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What makes ZEISS Lenses so special

Zeiss have been producing lenses since 1890 – so what makes the Zeiss name so legendary and why should you consider adding a Zeiss lens to your collection?

Zeiss is a name that is synonymous with quality and craftsmanship, and the current lens line-up caters for just about any photographic requirement.

With autofocus models available for Sony E-Mount and Fujifilm X-mount, the rest of the Zeiss range is manual focus.

So why use a Manual focus lens? For video, manual focus is actually advantageous and most Zeiss lenses can be adapted for video using the lens-gear adapters. For stills photography, manual focus takes some practice – live view is quick and easy with most camera s offering magnified view for precise placement of the focus point and many also offering focus peaking. Focus peaking highlights areas of contrast – normally in white or red – enabling you to very quickly see the plane of focus in your image as you twist the focussing ring. Conventional manual focus through the viewfinder is assisted by the AF system in both Nikon and Canon, and obviously you can judge the focus point through the viewfinder yourself and place your focus point anywhere in the frame without having to move an AF point.

There are three ranges of Zeiss lenses for SLR camera s.

The Zeiss Otus range of manual focus f/1.4 prime lenses are available in Nikon and Canon fittings and are manual focus only. Both fittings have electronic contacts to transfer aperture and focal length data to your camera . Otus lenses are designed without compromise to produce superb results even at maximum aperture allowing no-compromise low light shooting and superb subject isolation- medium format quality on a 35mm size sensor. Available in 28mm, 55mm and 85mm focal lengths these are the ultimate tool for high resolution photography in any lighting.

The Zeiss Milvus range is again available in both Nikon and Canon fittings with electronic contacts transferring data to your camera . The lenses are manual focus and covers from 15mm to 135mm and includes two macro lenses in 50mm and 100mm focal lengths. All Milvus lenses are sealed against dust and moisture and have an all-metal housing with a superb tactile coating for excellent handling. Zeiss T* antireflective coating ensures ultimate flare suppression combined with black coating of all lens elements to prevent internal reflection.

The Zeiss Milvus 15mm f/2.8 is a superb quality super wide-angle lens but still allows use of filters with its removable lens hood and 95mm filter thread. The latest addition to the Milvus range is the outstanding 25mm f/1.4 but the whole range 15/18/21/25/28/35/50/85 and 135mm are superb quality. The Zeiss 50mm f/2 Milvus Makro Planner is currently the fastest 50mm macro lens available and allows you to highlight even the smallest detail while the legendary 100mm f/2 offers superb subject isolation for macro or portraits. A video on the 25mm f/1.4 Milvus is shown below.

Zeiss Touit lenses are designed for the APS-C sensor size and are available in Sony E-mount and Fujifilm X-mount and offer high speed autofocus and superb optical quality. Available in 18mm, 32mm and 50mm (Macro) focal lengths.

The Zeiss Otus, Milvus and Loxia range are also compatible with the Zeiss ND Lens Gear system for easy follow focus for video use.

Zeiss also offer a range of ZM lenses for Rangefinder camera s with Leica M-Mount. Available in a range of focal lengths 15mm, 21mm, 25mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm and 85mm the Zeiss ZM range offers superlative optical and mechanical quality with pricing competitive with the Leica’s own lenses.

Both Park camera s stores in Burgess Hill and London have a large range of Zeiss lenses in stock and on demonstration, and the full range is available online.

Steve Marley

Park cameras

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By Park Cameras on 19/03/2018