Distagon® T* f/2.8 – 35 mm
The high-performance Distagon® lens is a lens for those who are interested in the medium wide-angle range and who view high performance as extremely high image quality and not as extremely wide initial apertures. Together with a Sonnar® lens with a medium focal length and a Planar® lens with a standard focal length, this Distagon lens should be part of the standard equipment of any ambitious photographer.
In line with the above approach, i.e. dispensing with the requirement for wider initial apertures which would result in an excessive increase in the front lens diameters – particularly with wide-angle lenses -, Carl Zeiss now provides this 6-element Distagon® lens. This 35 mm Distagon® T* f/2.8 lens displays excellent image quality and very good field illumination even at full aperture. At the same time it features small dimensions and relatively low weight. The applications of this Distagon® lens are so varied that it can be described as a universal lens for general photography.
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Planar® T* f/1.4 – 50 mm
Among the Zeiss lenses for 35 mm reflex cameras, the 50 mm Planar® f/1.4 lens is the fast high-performance lens with the standard focal length. This lens, of course, also incorporates the latest advances made in the development of optical glass and in the correction of aberrations. This 50 mm Planar® f/1.4 lens may thus be regarded as the leading standard lens.
The glass-to-air surfaces are provided with the multilayer T* coating. Consequently, the high image quality resulting from the excellent correction of all image errors is fully utilized to create pictures which reproduce the high contrast of the scene observed, unimpaired by reflections.
The lens has a multitude of applications within the field of general photography. The high speed is equally valuable for taking rapid movements with short exposure times and for capturing dusk and dawn atmospheres. The close-range limit at 0.45 m permits reduction ratios down to 1:6.7 without accessories. Thus, format-covering exposures with fields as small as 15 x 23 cm are possible.
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Planar® T* f/1.4 – 85 mm
The 85 mm Planar® T* f/1.4 lens ranks amongst the best high-speed lenses presently available for 35 mm reflex cameras. An outstanding feature is the excellent image quality even at full aperture. This feature results in special applications of the 85 mm Planar® T* f/1.4 lens for discerning amateur and professional photographers. Owing to the fully utilizable speed, this lens is especially suitable for stage photography. Sporting events, outdoors and indoors, in twilight and floodlights are tasks for which the press reporter requires or desires a focal length which is slightly longer than that of standard lenses due to the object distance or for reasons of perspective. As regards portraits, another advantage is that the depth of field is low with photographs taken with the diaphragm fully open. Thus an unsteady and disturbing background is avoided and the portrait stands out clearly against the surroundings.
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Sonnar® T* f/2.8 – 135 mm
The 135 mm Sonnar® f/2.8 lens comprises 5 elements arranged in 4 groups. Like all Zeiss designs, this one was also developed in accordance with the established Zeiss practice of combining professional experience with a high-performance computer program devised by the company itself. The lens provides outstanding image quality and remarkably good image field illumination, both achievable when the diaphragm is fully open.
Alongside a wide-angle lens, this Sonnar® lens, with a focal length approximately three times as large as the diagonals of the 35 mm format, is perhaps the most widely required interchangeable lens.
Regardless of whether it is landscape photography, fauna and flora studies, family shots or portraiture work, there will never be any shortage of subjects for which the 135mm focal length is particularly well-suited. With its help the photographer can bring up close fairly distant subjects without creating the flat perspective that sometimes mars a picture. On the other hand, picture-filling details can be selected without having to approach all that close. And finally, thanks to its moderate tele-perspective effect it is admirably suitable for portraits, either with the diaphragm fully open or slightly stopped down.
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