Carl Zeis newsLetterN36_en_web

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July 2010Carl Zeiss Camera Lens Division36

Contents

Along the Horizon .................. 2

Getting the Right Balance

for the Perfect Image ................. 5

Sublime Views

at Breakneck Speede .................. 8

Night Colors ............................ 12

A Broad Perspective ................. 14

Landscape

Photography Exhibitions .......... 14

Carl Zeiss July 2010 Page 2

Camera Lens News No. 36

Panoramic photographers cre-

ate extraordinary images by

overcoming the limits of the

field of view imposed by the

camera. Josh von Staudach

from Stuttgart, Germany, has

perfected the art of 360 degree

photography. In this article he

recounts his experiences with

the Distagon T* 3,5/18 ZE and

Distagon T* 2,8/21 ZE and gives

some useful tips on how to get

started.

360 degree panoramas show the

seemingly impossible by presenting

the views to the left, front, right and

rear in a single continuous image.

The location is revealed to the

observer from a previously unseen

perspective. Panoramic images can

sometimes appear confusing because

they depict something real in an

unreal way, but they simultane-

ously provoke enormous pleasure by

providing a new take on something

familiar.

“My goal is to capture interesting

details with a tremendous degree of

sharpness,” states Josh von Staudach.

“Things like rusty rivets in a disused

water tank, rails and planks scattered

around an abandoned railway yard,

or fallen branches in a forest deci-

mated by storms.” The details merge

into the picture to create an overall

geometry that exudes harmony and

dramatic tension in equal measure.

Along the Horizon Panoramic photography casts familiar subjects in a new light

Time-lapse panorama: Dubai’s skyline in a fixed location from sunrise to sunset (digitally blended together)

360 degree panorama: A forest clearing damaged by a storm provides a perfectly composed image.



The basic equipment you need is

a tripod with a panorama bracket

that enables you to rotate your

camera around what is known as

the ‘nodal point’. To eliminate image

mismatches, generally referred to

as ‘parallax errors’, it is necessary

to find the specific nodal point for

the camera and focal length you

are using in order to ensure that

the camera rotates precisely around

that point. This ensures that vertical

objects such as a street light and

the corner of a house do not shift in

relation to each other as the camera

turns – an essential prerequisite for

ensuring that the shots you take can

be smoothly stitched together in the

subsequent editing process. “Before

I go on a shoot I put together a

little test set-up in my studio,” von

Staudach explains. “I place a CD

about five centimeters in front of

the tripod in the middle of the frame

and tinker with the camera’s position

until the edge of the CD no longer

shifts against the window frame or

some other vertical object in the

room – then I know I have found the

nodal point.”

The camera is placed on the tripod in

portrait format to get as much of the

top and bottom of the picture in the

frame as possible. After each shot,

the photographer rotates the camera

a little further around the nodal

point. Experts recommend that each

shot overlaps with the previous shot

by between 10 and 20 percent. On

that basis, a 360 degree panorama

with a focal length of 20 mm would

require eight shots, for example.

A software program is then used

to ‘stitch’ the images together into

a panorama. There are numerous

professional packages on the market,

but Josh von Staudach uses Pan-

orama Factory because it allows him

to specify the exact settings he wants

for aspects such as focal length.

Choosing a subject and a good place

to position your tripod ultimately

comes down to experience. “I look

for symmetry and try to locate the

very center of the subject,” explains

von Staudach, who has devoted

himself to conceptual series of

industrial subjects such as turntables

and engine sheds. “I love the process

of finding circular locations to

photograph. I end up climbing

construction cranes and towers and

lowering myself into boiler tanks! But

sometimes you cannot actually get

to the center because it is occupied

by a pillar or stairway, in which case

it generally loses its appeal,” von

Staudach adds.

To get optimum depth of field, the

Stuttgart-based photographer works

with an aperture of between f6 and

f9. Focusing poses no problems

assuming that all the objects are

approximately the same distance

away; if any objects do appear in

the foreground then von Staudach

adjusts the focus accordingly for

those particular shots. He has no

interest in deliberately using blur as

a stylistic device: “I need to see every

detail of the images I create.”

