News tagged with "zeiss"

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 EF 135mm f/2L USM 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.

Carl Zeiss has announced its annual photo contest for images shot with one of its lenses. Any Zeiss lens is considered valid, from Nokia smartphones through Sony compacts, such as the RX100, to the company's high-end interchangeable lenses. This year's theme is 'The moment that knows no limits' and first prize is one of the company's manual focus SLR and rangefinder lenses, with a variety of other Zeiss-branded prizes for runners-up. The contest runs on Flickr until January 15th.

Photokina 2012: Sony has officially announced the Cyber-shot DSC-RX1, a full-frame compact camera with a fixed 35mm F2 lens. The camera features a 36x24mm CMOS sensor and a leaf shutter for near-silent operation. It includes a manual aperture ring and dedicated exposure compensation dial for direct manual control. It can also capture video at frame rates of up to 1080p60 and includes a series of video-friendly features. As rumored, the camera will retail for around $2,800.

Photokina 2012: Carl Zeiss will show prototypes of a 55mm F1.4 Distagon prime lens for DSLRs and the first lenses for mirrorless system cameras. The lenses for mirrorless cameras will be autofocus designs and will become available in mid 2013. The prototypes on show will include a wide-angle prime, a standard prime and a macro lens. No details are given for which systems will be supported. The manual focus Distagon* 1.4/55 will be available in the second half of 2013 for Canon and Nikon mounts.

Carl Zeiss has announced the Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 telephoto lens, which it will be showing at the Photokina trade show in Cologne later this month. This premium manual focus optic uses a floating focus system to maintain high image quality at all distances down to 0.8m. It uses anomalous partial dispersion glass elements to minimize chromatic aberrations, resulting in an apochromatic design. It will be available in mounts for Canon and Nikon SLRs from December 2012, at a recommended retail price of approximately €1600 / $2000 (excluding VAT).

Carl Zeiss is displaying a 28-80mm T2.9 cinema zoom lens at the IBC trade show in Amsterdam, that will complement the 70-200mm T2.9 optic it announced earlier this year. Designed for use on 35mm full-frame format video-capable SLRs, as well as HD video cameras and professional cine cameras, the Compact Zoom CZ.2 28-80/T2.9 will be available in Canon EF, Nikon F, Micro Four Thirds, Sony E and Arri PL mounts. It will be available in the second quarter of 2013 for €14,900 or US$19,900 (excluding VAT).

Carl Zeiss has announced the Compact Prime CP.2 25/T2.1 cinema lens. It's a replacement for the existing CP.2 25/T2.9, offering a whole stop greater light-gathering ability. The CP.2 25/T2.1 uses the company's interchangeable lens mount system, with Arri PL, Canon EF, Nikon F, Micro Four Thirds and Sony E options all available. It will start shipping on October 1st, 2012, with an expected retail price of €3,300 (excl. VAT) or $4,500 (excl. VAT).  

Carl Zeiss has launched the CZ.2 70-200/T2.9 cine lens at the NAB show in Las Vegas. The company says it allows movie makers to only use one lens to cover the short to long tele range. With a weight of only 2.8kg the lens is also a good addition to smaller and lighter HD video and cine cameras and ideal for hand-held operation.  The Compact Zoom CZ.2 70-200/T2.9 will be available in the fourth quarter of 2012, for a recommended retail price of US$19,900/€14,900 (excluding VAT).

Carl Zeiss has announced two videography-orientated lenses to add to its CP.2 Compact Prime range, a 15mm and a 135mm. The lenses, to be unveiled at the NAB broadcast industry trade show in Las Vegas, are the CP.2 15mm T/2.9 and CP.2 135mm T/2.1. Both lenses are color-matched to allow consistency in footage shot with different lenses, and feature interchangeable mounts, allowing use with PL, EF, F, MFT and E mounts. The two lenses will be available in the fourth quarter of 2012 at an MSRP of €4,200 / US$5,700 (excluding VAT).

Carl Zeiss has announced the Distagon T* 2,8/15, a super-wide-angle lens for Canon EF and Nikon F mounts. The lens can focus from just 25cm (10") and offers a 110 deg; field of view when mounted on a full-frame camera. It uses aspherical elements and abnormal partial dispersion glass in order to control distortion and chromatic aberration. It features an integrated lens hood and accepts 95mm threaded filters. It will be available from May for an MSRP of: €2,148 or US$2,948.