ZM Planar 50mm f/2.0 Review by La Vida Leica

La Vida Leica posted a review on the ZM Planar 50mm.
The ZM Planar directly competes with Leica's 50mm Summicron. They have the same focal length (50mm), same speed (f/2.0), and same design layout (double gauss symmetrical arrangement). And one obvious difference between them is their price tags. What else? Check out the review at La Vida Leica to find out.
There is also a thought on the difference with the C Sonnar.

Oh! Did we hear that the Leica 50mm Summicron will be revised with asph elements soon?

Link: http://lavidaleica.com/content/zeiss-planar-t-250-zm
Here is a kenrockwell review for those who'd like to compare http://www.kenrockwell.com/zeiss/zm/50mm-f2.htm

Distagon 25mm f/2.0 for SLR official

Carl Zeiss presents the Distagon T* 2/25 ZE and ZF.2 OBERKOCHEN/Germany, 27.10.2011. Carl Zeiss presents the Distagon T* 2/25 ZE and ZF.2 moderate wide-angle lenses. The large image angle allows photographers to capture exciting perspectives. With its excellent imaging quality at all aperture settings, the lens flexes its muscles particularly for photo documentaries in interior rooms where space is at a premium, as well as for pictures of objects, architecture and landscapes. In many situations, a flash is an unwelcome feature — at family gatherings, in a museum or in a church for example. To capture the mood in such places, photographers gladly do without aggressive lighting and instead work with particularly high-speed lenses that enable short exposure times even under difficult lighting conditions. The optical experts have now virtually eliminated the chromatic aberrations on these lenses through a special design and selection of materials. Selected types of glass and two aspheric surfaces prevent color fringes from appearing on high-contrast edges. "The Distagon T* 2/25 elegantly combines a compact design with a large initial aperture," explains Christian Bannert, Senior Director of Product Development in the Camera Lens Division at Carl Zeiss AG. Lens elements meticulously crafted to minimize stray light and reflections in the lens, and the Carl Zeiss T* anti-reflective coating to increase light transmission enable high-contrast image rendition and color saturation. The previously available Distagon T* 2,8/25 ZF.2 will continue to be on stock and supplements the new Distagon T* 2/25.Therefore, this new lens is also the first 25-mm lens of Carl Zeiss for the EF-bayonet. The Distagon T* 2/25 will be available end of 2011 at a recommended retail price of €1217 (excluding VAT)*. Technical Data Focal length 25 mm Aperture range f/2 to f/22 Number of lens elements/groups 11/10 Focusing range 0.25 m - infinity Angular field** (diag./horiz./vert.) 81° / 71° / 51° Coverage at close range** 219 × 144 mm (close-up) Image ratio at close range 1 : 5.9 (close-up) Filter thread M67 × 0,75 Length with caps 95 mm (ZF.2) 98 mm (ZE) Diameter 71 mm (ZF.2) 73 mm (ZE) Weight 570 g (ZF.2) 600 g (ZE) Mounts ZF.2 (F bayonet) ZE (EF bayonet) It doesn't look too big, which may appeal to some who had size/weight concerns. Now we need some MTF charts, reviews, and what not! The 16mm Distagon will have to wait apparently. Links: Zeiss product page, Zeiss PR, Zeiss Blog (Thanks Michael, Mistral)

New lens, new perspectives... Oct 27-29 PhotoPlus Expo

The announcement of the new lenses should be coming real soon. On October 27-29, Zeiss is expected to show us something new at the PhotoPlus Expo (booth 1218). We are expecting two SLR lenses, the Distagon 25/2.0 and Distagon 16/2.8.

Anything more? Let us know at tips@zeissrumors.com

Link: http://lenses.zeiss.com/photo/en_DE/home.html

(Credit: Thanks Michael, the author of La Vida Leica)

ZM Biogon 25mm f/2.8 Review by La Vida Leica

La Vida Leica just posted a review of the ZM Biogon 25mm f/2.8.
This 25mm is reputed with its insane resolving power at 400lp/mm. It definitely out-resolves any of the (normal speed) film and digital sensor made to date. So if your friends are saying X megapixels is enough already, Y is way too much, then you can tell them there is still plenty of room for improvement before we hit the optical bottleneck.

Check out La Vida Leica's review here. Also available is Steve Huff's review for comparison.

You may also want to check out La Vida's other ZM reviews on the 50mm C-Sonnar and 35mm Biogon.

Link: http://lavidaleica.com/content/zeiss-biogon-t-2825-zm

Distagon 15mm(or 16mm?) f/2.8 coming to SLR soon

Zhao Jia, a professional photographer in China who has authored several books about various photographic equipment and who is in business contact with Zeiss, posted on his Sina micro-blog, on September 30th (loosely translated excerpt): 

"Finally ... Zeiss ZE 25/2, while the previous 25/2.8's advantages are  color rendition and macro capability on film, the newer version is better in image resolution and uniformity)". 

When being asked why the 25/2 can't be found on Zeiss' official site, he frankly responded that 

"it's not out there? if will be released soon :)"

 and Also added : 

"Oh, by the way, for those who's interested in astrophotography and ultra-wide angle, Zeiss will be releasing a 15mm/2.8 soon, and it will be available in both ZE and ZF mount, for more details, please wait for Zeiss official announcement."

For those of you who are familiar with the (German made) ZM Distagon 15mm f/2.8, you know that is a hell of a killer lens. Looks like it is making its way into the SLR world, but the design will inevitably different due to flange clearance. Will it still be German made though?

Edit: today Zhao Jia posted another entry saying:

"I meant 16mm/2.8 instead of 15mm/2.8". 

so it could be a typo, either 15mm or 16mm

Links: Zhao Jia's blog, Luminous-landscape's intro to the ZM 15mm

(Credit: Thanks Joe)

New Distagon 25mm f/2.0 to be announced in October

From a from forum post by Vincent Kluwe, it is indicated that a new Distagon 25mm f/2.0 for SLR will be announced in October, and delivery of the first batch will be in Germany right before Christmas:

``...I have an idea about the new 25. It will be announced in October, so keep an eye for the Zeiss website. And if everything goes well, delivery of the first production batch will be in Germany right before Christmas...''

Currently, the 25mm has speed f/2.8, so the new one will be one stop faster.

Link: FM post

(Credit: Thanks Chris for pointing out)

Edit: Big teaser! Lloyd Chambers, the author of  ``diglloyd'' we link to at the lower left Link section, commented:

"I am planning a number of new additions to my Zeiss Guide in October and November, including something new (please don’t ask as I can’t tell)." 

A number of new additions means more than one, so what are the other additions?
Since Lloyd isn't allowed to disclose, this will be rumor time.
If you happen to know anything, anything at all, even speculations, please tell us at tips@zeissrumors.com or using the Share News/Rumors With Us box at the left of the page.