{"id":3669,"date":"2014-07-11T20:07:08","date_gmt":"2014-07-12T01:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/?p=3669"},"modified":"2014-07-12T09:08:57","modified_gmt":"2014-07-12T14:08:57","slug":"review-zeiss-touit-50mm-f2-8-makro-planar-t-fuji-x-mount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/review-zeiss-touit-50mm-f2-8-makro-planar-t-fuji-x-mount\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Zeiss Touit 50mm f\/2.8 Makro-Planar T* (Fuji X)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Zeiss 50mm f\/2.8 Makro-Planar, which fills out the trio of Touit lenses for mirrorless cameras, has finally arrived.\u00a0 This line, for both Fuji X-mount and Sony E-mount, is separate from the lenses that Zeiss creates with Sony specifically for their E-Mount and A-mount cameras.\u00a0 The Touit 50mm is a true 1:1 macro lens and with a short telephoto focal length can potentially pull double duty as a portrait and general purpose lens. \u00a0While the version reviewed here is for the Fuji X-Mount, the E-Mount version of the lens should be identical in every way, save for the absence of an aperture ring. This lens has been anticipated for quite some time, so let’s dive in.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Zeiss Touit 50mm f\/2.8 Makro-Planar T* on the Fujifilm X-T1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re not familiar with my reviews, I review from a real world shooting perspective. \u00a0You won\u2019t find lens charts or resolution numbers here. \u00a0There are plenty of other sites that cover those. \u00a0I review products on how they act for me as a photographic tool in real-world shooting.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Build Quality and Handling<\/h3>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Zeiss 50mm f\/2.8 Makro-Planar with the included hood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Zeiss 50mm f\/2.8 Macro is a solidly built lens with a sturdy metal barrel, a metal lens mount and grippy rubber aperture and focus rings. I am not really a fan of the rubber control rings, as I think it reduces the tactile feedback when using the lens, but it does provide for a nice grip. \u00a0The lens is fairly dense, and significantly larger than the Fuji 60mm f\/2.4, though still small enough to handle well on the Fuji X-T1. \u00a0It would be a bit unwieldy on a smaller body such as the X-M1 or X-A1, but should handle well on all the other Fuji bodies. \u00a0The weight and metal\u00a0build\u00a0lend the Touit a feeling of extremely solid construction. \u00a0This feels like a premium lens.<\/p>\n

The focus ring, as mentioned, has that thick rubber grip, which should provide good purchase in all weather. \u00a0While I am not a big fan of the rubber feel, the focus ring is damped quite well, with nice resistance and smooth focusing action for manual focus. \u00a0Given the less than stellar macro-range autofocus capabilities that I’ll talk about shortly, manual focus will get a fair bit of use with this lens when shooting near maximum magnification.<\/p>\n

The lens also features an aperture ring for the Fuji X-mount, with 1\/3 stop detents from f\/2.8 to f\/22 and the A setting for automatic aperture selection. \u00a0The aperture ring is nice and firm with very solid selection points. \u00a0It may even be slightly too firm, as there is some tendency to jump multiple steps when the ring gives, but overall, I would prefer it to be stiff like it is than loose.<\/p>\n

Focus and Performance<\/h3>\n

The Touit 50mm has a split personality with regards to autofocus. \u00a0The lens features a focus motor that is significantly quieter than the motors in the other two Touit lenses, and for typical subjects in good light, focus is quite quick. \u00a0If there is adequate light and you’re using the phase-detect points on an X-E2 or X-T1, the focus will snap into place nearly instantly. \u00a0If phase detection doesn’t lock on, it’s still reasonably quick in good light. \u00a0In fact, the lens keeps up quite well in continuous autofocus on my X-T1. \u00a0Be sure to check out the samples of my daughter on her bike, both of which were taken as she rode directly at me while the X-T1 and Touit 50mm tracked her. \u00a0Overall focus accuracy in good light is excellent, as you’d expect from a hybrid AF system.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Zeiss Touit 50mm f\/2.8 Makro-Planar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, once the light gets dim or you begin to focus closer up, the Zeiss 50mm f\/2.8 starts to falter a fair bit. \u00a0When trying to get some candid shots of my son in my family room, the lens was very hit and miss. \u00a0Sometimes it would lock on fine, other times it would fail completely. \u00a0I would not recommend using AF in dimmer light for anything that requires quick response. \u00a0The speed slows down considerably and there’s a good chance you’ll miss your target entirely.<\/p>\n

The same can be said when using AF at high magnifications. Once you begin focusing in the macro range, the lens becomes extremely slow to focus. \u00a0For some reason, even when the ‘macro’ mode is enabled, the Touit 50mm will very often have a preference for the background instead of your close-up subject. I missed a lot of shots when shooting butterflies at our local conservatory due to the lens suddenly switching from the butterfly in my view to the plants 20 feet behind it. \u00a0It was very frustrating.<\/p>\n

The point of both of these main problems is that the Touit 50mm desperately needs a focus limiter. \u00a0Fuji cameras have a semi-limited ‘macro mode’ , but it doesn’t do much with this lens. \u00a0There is still far too much of the range that is accessible when Macro Mode is off. \u00a0As a result, if you’re in lower light and you do a full button press and the camera misses focus…the lens will go completely through the range and back before firing off a shot and allowing you to refocus. \u00a0It does this slowly, and in some cases, if I missed focus, it was two to three seconds before I could attempt to refocus again.<\/p>\n

