Counter rumor: No digital?

When we are expecting some interesting news to be heard, two forum posts seem to suggest that there will be no digital RF from Zeiss. They come from GetDPI by jaapv and MoJo:

jaapv: "Dave Farkas has dashed cold water on this whole ZI idea on LUF. Apparently Zeiss went on record stating to him that they decided that there would be no ZI DRF. It turned out to be impossible to produce one at a price that would be competitive to Leica, thus making the projected market share too small."

MoJo: "I spoke recently with a representative for Zeiss at a photo trade show recently. He said Zeiss will NOT do a digital RF; he said that it would have to sell 10,000 copies a year for 5 years to be profitable, and Zeiss does not see the market for it."

So in the end what to believe? Only time will tell.

Zeiss' stance on digital

Is the rumor season over already? We certainly haven't heard anything interesting so far.
If you know something, regardless of how absurd or boring it may be, please tell us via tips@zeissrumors.com . We will keep your identity confidential ;)

When there are no new rumors, I will collect some potentially interesting info. to compile into a post to keep our site alive. This one is to review Zeiss' stance on digital since the intro of Zeiss Ikon to today's rumor on its digital version.

Zeiss Ikon is Zeiss' M mount rangefinder camera first announced in September 2004, however the actual ship date was more than one year after the announcement in October 2005. Back then Zeiss made the follow remark on a potential digital counterpart in Ikon's brochure:

When digital sensor technology takes another leap or two, accepting the high incident angles of a wide-angle M-mount lens to the corners of a full format sensor, you can count on us to come up with high performance digital systems that will satisfy even the truly passionate. And your Carl Zeiss T* ZM-mount lenses will be ready.

In 2006, the rumors of a digital Ikon started to swirl around the internet and later in the year, Dr. Winfried Scherle, Vice-President and general manager in the Camera Lens Division of Carl Zeiss AG had the following Q&A on the rumor:

Q: There are rumors that Zeiss will eventually have its own digital rangefinder camera body that will accept the M mount lenses. True or false? Will it be Cosina-made? Full 24 x 36mm sensor?

At Carl Zeiss, we can imagine such a camera. But we feel that is not the right time to introduce such a camera now. Today digital technology is still developing fast and the initial value of a digital camera is lost in quite a short time. Carl Zeiss wants to protect the investment of its customers and will therefore require a high level of maturity of products before we can justify to offer them to our customers. At the time we introduce such a camera we want to be sure that the owner has invested in a long term value.

1. It is much too early to determine a manufacturer for such a camera.

2. Full 24 x 36 is, as far as we see today, for a variety of reasons the preferred sensor size of most serious rangefinder photographers.

Things have stayed quiet ever since then, until 2009 Zeiss extends its partnership with Sony 5 more years. It may or may not be related to a digital Ikon, no one knows:

OBERKOCHEN/Germany, 15.04.2009.
Carl Zeiss today announced that its Camera Lens Division will extend their successful collaboration with Sony Corporation for a further 5 years. Taking full advantages of their competence both companies agreed to cooperate even closer in developing and commercializing new imaging devices in the future.

Now in late 2009, we have rumors of a digital Ikon again!

If you know more, please don't hesitate to tell us, whether it is related or unrelated, exciting or boring, we welcome any kinds of information.

Zeiss ZE Distagon 21mm f/2.8 for Canon launching in the fall of 2009

We have some emails asking when will the Distagon 21mm f/2.8 be released for Canon EOS.
The Canon mount version of this lens (along with Pentax K mount) has been official announced by Zeiss with a release date in the fall of 2009, so it is no longer a rumor, it is a fact. To answer those emails at once, we are quoting from Zeiss website here and pointing to Zeiss' official page on this lens.
"The ZE as well as the ZK version of the Distagon T* 2,8/21 are scheduled to be available in fall 2009."

Have you got your tent and sleeping bag ready for the lineup?

Zeiss Makro-Planar ZE 100mm f/2 coming to Canon

Cited from Double Negative from RFF, we can expect a Zeiss ZE Makro-Planar 100mm f/2 coming to Canon EOS this fall:
"Zeiss will be adding the 2/100 Makro-Planar ZE to their line-up this fall. I would imagine other mounts in the SLR line as well..."

Digital Zeiss ikon will be full frame with Sony's Exmor R CMOS

We have an update to our previous post on the digital Zeiss ikon. The information comes indirectly from Yokohama through my buddy Sato. Thanks for passing along ;)
Before we get into this, let's speculate that why we need rumors? In history Carl Zeiss used to pre-announce a product years (at least months) ahead of its actual ship-date. If we are getting a digital ikon, why aren't we hearing anything from Carl Zeiss instead we follow rumors coming from nowhere. One reason seems to be the following: unlike when Zeiss were producing products of its own designs in other factory (read Cosina made Zeiss), a digital ikon relies largely on technology from elsewhere (read Sony), which Zeiss is bound by their NDA's, forcing Zeiss to deviate from its early-announcement tradition, so we are not expected to hear anything on digital ikon until the partners are actually ready. So how do we get any info on the ikon or rather how do those people send us tips got the info? Nonetheless, let's not worry about our sources, hearing something is always better than complete silence. Let's get back to what we received:
The digital Zeiss ikon will be 35mm full frame using Sony's Exmor R back-illuminated CMOS sensor. Sony's Exmor R technology seems to have solved the dRF problem so well that it outperforms modern CCDs. Its acceptable angle of incident light is greatly improved compared to other sensors, making it a true solution for dRFs. The expected announcement date "should be" around mid-2010. The digital ikon will be the first camera to use a full frame Exmor R sensor, before Sony's dSLRs.

Verdict:
Full frame ikon with Exmor R? Probably true;
Mid-2010 announcement? Could be true;
Stepping ahead of Sony...? I don't know.

Note: This info comes from a camera shop in Yokohama, not meant to be taken seriously.

35mm full frame Zeiss Ikon digital RF in development

Someone seems to have some secret info. claiming that Carl Zeiss has been in "active" collaboration with Sony recently, whatever "active" means. You may think it is nothing special as the two companies have been in collaboration for years, that's how we are seeing those Sony Zeiss lenses. But apparently rather than Sony getting stuff from Zeiss, this time is Zeiss getting stuff from Sony.
Our source claims that Zeiss is working on a digital rangefinder with a Sony sensor, he goes further saying that unlike all the current dRFs the Zeiss dRF will use a CMOS sensor, making this rumor a bit hard to swallow. It's been long known that CMOS sensors are catastrophic at capturing when the light hits the sensor at a not-so-perpendicular angle, which is a common issue on dRFs. This is one of the reasons why Leica's M9 chooses to use a CCD.
That's all we are told so far, we don't know release/announcement date, what size the sensor will be (yes, my title misled you), or what body it will build on (this is easy to guess, we all know it will build the Zeiss Ikon).
Regardless of CMOS or CCD, let's hope that Zeiss is building a dRF for us who wants something better than an R-D1 but cannot afford an M9.

Zeiss ZE 18mm f/3.5 coming to Canon

According to CanonRumors, we can expect a Zeiss Distagon 18mm f/3.5 for Canon EOS some time in the last quarter of 2009.