eraserhead
Well-known member
except also for the Contax AF lenses in 35mm and 645. I've got a Canon converted Zeiss on my camera and it autofocusses just fine.
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Carl Zeiss specifications
- Thread starter Seppo Helle
- Start date
eraserhead
Well-known member
I think the point is that Zeiss hasn't the experience of designing the mechanics of AF systems. The Cosina-Zeiss lenses are updates of classic designs with traditional unit focussing in helical mounts. AF lenses tend to use internal focus along with floating elements. All the Zeiss AF lenses have been in association with a partner which has AF tecnology (Sony or Kyocera). Zeiss can design an optical system to integrate with and AF mechanical system, and the designs are quite different from the Z-C lenses (compare for instance a Cosina and Sony 85/1.4). It would have been a huge development effort to develop its own AF technology. Cosina has made AF lenses, but at the budget end, and I would doubt whether their mechanical arrangements would be precise enough to produce the quality expected of a Zeiss lens.
Digitalux
Leading Member
Digitalux
Leading Member
Cosina manufactures and even sometimes design a lot for others and they work according to specifications which may be low-end or high-end. Difference might be that the other manufacturers with high-end products made by Cosina tend to conceal that information.
BTW, Cosina is not the only third-party manufacturer in that situation.
BTW, Cosina is not the only third-party manufacturer in that situation.
Tom Reynolds
Leading Member
I did not know what the OP meant. Why is Zeiss exotic? Exotic means, strange, weird, rare, very unusual. I think Zeiss manual focus lenses have been very common on many different cameras for a very long time.
However, any add should mention if a lens is AF or manual focus.
eraserhead
Well-known member
...and more's the point, if Cosina is subcontracted to do lens manufacture for Ninon and rips off their AF IPR to give to Zeiss, they aren't going to do a lot more work for Ninon (or Cakon, for that matter).
prodesma
Veteran Member
well, i was reading thru the recent press release for the samyang 14mm f/2.8 and i don't see ANY mention of filter threads or drop-in gelatin filter holders. did anybody else notice this omission?
i might humbly think this is an important aspect for many that would even CONSIDER this lens. for example the nikon 14-24/2.8 takes gelatin only and i think that is a shame. yeah, yeah, sure... the front element protrudes, i get it. but rear drop-in 52mm or whatever?
many who would consider an ultra-wide prime for full-frame... might use a CPL for interior/architecture (reduce glare off surfaces like hardwood flooring and tabletops) or landscapers (for clouds/skies, obviously). and it's not unheard of that some still shoot film and might need a red filter or 80 series filter.
no mention at all; kinda like zeiss and no AF, huh.
shame on them...
oh wait, but then again... when the nikon D40x came out, i was reading threads about some new owners asking why their lenses wouldn't AF! ooops... guess you can include some cameras/mfr's in that subject too.
look, i'm not hating on anybody. i shoot nikon and am quite happy w/ the system overall. but, yeah, i want Zeiss AF glass and am seriously considering moving to sony for it. and i found it embarassing and pathetic that nikon felt it 'okay' to offer an entry-level dSLR w/o an AF motor in it. wow. sad days. why? cheap? lightweight? think owners wouldn't care/notice? geeeeez.
cheers.
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i might humbly think this is an important aspect for many that would even CONSIDER this lens. for example the nikon 14-24/2.8 takes gelatin only and i think that is a shame. yeah, yeah, sure... the front element protrudes, i get it. but rear drop-in 52mm or whatever?
many who would consider an ultra-wide prime for full-frame... might use a CPL for interior/architecture (reduce glare off surfaces like hardwood flooring and tabletops) or landscapers (for clouds/skies, obviously). and it's not unheard of that some still shoot film and might need a red filter or 80 series filter.
no mention at all; kinda like zeiss and no AF, huh.
shame on them...
oh wait, but then again... when the nikon D40x came out, i was reading threads about some new owners asking why their lenses wouldn't AF! ooops... guess you can include some cameras/mfr's in that subject too.
look, i'm not hating on anybody. i shoot nikon and am quite happy w/ the system overall. but, yeah, i want Zeiss AF glass and am seriously considering moving to sony for it. and i found it embarassing and pathetic that nikon felt it 'okay' to offer an entry-level dSLR w/o an AF motor in it. wow. sad days. why? cheap? lightweight? think owners wouldn't care/notice? geeeeez.
cheers.
