Zeiss Loxia 25mm f/2.4 Review

Zeiss Loxia 25mm f/2.4 Distagon T* Performance

Central sharpness starts off as excellent at f/2.4 and remains in the excellent category all the way through to f/16. It is still very good at f/22, so basically any aperture can be used with total confidence. It will only alter the depth of field. Edge sharpness is very good at f/2.4, and from f/4 through to f/16 is excellent throughout, in fact being within a whisker of returning the same resolution figures as the centre. There is a drop at the edge at f/22, hardly surprising for any lens, but even here it is still good.

CA (Chromatic Aberration) is keenly controlled and all but banished at the centre of the frame. The edges show very slight amounts of CA but here too the figures are held at very low amounts. Even the most demanding situations do not reveal any really obvious fringing. Further correction would be possible in software but for most purposes would hardly be necessary.

Distortion is -0.94% barrel, which is excellent for a 25mm lens. Obviously straight lines near the edge of the frame may show very slight bending, and correction in software could be made if needed.

Flare is well controlled by the T* coating and general design of the lens and even when the sun, admittedly low weak winter sun during this review, was in frame there were no signs of artefacts.

Bokeh, the quality of the out of focus areas, reveals much of the “character” of a lens, something sometimes referred to as its “look”. Indeed, some lenses of the past have built reputations based on these imprecise descriptions, long before the word bokeh started to be used. However, lenses are creative tools and regardless of the technical figures they deliver some do have a special quality that goes beyond this. This new lens displays easy, relaxed and smooth bokeh that gives a really pleasant look to out of focus backgrounds and to combine this smoothness with the high resolution mentioned is a laudable achievement by Zeiss.

Value For Money

Although a firm price has not been provided, it seems that generally there is an anticipation that 1299 Euros could be expected. If this were so, let's have a look at how this would compare with some competitive lenses for Sony FE cameras.

The Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2 costs £979, but also offers AF.

Otherwise, there are no real competitors and we have to go to zoom lenses to cover the 25mm focal length.

Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS, £1199
Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master, £2499
Sony Carl Zeiss 24-70mm f/4 Vario-Tessar, £879

Of course VFM also depends very much on the requirements of the user and those looking for a compact and truly excellent performer will probably have to look no further. For more options have a look at the Top 15 Best Sony E / FE Mount Lenses, Top 10 Best Zeiss Lenses, or the Top 28 Wide-angle Landscape Lenses:

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