DCfever (translation here) is the first website showing image samples shot with the new Zeiss Touit lenses on a NEX camera (unlike previous image samples shot on Fuji X). Also Lloyd Chambers is testing the lenses on the NEX-7 but his findings can be read only by subscribers.
Zeiss preorder links:
12mm f/2.8 at BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and Uniquephoto (Click here). In Europe at FotoMundus.
32mm f/1.8 at BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and Uniquephoto (Click here). In Europe at FotoMundus.
32 Responses
OMG that’s the corner sharpness I’d expected that could make me spend a lot of money to replace my SEL-16F28 + VCL-ECU1 combo…
It’s a surprise that you still keep that SEL-16F28. Body cap?
Ah, come on! The Made in china body caps I have are far more robust than that!
Actually I really like the SEL-16F28 with these two Sony Converters, since the image quality is totally enough for taking video. As long as you don’t need larger prints it’s also acceptable for photograhpy, since it doesn’t waste much space and weight in my bag – but yes, I’ve missed corner sharpness several times already…
Agree! at f8, it is the best 12mm for nex below $1000. Not to mention that I got mine
for less than $200. No lens can beat that.
Yes, stopping down to at least f/5.6 or better f/8 is the price you’ve got to pay with SEL-16F28 + VCL-ECU1, but doing so you could also take the photos as well posted as Touit samples on DCFever except two: The house with the taxi wouldn’t look that great and there’s no chance at all to get this view inside the shopping mall with the readable menue in the left corner. But as long as you don’t need corner sharpness or a fast lens in case of low light or the NEX-7 resolution Sony’s UWA solution is a really nice option.
BTW the Lens Firmware Update for the SEL-16F28 to use Hybrid AF is still missing.
im speechless! it is really nice quality! sharp! i can’t wait for the 50mm carl zeiss macro now
Does Sony earn anything from these Zeiss Touit as it is not a Sony lenses?
If they are manufactured by Cosina (or somewhere else), than no, Sony won’t get a penny. If Sony manufactures them, they’ll get a part of the price. But that’s unlikely as Sony probably doesn’t want to build lenses for X-Mount cameras.
They make sensors for everyone else it seems. Why would they not make lenses for others too?
Well,people will have to buy NEX camera to use lens. Unless they like the Fuji camera more.
Fuji X-E1 and X-Pro1 are Sony based too, so Sony profits either way. They have just different outer layers (CFA which is pretty much that important X-trans part). If Im correct, Fuji now uses only Sony sensors. Like almost everyone else..
Sony would be making a lot money when you buy a Sony body. A camera is not only a sensor you know. Besides, if people stop buying NEX camera’s than Sony is forces to stop the E-Mount line. That would be a major financial setback.
The 32mm seems very sharp wide open (the bottle photo might even be slightly front focused). Bokeh is smooth and creamy. Excellent news so far.
Well…
To be honest I don’t think the 32 mm is much sharper or showing less CA wide open than the 35 mm f/1.8 from Sony…
The 12 mm looks alright, though.
These boring pics don’t show me anything my sony 35mm 1.8 can’t do. I will have to wait until it comes out and I see some better pics to see if it will replace my sony.
You know, even if it turns out that the 32mm comes out much sharper than the Sony 35mm, I like the addition of OSS the Sony has since it makes it even better as a low light photography tool. F1.8 is already a fast lens but if you want to ensure sharpness then you’d most likely shoot at F2.8 or smaller. While still fast enough for some, being able to take a prime out for some night time street shooting and really not having to worry all that much about lens shake is a true convenience, and add in the NEX’s supperb noise performance and I’d say you have one of the better street photography tools out there for the price.
I tested both lenses today and say my opinion is mixed. The 12mm 2.8 Zeiss as some great Zeiss color and contrast but is only marginally sharper than the Sony 10-18 in the corners only. The 32mm 1.8 I want to love but it has a focus hunting problem that made me think it never got focus totally. I’m hopping this will be fixed by the time the lens ships. When the NEX-7 got focus I could use DMF to focus it more critically, at which point it was supper sharp. These are beautifully made lenses that produce fantastic results but I will wait for more testing and reviews.
dennishh, do you know if the lens AF motor is silent or close to silent? do you know what type of af motor they use? It it similar to SAM or SSM?
I don’t know what the motor is but it is silent.
what do you think about it compared to the 35mm 1.8??
You may see only some improvement in the corners when testing one copy of each lens. Now that lens design software is so good, most lenses have good optics.
The big differences will lie in the choice of materials and construction for the mounts (which affects longevity), and in manufacturing tolerances and quality control.
The problem is that 10-18 and 35 mm give poor results on a Nex-7, so I’m expecting a lot from these Zeiss lenses and especially the 12 mm !!
Indeed, Zeiss directly compete with Sony’s own products here. In making AF lenses they rely on information provided by their partners and can’t improve focus accuracy. BTW, they never measure/post MTF data for AF lenses. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sony optimize their lenses to match specific cameras or focusing algorithms to win the competition.
I was told about a solution for a NEX focus hunting solution to what I was talking about. You can set the NEX to use the rear af button to focus! Go to http://diglloyd.com/ and scroll down to “NEX Autofocus Insanity”. This works great and makes the NEX just like my set up on the Nikon D800e.
I was all ready to order the 12mm/2.8 but so far all the samples make me worry.
Even at f5.6 the corners are visibly soft. at wide open, they almost look like
out-of-focus blurry
Out of focus blurry would be the effect of field curvature, which is a common problem with wide angle lenses used wide open.
Maybe common for a “pedestrian” UWA, but the Zeiss 21/2.8 or the Nikon 14-24/2.8 doesn’t have that kind of extreme wavy FC (even the Fuji 14/2.8 is much better than this and cheaper). No wonder Zeiss would not publish the MTF, people would see some wild curves on the chart. As a subscriber of Lloyd Chamber blog, he stated that the sharpness gradient is unpredictable (though it is very sharp). I expected this lens having low distortion and being extremely sharp at f/5.6. Oh well….
None of these images mean anything to us NEX-7 owners.
Maybe I’ve gotten spoiled by the Fuji X lenses but these images from the new Zeiss Touit lenses just don’t look very special to me.
For video purposes, how is the breathing on these lenses? Can focus be racked and maintain a constant field of view?
Woohoo!, that’s full sharpness corner to corner and microcontrast. Shame Zeiss don’t make lenses for M4/3…