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- david
DavidMillier
Veteran Member
Sarcastic? Nope.
Cosina have manufactured lenses for Cosina, Vivitar, Tamron, Tokina and a range of other brand names. Many of those lenses are amongst the most cheaply and poorly made lenses you could imagine (eg the generic 19-35mm f3.4-4.5). They are anything but luxury lenses.
On the other hand they manufacture the Voightlander range finder lenses and Zeiss lenses which reputedly high class. So much for the relevance of brand labels as a badge of quality or otherwise...
Galleries and website: http://www.whisperingcat.co.uk/mainindex.htm
Cosina have manufactured lenses for Cosina, Vivitar, Tamron, Tokina and a range of other brand names. Many of those lenses are amongst the most cheaply and poorly made lenses you could imagine (eg the generic 19-35mm f3.4-4.5). They are anything but luxury lenses.
On the other hand they manufacture the Voightlander range finder lenses and Zeiss lenses which reputedly high class. So much for the relevance of brand labels as a badge of quality or otherwise...
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Galleries and website: http://www.whisperingcat.co.uk/mainindex.htm
Actually the above is in-correct. Sony got into DSLRs in "partnership" with Konica-Minolta but KM got out of the market in less than 6 months, before Sony took over their dSLR business.
During the less than 6 months of joint operations, Sony and KM planned to bring out sister models of their DSLRs, with a couple of Sony exclusive prime lenses and a consumer-grade Sony all-purpose zoom lens. These Sony exclusive prime lenses were the CZ 85mm f/1.4 Planar and the CZ 135mm f/1.8 Sonnar - both of whom are ground up AF designs.
You can calculate - based on the timelines - that there is not a slim chance in hell for Carl Zeiss to have designed these lenses from scratch - production ready in 6 months - and it could only have been original Carl Zeiss ground up auto-focus designs from their archives - that have never been deployed on any other mount. It was clear that Sony purchased these designs for their Alpha mount, with the necessary minor adaptations needed to make it compatible for the mount.
Bottomline, these were original Carl Zeiss Auto-focus designs and not some kind of an adaptation from manual-focus.
However, the newer CZ 24-70 f/2.8 SSM Vario-Sonnar and the CZ 16-35 f/2.8 SSM Vario-Sonnar are both lenses that employ Ultra-Sonic focusing. It is very possible that these newer Carl Zeiss designs were designed from the ground up with the intention of incorporating Ultrasonic in-lens motors and thus might have been a joint design effort between Carl Zeiss (for optics) and Sony (for mechanicals). Either way, the results show that these SSM (Ultrasonic motors) lenses focus freakishly fast and faster than even the Nikon or Canon versions of the 24-70 f/2.8 and the 16-35 f/2.8 (or 17-35 f/2.8 in case of Nikon) lenses, while being optically head and shoulders above the Canon and Nikon versions. As a former user of the Canon 24-70 f/2.8L USM and the 24-105 f/4L IS in the past, I know how much more superior are these new Sony/Zeiss lenses, both mechanically and optically.
DavidMillier
Veteran Member
I'm not quite sure where you are going with this.
Just to avoid mis-understanding, let me do a recap:
I've no doubt the CV and zeiss lenses cosina build deserve their stellar reputations but you've got to admit, it is funny that those high priced exotic Zeiss primes everyone oohs over are made by the people who churn out £99 coke bottle zooms by the million...
Galleries and website: http://www.whisperingcat.co.uk/mainindex.htm
Just to avoid mis-understanding, let me do a recap:
- someone said Zeiss lenses are german
- I pointed out they are (currently) made by Cosina who are japanese
- I added (not for any significant reason) that Cosina are most famous for building cheap budget lenses on an OEM basis for re-branding (actually they have also built many of the cheap low end film SLRs that go out under Nikon, Oly, Vivitar names)
- All I meant by this is that brands don't necessariy mean much, the name is often rented out to other builders.
I've no doubt the CV and zeiss lenses cosina build deserve their stellar reputations but you've got to admit, it is funny that those high priced exotic Zeiss primes everyone oohs over are made by the people who churn out £99 coke bottle zooms by the million...
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Galleries and website: http://www.whisperingcat.co.uk/mainindex.htm
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