Personally, I think this is a cool new toy. Instead of using a lens cap, you just have to put the lens on all the time and the image quality is good enough to take photos on the go. And here comes a curious story about this lens. You can actually modify it to make it anamorphic:
The new Outdoor Line from Peak Design collected 3 million dollars on Kickstarter (Click here). And you have less than 2 days left to get it with a big discount.
The team at Peak Design has just published this video with the definitive guide:
We Tested Fujifilm the X100vi and Sony A7Cii Here’s What’s Best!
Today deals at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, FotoErhardt DE, FotoKoch DE.
Tamron Announces New 28-300mm f/4-7.1 All-in-One Zoom Lens (Explora).
Nanlite Alien 300C and 150C: The Ultimate Light for a One-Man Band (42west).
Sony 18-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS II review at SonyAlphablog.
Vertical Or Horizontal –Which Is Better? (Matti Sulanto).
All The New Cine & Video Tech From IBC 2024 (CVP).
Best Lavalier Mics – What to Choose (42west).
Hobolite Announces the Avant Max and Mini Max Bi-Color LED Lighting Kits (Explora).
5 years ago (April 24, 2019), Zeiss announced the Zeiss Otus 100mm F1.4, its last lens with “photo” focus. The last announcement of an E-mount lens was 6 years ago (September 27, 2018) with the Zeiss Batis 40mm F2 CF.
Zeiss obviously doesn’t believe there is money to be made in this market and has stopped making new photo lenses. They still make new cine lenses and they still produce their old Batis–Loxia–Otus lenses. But we have to be honest, their lenses are now obsolete. The autofocus of the Batis lenses is slow and the competition offers excellent lenses at a much lower price.
But yesterday Zeiss did something unexpected: they released a new video promoting their lenses. Exactly 4 years after the last Zeiss Batis video. In the most realistic scenario, this means “nothing”…. maybe it’s just a random “accident”. In the optimistic scenario, maybe Zeiss is rethinking its strategy and is ready to launch new lenses for the Sony E-mount?
I’m just speculating here, but I think there are a few good reasons why they might do this:
The decade-long downward trend in the camera market has stopped and there are clear signs that the market is now stable. So it’s easier to invest in such an environment.
The high-end market is still healthy and full-frame cameras are now the norm.
Zeiss still has an attractive brand name and would certainly have no problem selling new lenses if they are good enough.
What kind of Zeiss lenses would you like to use?
My opinion:
I think there would be room for a new Otus series designed for mirrorless cameras. The original OTUS was designed for DSLR and was too big.
A series of f/1.4 Batis lenses for the Sony E-mount system would also be nice.
But I am aware that I am in a dream….. The most likely outcome is that Zeiss will continue to ignore the mirrorless world :(
