Zeiss lenses for Nikon “F” mount announced
Zeiss yesterday announced the first two of a series of lenses for the Nikon F mount, the Planar T* 50mm/f1.4 and the Planar T* 85mm/f1.4. The two “ZF” series lenses should be available in early summer 2006, with more be announced later in 2006. Zeiss promises high mechanical, optical and esthetic quality. Further comments are available in the January Camera Lens News. Key points/claims include (1) high esthetic quality, (2) made in Japan to Zeiss standards, (3) ambiguous statements about price, (4) optically-identical M42 screw-mount “ZS” versions.
The lenses cover full-frame, making them usable on a variety of other cameras besides Nikon. Prospective Canon users might be better off purchasing the Nikon-mount version, and using an adapter on EOS bodies, thus covering the two major platforms. M42 screw-mount lenses are not adaptable to Nikon bodies, unless a quality-degrading intermediary optic is employed).
One key point left unanswered is whether the lenses have an automatic diaphragm: they do have a manual aperture ring, but Zeiss does not indicate whether the diaphragm stays open at maximum aperture until the picture is taken, as it does with every Nikkor made within the last 30 years. If setting the lens to f5.6 means that the lens stays stopped down to f5.6, the lenses will be impractical for many types of photography.
While the 50mm is an excellent focal length for a 2/3-frame DX sensor, such as that found in the Nikon D2X, D200, D70, etc, the 85mm is a far less useful focal length on a DX sensor, having a field of view equal to a 128mm lens on a full-frame camera. Presumably that lens is targeted at full-frame cameras, such as the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II and 5D.
In other words, Zeiss announced a lens (50mm) with two excellent Nikon alternatives (50mm/f1.4D and NOCT-Nikkor 58mm/f1.2), and another that’s not particularly useful, and again with an excellent Nikon alternative (85mm/f1.4D). Then again, perhaps Zeiss glass really is better than Nikon or Canon glass—we shall see.
What should Zeiss have announced?
What Nikon doesn’t offer: top-quality, fast wide-angle lenses: a 24mm/f1.4, a 28mm/f1.2, a 35mm/f1.2 plus 24mm, 28mm, 35mm and 50mm shift lenses. And perhaps an outstanding wide-angle zoom, though Nikon already offers some really great glass in that area.
