Zeiss Close To Announce New High End Lenses (first lens is a 55mm f/1.4)

Zeiss

Zeiss (nowadays without the “Carl”) revealed plans for those lenses some time ago. The first lens they are going to release – in Autumn 2013 – is a 55mm f/1.4. The new lenses will embrace a new design philosophy that Zeiss exposed in an article titled From brand personality definition to prize-winning design. Prototypes were shown at Photokina 2012. They write:

The project had been discussed internally at ZEISS for a long time. The first concepts were already discussed in 2008, but it was not until 2010 that things became concrete. Back then it was clear to the experts at ZEISS that the image sensors in the new generations of cameras would make such a big leap forward that there would already be a need for corresponding high-performance lenses in the medium term. […]  ZEISS wanted to offer photographers a range of high-end SLR lenses that would enable them to use the full potential of such cameras. Such a combination would achieve performance values that would be comparable to those of medium-format systems.

“When the 1,4/55 comes onto the market at the end of 2013 as the first in this family of lenses, it will be one of the best lenses in the world,” summarizes [the project manager]. “There will be nothing of comparable quality, and that not only applies to this specific focal length range.  With this product ZEISS has truly opened up a new dimension of digital full-frame photography.”

More on Zeiss blog. For a selection of Zeiss lenses for Canon cameras see here.

Zeiss
[via ephotozine]

Canon 55mm f/1.3 Lens Rumored For March 2013

Canon Rumors reports that it

was recently told that a new 55mm f/1.3 lens would be announced on March 26, 2013. This is the first time I have ever seen an announcement date called this far off. Although, I tend to believe something is probably going to happen in March of 2013. I find it odd that Canon won’t be doing the announced firmware for the 5D Mark III until April 2013, I’m not sure if that’s tied to other new products coming.

It’s not sure which mount type the 55mm f/1.3 lens will have, CR speculations consider an EF-M mount lens for the Canon EOS M

[Photokina] Zeiss Announced New Distagon 55mm f/1.4 Lens, And Will Make Lenses For Mirrorless Systems

First Photokina news rolling in. Zeiss (Click here) announced a new Distagon 55mm f/1.4 lens for full-frame cameras.

[…] 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 prototype of this new range will celebrate its world debut at photokina. The family of lenses is expected to be on the market in the second half of 2013 for EF bayonet (ZE) […]

But the hot news is another. Zeiss announced its plans for the production of auto-focus lenses for mirrorless systems. And that is great!

Another highlight will be the presentation of a design study, with which Carl Zeiss will offer a sneak preview of a new family of autofocus lenses for mirrorless system cameras (CSC) that will most likely be available in mid-2013. Due to their performance and high speed, these new lenses will be ideal for deliberate photo composition, making them perfect for more sophisticated photographers as well. Carl Zeiss plans to initially offer fixed focal lengths in the wide angle and standard range as well as a macro.

There is no info about which systems will be supported. So let your speculations go wild. It would be great if Zeiss would make lenses for Canon’s EOS M system. Moreover, more high quality Zeiss lenses for Canon mounts are totally welcome. Click here to see Zeiss lenses for Canon on Amazon, and click here to see what’s on offer on eBay US, and here for eBay Germany, and here for eBay UK, eBay IT, eBay Canada, eBay France.