ancient fern - a photo on Flickriver

ancient fern

            Shot with the Loxia 25mm f2.4 lens in a dark mountain shade

I like this leaf and always look for it in the rainy season.

The Loxia renders the shadow and the highlight of this image very nicely and I love the color of the leaf.

The 25mm lens was perfect for this image.  It has a bit of green CA at wide aperture settings, but it is easy to remove in post, and it is insanely sharp in the center even at f2.4.

The Loxia 25mm f2.4 Distagon produces very high level of micro contrast and it gives all images shot with it special 3D like pop.
It is very easy to hold and balance very well on a A7RX camera.   It has a bit of barrel type distortion but it is really easy to correct in post.

Now I have been re-testing it against the FE16-35mm f2.8GM and FE24-105mmf4G.  Of course, the Loxia is sharper into the corners but I am not sure the sharpness advantage alone justify keeping this amazing lens in addition to the also amazing and very practical FE16-35mm f2.8GM zoom.

The zoom is very close to the Loxia in resolution at least for landscape or architecture type of work at f5.6 and on.

The color of the Loxia seems more neutral and I prefer it for flowers, people, night shots, etc.  But I actually prefer the GM color for seascape or urban landscape type of things.
I was very surprised to realize it after having compared the two side by side at 100 percent magnification.

I am debating selling the Loxia 25mm f2.4 or the 18mm f2.8 Batis and FE24-105mm f4G or sell all the three.

This Loxia 25mm f2.4 is incredibly good optically and one of the very favorite lenses of mine for now, but my keeper rate with it is very bad........due to the very loose focus ring of it.

My 21mm Loxia did not have this kind of loose focus ring, but I did not like the 21mm FOV and the way it renders the spring sky.  

The Loxia 25mm is optically a near perfect lens but unfortunately it is awkward to use in real life.

Also I am not really sure this lens is really weather sealed as Zeiss advertised.

I often shoot under mist like drizzle rain so I am very concerned about it.

But it is hard to let this lens go, it is a great lens with plenty of great character.

Taken on: May 23, 2018

Tags:

Zeiss

prime

flower

plant

color

look

bokeh

fringe

shade

manual-focus

windy

Sony

fern

wet

drizzle

Loxia

Distagon

25mmf2.4

ISO1600

1/8

f6.3

noise

mountain « less

Sets appears in: • summer plants

Groups appears in: • All About Asia • Fukuoka more » • JAPAN [directory] 日本 • Darkness and Light • The Biggest Group ! (The FUN group!) • Sony Full Frame Cameras • Carl Zeiss Distagon • Carl Zeiss • Sony α NEX & ILCE • Sony NEX E mount photography group • Sony NEX-5n & NEX-7 « less

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