Third-Party Lens Reviews

The classic Zeiss look for Leica – The Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f/1.4 ZM review

04/05/2015 By Mathieu

During my two weeks with the Leica M, I couldn’t suppress my curiosity to try the Zeiss 35mm f/1.4, which I’d first seen at Photokina last year. Fortunately, Zeiss UK had no problem sending me the lens to test. Though I used the compact Summicron 35mm f/2 for the first outings with the camera, once I received the Distagon lens, it never left the mount of the M 240. You can already guess that I liked it very much.

The Tale of Two Touits – Part II – Touit 32mm f/1.8 Review

15/04/2015 By Heather

The second Touit that Zeiss sent us to test was the 32mm f/1.8 for the Fujifilm X series. If you thought the difference in focal length between the Touit 12mm and Fujinon XF 14mm seemed small, the Touit 32mm (48mm full-frame equivalent) and Fujinon XF 35mm (50mm full-frame equivalent) could almost be identical twins.

The tangible differences between the two lie elsewhere, specifically in their design, fastest aperture, corner sharpness and original price.

Is the Touit 32mm a worthy substitute for the 35mm on the Fuji X system? Let’s find out below!

The Tale of Two Touits – Part I – Zeiss Touit 12mm Review

08/04/2015 By Heather

While Mathieu has been testing the Sony A7 II and Leica M 240, I’ve been spending my days in the company of two lenses I’ve long wanted to test, the Zeiss Touit 12mm and 32mm. The pair arrived just in time for the Easter weekend, which was by coincidence also one of the warmest and sunniest weekends we’ve experienced since moving here, so there was much to photograph!

The birth of a new family – Zeiss Loxia 35mm and 50mm Full Review

12/12/2014 By Mathieu

During our interview with Zeiss Product Manager Christophe Casenave at Photokina, it immediately became clear that the full-frame mirrorless system that Sony has just begun building has piqued the interest of the German brand. Along with the SLR series, Zeiss has a nice line-up of lenses for rangefinder cameras (the now-discontinued Ikon and Leica M system). Building a new line of manual focus lenses specifically designed for Sony full frame E-mount cameras was a natural move especially considering the partnership between Sony and Zeiss. This new family of lenses is called Loxia, which takes its name from a species of bird.

Bringing 1:1 macro to the Fujifilm X system: The Zeiss Touit 50mm Macro Full Review

04/12/2014 By Mathieu

The Touit lenses designed for the Fujifilm X series haven’t been very successful so far and I feel that there are various reasons for this.

Firstly, the first two lenses released (12mm and 32mm) are probably too close in terms of focal length and performance to the Fuji 14mm f/2.8 and 35mm f/1.4. Granted, the 2mm variance between the two wide angle lenses makes a bigger difference than the 3mm variance between the two standard lenses.

Secondly, there is the fact that while the name Zeiss is synonymous with high image quality, Fujifilm has also managed to construct a very good reputation with its own line of lenses.

Finally, Touit lenses have been designed for two systems (Fuji X and Sony APS-C). When this happens, products often end up being more successful on one system than the other, regardless of actual performance. I personally find a lens like the 12mm f/2.8 more attractive on the Sony APS-C system, for the simple reason that it doesn’t have any native wide angle primes.