Things are worse when Macro Mode is enabled. \u00a0While this will allow the lens to focus right up to 1:1, there is nothing to keep the lens from focusing OUT of the macro range. \u00a0The result is that tendency to focus on the background, which can make it very difficult to get the lens to focus back in the range of your subject. \u00a0I can’t imagine why Zeiss would design a 1:1 macro lens and put no form of focus limiting switch on the lens. \u00a0In any case, when shooting in the macro range, you’re almost certainly going to want to use manual focus with this lens. \u00a0The good news is that it is very easy to see the focus point with a good EVF like the one on the X-T1, and manual focus is a breeze.<\/p>\n

One other point about handling and focus. \u00a0Because this is an internally focusing macro lens, the real focal length will get shorter as you focus closer. \u00a0With the Touit 50mm, that results in an extremely short working distance at 1:2 and closer. \u00a0When comparing to the Fuji 60mm, which is nominally only 20% longer, you need to be almost half the distance to your subject at 1:2 than you need to be with the 60mm. \u00a0At 1:1, working distance is only about 2 inches (without the hood), making lighting difficult and potentially spooking insects. \u00a0With the hood attached, the lens focuses essentially to the edge of the hood at 1:1.<\/p>\n

Continue: Image Quality<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Image Quality<\/h3>\n

Sharpness<\/h4>\n
\"Silly<\/a>
Silly – Fujifilm X-T1 with Zeiss Touit 50mm f\/2.8 @ f\/5 (click to enlarge)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While sharpness isn’t the end-all be-all of imaging parameters, it is of primary importance in a macro lens. \u00a0Additionally, sharpness tends to go hand-in-hand with the Zeiss name, and the 50mm f\/2.8 Macro is no different. \u00a0The lens is exceptionally sharp in the center right from f\/2.8, and the image borders don’t fall too far behind. \u00a0There is some light softness at the edges at wider apertures that quickly clears up to yield excellent cross-frame sharpness stopped down.<\/p>\n

What’s remarkable about the Touit 50mm is that it maintains this high image quality throughout the focus range. \u00a0It is especially sharp in the macro range, and even seems to do pretty well in resisting the effects of diffraction at smaller apertures. The Fuji 60mm takes a big hit in resolution around f\/11, while the Zeiss 50mm keeps its bite at f\/11 and only softens slightly at f\/16. \u00a0In the mid range and infinity distances, the lens loses a small amount of resolution, but it’s still very good. \u00a0Wide aperture use is a bit softer than close up on the edges, but the center remains extremely sharp. \u00a0Stopped down at further focus distances still yields very good corner sharpness as well. \u00a0It’s hard to ask much more from a lens. \u00a0Click on the image above taken at f\/5, and then click on the green arrow at the bottom of the screen to view a larger version of the image to see the kind of resolution I’m speaking of.<\/p>\n

Bokeh<\/h4>\n

The Zeiss 50mm is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to bokeh. \u00a0While the sharpness profile is fairly consistent throughout the focus range, the bokeh changes its nature as we start focusing out of the macro range. \u00a0Zeiss has crafted the lens to provide absolutely gorgeous out of focus backgrounds in the macro range. \u00a0Coupled with the contrast and color produced by the lens, it results in simply\u00a0beautiful close-up shots. \u00a0The bokeh is smooth and creamy at these close focusing distances.<\/p>\n

However, once you move into the portrait range and further away, the bokeh becomes much busier. \u00a0Specular highlights gain a bright ring and there’s a general nervousness to the backgrounds. \u00a0While it isn’t necessarily bad bokeh, it’s also not going to be a selling point for most people in the portrait range. One positive is that the lens has nice curved aperture blades, which keeps specular highlights circular even when stopped down all the way to f\/8. \u00a0Nice job there.<\/p>\n

However, take a look at the image below to see some of the beauty that the lens can produce up close.<\/p>\n

\"Bumblebee<\/a>
Bumblebee – Fujifilm X-T1 with Zeiss Touit 50mm f\/2.8 @ f\/4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Contrast, Color and Chromatic Aberration<\/h4>\n

Another reason I choose the image above to show the bokeh is that it also is a prime example for the exemplary color and contrast the Touit 50mm produces. \u00a0Like many Zeiss lenses, there is strong image contrast at all apertures, though they seem to have backed off the micro-contrast just a touch, which really gives the images a unique look that is both smooth and punchy at the same time. \u00a0There is outstanding color response as well, with rich saturated colors and a generally neutral color palette. \u00a0When combined with the excellent bokeh in the macro range, the Touit 50mm produces one of the most beautiful renderings of any macro lens I’ve used. \u00a0It’s actually quite reminiscent of the Sigma 150mm f\/2.8 Macro for SLRs, and that’s very high praise indeed.<\/p>\n

In addition to the excellent color and contrast, the Zeiss 50mm controls chromatic aberration exceptionally well. \u00a0In fact, it is essentially apochromatic to my eye. \u00a0I did not see a single purple fringe (even on chrome), no field relevant lateral CA and no field relevant longitudinal CA. \u00a0The lack of longitudinal CA is especially important given the macro capabilities, as having a green or magenta fringe on the out of focus areas can really ruin a good shot. \u00a0Truly a great performance here.<\/p>\n

Flare, Distortion and Vignetting<\/h4>\n

The Zeiss 50mm, like most macro lenses, has essentially zero distortion. \u00a0Lines stay straight and things look very nice in this department. \u00a0The lens also does a very nice job in the vignetting department. \u00a0While there is some corner and edge darkening at f\/2.8, it’s quite minor and is gone by f\/4. \u00a0The Touit 50mm also performs quite well against bright light, maintaining strong contrast and minimal ghosting even when the sun is in the frame. \u00a0Given the relatively deep hood and the small front element, it’s rare that the lens will experience much in the way of veiling flare.<\/p>\n

Continue: Conclusion\u00a0<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

\"makro_planar\"<\/a>Pros<\/h4>\n