Zeiss Touit Lenses on the Sony a6000 – a review

Hello, this is marie. This time it’s on me to serve your evening reading needs. This post is about the zeiss touit lens line-up for mirrorless cameras. Zeiss Germany was kind enough to let me use the 3 currently available lenses on my trip to asia in december 2014. I just bought a a6000 so this came in very handy. Follow the link below to see what i think about them and if they made me miss my D800 and my beloved Nikon 2.8/70-200.

Since Alex had quite a hard time in 2013 on our first trip to thailand I was definitely in when he talked about getting a lighter and more portable camera system. I jumped on board buying the Sony a6000 even if i was skeptical at first.(Read Alex‘ review if you wanna know more about it) Since I didn’t really know what lens to buy right away i was asking zeiss if it is possible to maybe try their lenses for mirrorless cameras. A few days later a package carrying all 3 lenses of the so called Touit line-up arrived. This includes right now a 2.8/12mm, a 1.8/32mm and a 2.8/50mm which should become my favorite for the trip. But more on that later.

A man selling gambling tickets, waiting on a crossing. Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 1.8/32mm.
A man selling gambling tickets, waiting on a crossing.
Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 1.8/32mm.
Great color and contrast. That is what you get when opting for a zeiss lens. Marie Baersch, Sony a6000,  Zeiss Touit 1.8/32mm.
Great color and contrast. That is what you get when opting for a zeiss lens.
Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 1.8/32mm.

Built & optical appearance:

You can definitely say these lenses get away very understated. Apart from the soft rubberized focus ring and the blue/white zeiss logo there is nothing to distract on the outer barrel itself. All of the lenses come with a tight fitting lenshood which tends to be a little too big in my opinion, especially for the 12mm and the 50mm. The lens is made entirely of metal with a very smooth finish. The rubber of the focus ring is nice to feel and the focus ring is also very smooth in it’s movement. The lenses are built to last and I always found it quite reassuring to use them.

The Zeiss Touit 1.8/32mm on the Sony a6000. All of the lenses feature the same streamlined aesthetics making them a perfect match for sony's capable mirrorless camera.
The Zeiss Touit 1.8/32mm on the Sony a6000.
All of the lenses feature the same streamlined aesthetics making them
a perfect match for sony’s capable mirrorless camera.
The zeiss family, with this 3 lens set-up I had every focal length with me.
The zeiss family, with this 3 lens set-up I had every focal length with me while traveling.

Sharpness, color and contrast:

Well what should i say, i’m really not a photographer zooming in to 100% when it is about my travelpictures. Sure i want a decent sharp picture but it’s not the same as if i’m doing a fashionshoot for a magazine or a commercial project. With this in mind let’s just say these lenses are sharp. Very much so is the 12mm. Is it on the same level as my 70-200? I don’t think so but does it matter? They are definitely sharp enough without making me want some more or let me miss something. But when it comes to color and contrast even wide open these beauties shine. Even right out of the camera there is little to no editing needed to make the colors and contrast pop how I want them to do.

The 2.8/12mm showing of its strength with no distortion and stellar sharpness. Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/12mm.
The 2.8/12mm showing of its strength with very little distortion and stellar sharpness.
Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/12mm.
Want more pop in your pictures? Try a zeiss! Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss 2.8/50mm.
Want more pop in your pictures? Try a zeiss!
Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss 2.8/50mm.
Did anybody say contrast? There you go, and that bokeh! Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
Did anybody say contrast? There you go, and that bokeh!
Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
The 50mm became my favorite lens out of the 3. Even though being just a 2.8 it delivers smooth and buttery bokeh on the Sony's APS-C sized sensor. Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
The 50mm became my favorite lens out of the 3. Even though being
just a 2.8 it delivers smooth and buttery bokeh on the Sony’s APS-C sized sensor.
Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.

Autofocus:

Oh boy, this one is getting tricky. Out of the box the 50mm is the best one. Or well, it was the best one. At least on the a6000. The problem is that the older 12mm and 32mm did not use the a6000s amazing hybrid autofocus -whatever-they-call-it thing due to firmware issues. Alex told me a few days ago there is a new firmware update delivered by zeiss since a few days. This means you might have to sent in your lens to let it be updated by zeiss then you should be able to get the same AF performance on all 3 lenses. If this is the case they will not let you miss a shot because of being to slow or not reliable. They may not be as fast enough as sony’s native lenses but they can hold their own quite well.

