It’s official. Here we have the new Loxia 85mm f/2.4 Sonnar lens! You can now preorder the new Zeiss Loxia 85mm FE lens at BHphoto (Click here).

Press text via Lenspire:

The Loxia 2.4/85 is the youngest member of our manual focus lens family for Sony α7 series cameras. So the already available three focal lengths of the lens family – Loxia 2.8/21, Loxia 2/35 and Loxia 2/50 – are supplemented with a lens in the tele range. Specially designed for mirrorless full-frame cameras with E mount, the compact ZEISS Loxia lenses are the ideal choice for travel and street photographers who value light and compact camera equipment. “In terms of its technology and the feel of its surface, the Loxia 2.4/85 fits perfectly with the existing focal lengths, and is particularly well suited for portrait photography,” says Christophe Casenave, product manager with ZEISS Camera Lenses. The Loxia 2.4/85 will be available in stores starting December 2016.

Optimized ZEISS Sonnar® design

The new Loxia 2.4/85 with its seven lens elements in seven groups has been designed for digital sensors and is based on an optimized ZEISS Sonnar design.

“With the ZEISS Loxia 2.4/85, we have managed to develop a well-rounded and new interpretation of the original ZEISS Sonnar optical design that meets all the requirements of digital photography and videography.”

Christophe Casenave, product manager, ZEISS Camera Lenses

The lens has a minimum object distance of 0.80 meters. The manual focus ring has a rotation angle of 220 degrees and enables the subtlest variations of focusing. The large aperture of f/2.4 combined with the high-quality optical design ensures an appealing bokeh. The electronic interface transfers lens data (EXIF) as well as focus movements. Additionally, if desired by the user, this activates the camera’s loupe function. “Precise manual focusing with hard stop and the mechanical setting of the aperture (working aperture priority mode) provide sophisticated photographers who don’t want to leave everything to the camera abundant possibilities for composition,” Casenave adds.

Also ideally suited for filming 

Videographers also don’t come off badly with the new Loxia. Again the well-known de-click function is on board. This allows for mechanically deactivating the click stops on the aperture ring — a condition for silent and infinite adjustments of the aperture. As a result, the ZEISS Loxia 2.4/85 is also an attractive lens for video cameras that have an E mount, such as the Sony PXW-FS7 and PXW-FS5. The overall package comprises a robust metal barrel, the filter diameter of M52 (which is identical across all focal lengths) and protection against penetration of dust and spray onto the lens mount. In addition, the external diameter, which is uniform across all ZEISS Loxia lenses, simplifies film shoots.

ZEISS Lens Gears

In combination with our ZEISS Lens Gears, our Loxia lenses can also be used ideally with a follow focus system. The Lens Gears are made of high-quality aluminum with a hardened surface coating. Through simple mounting they can be attached to the focus ring of the lens. To do so, they are simply slid over the lens and then fixed by turning two rings that each go in the opposite direction. Therefore, precise focusing is possible and the lenses become endowed with similar features as a full-scale cine lens. The Lens Gear Rings in the sizes mini (62 – 69mm, 60 – 67mm with GumGum) fit the Loxia lenses.

Price and availability

Global delivery of the ZEISS Loxia 2.4/85 will begin at the beginning of December 2016. The lens shade is included with delivery. The recommended retail sales price is 1,399 euros (including 19% VAT in Germany) or 1,399 US$.

More information about the ZEISS Loxia lenses:

www.zeiss.com/loxia

lenspire.zeiss.com/en/tag/loxia,zeiss-loxia

Atomos CEO Jeromy Young on Canon, the 5D Mark IV, and the Entire Camera Industry from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Newsshooter interviewed Atomos CEO Jeromy Young. And this is what he had to say about Sony and Canon:

Sony’s giving everything they can inside their cameras, I truly believe it’s their best play.
It’s Canon that I think is really holding back to this market. I think they believe the photography market is a better market for them…It may very well be a bigger market for them, but I think they’re going to lose traction, they’re going to lose that, I guess, the prowess and the market share that they gained with the 5D series early on.

Usually COE’s are very “politically correct” when talking about other companies. So it’s a bit of a surprise to hear such harsh words from Jeremy!

At 11:00 Berlin time the new Loxia 85mm f/2.4 Sonnar FE lens will be officially announced. UPDATE: You can now preorder the new Zeiss Loxia 85mm FE lens at BHphoto (Click here).

So far there doesn’t seem to be a lot of excitement around this lens. Check out our poll results:

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Both the Sony A7rII and A7II will ship in 1-2 months only according to Amazon US. Also other US stores don’t have them in Stock (or in very limited supply). That news matters also because whatever new camera will be announced by Sony it doesn’t look like it will ship soon neither :(