Zeiss has posted a blog article that talks about the inception and development of its latest line of lenses, led by the 55mm F1.4 that was first shown at Photokina last year. Titled ‘No Compromise’, it explains how the company is aiming to meet the demands of the latest high resolution sensors, to satisfy the needs of both professional photographers and ambitious hobbyists. Click through to read more, and the link to the original article.
Photographic pioneer Edward Muybridge was fascinated by motion, and today, scientists at the Locomotion Lab of the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena continue to use cameras to research how we walk. As well as looking at human and animal movements, they’ve also created ‘walking robots’, and are capturing their movement using high-speed cameras. According to Zeiss’s blog, the researchers are using the ZEISS Makro-Planar T* 2/50 ZF.2 lens attached to Vosskühler HCC-1000 cameras, which are capable of 923 fps, at 1024 x 512 pixel resolution. Click through for more details.
We’ve all been there – your friend Carl is over by the fridge, getting some ice, and there you are with an expensive new Carl Zeiss lens, and you’re describing it to someone, and Carl keeps saying ‘What? What did you say? Do you want ice?’ It’s confusing. No wonder then that German lens manufacturer Carl Zeiss has decided to officially drop the ‘Carl’ and will henceforth be known simply as ZEISS. According to the manufacturer’s blog, the decision was taken to ‘create consistency’ across its brand communications. Click through for more details (and no more terrible Carl puns, we promise).
Any time Zeiss releases a new lens its a cause for heightened interest by photographers. Cameras come and go in the digital era, but lenses can become life-long friends, at least the best ones can.
Kevin and I had an opportunity to work with the new Zeiss Touit 12mm f/2.8 and 32mm f/1.8 lenses in Fuji XR mount on our Kimberly PODAS Expedition in Australia earlier this month. These lenses are also available in Sony NEX-E mount.
Our joint review is now online.
Now that he has his own copies of the new Zeiss Touit lenses, Roger Cicala of Lensrentals decided to crack into the Planar 32mm F1.8 lens and see if the renowned build quality of Zeiss optics was compromised to make the lenses more affordable. His primary concerns were about the Touit’s polymer construction and its use of a DC motor.
Roger Cicala of Lensrentals has published a blog post in which he gives his first impressions of the new Carl Zeiss 32mm F1.8 ‘Touit’ lens, in Sony E-mount. Unlike Roger’s normal approach, where he exhaustively tests multiple samples of the same lens, he was only able to look at a single example of the 32mm F1.8 on the Sony NEX-7. Click through for some details of his findings, and a link to the full article at the lensrentals blog.
Zeiss has announced that its first two Touit lenses for mirrorless cameras are now available for sale. The 12mm F2.8 wideangle has been designed according to the ‘Distagon optical concept’, and has an RRP of €920 / US$ 1,250 excluding VAT. Meanwhile the Planar-type 32mm F1.8 normal lens will cost €670 / US$ 900 excluding VAT. The lenses will be available to fit Sony NEX and Fujifilm X-system cameras, and the X-mount models feature aperture rings with 1/3 stop detents. The next model in the line, a 50mm F2.8 Macro, is expected to appear at the end of the year.
Zeiss has announced more detail on two forthcoming lenses for Sony NEX and Fujifilm X-mount APS-C cameras – the 12mm F2.8 and 32mm F1.8 lenses it unveiled at Photokina last year. The announcement came via the Zeiss blog, which went into detail on how they came to the name for the new series, ‘Touit.’ Pronounced like the English ‘do it,’ the new lenses are named after a Latin American band-tailed parrot, which Zeiss describes as ‘small and agile,’ much like mirrorless cameras are meant to be. Click for more on the new lenses.
LensRentals’ Roger Cicala has published an interesting comparison of the Zeiss ZE 135mm F2 APO-Sonnar and the Canon 135mm F/2L lens, with both optics mounted on a Canon EOS 5D Mark II. While you’d expect nothing less than excellent results from the Zeiss optic, just what advantages can the heavier and much more expensive lens offer compared to Canon’s well-regarded prime lens? Click through to read Cicala’s findings.
Michael Schiehlen, Sales Director at Carl Zeiss, introduces the new super wide angle lens Distagon T* 2,8/15. The super wide angle Distagon T* 2,8/15 will be available with an EF (ZE) or F bayonet (ZF.2). With an extra-large angle of view of 110 degrees in combination with a fast f/2.8 aperture, the lens enables the features for dramatic perspectives and performance demanded by the most ambitious landscape and architectural photographers.
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