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A Towering Success –
Carl Zeiss at photokina 2008 |
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This year's photokina show in Cologne, Germany was a trade fair of superlatives. More than 1,500 exhibitors from 49 countries were in attendance, an impressive figure which was only topped by the thong of visitors. Nearly 170,000 photographers from 169 countries made their way to photokina, making this the largest photographic trade show in the world.
The Carl Zeiss booth measured 430 mē and visitors were invited to immerse themselves in the 'World of Carl Zeiss'. The highlight of the exhibit was an oversized, walk through lens that was a mock-up of the Makro-Planar 2/100. The interior of the lens displayed the many steps involved in the manufacture of lenses for cinematography and photography from raw materials through the finished product.
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."
On a photo safari with ZEISS
A real magnet for visitors to the Carl Zeiss booth was an area called the 'lagoon'. Here, photographers had the opportunity to use the latest Carl Zeiss products from a wide variety of areas. The SLR lenses were combined with the latest DSLR camera models and the Zeiss Ikon system was on full display. An artificial garden proved to be an intriguing and diverse photographic backdrop.The very brave armed themselves with a Makro-Planar T* 2/100 ZF 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
One of the biggest attractions at the Carl Zeiss booth was the introduction of the new Planar T* 1.4/50 ZE and 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" was one of many comments overheard during the show.
Another draw was the announcement of the Distagon T* 2.8/21 for F-mount and K-mount cameras. This lens design 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.
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December 2008 |
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