Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/10/13

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Subject: [Leica] Zeiss 15mm
From: deveney.marty at saugov.sa.gov.au (Deveney, Marty (PIRSA))
Date: Wed Oct 13 22:31:01 2004

BD wrote:
>And that, I would suggest - with no inside scoop - is why Zeiss is
producing the 15
>f 2.8.

and Frank responded:
>Isn't this the lens on the Contax RF camera?  It is an available design, so
>why not showcase it?

It's not the same design; the 15mm for the Contax G cameras is a much slower
non-retrofocus design, like the Leica wides, you can tell because of the
absurdly protruding rear element.  If you look here:
http://www.zeissikon.com/files/Photoobjektive_D_2.815_e.pdf or here:
http://www.zeissikon.com/lens.15.htm you'll see clearly that the lens for
the Zeiss Ikon is a retrofocus (could be a semi-retrofocus, depending on the
exact configuration) design.  It is also a different design to the Zeiss
wides for the Contax SLRs.  They have designed the lens this way . . . 

>I am no expert, but I think that you would need to look into the design to
>find out if it would have the same isues as the Leica 21... the rays of
>light are too oblique to the fil plane to register with the sensor.....

precisely for this reason, to keep the light rays more perpendicular when
they manufacture a digital Ikon rangefinder.

Marty