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Camera Lens News No. 3
Winter 1997/98 |
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Contax Tix, first ‘Advanced Photo System’ camera with Carl Zeiss T* lens
Carl Zeiss’s first step into the Ad-vanced Photo System (APS) is the Sonnar 28 mm f/2.8 T* in Kyocera’s Contax Tix.
APS introduces a new smaller film format for still photography that enables camera manufacturers to produce much more compact and lightweight cameras than traditional 35 mm, responding precisely to a demand long voiced by a majority of camera buyers. And they are actually putting their money where their mouth is: APS cameras are currently the fastest growing product segment in the photo market with growth rates in the magnitude of several hundred percent per year, according to GfK market research data.
APS technology brings along many convenience features never available before, like easy drop-in film loading with automatic winding, positive film status indication on the cassette itself ( unexposed, ? partially exposed, completely exposed, processed), three different picture aspect ratios (C like classic 35 mm’s 3:2, H like HDTV 16:9, P like 3:1 panorama) to choose from with a fingertip. The camera also can record magnetic information onto the APS film which comes with an optically transparent magnetic layer for that purpose. The information recorded is used by the lab machines to improve print quality and do text printing on the image side or the back side of each print. Index prints for easy archiving and retrieval are also benefits originally invented with APS.
The Contax Tix is a fully automatic top class APS camera with an all metal housing, containing everything a demanding snapshooter usually needs, like automatic exposure control (aperture priority with user-selectable aperture, or fully programmed), automatic film advance, autofocus, data imprint, text imprint in one of six languages, built-in automatic flash with four different operating modes. Strong and durable materials were chosen to make the Contax Tix a camera to last: The housing is made of highly corrosion-resistant titanium alloy, the view-finder windows are made of super-hard sapphire, making them virtually scratchproof, and so is the shutter re-lease button. The shutter itself is the fastest of any APS compact camera currently on the market, featuring 1/ 1000 of a second.
The big film manufacturers have introduced special new emulsions for APS with remarkably increased sharpness and reduced graininess. Ad-equate optics capable to exploit the qualtities of the new emulsions need to be designed with particular emphasis on sharpness and resolution, not just come as variations of existing design concepts for 35 mm.
This is a perfect challenge for Carl Zeiss, and the new Sonnar 28 mm f/2.8 T* is exactly the type of high performing lens well suited for the small APS frames of 16.7 x 30.2 mm (the 35 mm frame is 24 x 36 mm in size). The Sonnar 28 mm f/2.8 T* was developed with this small APS frame in mind. The smaller negative requires approximately 20–30% more enlargement in the lab than the corresponding 35 mm frame. So special efforts were made by Carl Zeiss to achieve excellent correction of distortion and image flatness over a wide field, eventually modifying the 5-element Sonnar basic design, chosen for its compact ness, into a 6-element/4-group configuration very similar to the classic Planar design. Particular attention was also paid to the close-up performance, since the Contax Tix can focus from infinity down to 0.35 m (about 1 foot).
Another important design goal was to maintain the Tix’s compactness while providing sufficient speed for most photographic needs, which means nothing less than f/2.8! Otherwise the range of the built-in compact and sufficiently fast electronic flash would be too limited. Zoom len concepts with adequate compactness result in a maximum aperture of around f/5.6 – even with extensive use of aspheric lens elements. f/5.6, however, was clearly unacceptable for the Contax Tix concept.
The Carl Zeiss Sonnar 28 mm f/2.8 T* is probably the highest performing lens currently available for the new APS format. Its resolution goes far beyond the level that can be utilized with handheld photography, and thus begs for tripod usage – at least occasionally. So the camera comes with a tripod thread benefitting from the strength of the titanium housing.
In recent Carl Zeiss applications tests with modern 200 ISO films and subjects usually taken by snapshooters, printed to postcard size the Contax Tix delivered razor sharp results and performed on the same high level as a Contax AX SLR with Planar 50 mm f/1.4, Distagon 35 mm f/1.4 and Planar 100 mm f/2. In this test it clearly outclassed several contemporary 35 mm snapshot cameras proving the high class of the new Contax Tix. | |
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