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To evaluate the real-life performance of the Zeiss Touit 32mm f1.8 lens, I shot this still life at every aperture setting using a Fujifilm X-Pro1 mounted on a tripod. The Fujifilm X-Pro1 was set to 200 ISO and the lens focused on the badge in the middle of the wheel. I shot in RAW mode and processed the files in Adobe Camera RAW using sharpness settings of 70 / 0.5 / 30 / 10 and with all lens corrections disabled. I’ve taken a crop from each image, indicated by the red rectangle on the image opposite and presented it at 100% below. You can access the original in-camera JPEGs captured at the same time by clicking each crop below. | |
For this test I fitted the Zeiss Touit 32mm f1.8 to a Fujifilm X-Pro1 and mounted the combination on a tripod. I focused on the BMW logo in the center of the wheel and took photos at most aperture settings in the RAW+JPEG mode. The original out-of-camera JPEGs are available to view and download via my Zeiss Touit 32mm f1.8 sample images gallery, while the RAW files were processed and cropped for presentation below at 100%.
I processed the files in Adobe Camera RAW using identical settings: Sharpening at 70 / 0.5 / 36 / 10, Luminance and Colour Noise Reduction both set to zero, all lens corrections disabled and the Process to 2012 with the Adobe Standard profile. The high degree of sharpening with a small radius enhances the finest details without causing undesirable artefacts.
Regarding the composition used here, this page is just a fun comparison of testing different apertures at close range for a casual look at sharpness and depth-of-field – I intend to present a more detailed test in the near future with corner and center comparisons. That said, the distances are roughly similar to a closer-range portrait with this lens, so are indicative of what you can expect. I’d also encourage you to download the original files from my Zeiss Touit 32mm f1.8 sample images page to view and compare the entire composition as the small crops below don’t tell the whole story.
What’s obvious from the crops below though is the very narrow depth-of-field with the aperture wide open at f1.8, particularly when focused closely – and within the plane of focus, the details are very crisp and sharp, making this a great lens for portraits or isolating details, of which there are several examples on my samples page. Close the lens down and the depth of field obviously increases, with crisper renditions at the point of focus. This lens is clearly very sharp.
What you won’t see from these crops though is the out-of-focus rendering, or bokeh, which on this lens is very smooth and creamy thanks to an almost circular nine-blade aperture. Again you can see some examples of this in my Zeiss Touit 32mm f1.8 sample images gallery.
Overall a great start for this lens and I look forward to adding more tests and comparisons in the near future. | 
