Camera Lens News. December A newsletter for all who use, buy, sell, like, report about and are interested in Carl Zeiss camera lenses.

Transcription

1 27 30 Carl December 2008 Zeiss Camera Lens Division Inhalt Content Carl Extremes Zeiss Qualität A Day with the made Planar by T* Cosina 1,4/85 ZE 2 Das Put your Carl Zeiss knowledge C Sonnar into T* picture 1,5/50 ZM 2008 ein photo außergewöhnliches contest 4 Das A Towering Business Success im Griff mit Photokina ZEISS Optik Messen Measuring und lenses objectively Veranstaltungen Why do we Camera Lens News A newsletter for all who use, buy, sell, like, report about and are interested in Carl Zeiss camera lenses. Objektiv für außergewöhnliche need MTF curves? 9 Aufnahmen Working with the Light 4 A photo documentary project 5 Vertriebsaufbau für Photo- Produkte läuft erfolgreich 5

2 Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page 2 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 working with an autofocus lens? René Budde You give much more thought to the composition of the picture. You set the details, the distance 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 viewfinder. 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.

3 Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page 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 very 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 question. More please! 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 exhibitions. 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.

4 Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page 4 Pulse of the City Carl Zeiss photo competition 2008 Carl Zeiss AG is launching a photo 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 symbolically for the pulse of a city. The use of a lens from Carl Zeiss is obligatory for participation in the contest. Decisive evaluation criteria are personalized composition and creativity. The promotion lasts until 15 January 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. 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 Exciting prizes at the Carl Zeiss photo contest

5 Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page 5 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 choosing 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. Getting involved For all the above reasons I decided to work manually and only with prime lenses, mounted on a Nikon D3 camera body. In this way, I always gained complete involvement with the subject, always going to the 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.

6 Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page 6 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. 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. 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 www. hupix.net.

7 Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page 7 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 430 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 detail goes into manufacturing lenses for cinematography and photography 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.

8 Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page 8 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.

9 Carl Zeiss December 2008 Page 9 Measuring lenses objectively Why do we need MTF curves? Carl Zeiss employee measuring MTF of a lens. 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. 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 Oberkochen Germany Tel. +49 (0) photo@zeiss.de Internet: