Carl Zeiss newsletter nr30_en_web

27

Inhalt

Carl Zeiss Qualität –

made by Cosina 2

Das Carl Zeiss C Sonnar T* 1,5/50

ZM – ein außergewöhnliches

Objektiv für außergewöhnliche

Aufnahmen 4

Vertriebsaufbau für Photo-

Produkte läuft erfolgreich 5

Das Business im Griff –

mit ZEISS Optik 6

Messen und

Veranstaltungen 2007 7

Content

“Extremes“ – A Day with the

Planar T* 1,4/85 ZE 2

Put your knowledge into picture –

2008 photo contest 4

‘Working with the Light‘ –

A photo documentary project 5

A Towering Success –

Photokina 2008 7

Measuring lenses objectively –

Why do we

need MTF curves? 9

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Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page 2

Camera Lens News Nr. 30

„Extremes“ – A Day with the Planar T* 1,4/85 ZE

The Planar T* 1,4/85 ZE is, as a short

telephoto lens, the classic portrait

focal length. The photographer

René Budde from Hamburg was able

to test the newest product from the

range of Carl Zeiss lenses for a day.

He talks to us about his experience.

What sort of experience was it

for you working with the Planar

T* 1,4/85 ZE?

René Budde After years of working

with autofocus and zoom lenses,

at the beginning you think that you

are going to be restricted by manual

focusing, but this attitude changes

very quickly when you realize the

creative opportunities that open

up for you. While you are taking

photographs, looking for the “right”

point of sharpness, the original

idea for the image can sometimes

change. You can be drawn into the

scene and are effectively travelling

through the image. And in doing so

you discover again and again new

aspects about the composition. That

it truly exciting!

What is different between the

Planar T* 1,4/85 ZE and wor-

king with an autofocus lens?

René Budde You give much more

thought to the composition of the

picture. You set the details, the dis-

tance and the depth of field. After

that you have to move your whole

body to vary the distances, and then

finally make the “shot”.

The great thing with the Planar T*

1,4/85 ZE is that you do not only

discover your surroundings under

85mm conditions, but you continue

to discover it through the viewfin-

der. This aspect, teamed with the

precise focussing mechanism, is

simply great fun because you are

working with your camera rather

than letting your camera work. You

can put your personality into the

image. You will photograph more

consciously.

Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page �


About the photographer

René Budde, who lives is Hamburg,

has been working as a freelance

photographer for twelve years. His

work has already been on show to

the public in a number of exhibi-

tions. First and foremost he takes

shots from the world of music,

architecture and artistic, creative

life. Reportage-style images from

France, Portugal, Spain, Asia and

the USA as well as portraits

complete his portfolio.

The Planar T* 1,4/85 ZE is a

very high-speed lens. This is

especially useful for creatively

controlling the depth of field.

How do you transfer that to

your photographs?

René Budde The intensity of light,

the very slight telefocal length and

the sluggishness because of the

weight make you long for there to

be natural light. My favorite light! In

addition to this, the Planar T* 1,4/85

ZE draws the out-of-focus areas in

a very harmonic way. This opens up

several creative possibilities I can use

for my way of photography.

Do you have any final words?

René Budde The Planar T* 1,4/85

ZE is not an easy lens but it is not

intended to be one. You should take

it with you more often so that you

can work more quickly with it.

I have been waiting for the synthesis

of a modern fully formatted D-SLR

camera and a lens like that for a ve-

ry long time. If I am being honest, it

looks good, it is as heavy as it looks,

it can be precisely adjusted and its

performance is utterly beyond ques-

tion. More please!



Pulse of the City –Carl Zeiss photo competition 2008

All winning photos will be published

on the Carl Zeiss website. If you

wish to take part in the photo contest

you can find further information

and the participation form at

www.zeiss.com/photo.

Decisive evaluation criteria are

personalized composition and crea-

tivity.

The promotion lasts until 15 January

2009. After that, an international jury

will assess all submissions and select

ten winners. The famous people

photographer Uwe Ommer will be

participating as a jury member. The

ten winners will be awarded with

exciting prizes such a Carl Zeiss SLR

lens of choice, a Nokia N96 and the

Carl Zeiss video goggles “Cinemizer”.

Carl Zeiss AG is launching a pho-

to contest on 15 December.

Under the motto “Pulse of the City“,

we are looking for interesting photos

showing the spirit of time of a

modern city. The focus will be on the

streets and avenues standing symboli-

cally for the pulse of a city. The use of

a lens from Carl Zeiss is obligatory for

participation in the contest.

Exciting prizes at the

Carl Zeiss photo contest



‘Working with the Light‘ – A photo documentary project

While not having the complete

freedom of a painter‘s palette, to

choose the color, light, shadow and

composition from the given elements,

a photographer always has the

chance of time, exposure and new

occasion, with which to create.

Conceived and photographed as a

documentary project, my approach

to this portrait about ‘Fishermen’,

is far more closely aligned to that of

picture making.

I very much like working within

these two opposing disciplines of

approach, when taking photographs.

This was my main reason for choo-

sing this location and this community

of people. The cycle of activities is

played out in a seemingly endless set

of possibilities - it’s a little like being

‚on stage‘, in a continuous play.

picture, my eyes and the lens, always

working as one.

I chose to work with ZEISS ZF lenses

and the Distagon T* 2,8/25 ZF in

particular because of their many

exceptional qualities. The very fine

focal adjustment available, let me

decide just how and where it should

fall, to suite my vision of the picture.

The unique ‚close focus capability‘

meant that I could often make a

picture, in a completely different

way – It opened up my approach,

to looking. I like very much, that

visual ideas should flow in both

directions through the lens.

