mount Touits sold extremely bad. The inevitable price drops followed. At the moment, the X-Zeiss Glass is in offer at AmazonUS, BHphoto and Adorama.
But it seems that also the E-mount was not a best seller. In fact, according to SonyAlphaRumors, Zeiss decided not to make any new Zeiss Touit lenses in 2015 and maybe not even in 2016… and I wonder if they will ever make new ones!
Do you own a Touit lens? Would you recommend them to fellow X-shooters?
Here are the 3 Zeiss Touit lenses.
– Zeiss Touit 50mmF2.8 1:1 Macro (price $999): AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama
– Zeiss Touit 32mmF1.8 (price $499): AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama
– Zeiss Touit 12mmF2.8 (price $699): AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama
30 Responses
APS-C is dead 😉
FF also.. Medium format is the future..
Medium format X100 series camera at the same size? I wish.
Medium also… Large format is…
🙂
Where is Hubertus Bigend ?
I wouldn’t mind a medium format rangefinder the size of the X-Pro 1 😀
zeiss 12mm is very wonderfull.
I hope zeiss will lunch new batis lenses for x-mount.
zeiss batis 85/1.8 looks very nice.
smaller and lighter than fuji 90/2, and with stabilization
Come on Sigma !
Fuji X Art series could be great !
the sigma 30 and 19 could be done in their art designation… nice
maybe a 90 to 105
The 12mm is simply brilliant, the 32mm is just alright in terms of sharpness and CA. Wish they can come up with a 35mm equivalent compact lens.
I hoped for Touit 55/1.8, 23/1.8 & 16/1.8 but it seems Touit line is over. I really like Touit colous and bookeh, better than XF’s.
I´m also extremely satisfied with the 12 mm, and the 50 mm is even better for anything, but I prefer the Fuji 35 before the Zeiss 32. Hoped for some other interesting Touit creations, it´s a shame they let the X mount in the middle of nowhere.
Those new Batis lenses for Sony FE mount looks interesting, but also signifies Zeiss may quit the APS-C business altogether
Got the 50mm Touit, but only because Fuji doesn’t offer a 1:1 macro … at least until 2016 (can’t wait!).
I won’t shed a tear… the Touits don’t have the same quality as the other Zeiss lenses that are responsible for the Zeiss reputation.
Not really a surprise. They don’t offer much that Fuji doesn’t already have. They made more sense on E-mount where there were few high end lenses to match the NEX7. But with Sony having more or less abandoned that sector there’s no market there either any more.
I think the Touits got a negative rep because the 32mm on XF Fuji mount was not really as nice as Fuji’s own 35mm. The Fuji 35 IMHO is one of my favorite lenses ever and was half the price of the Zeiss (when they came out). So very tough competition. I bought the 32mm &12mm Touts for my Sony A6000 E mount and they are absolutely brilliant. So I’d say pricing and redundancy marketing errors by Zeiss for Fuji but for Sony E mount there are really no better choices and they absolutely shine, even the bokeh is different with the 32mm on a Sony and Fuji. On Fuji it looks a fright and on Sony it’s gorgeous.
I wish they’d drop the price of the 50 macro I’d buy it in a heart beat
I have all 3 Touit lenses. Touit 2.8/50M is the beast. There is no substitution from Fujinon’s offers. It is good for everything from macro to landscape.
i would not recommend. i bought a 32mm and i left it in the car. california LA sun made the rubber soft and weak. if made better strong bodies like voigtlander then i say yes. awesome optics. body not so.
I would really like to buy the 12mm – but it simply is not worth the extra charge compared to the XF 14mm or the Samyang 12mm for my use-case. It simply is not reasonable priced.
Also if Touits would fill gaps in the Fujinon lineup and not try to compete with cheaper, better supported and arguable better performing offerings from Fujifilm…
A better 18mm, a cheaper/lighter 23mm, a 70mm 1:1 Macro… hope someone fills these gaps… as German I would like it to be Zeiss – but Sigma is also welcome in my lens-bag 😉
I jumped on the 2 for 1 sale with the Zeiss glass (the 12mm and the 32mm) – I love them – they are wonderfully sharp and with the sale the price was really right. As they age, they will likely get a little slow in the AF department comparatively.
I picked up the 12mm & 32mm last year when they had what was essentially a buy one get one deal. I think they are worth every penny I paid. At the current B&H prices of $699 for the 12mm and $499 for the 32mm I think they are a great deal. They probably would have done very well had they been priced like this from the start. I find them both to be excellent lenses. I use the 12mm all the time. I use the 32mm less, but that is more due to shooting style than anything else. I also had the Fuji 35mm when I got the 32mm. I shot with them both for about a month to decide what worked better. I ended up selling the Fuji 35mm in favor of the 32mm for a few reasons. First, build quality. The Fuji was nice, but the Zeiss just feels better in the hand. The focus speed seems about the same but the Zeiss is MUCH quieter. From f3.2 or so and beyond, they were very close to each other in terms of sharpness. But below f3.2, I found the 32mm held its sharpness much better. Wide open, I find the Zeiss noticeably sharper at f1.8 that the Fuji was at even at f2.8. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy either the 12mm or the 32mm again.
My 50 mm Touit is a killer lens. Copy’s slides and then makes a great landscape lens.
The Zeiss Touits were primarily for Sony E mount, and also made for Fuji X. Sony seem to
have put E mount APS-C on the back burner, well behind FF in priority, so it’s not surprising sales are well down and Zeiss are losing interest.
Wouldn’t be at all shocked if it is “Game Over” and we see no more new Touits – shame, as
they’re fine lenses.
Not a shock they didn’t succeed in Fuji mount either – 12 + 32 are quite close to 14 + 35. The 50
macro is very desirable, but I get the impression there aren’t that many X users involved with serious macro work.
Pretty inevitable on X-mount, I’d say, as the native Fujinon lenses are so very good I don’t know why you’d mount a Zeiss. E-mount, that’s a different story.
I bought the 50mm Macro a few weeks back and for macro photography there is just no comparison between the Fuji and the Zeiss. The Zeiss is leagues better due to the higher magnification and I think also just nicer bokeh
as good optically as the touits may or may not be, the quirky design the odd rubberized sleeve without tactile feedback , and the minimalist design aesthetic were at odds with the zeigheist of the enthusiest fuji and even sony to some degree….for this i never considered owning one
had zeiss had the sense to make them old school leica type lenses with metal throughout at a fairer initial price poit , they would have sold well
are you listening zeiss?
They don’t sell in volumes high enough to justify developing new lenses for the family. Quite obvious.
They forgot to create a real differentiated proposition: either they propose new focal lengths, or faster apertures, or super premium lenses (fast AF or other features), or constant aperture zooms (like for Sony)…
But as you say, it’s extremely difficult to justify buying the Zeiss rather than equivalent Fujinon right now.