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Zeiss lenses for Nikon: ZF! Details tomorrow

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Zeiss is the optics manufacturer for Hasselblad, and their glass commands a premium. If I were a betting man, I would guess that Zeiss is going to position their forthcoming F mount Nikon lenses well above Niklon's own line.

I could be wrong, but I don't think Nikkor prices for comparable lenses will be affected at all.
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broonzbane

http://www.pbase.com/mudshark_artworks
 
I've not been into photography all that long, and only really follow Canon and Nikon kit in any detail.

I have heard of these lens manufactures:
Nikkor
Canon
Sigma
Tokina
Tamron
Leica

Having heard that Leica & Nikon/Nikkor historical have great reputations with making lenses, but have not heard of Zeiss until today, could anyone enlighten us new guys about this?

Cheers,

Fid.

--
(¯'·.,¸¸. · ¤ Fid ¤ ·.,¸¸. ·´¯)
 
There we go, just answered my question :)
broonzbane said:
Zeiss is the optics manufacturer for Hasselblad.
Click to expand...
You must have posted this while I was typing ;-)

Thanks Broonzbane.
broonzbane said:
Zeiss is the optics manufacturer for Hasselblad, and their glass
commands a premium. If I were a betting man, I would guess that
Zeiss is going to position their forthcoming F mount Nikon lenses
well above Niklon's own line.

I could be wrong, but I don't think Nikkor prices for comparable
lenses will be affected at all.
--
broonzbane

http://www.pbase.com/mudshark_artworks
Click to expand...
--
(¯'·.,¸¸. · ¤ Fid ¤ ·.,¸¸. ·´¯)
 
broonzbane said:
I could be wrong, but I don't think Nikkor prices for comparable
lenses will be affected at all.
Click to expand...
They may be slightly affected, but I hardly think they would considering the fact that the tokina and sigma lenses that are for mos tpurposes on par with nikon/nikkor lenses have not pusshed down nikon's price, just take a look at the ultra-wide angle zoom lenses, nikon's 12-24 has not come down in price as a result of the sigma 10-20, 12-24, tokina 12-24 or tamrons 11-18 lenses...

One things though, that zeiss if they maintain their lens quality standard might be that nikon with increase their QC or tighten up their QC procedures... giving less sample variation among the pro-lenses...
 
Fid said:
I've not been into photography all that long, and only really
follow Canon and Nikon kit in any detail.

I have heard of these lens manufactures:
Nikkor
Canon
Sigma
Tokina
Tamron
Leica

Having heard that Leica & Nikon/Nikkor historical have great
reputations with making lenses, but have not heard of Zeiss until
today, could anyone enlighten us new guys about this?

Cheers,

Fid.
Click to expand...
You probably haven't heard of Zeiss because you haven't been using Hasselblads. If you've never heard of Hasselblad (Hassy) then it's because you (and 95% of consumers) couldn't afford it.

Zeiss makes VERY good glass that is VERY expensive. Usually only well-paid working photographers and wealthy shutterbugs purchase Zeiss lenses.

If the rumors are true about Zeiss making lenses for the Nikon F mount then I will be happy ... but that happiness will be short lived if the "cheapest" Zeiss lens for Nikon costs $1,000.
 
(what does make sense is)
Wide Zeiss lenses for architectual work....
Several (full frame) Canon digital photogs I know ($3,000 a day guys)
(that used to shoot 4x5 and 120 film cameras for architectual work)
have adapted the short Zeiss lenses to good result.
(i.e: Zeiss 18mm,19mm,21mm,25mm).

(they) Having found the Canon wide lenses sub-par: unacceptable CA, soft corners, etc...
And short zooms completely horrid.

Since they shoot from a tripod and tethered to a laptop, AF and auto control of aperture
is not required.
Quite logical.

bimthecat
 
Are they permanently and irretrievably shut down? I know that Kyocera, their parent company, shut them down citing that they didn't want to commit the resources needed for their film cameras to compete in a digital world.

Have their been any offers to buy? Did Kyocera even put the Contax division up for sale or just shut it down?

It's a shame--my friend shoots with a G2 Rangefinder. I've seen the results, and it is truly a spectacular little camera!