Getting involved

For all the above reasons I decided

to work manually and only with‚

prime lenses‘, mounted on a Nikon

D� camera body. In this way, I always

gained complete involvement with

the subject, always going to the



Hugh Symonds has been

passionate about photography

all his life. It was a major creative

element in his Fine Art work

whilst studying at Art College.

His experience continued to

broaden and develop, when he

started working in the commercial

film industry. Although the ‚digital

revolution‘ has brought many

changes to the working process

of photography he still gets a

thrill when looking through a

camera lens - mind and body

complicit - and hears the shutter

roll. More photographs from this

series can be seen at HYPERLINK

„http://www.hupix.net“ www.

hupix.net.

About the photographer

Harsh light – No issue

The ‚brilliant‘ quality of the light in

this part of Cornwall was quite

coincidental, but often made things

very difficult. On long days spent

working with vivid, saturated colors

and eye dazzling, whites. I found the

ability of the Distagon T* 2,8/25 ZF

to ‚look into the light‘, without

internal reflection or flair, simply

breathtaking. Many people avoid

photographing during the middle

part of the day - when the sunlight is

really harsh - but with this lens,

I found another level of photography.

Color rendition was also excellent

and, more importantly, very

consistent. ZEISS optics produce a

very natural look to the image.

Therefore, pictures do not require

lots of manipulation, to match the

original composition.

It was the high degree of versatility

with this lens that gave me the

confidence to take the project

forward - always looking at the

moment - always open to the options

- and always, very much, ‚ Working

with the Light‘.



A Towering Success – Carl Zeiss at photokina 2008

This year’s photokina in Cologne

was a trade fair of superlatives.

More than 1,500 exhibitors from

49 countries attended the trade

fair; this impressive figure was only

topped by the throng of visitors.

Slightly less than 170,000 visitors

from 169 countries made their way

to photokina.

As ever, Carl Zeiss was also there.

At a booth measuring some 4�0

m², visitors had the opportunity to

immerse themselves in the “World

of Carl Zeiss.” The highlight was

an over-sized, walk-through lens.

Interested visitors were able to learn

how much precision and love of de-

tail goes into manufacturing lenses

for cinematography and photogra-

phy at Carl Zeiss.

The highlights on display

“From the wide universe right

down to your pants pocket,” past

highlights were on display from the

history of the Carl Zeiss Camera

Lens Division. These include the

famous 0,7/50 mm “light giant”

Planar lens. A “Moon Hasselblad”

featuring a Carl Zeiss Biogon 5,6/60

from NASA’s Apollo 11 mission was

also on display.

Of course, the smallest lenses from

the product range could not be

overlooked: camera modules used

in Sony, Nokia and Logitech devices.

Many visitors were also surprised

that they continually come into

contact with Carl Zeiss products in

their everyday lives – either on a trip

to the movies or when “surfing” on

Google Earth. “I had not realized

that Carl Zeiss also manufactures

lenses for cine production,” said one

enthused visitor. “The Lord of the

Rings” films are my all-time favorite

movies.”

Another visitor was amazed at the

razor-sharp focus of the lenses used

for Google Earth images. “It is truly

fascinating; you can even see the

individual roof tiles.”



On a photo safari with ZEISS

A real magnet for onlookers was

the “Lagoon.” Visitors had the

opportunity to test the latest Carl

Zeiss products on the spot. All

lenses were combined with the

latest camera models. An artificial

garden proved to be an intriguing

and diverse photographic backdrop.

The very brave armed themselves

with a Makro-Planar T* 2/100 and

dared to get close to a life-size lion,

which was on loan from Steiff for

the duration of the trade fair.

Innovations at the trade fair

The photographers focused, in

particular, on the new products on

display at the trade fair:

the Planar T* 1,4/50 ZE and the

Planar T* 1,4/85 ZE with an EF

bayonet.

“I can finally use ZEISS lenses on

my Canon camera. This will provide

me with entirely new creative

opportunities.”

And even the newly launched

Distagon T* 2,8/21 ZF attracted

a great deal of interest at the advice

counters. This lens was legendary

and very popular in the earlier

Contax system. With outstanding

performance data, this updated

version will once again set new

benchmarks in this focal length

class.



Measuring lenses objectively – Why do we need MTF curves?

MTF – these three letters are today

a magic word with photographers

and with anyone, who is interested

in detail in the technical quality of

his photographs. For decades, we

from Carl Zeiss have been publishing

the MTF curves of our lenses. Today,

other manufacturers do so too.

Also, it is possible to find similar

data in numerous test reports,

either in print or online. There is

ample discussion material.

But what exactly does MTF stand

for? What is in reality behind terms,

such as contrasts, sharpness,

resolution capacity, local frequency,

sagittal or tangential? And what

does this actually have to do with

photography? Does my picture look

better if my lens has an MTF curve

like the ones in the textbooks?

Dr. Hubert Nasse, Senior Scientist

with Carl Zeiss AG, has exhaustively

investigated this subject. Read on if

you want to become an expert too.

Carl Zeiss employee measuring MTF of a lens.

Publisher’s Imprint

Camera Lens News

A newsletter for all who use, buy, sell, like,

report about and are interested in Carl Zeiss

camera lenses.

All information in Camera Lens News is

given to the best of our knowledge at the

time of publication.

Publisher:

Carl Zeiss AG, Oberkochen

Camera Lens Division

Marketing

73446 Oberkochen

Germany

Tel. +49 (0) 73 64 – 20 175

E-Mail: [email protected]

Internet: www.zeiss.de/photo

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Carl Zeiss newsletter nr30_en_web