Thought I would give new life to the discussion, quite relevant: http://blogs.zeiss.com/photo/en/?p=2860. After reading it, I have to say there is not much that has not been said before. Still nice to see the work is ongoing.
Ups, discovered that it is quite old information
Too bad they Lucy'd us with the new "fast" ZM lens! Wonder if/when we'll hear about that again.
I'm still excited about the E-mount lenses. I will have some reservations because of long-term value (at least, compared to full-frame M-mount glass). But they look sweet.
philip_pj wrote:
'..we are developing three prime lenses..'
What will the other two FLs be? Perhaps a moderate wide and a short telephoto makes most sense to the market. And to constrain size and weight.
An 85/1.4 seems to make a lot of sense as a second lens: a fast 85 with no CA wide open would be pretty unique. For the third lens, who knows: a 24/1.4?
Taylor Sherman wrote:
Too bad they Lucy'd us with the new "fast" ZM lens! Wonder if/when we'll hear about that again.
I hope it it will be the 35 1.4 with the same image quality like the distagon 35 1.4 so that I can use it with my nex system. Currently I am using the 35 1.4 zf.2, it is gorgeous but quite heavy to me.
I don't see how we could expect a new, smaller version of the existing 35/1.4, when the redesigned 55/1.4 is massively larger than the existing 50/1.4.
carstenw wrote:
I don't see how we could expect a new, smaller version of the existing 35/1.4, when the redesigned 55/1.4 is massively larger than the existing 50/1.4.
I think he's talking about the "Fast ZM prime", not the other lens in the new 55/1.4 line.
I also hope the fast ZM will be a 35/1.4. Would be a hard decision if I would trade in my 35 cron for that. But it sure would be tempting.
Toothwalker wrote:
Concerning the new lens line, I wonder whether Zeiss has plans to employ the larger Canon mount to realize fancy designs not possible with Nikon.
It’s an interesting topic, and one that’s presumably been discussed at Zeiss. There might be risks in making some lenses available exclusively to Canon users, in that Nikon users might (somewhat irrationally) feel miffed at being excluded.
There’s also the issue of Canon-only lenses likely being very costly designs (very fast, near-telecentric, etc.), compounded by fewer sales due to the mount restriction.
But in defence of the idea, Zeiss already uses very different mechanics for ZE and ZF.2 lenses, so the company clearly isn’t terrified of increasing costs to make better products. Different optics too might not increase the costs intolerably. And there is already a Nikon-only lens (the Distagon T* 2.8/25), though the circumstances of that lens are different.
For what it’s worth, the rear element of the upcoming Distagon T* 1.4/55 doesn’t push the limits of the F-mount. Several Nikkors have a larger rear element.
Nov 02, 2012 at 06:32 AM
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alwang wrote:
An 85/1.4 seems to make a lot of sense as a second lens: a fast 85 with no CA wide open would be pretty unique. For the third lens, who knows: a 24/1.4?
I agree a short telephoto and a moderate wide, but which ones? Here are my odds:
short tele: 85 f/1.2, 1 out of 2.5; 85 f/1.4, 1 out of 2.5; 90 f/2 APO, 1 out of 5
moderate wide: 28 f/1.4 1 out of 2; 24 f/1.4, 1 out of 4; 28 f/2, 1 out of 4
phshhh..geez the subject matter leaves a bit to be desired, haha..what is this, gangsters are us. Models are definitely overwhelmed by the fabo bokeh..that is one tough looking lens.
The ignorance in the comments on that nikonrumors article literally made me facepalm...
By the way, I hope that the lens that is shown still is a prototype and that the final product will be styled like the rest of the ZF/ZE lineup. I don't like the look of those neon yellow engravings and smooth rubber focus grip.
AhamB wrote:
The ignorance in the comments on that nikonrumors article literally made me facepalm...
By the way, I hope that the lens that is shown still is a prototype and that the final product will be styled like the rest of the ZF/ZE lineup. I don't like the look of those neon yellow engravings and smooth rubber focus grip.
I agree, the lens does look too modern (and the comments on nikonrumors were a joke)
S Dilworth wrote:
It’s an interesting topic, and one that’s presumably been discussed at Zeiss. There might be risks in making some lenses available exclusively to Canon users, in that Nikon users might (somewhat irrationally) feel miffed at being excluded.
Canon users might more rationally feel miffed at being deprived of marvels of optical engineering, just because these are incompatible with the Nikon mount.
There’s also the issue of Canon-only lenses likely being very costly designs (very fast, near-telecentric, etc.), compounded by fewer sales due to the mount restriction.
But in defence of the idea, Zeiss already uses very different mechanics for ZE and ZF.2 lenses, so the company clearly isn’t terrified of increasing costs to make better products. Different optics too might not increase the costs intolerably. And there is already a Nikon-only lens (the Distagon T* 2.8/25), though the circumstances of that lens are different.
For what it’s worth, the rear element of the upcoming Distagon T* 1.4/55 doesn’t push the limits of the F-mount. Several Nikkors have a larger rear element....Show more →
Their marketing department will probably not approve Canon-mount-only designs, but if Zeiss are serious about delivering the best of the best they should leave the door ajar. I remember them using an argument like "more freedom to design high-quality lenses" when discussing the large mount of the Contax N (compared with the Y/C mount).
Wonder if/when we'll hear about that again.