eronald wrote:
I think it's clear enough - Zeiss will -I predict- turn into another 3d party SLR lenssmith, and then like Angénieux they will be bought out by Tamron

Edmund

My impression of Zeiss is that they don't care about still photographers any more than as an easy means to make money by outsourcing. Their real businesses are things like lithography optics for semiconductors and astronomical/medical/surveying/cinematography optics. I get that impression from outsourcing almost all of Zeiss Ikon to Cosina and a number of other outsourcing incidents. (Kudos to them though for never having tried to conceal anything.) At least I don't see them outsourcing the lithography stuff to anyone.

Plus, Zeiss is not really a company, but a foundation. So who would receive the cash in an acquistion ?

Announcing a new product line is one story but actually making that product line available is a different story. I don't know about Zeiss as such but I remembered that there was a substantial delay between the announcement and the actual availability with Contax back then. I am excited but I am not holding my breath.....

Hehe, no matter what they announce, I guess at the time of this writing, their marketing guys are strolling around the usual suspect websites of the net.
And they will certainly do it with a big grin on the face, rubbing their hands slowly...

Hmm, it seems to be the F-Mount... let's hope they also offer an EOS line some day

found on Rangefinderforum.com

ZF : it's going to be zeiss lenses for Nikon !
look here :

(found here : http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14871&page=3&pp=20 )

it could be manual focus.

Could still be good news - shouldn't be DX with that film body so prominent in the ad - just order your adaptor at the same time you order your $1200 distagon 21!

Guess we'll see...

The D200 might have just gotten a lot more interesting.

Lotusm50:
Actually you are partially wrong.
Yes, Contax SLR lens production is since long dead and buried. But, due to the demand Zeiss actually ran an extra batch (or two) last year, they did fire up a production line for that lens. They took orders world wide though it was never announced that they were going to run a new batch, which is a pity.
A dealer in Scotland tipped me off, he learnt this from a Contax rep in the UK.


This is no BS, I got on the shortlist for it in late spring this year and they shipped in September.

regards, Henrik

raydee wrote:
Hmm, it seems to be the F-Mount... let's hope they also offer an EOS line some day

found on Rangefinderforum.com

Looks like they're a little too late - now that Nikon has ceased production of manual-focus cameras and lenses. I doubt that Zeiss will find "millions" of customers for manual-focus 35mm-format lenses - even if they made them in *all* of the current camera mounts.

foto-z wrote:
it seems that they will produce lenses for another mount. See the headline in the graphic here: http://www.zeiss.com/de/photo/home_e.nsf

wow!

Completely unrelated. I just wanted to say Graham you have a stunning website. I love the way the thumbnails 'flash' in as if a photo has been taken.

Who says Flash sites don't work. It is a thing of beauty as is the content

Best
Steve

If it's a line of Nikon F-mount lenses as speculated in the Rangefinder link, it is another marketing error. One of the reasons the Contax 35 line never became mainstream was their association with "B" grade Yashica. Quite frankly, I never heard of Contax until recently, or if I did, I don't remember because I never gave the name any heed. And I've been a photographer since 1973, and a pro since 1980. Sure, I had heard of Zeiss since the 1970's, but I only associated it with the Zeiss Ikon line and Hassy lenses.

The picture which was leaked is no longer on the Zeiss site. however, rangefinder has posted it on their home page. It clearly shows a Planar on a digital Nikon.

Well they did say SLR's nothing about Digital SLRs.

Will there be another frenzy? This one being a switch to Nikon ? This stuff keeps us playing musical cameras

If they start making top notch lenses for the current SLR's and digiSLR's I would say they do have millions of photographers as potential customers, if they start marketing the lenses properly they should be able to shift quite a few lenses. Today Sigma sells heaps of lenses as do Tamron, even to pretty discerning photographers - so why not Zeiss?

We'll see tomorrow what the hoopla is all about, I have my fingers crossed for EF compatible lenses, be they manual or AF. If not, I think I'll sit this one out, but will congratulate Nikon owners to a pretty nice alternative.

Looks like its gone from their home page but can be seen at the bottom of this page

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14871&page=4&pp=20

netexpress wrote:
Darn, I guess I better sell everything quick! !


Buy on rumor, sell on fact, in this case it means you are too late to sell and get good money.

If they are going to make primes based around the 1.5x DX crop sensor I'm definetely going Nikon!

It's Wednesday. Did I miss something or are we all still guessing?

SteveF wrote:
It's Wednesday. Did I miss something or are we all still guessing?

I like your calendar - one day closer to the weekend

Dpreview is hinting that Zeiss will be making lenses for the Nikon F mount, which makes sense, since Nikon uses Sony sensors, and Zeiss makes lenses for Sony's point and shoots as well as their consumer and prosumer camcorders. Or am I just crazy?

Bah if they did only make the lenses for Nikon it would be stupid on their part. I just sold my Nikon gear because I was sick of their cameras being behind by a year. Look at the D200 it's on par with the 20D and it took them how long to come out with it Just think how much money is wasted because this camera system looks better right now... oh damn my old company did this I need to sell and go back..

I hope they do come out with it for only Nikon, it means I'll be able to pick up some damn good canon gear on the cheap. As for it being only for the 1.5 image factor I think that would be to much of a waste for Zeiss.

I'll just buy a F mount to EOS adaptor and play clean up on your guys old Canon gear.

Memphis wrote:
Bah if they did only make the lenses for Nikon it would be stupid on their part. I just sold my Nikon gear because I was sick of their cameras being behind by a year. Look at the D200 it's on par with the 20D

No offence Keith, since I had the 20D and now have the D200 I can tell you that the D200 is miles ahead of the 20D not only in features and ergonomics but in resolution as well.

Julius