History of Camera Lenses from Carl Zeiss

How it started

Every photographer wants a perfect lens for special situations. With a wide range of cameralenses, Carl Zeiss has been providing the tools of choice for more than 100 years. The story began with the famous Planar® invented 1896. Carl Zeiss is the world's leader in the development and production of high-performance camera lenses for all areas of photography and cinematography. Be it for architecture or sport, portraits or fashion, landscapes or nature, still life studies or scientific applications, Carl Zeiss provides precisely the right lens for any occasion. Hollywood has also taken notice: camera lenses from Carl Zeiss have received three Academy Awards in the Science and Engineering category (1987, 1999 and 2012).

1890

With the development of the first anastigmatic, distortion-free imaging lens (later: Protar®) by Paul Rudolph, Carl Zeiss opens the door to a new era in the development of camera lenses.

1896

Paul Rudolph develops the master of the Planar® lens, the Planar f/3.6.

1902

Tessar® lens the "Eagle eye of the camera."

1931

High-speed Sonnar® f/2 lens for Contax® cameras. Considerably increases the range of use of 35 mm cameras.

1933

Robert Richter develops the Topogon, the first fast and distortion-free lens with 90° angle of view. This lens revolutionizes the techique of aeial photography.

1935

Alexander Smakula develops anti-reflection coating for glass surfaces (Carl Zeiss T-coating). These provide the optical designer with totally new possibilities for the development of multi-element lenses.

1954

The Biogon® lens by Ludwig Bertele 1:4.5 extends the possibilities of 90° wide-angle photography.

1966

The world's fastest lens: Planar® 0.7/50.

1969

Photos of the first moon landing were taken with Zeiss lenses.

1972

The super wide-angle lens F-Distagon, a fisheye lens, comes out.

1972

The first camera lens with perfect chromatic correction: 250 mm Sonnar Superachromat® f/5.6 lens for the Hasselblad camera system.

1983

Beginning of partnership with Kyocera, which was taken over by Yashica.

1993

Carl Zeiss develops zoom lenses with exceptional imaging performance (Variable Primes) for Arri® 35 mm movie cameras.

1996

The first Carl Zeiss lens for a SONY camcorder marks the beginning of a long-lasting partnership.

1999

First lens for a consumer digital camera (Sony DSC-F55E): the Distagon 2.8/6.85. Entry into the world of amateur digital photography.

2002

DigiPrime® lenses, extremely powerful and unparalleled quality, used by the movie industry.

2005

Beginning of partnership with Nokia.  The Nokia N90 device marks the beginning of Nseries.

2006

ZEISS SLR-lenses for F-Bajonett (ZF).

2006

Interchangeable lenses (ZA) for Sony alpha cameras placed on the market.

2006

Begin Partnership with Logitech.

2007

Collaboration with Sony on lenses for projector (VW200).

2009

ZEISS SLR-lenses for EF-Bajonett (ZE).

2012

Compact Zoom CZ.2 70-200/T2.9: Unique Cine-Zoom lens for current and future HD video and cine cameras.

 
  • Visit us on