He recently used his Canon 5D MKII

and the ZEISS Distagon T* 3,5/18 ZE

and Distagon T* 2,8/21 ZE lenses

to take some pictures in a forest

near Stuttgart. “The 21 mm is a

fantastic lens that provides superb

performance right out to the corners

without any gradient or loss of

sharpness. It is easy to use and offers

high-precision focusing. Although the

18 mm lens features slight blurring in

the corners, it is actually my favorite

because the lower focal length

Telephoto panorama: Mountain slope in Iceland at an astonishing level of detail – similar to a view through binoculars but much broader.



enables me to fit more in the frame.

It copes brilliantly with backlighting:

instead of lens flare you just get a

delicate glowing effect around lights.

The blurring issue does not make any

difference to me because the edge

regions fall by the wayside in the

stitching process anyhow.

In addition to classic 360 degree

panoramas, von Staudach also works

with specialist techniques such as

macro panoramas, which involve

photographing a surface centimeter

by centimeter. He has also used the

telephoto panorama technique to

shoot mountain slopes in Iceland:

“I basically used the camera to ‘scan

in’ the slope over a distance of

several hundred meters while staying

in the same position. Obviously the

focus has to be adjusted for each

shot, but you end up perceiving

connections and structures that you

would otherwise never have seen.”

von Staudach also sometimes

employs the polar opposite technique

of actually moving the camera

horizontally while taking the shot.

“Rapidly rotating the camera allows

me to capture a broad swathe of the

surroundings within a single image.

By blurring together colors and

shapes I can create paintings using

the color palette provided by nature.

Find out more about

Josh von Staudach:

http://www.stuttgart360.de/

http://www.joshvonstaudach.de/

Façade panorama: Berlin Hauptbahnhof – perspectives, angles of view and sharp focus that surpass single-shot photography.

Blurred panorama: Triptych taken near Zingst on the Baltic Sea, with the colors of nature mixing together on the digital sensor.



Getting the Right Balance for the Perfect Image

Whether you are taking ex-

traordinary aerial photographs,

atmospheric panoramic shots or

captivating images of the polar

lights, you can rest assured that

Carl Zeiss lenses will deliver

consistently superb quality and

outstanding results even under

challenging conditions. Christian

Beder, an optical designer at

Carl Zeiss, explains what makes

the lenses so special.

What is the biggest challenge

in producing lenses?

It all comes down to finding the

perfect balance. In optical design,

we dictate how the optical system

is constructed, specifying everything

from the number, size and form of

the optical elements to the air spaces

and coating. To do this, we have to

take numerous issues into account,

not only image quality aspects such as

sharp focus and freedom from distor-

tion, but also mechanical limitations

and budget constraints. Generally

speaking, you cannot simultaneously

satisfy every single requirement. If the

main emphasis is on price, then it is,

of course, possible to manufacture

an economical lens – for example

by reducing the number of optical

elements – but then you have to

be willing to accept inferior image

quality, which is not something we

are prepared to do. But if you focus

solely on imaging performance, then

the costs quickly get out of hand.

We endeavor to strike just the right

balance to ensure that our lenses

offer the best possible combination of

image quality, price, size and weight.

What are the key factors you

have to take into account?

The ultimate goal is that the lens

should produce outstanding pictures:

razor-sharp, distortion-free images

– without any chromatic aberrations –

that stay crisp and bright right to the

edges. Not only does that require

in-depth knowledge of the technical

parameters, it also requires the ability

to handle those parameters creatively.

Optical design at Carl Zeiss is based

on 120 years of in-house experience,

but it also draws on tremendous

sensitivity and the creative urge to tap

into new possibilities.

What would it be like if you

could work without any of these

constraints?

Then there would be very little artistry

involved in developing the perfect

lens. It would be about one meter

long with a diameter of 50 centime-

ters and would cost millions, but it

would be as perfect as the laws of

physics allow!

Wide-angle lenses pose a

particular challenge to optical

designers. Why is that?

Well, their wider angle of view means

that they show a large portion of the

Modern CAD programs support the work of design engineers.



subject. In this situation it is quite a

challenge to produce a consistently

good image of the entire field of view.

There are three field-dependent image

errors that are particularly significant

in this context: distortion, field

curvature and astigmatism, a form

of aberration that causes the vertical

and horizontal lines of the image to

appear at varying levels of quality.

