Review: Zeiss ZX1 Full-frame Compact Camera

Known primarily for their impressive range of lenses, the legendary Zeiss excited visual storytellers around the world in 2018 by announcing their first digital camera—the Zeiss ZX1. This compact mirrorless camera features a 37.4-megapixel full-frame sensor, ISO 51,200, 4K video and a 512GB internal SSD—and, of course—a fixed Zeiss Distagon 35mm f/2 lens.

Ian Howorth spent a few days with the full-frame compact mirrorless camera. In this Zeiss ZX1 review, Ian Howorth covers the camera's specs, usability and image quality and provides some of the stunning photography it can create. Over to you, Ian.

The Zeiss ZX1 was never meant to compete with the likes of Canon, Nikon or Sony in terms of fast-paced pro-level usage, but it lends itself perfectly to a much slower pace.

Design and usability

It feels and looks like no other camera. The Zeiss ZX1 is sleek and feels good in your hand—not perfect, but comfortable. There’s more emphasis placed on style, but with an eye on ergonomics. The first thing that strikes you are the two dials that sit on top, with bold yellow markings. One dial for ISO, and the other for shutter speed.

Top dials

Both dials feel great and have positive engagements. If you’re used to shooting with Fujifilm and Sony, with more marked changes between each step, the dials on the Zeiss ZX1 will feel a little light. Shutter speed tops out at 1/2000th (ignore the top dial), which is disappointing—especially since most cameras now go up to at least 1/4000th. This means you’ll need to carry ND filters, even for all-purpose shooting.

Aside from the design, three things make the Zeiss ZX1 unique: The lens, memory storage and in-built Lightroom functionality.

Built-in 35mm lens

Starting with the Zeiss ZX1's lens, you get a Zeiss Distagon 35mm f/2 with Zeiss’ T coating. As with most Zeiss glass, we have high expectations for this lens. There’s a side switch that allows you to toggle between auto and manual focus. The lens is a focus-by-wire design—when engaged in manual mode, the ring doesn’t physically move elements within the lens, instead sending an electronic message telling the lens where to focus.

Screen and Lightroom Mobile

What about the Zeiss ZX1's screen? This is one of the biggest selling points of the camera. With Lightroom mobile built-in, you can shoot, edit and share online or simply store in-camera to share at a later date. The touchscreen is pretty responsive, with little or no lag between settings changes.

Battery

The battery size of the Zeiss ZX1 is substantial, charged in-camera via the single USB-C slot. There’s no external charger for spare batteries, but you can buy one separately. But, at this price point, you’d expect them to include this as an option.

Included accessories

You also get a metal hood for the lens and a Peak Design strap with ZX1 embossed on the leatherette—a nice touch.

Setting up the camera

Setting up the Zeiss ZX1 wasn’t exactly pleasurable.

Menu system

Getting used to an unfamiliar camera always involves a period of transition, but the Zeiss ZX1 menu system is pretty far from intuitive.

White balance

One of the first issues I found with the Zeiss ZX1 was the white balance. The electronic viewfinder gave us a green tinge, with a marked difference between the preview image and the final image once it popped on the screen for playback. A minor issue, which might have an easy solution—but we couldn’t immediately find it. 

However, the images do have a wonderful pop to them. Even straight out of the camera, the gorgeous display really gets you excited and makes the shooting experience that much more pleasurable.

Sensor

The Zeiss ZX1's full-frame sensor and built-in lens are both excellent, with great dynamic range, rendering and contrast.

Dynamic range

The dynamic range from the Zeiss ZX1 is impressive. Not quite Sony levels of impressive, but still impressive. Zeiss lenses are known for their beautiful contrast, so it’s possible the lens is playing a part in the overall look of the image.

Rendering

This brings us to the Zeiss ZX1's lens. It’s simply fantastic. Shooting fully open, whether shooting a subject close to the lens or a wide scene, the renderings are magical.

Contrast

As you can see, there are great contrast levels and beautiful fall-off from shadow to highlight.

Manual f

Using the lens, on the other hand, is another matter. The Zeiss ZX1's focus ring is completely undamped, so manually focusing isn’t a smooth operation. Expecting silky-smooth manual operation? Forget it. In fact, we could almost forgive the lack of smoothness were it not for the fact that the focus-by-wire is laggy—making it hard to nail focus when you really need to.

In the end, we had to rely on the Zeiss ZX1's autofocus, using tricky focus points and checking focus using the rear screen each time. As you can imagine, this was quite far from ideal.

Shutter speed

The max 1/2000th shutter speed is a disappointment from the ZX1. You’d need neutral-density (ND) filters—check out our guide to lens filters. It's not a huge problem, but when every other manufacturer is now offering more than double those speeds, you wonder why Zeiss kept it this slow.

Image quality

Every time you encounter an issue with the Zeiss ZX1, you have to remind yourself what it’s here to do—to take great pictures. And, time and time again, it rewards us with phenomenal results. You just have to be patient.

Black-and-white is handled beautifully. This conversion is all about tonality and light. The Zeiss Distagon manages to tame midday highlights, which might be rendered too sharply and bright by other lenses. It’s silent too, owing to the leaf shutter in the lens, so candid shots are a cinch.

As the bright summer day turned to dusk, the ZX1 really came alive. This lens really flexed its muscles and demonstrated its ability to separate the subject from the background.

These images are lightly edited, but you can see how the Zeiss ZX1 gives you renditions that are truly a class apart—with the lens and sensor working in perfect harmony. When light is at a premium, this camera truly shines with its subtle transitions between light and shadow.

Verdict

Overall, shooting with the Zeiss ZX1 was an experience filled with mixed emotions. Difficulties setting up, fiddly controls and bothersome lens handling are counterbalanced by its gorgeous image quality. But there’s an elephant in the room—the cost. From around five grand new to around four grand used, it’s pretty expensive for what it is. While the Lightroom functionality is great, it’s still fiddly and battery-consuming. Ultimately, would a photographer not have the patience or money to simply edit on a laptop? The 512GB SSD is a great touch, giving you almost endless shooting. Unless you’re going on a long trip away without your laptop, it’s more than enough for most photographers—at least, the type of photographer likely to shoot with this camera.

Much like the Leica Q2, the Zeiss ZX1 is a premium camera with a design and a thought process unlike any other. From a practical point of view, the lens is gorgeous. It’s a really special bit of glass and the standout aspect of the camera. If Zeiss can improve the menu system and battery, it would make the price tag much more palatable. Failing that, we hope Zeiss releases a Mark II down the line with improved focus ring damping — although the ZX1 has since been discontinued. However, Zeiss should still be praised for thinking outside the box and even attempting this camera. After all, it’s this level of innovation that will inspire the next great camera.

Read more camera gear guides, including the best compact travel cameras, on the MPB content hub.