… which you might have known already. There are several C-mount lenses with speed ratings well below 1:1 (for example the Fujinon 25mm f/0.85), but also lenses for 35mm. Recently 43rumors reported on a Kowa 42mm f/0.75 lens. Then there’s the crazy Rodenstock 50/0.75, and a lens with the same specifications has also been made by De Oude Delft.
The most famous über-fast lens though is probably the legendary Zeiss Planar 50/0.7, originally developed for NASA and later used by Stanley Kubrick for filming candle-lit scenes for the motion picture “Barry Lyndon”. There was even an adapter made turning it into a 36.5mm wide angle, for those scene needing a wider perspective.
 The famous Zeiss Planar 50/0.7 used by Stanley Kubrick in "Barry Lyndon". Picture © WestLicht Photographica But this is not where it ends … not by far! WestLicht Photographica, affiliated with Leica Shop Vienna, are currently auctioning what they claim is “the fastest lens in the world” — the Carl Zeiss Super-Q-Gigantar 40mm f/0.33. Yes, you read correctly, it’s a 40mm lens with an f/0.33 speed rating, meaning an aperture diameter of 12cm = 4.7 in! According to their website, the Gigantar was developed for advertising purposes. But it IS a REAL lens! And it can be yours — starting from € 6.000 with an estimated high of € 16.000!
 The Zeiss Super-Q-Gigantar 40mm f/0.33, claimed fastest lens in the world. Picture © WestLicht Photographica Oh, and while we’re at it, they’re also auctioning the 50/0.7 Planar. Yes, that Planar! Starting bid is € 9.000, estimated high is € 20.000. Bargain, if you ask me …
EDIT: According to this Italian website, the Super-Q-Gigantar never was a real lens to begin with. Rather, it was Zeiss’ answer to voices asking for more fast lenses. In fact, the Gigantar isn’t actually capable of producing what one would call a “photograph” …
There had to be a catch, hadn’t there? I mean, what do you expect when you buy a lens for 600 €, claimed to be in mint condition, which has a list price of almost 900 €?
I’m talking of my new Zeiss Biogon 28/2.8 ZM of course, which seems to have that infamous “Zeiss lens wobble” going on. It’s fine otherwise, but the inner lens barrel, containing the optical elements and the aperture mechanism, doesn’t sit 100% tightly inside the outer lens barrel, containing the bayonet and the focusing mechanism. This means that the inner part of the lens will “wobble” on the horizontal axis when you touch it, and also when you’re focusing.
So far it doesn’t seem to affect image quality (which is superb btw), but it is a bit annyoing, and I’m worried it might get worse in time. So I inquired with Zeiss Germany what to do about it, and what an eventual repair would cost me. (I don’t know if the lens is still under warranty, since I bought it from private and from abroad).
We’ll see, I’ll keep you posted. Until then, I’ll continue using this little gem, hoping the wobbling doesn’t get worse.
UPDATE: I received a reply from Zeiss the day after I sent my inquiry, which was saturday. Man, they’re working even on sundays? Anyhow, they told me that “slight tolerances in the mount of ZM lenses is normally non-critical and doesn’t affect image quality.” Well, the tolerance in this case is more than “slight” … They also wrote that I could send the lens in to be checked, and they could then calculate the costs for repairing the lens. They would also check if the lens was still under warranty.
Hm. I’m not sure what to do now. Sending it in means paying for shipping, and in the worst case for shipping twice, if it turns out the lens is no longer under warranty. If it is, though, it’ll be repaired and shipped for free. Also, while the wobbling really doesn’t seem to be much of a problem technically, it does annoy me. The lens somehow feels cheap. So, maybe I’ll just send it in next month, when finances are in the black again …
As you may know, the Carl Zeiss AG (among others like Schneider Kreuznach and Kenko) has joined the Micro Four Thirds consortium, quite a while after announcing last year that they would soon release their Compact Prime movie lenses in Micro Four Thirds mount. Well, the MFT-fit Compact Primes aren’t there yet, but here’s a flickr set showing a GH2 with an adapted PL-mount CP lens, together with some portrait samples.
 Picture by Chrispy Harrison via flickr Via 43rumors.com (where you can also find a video taken with that same combo!)
Via 1001noisycameras Lens Reviews.
Olivier Giroux from Photoog just tested the mystical Carl Zeiss C-Sonnar T* 1,5/50 ZM on the Leica M9. The C-Sonnar is a very compact, fast normal lens that owes its size to a design similar to that of a telephoto lens — albeit with a shorter focal length in this case. It has a uniqe drawing due to its classical, spherical design, which is soft wide open and gets very sharp when stopped down. Due to this and the fact that spherical aberrations cause focus shift with this lens, it is not a lens for everyone. Olivier, though, seems to have liked it.
Read his full review here.
An alternative to the C-Sonnar is the no-longer manufactured Voigtländer Nokton 50/1.5, which is a very good lens and comes at a very moderate price on the used market. It is sharp already wide open with some slight vignetting, gets very balanced up to f/2.8 and bitingly sharp from there on. I’ve been using it on the M8 for several weeks now and have really come to like it. You can find a review of the Nokton on the M8 over at Steve Huff’s site.
As I previously announced, yesterday I spent the day visiting photokina 2010 in Cologne, and I brought back with me a huge load of impressions, pictures of latest models, of prototypes, and other stuff. So without much ado, here’s my report on the fair — by manufacturer, in alphabetic order.
 Photokina 2010 south entrance General impressions from the fair will be posted in a seperate gallery soon.
CAUTION! Massive amount of pictures ahead! Make sure your connection is fast enough, and that you have enough time! 
Continue reading Photkina 2010: A report in pictures
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April 5th, 2011, 9:58 pm | 
