I do hope you are right, hiepphotog, about the fast wide angle of quite moderate focal length. They already have the new and/or very good 15mm and 21mm. I imagine 24mm to be the widest considered, they like the 25mm FL so that or a 28mm.
It is becoming a kind of marquis lens that most active makers are paying serious attention to these days. They (CZ) have been quite conservative in the other two FLS - at 55mm and 85mm - and also staying away from the newer and better liked ZE/F designs at 50mm and 100mm in macro forms.
They may even be able to keep the weight and size a little lower, the Distagon looked very large in the hand! The 55mm is due late (northern) winter 2013, so that might translate to 'rather soon', with the attention then switching to the other two. Perhaps late this year?
hiepphotog wrote:
Thank you for the video. This definitely confirmed it, a trio of 55, 85 and a WA 1.4 (most likely to be around 24-28 since the 35/1.4 is out quite recently). Now I know for sure to save up my money for the WA.
They also just released a 25/2.0, I would imagine it would have to be wider than 24mm. Otherwise, they are definitely stepping on their on releases. I know 2.0 =/= 1.4, but to release a new model so in the same/similar focal length so soon?
Dudewithoutape wrote:
They also just released a 25/2.0, I would imagine it would have to be wider than 24mm. Otherwise, they are definitely stepping on their on releases. I know 2.0 =/= 1.4, but to release a new model so in the same/similar focal length so soon?
All three lenses are of similar focal length as an offering in the present series, and I don't think age is a consideration for Zeiss. The main objective with the new series seems to be a large maximum aperture with unparallelled wide-open performance. Including an oversized front element to limit illumination fall-off.
I am curious to find out how much distortion they allow, and especially whether the new toys also have a significant advantage stopped down.
Toothwalker wrote:
I am curious to find out how much distortion they allow, and especially whether the new toys also have a significant advantage stopped down.
I am curious as well. Even Samyang managed to produce sharp lens with an enormous distortion with not much gain stopping down. I also want to see how the performance would be after diffraction kicks in, especially for the WA.
hiepphotog wrote:
I am curious as well. Even Samyang managed to produce sharp lens with an enormous distortion with not much gain stopping down. I also want to see how the performance would be after diffraction kicks in, especially for the WA.
After diffraction kicks in, the performance will be diffraction limited. Zeiss cannot change the laws of nature.
I didn't imply that they would. But different lenses at the same focal length would behave differently at the same aperture. High performance lens tends to hit diffraction earlier, but would it be worse than a lesser lens at f/11 or f/16? If better, can I use f/16 or f/22 on this new Zeiss lens to get similar performance as the f/8-f/11 on the lesser lens? Effectively this would extend the working aperture.
hiepphotog wrote:
I didn't imply that they would. But different lenses at the same focal length would behave differently at the same aperture. High performance lens tends to hit diffraction earlier, but would it be worse than a lesser lens at f/11 or f/16? If better, can I use f/16 or f/22 on this new Zeiss lens to get similar performance as the f/8-f/11 on the lesser lens? Effectively this would extend the working aperture.
At f/16 the stellar and the lesser lens will be similarly fuzzy. The D55/1.4 does not offer f/22, and perhaps no member of the new series will. The added value is in the large-aperture performance.
simonw wrote:
For anyone interested in the history of Zeiss there are currently a couple of fascinating threads over on the MFlenses forum at http://forum.mflenses.com documenting the re-appearance of two prototype Contax/Yashica lenses, a 25mm F1.4 and an 18mm F2.8 in a collection handed down to his grandson by Dr. Erhard Glatzel.
Totally mind blowing stuff!
Until I came across them I never even knew these lenses existed.
Makes you wonder what other fascinating lenses might be out there. I know that Olympus had a prototype Zuiko 85mm F1.4 that never made it into production. Anyone know any others like that?
Cheers, Simon W.
Leica had a R-type 135/1.4 prototype.
the Zeiss PC-Apo-Distagon 25/3.5 wasnt produced due to excessively high costs.
here it is: https://web.archive.org/web/20091022091101 /http://www.geocities.com/ilprode/TestZ.htm
on a prototype-list with image-whole collection i saw the 18/2.8 which was for the cine-sector as PC-lens. still searching for that list its online. have it saved somewhere on a HDD.
I asked Peter Karbe once about grin (graduated refractive index) lenses when discussing the feasibility of sub-wavelength silver lens coatings to defeat diffraction and he said they made a prototype noctilux using grin elements with excellent performance but the cost of producing it was prohibitive even when the glass factory was in-house. Not sure where that prototype is...
Another one, a rarer UV-Planar 62/2 in 67mm mount thread. It is a quartz-fluorite lens. If anyone wants to buy this one for the Zeiss museum (they accept only donations, it seems and I am not that endowed), contact me.