There are different types and forms

of optical elements that can be used

to correct these aberrations. The most

important aspect is ensuring that the

lens elements are correctly positioned,

which means they need to be placed

a long way from the aperture –

generally at the front, which is where

they can effectively counteract this

problem. That is why so many wide-

angle lenses have a tapering shape

that makes them bigger and heavier

at the front.

“Ghosting” can mar the effect of a photograph.



Why is it that ZEISS lenses tend

to be more expensive than lenses

made by other manufacturers?

That stems from two factors that

lie behind the high quality of the

lenses, namely low tolerances and

an almost pedantic obsession with

quality control. On its journey from

the raw material phase to the finished

product, each lens passes through

more than 50 quality control stages.

None of our lenses can leave the

production hall unless they have been

thoroughly tested, and the same

applies to components manufactured

by our partners. And, on top of that,

we demand extraordinary precision

in the manufacture and assembly of

our lens elements. The surface of a

lens element is never entirely flat; the

way it is constructed means that it will

inevitably feature certain irregularities.

By having lower tolerances for this

surface unevenness we improve

the image quality of the lens but

simultaneously incur more costs in

production. We set some of our toler-

ances as low as just a few hundred

nanometers.

What is the greatest achieve-

ment ever in the field of optical

design?

I would have to say the development

of the anti-reflective coating, which

Carl Zeiss subsequently developed

into the multi-layer coating T*. This

coating is applied in a vacuum by

means of vapor deposition and

serves to reduce the amount of

light reflected from the surface of

the lens, so it essentially improves

light transmission and suppresses

unwanted reflections. It is only thanks

to this invention that we can now

make optical systems with more than

five or six lens elements – without

this coating far too much light would

be lost through reflections. Some of

the zoom lenses Carl Zeiss currently

makes for cinematography applica-

tions have more than 25 optical

elements. The more elements an

optical system has, the better the

image quality – but only if we are able

to adequately reduce the amount of

reflection, which is precisely where

the T* coating has played such an

essential role. This does not apply

in a completely linear fashion of

course – doubling the number of lens

elements does not necessarily lead

to a doubling of image quality – but

there is certainly a clear correlation.

It works because the individual lenses

are able to cancel out each other’s

optical aberrations.

What are the latest trends

in optical design?

Reducing chromatic aberrations is

becoming increasingly significant.

Digitalization means that anyone can

now view their images in unprece-

dented sizes. Nowadays we look at an

image on the screen that corresponds

to a picture measuring 2x3 meters

from a distance of 30 centimeters,

which in some ways provides an

absurd, unnaturally enlarged view.

It enables users to detect chromatic

aberrations on an individual pixel

level that they would never have seen

before. So our job now is to correct

these aberrations by using more and

more lens elements and increasingly

specialist and more sophisticated

types of glass. So digitalization is also

having an effect on lenses!

Anti-reflection coatings are applied to the surface of the lens using vapor deposition to suppress reflections.

Thorough checks and validation ensure that every single product meets the stipulated quality standards.



Algimantas Deikus and Vidas

Kaupelis are photographers from

Lithuania who specialize in aerial

photography. These two fre-

quent fliers pursue the ambitious

goal of capturing superlatively

atmospheric images of nature.

The remarkable thing about Deikus

and Kaupelis is that they are both

highly experienced pilots and pho-

tographers. This makes for a perfect

combination: As photographers

they understand that the speed of

an airplane requires rapid decision-

making and special equipment, while

their skill as pilots is intricately linked

to their ability to see landscapes with

a photographic eye. We chatted to Vi-

das Kaupelis about aerial photography

and his experiences with ZEISS lenses.

CLN: Vidas, what is the differ-

ence between aerial photogra-

phy and other forms of photog-

raphy? What technical challenges

does it pose in terms of the

equipment you need?

VK: The most difficult part of aerial

photography is getting your shot in

focus. We take photographs from a

fast-moving, low-flying airplane, and

if your subject is still partially hidden

by morning mist then it can be very

tricky indeed to get the perfect shot.

Sublime Views at Breakneck SpeedAerial photographs pose particular challenges to photographers and their equipment

Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1,4/50



In such rapidly changing conditions,

it is often impossible to get the results

we want using autofocus lenses,

which rely on contrast detection

algorithms to focus.

CLN: So how did you get around

that problem?

