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| New ZE lenses from Carl Zeiss Put to the Test |
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Field report
A well-kept secret, wide-spread rumors and high expectations. Now it is official. In the future, Carl Zeiss will manufacture ZE lenses for cameras equipped with an EF bayonet. Before this could happen, one pressing question had to be answered: Can the lenses meet expectations and possibly even exceed them? For this purpose, Carl Zeiss provided the first two ZE candidates from the Planar line to Munich-based photographers Eva Maierhofer and Ulrich Wolf for a practical test: a Planar T* 1,4/50 ZE and a Planar T* 1,4/85 ZE. MAIWOLF Photography was willing to discuss its experience with the new members of the ZEISS lens family from the perspective of professional photography:
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| Photographers Eva Maierhofer and Ulrich Wolf |
Ms. Maierhofer, what did you first think about the opportunity of combining your equipment with ZEISS optics?
Eva Maierhofer:
As a professional photographer, I am used to working with autofocus, but a reliable alternative with manual focusing can be very advantageous in certain situations. Therefore, I was very curious to see how my everyday tools would react to the new optics and what I might be able to achieve.
Ulrich Wolf:
As a photographer, I am well aware of the high quality of ZEISS products from the Hasselblad system. For this reason, I couldn't wait to see what the new ZE lenses had to offer.
Are their major differences to the lenses that you have used until now?
Ulrich Wolf:
Yes, most definitely. Natural clarity and fantastic brilliance are new to me in this form and I was really surprised. The images really light up. You have to imagine it like this: Regardless of the focal length used, you always have the same brilliance and uniform color rendition. This is a big help when you are working with a comprehensive image series with different focal lengths.
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| Planar T* 1,4/50 ZE used with a digital SLR camera |
Eva Maierhofer:
Without a doubt. I was particularly fascinated by the way the lenses captured the blurry areas of the image: completely homogeneously. Extremely short depths of field are often used, particularly when taking pictures of people and fashion. Precise focusing and the blurred areas of the lens are vital here. Furthermore, the model as the main subject or the most important detail is not always in the center of the image. ZEISS lenses reproduced crisply even the smallest details such as hair at the edge of the image
Where did you use the lenses?
Ulrich Wolf:
We focus on people – fashion, beauty and portraits. And this in any environment. On location and in the studio. The most amazing thing about the ZEISS lenses is that I can focus with extreme precision. I was able to focus exactly on the desired detail the first time I touched the lens – regardless of where it was in the image or how much contrast there is. This results in entirely new possibilities of image design.
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| Planar T* 1,4/85 ZE used with a digital SLR camera |
Can you summarize your experiences?
Ulrich Wolf:
Of course. The excellent workmanship and robustness of the ZEISS lens gave me a feeling of holding a high-quality tool that will be with me for years to come. For example the feel of the all-metal barrel…
Eva Maierhofer:
This was really an eye opener that I did not expect: the soft, precise setting without play is simply fun.
Ms. Maierhofer, Mr. Wolf, thank you for the interview.
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September 2008 |
www.maiwolf.com
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