A monk walking up the golden mount in Bangkok. The autofocus with these lenses never let me down and i was nearly always able to get the shot i wanted. Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
A monk walking up the golden mount in Bangkok. The autofocus with these lenses
never let me down and i was nearly always able to get the shot i wanted.
Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
Did i told you about the great contrast? I did right? Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
Did i told you about the great contrast? I did right?
Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
The 50mm are handling flare quite good without loosing too much contrast or leaving colors washed out. Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
The 50mm are handling flare quite good without loosing too much contrast or leaving colors washed out.
Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
Bokeh might get a bit distracting with busy background but that is on rare occasions. Remember it is just a 2.8 on a crop sensor and you won't make you back ache at the end of the day! Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
Bokeh might get a bit distracting with busy background but that is on rare occasions.
Remember it is just a 2.8 on a crop sensor and won’t make you back ache at the end of the day!
Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
Oh and by the way the 50mm is a macro, just in case you stumble over a beautiful butterfly on your way through the jungle. Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
Oh and by the way the 50mm is a macro, just in case you stumble
over a beautiful butterfly on your way through the jungle.
Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
The Touits are definitly good at rendering orange! Trust me, i tried! Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
The Touits are definitly good at rendering orange! Trust me, i tried!
Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.

Conclusion:

I am really not much into gear. I like to have a camera that does the job without getting in the way between me and the picture I want to take. It doesn’t really matter which brandname is printed in front of it. It’s the same with lenses. And this is were you want to give these a look. They may not be right for you if you’re on a budget. Or if you into heavy post processing. Or if you’re doing action sports whatsoever. But if you want to focus on your picture and you want to save it the way you saw it then you should definitely consider throwing one of these in your bag. With their smooth optical appearance above average sharpness, color rendition and contrast they won’t let you down. Are they worth their premium price tag? I guess you have to decide for yourself but I just love the pictures I took with them, especially with the 50mm which give me quite a hard time when i had to sent it back. Since i’m not a tech-person i hope you do not miss anything in this little review. If this might be the case or you got any other question don’t hesitade to ask.

It is just delivering a great field of view with mostly amazing booked. Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
It is just delivering a great field of view with mostly amazing booked.
Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
It is not too close to scare your subjects. Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
It is not too close to scare your subjects.
Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
The 50mm is your great overall portrait lens. Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.
The 50mm is your great overall portrait lens.
Marie Baersch, Sony a6000, Zeiss Touit 2.8/50mm.

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17 Kommentare auch kommentieren

  1. Max Lang sagt:

    How much did you edit these beautiful pictures? Or is this the pure imagequality of the zeiss lens?!
    Nice Review btw

    1. Hi max, i just did some general color and contrast correction and some obvious black & white conversion. But i can assure the quality form theses lenses is stunning even directly out of camera!
      It’s great that you like the review!
      Best,
      Marie

  2. Lukas Huber sagt:

    Nice Review and beautiful pictures.
    But I have a question about the Ona bag. Is it possible to put the a6000 with the three zeiss lenses into the ona bowery bag?

    1. Hi Lukas! Yes this combination is like it was made for the bag! Or like the bag was made for it! With one lens attached to the a6000 sitting in the middle there is enough space left on both sides for the other two lenses! And it looks gorgeous!

      1. Lukas Huber sagt:

        Does it fit even when the lens hoods are attached?

      2. jazz110 sagt:

        Wow! What a perfect bag and lens set up. Thank you for the information

        1. AlexWaetzel sagt:

          Hey Lukas, it’s Alex here! Unfortunately it does not fit with the hoods on! Marie hat to do a lot of lenshood-on and off turns to do! 😉 But hey, the bag is beautiful so what does it matter! 😀

          1. Lukas Huber sagt:

            Yeah it is really beautiful and I would like a stylish (and not too big) bag for my a6000 with the Zeiss 24mm, the Sony 50mm and the Walimex 12mm. As long as I can leave the lenshood of the lens I am using attached it should be fine 😉

  3. jazz110 sagt:

    I own the 12mm & the 32mm Touts. Now you make me want the 50mm! Thanks for the great review!

    1. Well then you should definitly go for! You won’t regret burning some cash for some zeiss pop! 😉

      1. jazz110 sagt:

        Thanks! I’m hunting for a good price now. I used the 32mm and 12mm this summer in St. Louis USA and was impressed with the results. The famous Arch, architecture, art sculptures, and people street photography made me a believer. I wish I would have had the 50mm.

  4. philippe sagt:

    I’d really like to know which black&white tunings you applied and in which program ?

    1. AlexWaetzel sagt:

      Hi there philippe,

      we did the black & white conversion in Lightroom 5.
      I cannot recall the exact settings but as you can see we have been going for quite a contrasty look with some heavy vignetting! Just play around with the settings a little and you should be able to get a similar look.

      Best,
      Alex

  5. Brandon sagt:

    Hello I currently have an a6000 and I was wanting a Zeiss lens. Do you have to buy an adapter to put the lens on?

    1. Hi. Not for the Zeiss Touit Lenses 🙂

  6. Brandon sagt:

    Also great review by the way, and the pictures look awesome!

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