Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2/28 Wide-angle Lens

The Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2/28 is a new high-speed, wide-angle lens for SLR cameras. With an aperture of f/2.0 and 28mm focal length, the Distagon T* 2/28 lens is ideally suited for taking pictures in unfavorable lighting conditions. The new lens is available as the Distagon T* 2/28 ZF for cameras with the F bayonet and Distagon T* 2/28 ZK for cameras with a K mount. The Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2/28 will be available by the end of 2007 for 1,049.00 €.

Carl Zeiss Press Release

Distagon T* 2/28 SLR Lens from Carl Zeiss

High-speed wide angle puts everything else in the shade

Oberkochen, 17.09.2007 - A new high-speed, wide-angle lens complements the advanced SLR line of lenses from Carl Zeiss for analog and digital 35 mm single lens reflex cameras. With an aperture of 1:2.0 and 28 mm focal length, the Distagon T* 2/28 lens is the ideal bridge between the existing wide-angle lenses with 25 mm and 35 mm focal lengths. It is available as the Distagon T* 2/28 ZF for cameras with the F bayonet and Distagon T* 2/28 ZK for cameras with a K mount. This lens is among the most high-speed optics for these focal lengths and is thus ideally suited for taking pictures in unfavorable lighting conditions. Equipped with manual focus, a high-quality metal casing and floating elements, it provides demanding photographers with a creative, top-class tool with lasting value. As a result, the performance potential of the lens is also available throughout the entire image field even with professional digital cameras featuring full format sensors.

28 mm lenses are primarily used for landscapes, architectural photography and excellent, short-range portraits. It is particularly suited for picture taking indoors – even in natural light. The high image quality down to the close focus range of 0.24 m extends the application range of this lens to include photography of small objects.

The use of floating elements ensures equally impressive image quality in the close-up range as well as at larger distances. With the initial aperture of 1:2.0, photographers enjoy greater creativity through flexible use of the depth of field. This enables them to effectively separate the subject from the background at full aperture and achieve a strong 3D effect. If needed, they can also use the full definition of short focal length optics with smaller apertures over a wide range. High image quality is provided under all conditions despite the extremely high speed.

With its numerous, outstanding properties, the Distagon T* 2/28 from Carl Zeiss is a multi-purpose lens. Thanks to the standard F and K bayonet connections, it can integrated into the corresponding camera systems – with limited compatibility on a case-by-case basis with simple camera models.

This lens will be available for shipping by the end of 2007:
Distagon T* 2/28
1,049.00 € (incl. 19% German VAT)

Technical data
Focal length: 28.5 mm
Aperture scale: f/2 – f/22
Number of lens elements/ groups: 10/8
Focusing range: 0,24 m – infinity
Reproduction ratio at close range: 1 : 5
Angular field, diag./horiz./vert.: 74°/65°/46°
Filter: M58 x 0,75
Weight: 530 g
Dimensions: ø 65 mm
length incl. caps: 94 mm

Published: Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Reader Comments

1. I am talking to you from my grave, because my last name is really Zeiss, not Ziess.

   Carl Zeiss at 02:11pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2007

2. Sure Zeiss have great optics, but isnt it time they got auto-focus? Auto-focus has been a standard feature on "prosumer" and professional grade lenses for almost 2 decades now. Is the marginal optical advantage of this lens (e.g. compared to a product made by Canon or Nikon) worth the loss of auto-focus?
   
   I'm not aware of any engineering reasons why a lens-maker might not give their product auto-focus, especially when Canon and Nikon have been doing exactly this for a very long time.

   Salim Fadhley at 02:42pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2007

3. Carl Zeiss designed and manufactured autofocus "T" lenses for the discontinued Contax N-mount
   digital and analogue SLRs , along with the Contax 645 medium-format camera.
   I believe that the reason why Carl Zeiss still adheres to its time-proven manual focus lens system is that they are engineered with more exacting fit which contributes greatly towards achieving acute lens precision when compared to the loose tolerances given to autofocus lenses which require to be quickly driven by servo motors .

   CARL HAMILTON at 07:08pm on Thursday, September 20, 2007

4. it is not hard to imagine that once this gem of a lens is made available for Sony A700 mounting, Sony by then could really give Canon a run for its money .

   chencassandra at 07:19pm on Thursday, September 20, 2007

5. Autofocus lenses generally lack precision manual focus ability. The focusing rings are usually very loose so that the AF motor doesn't have to work hard to move it. AF lenses also usually have short focus throws which makes it harder to achieve critical focus. The focus rings on these Zeiss lenses are snug and stay exactly where you rotate them to. I use both AF and MF lenses for different situations.

   Luis at 01:12am on Sunday, February 03, 2008