We tried out a number of different

solutions before we realized that

manual focusing is the key to a suc-

cessful shot, because if you are taking

landscape shots at focal lengths

below 85-100 mm, the subject almost

always lies beyond the infinity focus

point. Unfortunately, most autofocus

lenses are not suitable for manual

focus operation. But Zeiss lenses

have been designed to offer simple,

high-precision manual focusing,

which means you can simply set the

focus ring to infinity and start snap-

ping away without worrying about

focusing. The irony is that – however

much we all love high-tech solu-

tions – omitting certain technologies

can occasionally be more of a benefit

than a hindrance!

CLN: How do you deal with

exposure issues?

VK: In order to emphasize the charac-

teristics of the terrain we are photo-

graphing, we work at specific times of

day, basically just before sunrise or just

before sunset. That’s when the light

is at its most dramatic. But weak light

falling obliquely on a subject is one of

the greatest challenges the technol-

ogy has to tackle. On the ground

the solution is fairly simple: you just

position your tripod where you want it

and select a slow shutter speed. But in

an airplane you are racing above your

subject at 300 km/h, and you can only

compensate for the extreme vibrations

by using shutter speeds of around

1/1000.

CLN: So do you use special

equipment?

VK: In weak light, we depend on

lenses that offer outstanding image

quality at wide aperture settings. If

we are taking shots directly towards

the Sun, we can only use lenses that

are designed not to produce flare,

and the optical elements need to

have a high-quality coating. Carl Zeiss

lenses have proved to be a superb




Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2/35

Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2/28



choice in terms of both those criteria.

Lens flare is minimal and the image

quality at wide aperture is visibly

better than that of similar lenses from

other manufacturers that we have

tried out.

Algimantas Deikus and Vidas Kaupelis

embarked on their career in aerial

photography in 2006. They are both

highly experienced pilots who have

racked up thousands of hours in the

pilot’s seat, and every flight marks

another step on their journey to find

unusual aerial views. 2009 saw the

first public exhibition of their work in

Lithuania.

You can see more photographs

and find out more about the duo at

www.FlyFoto.lt


Algimantas Deikus

is a professional pilot and photog-

raphy enthusiast. He lives in Vilnius,

Lithuania.

Vidas Kaupelis

is a computer scientist and project

manager who has a keen interest in

flying and photography. He also lives

in Vilnius, Lithuania.



Auroras, also known as polar

lights, are an extraordinary

natural spectacle that present

a major challenge to photogra-

phers, requiring good planning

and a healthy dose of luck as

well as the right equipment. The

photographer Thilo Bubek from

Tomasjord, Norway, has been in-

volved in aurora photography for

many years, producing fascinat-

ing images of the night sky with

a ZEISS Distagon T* 2,8/21.

Vivid colors and shapes flitting

across the sky like gigantic creatures:

Eyewitness accounts from more than

2,000 years ago reveal how a number

of different cultures – especially in

North America, Europe and Asia

– interpreted these phenomena as

signs from the gods, malign spirits or

heavenly messages. Even today, this

spectacular nocturnal light display

continues to inspire interest and

fascination.

Scientists long ago discovered that

auroras are caused by electrically

charged particles that continuously

flow outward from the Sun. Known

as the solar wind, these particles

are trapped by the Earth’s magnetic

field and drawn into the atmosphere

at high latitudes. At a height of

between 100 and 200 kilometers,

some of these particles collide with

oxygen and nitrogen atoms, causing

them to emit light. The color of light

ranges from green to blue-violet

and red. Auroras are known as the

northern or southern polar lights

because they primarily occur in polar

regions such as northern Scandi-

navia, Iceland, Greenland, Canada,

Alaska, and Siberia, as well as in the

Antarctic.

This particular light show is only vis-

ible in the dark. Photographers need

a tripod and very fast lenses since the

delicate structure of the polar lights

only remains visible when exposure

times are kept extremely short.

(The other stumbling block of longer

Night ColorsOn the trail of the aurora phenomenon



exposure times is that stars appear as

lines due to the rotation of the Earth.)

“The level of quality you get with

digital images of the polar lights is far

superior to what you could get using

old-fashioned film,” enthuses Thilo

Bubek. One of the aspects he likes

best about digital technology is the

fact that he can check the exposure

right after taking a shot by simply

viewing the RGB histogram.

