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New Zeiss 55 1.4 announced

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
The quest for the perfect 50 moves to the Nikon mount! I think I am reading this correctly but not positive ..is that filter size an 82? 0r a 62? This looks like another huge lens with a long throw more appropriate for Cinema similar to the 35/1.4 .
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
A little searching around the forums may provide some insights . Appears that the 55/1.4 is a prototype and is intended to be the first of new line of superior optics aimed at the high MP DSLR market . It will not be available until late 2013 . The lens design is a Distagon meaning retro focus ..normally found in wide angles . This contributes to the large size which Zeiss has indicated is necessary to achieve maximum quality .

Pure speculation but could this be Zeiss answer to the Leica “S” lenses which are a similar size . With the rumors becoming stronger that Canon will answer with a 46MP body and that Nikon could produce a 50MP + D4X ...is Zeiss positioning for the future ?
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Certainly hope so. This is actually quite interesting. Look forward to hearing more data from Zeiss. Saving my pennies. LOL
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Wouldn t an 82mm Distagon cover most MF sensors ? The 35mm S f2.5 is 82mm? Consider the possibilities of a 55/1.4 which would be a 35/1.4 on most of the 40MP MF bodies . Or maybe the D4X will be enough ?
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I found this

A must-see attraction is a high-performance, full-format SLR camera lens with manual focus. With a focal length of 55 mm and aperture of f/1.4, this lens is the first model of a new product family designed for demanding users. Thanks to a newly developed optical design, this lens is superior to conventional full-frame lenses, and it achieves with powerful full-frame, full-format cameras an image performance that until now has only been seen with medium-format systems. The first pro- totype of this new range will celebrate its world debut at photokina. The family of lenses is ex- pected to be on the market in the second half of 2013 for EF bayonet (ZE) and F bayonet (ZF.2).

Read more on PhotoRumors.com: Carl Zeiss at Photokina 2012: new Distagon 55mm f/1.4, ZM surprise, mirrorless lenses | Photo Rumors
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Seems like they are spelling out that they believe Nikon and Canon will further invade the MF market and that Zeiss will be building lens that more closely resemble the best MF lenses .

Very similar to what Leica did with the S lenses which are quite large 77/82 mm front elements .
 

D&A

Well-known member
Sounds like Nikon and Canon maybe jumping up in sensor size. Wow now that is big
I'm not sure if Nikon is ready to jump up to a sensor size greater than the current full frame 35mm, but I have a few thoughts about this new Zeiss 55 and other future lens in this new series.

As we have stated in other threads, high mp count 35mm DSLR"s like the D800/e have struggled with many of the current crop of lenses, even some of the great ones like the 14-24 among many others.

It looks fairly obvious that this new series of lenses is trying to address this and possible future full frame 35mm DSLR's that are in the pipeline to possibly have even greater density and higher pixel counts.

I don't necessary think having a 82mm filter size implies it's use on a MFD body too. Think Sigma 50mm f1.4. Although it has a 77mm filter size, when 1st produced, it raised eyebrows, as most previous 50's often had something closer to 52mm. Apparently some of the reasons for these larger filter sizes is not only reduced light fall off at the widest apertures, but it allows a larger exit pupil for better and more even distribution of light hitting the sensor sites. It also allows engineers more freedom to design higher performance with less optical restrictions. Of course as a bi-product, it may very well have a large enough image circle to cover a cropped MFD sensor.

My guess is there will be a steep price to pay for this increased performance and at some point I wouldn't be surprised to see Nikon respond to Zeiss"s move. As facts are released, it's going to be interesting to see how all this plays out..not only with regards to the lenses themselves, but future bodies that can exploit the increased performance of these lenses.

Dave (D&A)
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Guess the real question is how much mpx can be stuffed in these sensor sizes. As far as sensor sizes there really is no standard rule either as long as it has either a 3:2 or 4:3 aspect ratio than really nothing matters. No rules say you have to be 24x36mm. The one question I have is does Zeiss think there current glass simply is not good enough for the current D800 sensor and producing even better glass would push it how much further in resolution. Sounds a bit like marketing to me. My thoughts here are screw it lets make the sensor even bigger retain the same D800 size and stuff a bigger 3:2 ratio sensor in there push the mpx up to 50 throw some amazing glass at it and have a whole new market , oh and BTW kick MF markets *** right out the door in the process.

Have two systems current and oversize . Okay that Guys new Nikon , Canon idea but are they thinking the same. Hmmmmmmmmmm


Honestly did Zeiss let the cat out of the bag here. Maybe we won't see anything this year but the roadmap could be interesting.

Frankly that is how I am reading this press release.
 

D&A

Well-known member
Guy,

I'm not sure how to read it (Zeiss's press release), but I do believe at the very least that Zeiss (and I'm sure the other lens makers such as Nikon and Canon) do believe that there is optical weakness with regards to current lenses used on cameras with high MP count such as the D800/e. The weakness is especially prominant at the sides and corners and may be one reason Zeiss has given rise to a new line of lenses with very large diamter front (and I suspect rear) elements. This alone might address edge corner sharpness issues whereby the glass itself in these newly designed lebses, have an image circle well beyond what is normally needed for full frame 35mm sensors. This is aside from the fact that many currently produced 35mm lenses come up short in their capability to match or "out resolve" these higher mp sensors.

Dave (D&A)
 
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