carl zeiss newsletter nr30_en_web
DESCRIPTION
December 2008 A newsletter for all who use, buy, sell, like, report about and are interested in Carl Zeiss camera lenses. Messen und Veranstaltungen 2007 7 Measuring lenses objectively – Why do we need MTF curves? 9 A Towering Success – Photokina 2008 7 Carl Zeiss Qualität – made by Cosina 2 Das Business im Griff – mit ZEISS Optik 6 Das Carl Zeiss C Sonnar T* 1,5/50 ZM – ein außergewöhnliches Objektiv für außergewöhnliche Aufnahmen 4TRANSCRIPT
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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
December 200830 Carl Zeiss Camera Lens Division
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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 �
Camera Lens News Nr. 30
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!
Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page 4
Camera Lens News Nr. 30
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
Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page 5
Camera Lens News Nr. 30
‘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
Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page 6
Camera Lens News Nr. 30
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‘.
Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page 7
Camera Lens News Nr. 30
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.”
Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page 8
Camera Lens News Nr. 30
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.
Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page 9
Camera Lens News Nr. 30
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