Bubek is flexible when it comes to the

choice of camera: “I have worked with

a whole range of different cameras

over the last seven years, mostly with

the professional Nikon bodies from

the D1, D2 and D3 series, though oc-

casionally also with the Fuji S2Pro and

S3Pro bodies and an EOS 5D.” The

choice of sensor, however, is a much

more significant factor: A camera with

a large, full-frame sensor is better

suited to nighttime photography than

a camera with a comparatively small

DX sensor. “But that only holds true if

you can get hold of wide-angle lenses

for the large full-frame sensor that

offer superior image quality even at a

low aperture,” Bubek cautions.

Bubek tested the new ZEISS Distagon T*

2,8/21 ZF with his Nikon D3 and D700.

“In terms of optical performance, I

would say from my experience that

the ZEISS is roughly on a par with the

standard-setting lens in the wide-angle

arena, the Nikon 14-24mm/2.8,“

Bubek reports. But the manual

focusing of the ZEISS lens proved to

be a major advantage in practical use.

“The importance of manual focusing

cannot be underestimated, because

the camera’s autofocus function does

not perform reliably in the dark. Being

able to manually focus my lens to

infinity saves me time and avoids the

kind of focusing errors that crop up

every now and then when you are

using autofocus lenses, however much

care you take.”

The polar light expert also emphasizes

how important it is to frame the

auroras as part of an ensemble with

the landscape: “I seek out attractive

backgrounds such as mountains, the

ocean and fjords. I am particularly

interested in tracking down unspoiled

scenes that are not marred by artificial

light.” Just some of the techniques

that have enabled this photographer

to capture such timeless landscapes

infused with almost unearthly magic.

Find out more about

Thilo Bubek:

http://www.bubek-fotodesign.com



The Distagon T* 2,8/25 is now

available in the ZF.2 version for

digital SLR cameras with an F

bayonet. One of the most excit-

ing features of the lenses from

the ZF.2 series is that they sup-

port all the key modes such as

shutter priority, aperture priority

and program mode.

Wide-angle lenses open up a scene

by providing maximum depth of field:

Think of a dragonfly landing on a

water lily with dozens of blossoms

behind its iridescent body all in crisp

perspective, or rocks, moss and

crevices forming patterns and forma-

tions that extend to the horizon. The

Distagon T* 2,8/25 from Carl Zeiss can

help you create these kinds of unusual

images – and not only in the realm of

nature photography.

Thanks to its electronic interface

(CPU), the ZF.2 range of lenses

supports all the essential modes such

as shutter priority, aperture priority

and program mode as well as manual

mode, even with non-AI camera

bodies. This makes a ZF.2 lens easy

to use even under the most hectic

conditions.

A Broad Perspective The new ZEISS Distagon T* 2,8/25 ZF.2 wide-angle lens with electronic interface

Landscape Photography ExhibitionsJuly events

Camera Lens News

A newsletter for all who use, buy, sell,

like, report about and are interested in

Carl Zeiss camera lenses.

All information in Camera Lens News is

accurate to the best of our knowledge at

the time of publication.

Publisher:

Carl Zeiss AG

Camera Lens Division

Marketing

73446 Oberkochen

Germany

Phone: +49 (0) 7364/20-6175

Email: [email protected]

Internet: www.zeiss.de/photo

Berlin: Wagner + Partner Gallery

Open Landscape

Peter Dreher, Friederike Jokisch, Josef

Schulz, Thomas Wrede

21.05. – 31.07.10

http://galerie-wagner-partner.com/

exhibitions/current

Hamburg: Flo Peters Gallery

Woodlands and Beyond

Mat Hennek

02.07.10 – 28.08.10

http://www.flopetersgallery.com/

http://www.mat-hennek.com/

flash_hennek.html

Munich: Jordanow Gallery

Chiffreschrift Landschaft

(Landscape Cipher Codes)

Group exhibition

07.05.10 – 21.08.10

http://www.galerie-jordanow.de/

chiffreschrift.html

Cologne: Karsten Greve Gallery

Water & Rocks

Lynn Davis

07.05.10 – 31.07.10

http://www.artnet.com/kgreve.html

http://lynndavisphotography.com/

waterrocks.htm

http://galerie-wagner-partner.com/exhibitions/current

http://www.mat-hennek.com/flash_hennek.html

http://www.galerie-jordanow.de/chiffreschrift.html

http://lynndavisphotography.com/waterrocks.htm

Documents

Carl Zeis newsLetterN36_en_web