After revealing their Photokina plans yesterday, Zeiss announced a new Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 lens that will start shipping in December 2012 for $2.000 (€1.600). As usual, the lens will be available for F mount (ZF.2) and EF mount (ZE). US price will be $2,122. The technical specs are:
| Focal length | 135mm |
| Aperture range | f/2 -22 |
| Number of lens elements/groups | 11/8 |
| Focusing range | 0.80m (2.62ft) – infinity |
| Angular field** (diag./horiz./vert.) |
18.7°/ 15.6°/ 10.5° |
| Coverage at close range** | 145 x 96 mm (close-up) |
| Image ratio at close range | 1 : 4 (close-up) |
| Filter thread | M 77 x 0,75 |
| Length with caps | 128mm (ZF.2) 130mm (ZE) |
| Diameter | 84mm |
| Weight | 920g (ZF.2) 930g (ZE) |
| Mounts | ZF.2 (F bayonet) ZE (EF bayonet) |
| Price | €1.600 or US$2.000 |
Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 lens sample image (by Stefan Czech):
Press release:
Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 offers new creative possibilities
OBERKOCHEN/Germany, 07.09.2012.
Carl Zeiss is presenting the new Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 during photokina in Cologne – Carl Zeiss' longest medium telephoto lens in the range of high-quality SLR lenses. With the Apo Sonnar T* 2/135, the company is substantially extending the creative possibilities available in the medium tele range. Photographers and HD video cinemato- graphers now have a total of thirteen SLR lenses to choose, with focal lengths of 15 to 135 milli- meters. Carl Zeiss will exhibit at photokina in Cologne, the world’s leading trade fair for imaging technology, from September 18-23 at stand B011 in hall 2.1.
The Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 is the ideal lens for capturing detailed images from long distances, such as the skyline at sunset, a leopard in the zoo, or a pop star on a faraway stage. The new lens offers outstanding clarity of detail, high contrast and high resolution at any aperture. This mix of attributes makes it the perfect choice for portraits in advertising, fashion and lifestyle, as well as for landscape and reportage photography.
After putting the lens through its paces in New York, Magnum photographer Christopher Anderson was clearly impressed: “I am delighted with the performance of this new lens. It is rela- tively compact for a telephoto lens. Its image resolution and quality are outstanding, and there is a touch of magic in the way the light is refracted by the lens elements. I took some amazing photos, including some in poor light conditions.”
The Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 can capture subjects up to a scale of 1:4. It has been built based on Carl Zeiss's proven “floating elements” design. A special variable arrangement of the lens elements delivers excellent images over the entire focusing range, from 0.8 meters to infinity. The compact telephoto lens features eleven elements in eight groups. Because this lens is an apochromat, chromatic abberations (axial chromatic abbera- tions) are corrected with elements of special glass materials with anomalous partial disper- sion. The chromatic aberrations are therefore significantly below the defined limits. Bright-dark transitions in the image, and especially highlights, are reproduced almost completely free of color artifacts.
As with all other SLR lenses in the ZE and ZF.2 series, the Carl Zeiss T* anti-reflective coating as well as the sophisticated treatment of the ele- ments’ edges with a deep-black special lacquer make the Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 resistant to reflec- tions and stray light. Another advantage for the user is the large rotation angle of 268°, which enables ultra-precise focusing.
The Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 is equipped with an all-metal barrel, which enables long-lasting use with high-quality results. It will be available with F bayonet (ZF.2) and with EF bayonet (ZE)..
The lens will begin shipping in December 2012 at a recommended retail price of approximately €1.600 or US$2.000 (excluding VAT)*.
