Update: The Loxia series of lenses has been discontinued, as of early 2025, but many examples are still available second hand and, for the right price, still represent excellent value.
I think it’s fair to say that if you’re seriously looking at buying a manual focus prime lens in 2024 then you probably already know your intended use case. Perhaps you’re a landscape photographer, interested in image quality corner to corner above almost all else, or maybe you need a fast yet light and compact prime lens for travel, and your finger is fast enough that you can get away without autofocus.
The Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2.0 is part of Zeiss’ (now discontinued) line of manual focus lenses for Sony E-mount, launched in late 2014 and closely following the announcement of the E mount itself and the first generation of A7 cameras. Let’s see how well this lens hold up a decade later when paired with a 61MP sensor that has nearly twice the pixel count of the cameras it launched alongside.
Specifications #
All members of the Loxia line share some common family traits:
- They’re manual focus, naturally
- They have reasonably fast wide-open apertures, typically f/2.0 though the 85mm prime is f/2.4
- They are all solidly built, with a fully metal exterior construction and the distinctive blue silicone sealing ring
- They all have electronic contacts for communication with the camera body, setting them apart from adapted manual focus primes, of which many excellent examples are available used
What Do I Like About the Loxia 35? #
Handling #
The Loxia series of lenses all feel great in the hand, and the 35mm sibling is no exception as it is one of the shortest in the lineup and feels as exceptionally well balanced on my A7R-IV as it does on the older, smaller A7r body. With its full metal casing, it’s reassuringly solid without feeling overly heavy although, with that said, there are lighter lenses with quality plastic construction if a light lens is your number one concern.
The throw of the focusing ring is long enough to be precise and short enough that it avoids being onerous. The real magic of manual focus on mirrorless cameras is the ability to zoom in to 100% crop at the touch of a button, something that is simply impossible with a traditional viewfinder. On my A7 I have this function mapped to the AEL key at the top-right of the camera so that I can quickly reach it with my thumb. The electronic contacts of the Loxia also allow the camera to trigger this functionality when the focus ring is turned which, in theory, is faster but I find it distracts too much from composition so I leave this off.
Contrast and Colour Rendering #
Stopped down for traditional landscape use, the 35mm Loxia is no slouch and delivers a high contrast image with great sharpness across the frame. The image below of a cluster of pine trees in the Scottish coastal village of Torridon was shot at f/11 using a tripod and the rendering is as crisp and colourful as any lens I own.
Speaking of rendering, this lens is great at pulling colour out of a grey and overcast day; I especially enjoy the full greens of this garden scene, even though the weather was dismal. See also the precise subject separation between the top of the gate and the background, demonstrating pleasing bokeh even stopped down slightly to f/4.5.
What don’t I like? #
By modern standards, the performance of this lens wide-open at f/2 is quite poor. Centre sharpness is good for all but falls off towards the corners of the image. Recall that when this lens launched, the first generation A7R at 36 megapixels was the highest resolution body that you could pair this lens with. Since then, we’ve
Further Sample Images #