--
broonzbane

http://www.pbase.com/mudshark_artworks
 
Even though Zeiss has demanded a premium for their lenses in the past to compete in the lenses war they will be forced to stay in the same range as the other lenses makers. Zeiss, possible the best glass I have ever seen will be a sure welcome for my Nikon but if they want much more than Nikon then they can keep their lens on the shelf.
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D70
Sigma 105 f2.8 Macro
Nikon 18-70mm f3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor
Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor
SB-800
 
broonzbane said:
Are they permanently and irretrievably shut down? I know that
Kyocera, their parent company, shut them down citing that they
didn't want to commit the resources needed for their film cameras
to compete in a digital world.

Have their been any offers to buy? Did Kyocera even put the Contax
division up for sale or just shut it down?

It's a shame--my friend shoots with a G2 Rangefinder. I've seen
the results, and it is truly a spectacular little camera!

--
broonzbane

http://www.pbase.com/mudshark_artworks
Click to expand...
Hi there

I thought they were but a quick check shows they still have a website up and running and a product line-up
http://www.contaxusa.com/product.asp?itemnum=202000

Back in the early 80s a friend had a Contax with about a dozen Zeiss primes which were the best made lenses I've ever handled. I forget the camera model but the image quality was really excellent.
Ian
 
ianR said:
Hi there
I thought they were but a quick check shows they still have a
website up and running and a product line-up
http://www.contaxusa.com/product.asp?itemnum=202000
Back in the early 80s a friend had a Contax with about a dozen
Zeiss primes which were the best made lenses I've ever handled. I
forget the camera model but the image quality was really excellent.
Ian
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know they still have a site up to service their existing customers, but read this:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0504/05041201contaxend.asp

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broonzbane

http://www.pbase.com/mudshark_artworks
 
My film cameras, which I don't use since going digital, are CONTAX RTS and CONTAX 139 models with Motor Drives and a variety of Zeiss Lenses. Zeiss' T* lenses are terific performers, having extremely high resolution and extremely low distortion and CA. [This quality equipment still works great, after 25 years.]

My favorite portrait lens is the 85mm/f1.4 T*, which I miss dearly, as the Contax/Yashica mount won't convert to a Nikon flange. [There is an expensive ($120) flange converter available, bit it attaches semi-permanently to the lens, so that I can't move it from one Zeiss lens to another as I may need it.] These 25-year-old lenses are also "old school", and can't take advantage of my Nikon D70's automation features, so it's hardly worth the bother.

I'd like to see Zeiss lenses available to fit recent Nikon DSLRs.

--
-Ellery
Pixelated Electronics Engineer (HW/SW/FW)
 
aznndave said:
ooohh.. this is very tempting... gonna save money now, meaning no
70-200mm VR, no D200, no 300mm f2.8 AF-S....etc
Click to expand...
Hopefully you won't have to give up all that just to afford one or two Zeiss lenses for the F mount ... hopefully. We'll find out tomorrow.

Anyway, this gives new validity to the rumors that the Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P manual focus lens (which is virtually IDENTICAL to the Zeiss Tessar 45mm f/2.8) was actually made by Kyocera in the same factory which had made the Japanese Carl Zeiss lenses. It could be that the 45mm 2.8P was a "test" to see if the relationship would work and if there was a market for it.

The 45mm 2.8P is pretty cheap for a Tessar, so if the Zeiss F mount lenses are priced simmilarly, then I suspect Zeiss will have a MAJOR comeback in 2006.

It really depends on price ... average consumers aren't going to buy $1,000+ manual focus lenses.
 
Hi Andi!
I hope my new Tessar ... without ring adapter:



and a sample without lens adapter to infinite focusing:



Very great lens ... nostalgia?
Thanks for sharing notice ... credits card ready and warm ..
Luigi
Andi Buchner said:
Looks like Zeiss will introduce lenses for Nikon DSLRs. Details
will follow tomorrow on http://www.zeiss.com

http://www.zeiss.com/C12567A8003B58B9?Open

Regards,
Andi

--
http://www.pbase.com/anbuccos
pbase supporter
Click to expand...
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Looked into my wallet and checked my account because I'm using Zeiss lenses since years ;-) Empty!

Just kidding - a lot of Sony cameras use Zeiss lenses or at least lenses calculated and specified by Zeiss. That is IMHO one reason for Sony's succes with non-DSLR-cameras. My Sony R1 also uses a Vario Sonnar.

Regards,
Andi

--
http://www.pbase.com/anbuccos
pbase supporter
 
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