The Zeiss Planar is a
photographic lens
A camera lens (also known as photographic lens or photographic objective) is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capab ...
designed by
Paul Rudolph at
Carl Zeiss
Carl Zeiss (; 11 September 1816 – 3 December 1888) was a German scientific instrument maker, optician and businessman. In 1846 he founded his workshop, which is still in business as Carl Zeiss AG. Zeiss gathered a group of gifted practica ...
in 1896. Rudolph's original was a six-element symmetrical design.
While very sharp, early versions of the lens suffered from
flare
A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala in some Latin-speaking countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, ...
due to its many air-to-glass surfaces. Before the introduction of
lens coating technology, the four-element
Tessar
The Tessar is a photographic lens design conceived by the German physicist Paul Rudolph in 1902 while he worked at the Zeiss optical company and patented by Zeiss in Germany; the lens type is usually known as the Zeiss Tessar.
A Tessar comp ...
, with slightly inferior image quality, was preferred due to its better contrast. In the 1950s, when effective anti-reflective lens coatings became available, coated Planars were produced with much-improved flare resistance. These lenses used the Zeiss T coating system, which had been invented by
Olexander Smakula in 1935.
History of Camera Lenses from Carl Zeiss - 1935 - Alexander Smakula develops anti-reflection coating
/ref> They performed very well as normal and medium-long focus lenses for small and medium format cameras. One of the most notable Planar lenses is the high-speed 2.0/110 mm lens for the 2000- and 200-series medium format Hasselblad
Victor Hasselblad AB is a Swedish manufacturer of medium format cameras, photographic equipment and image scanners based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company originally became known for its classic analog medium-format cameras that used a waist ...
cameras.
See also
* Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7
*
*Tessar
The Tessar is a photographic lens design conceived by the German physicist Paul Rudolph in 1902 while he worked at the Zeiss optical company and patented by Zeiss in Germany; the lens type is usually known as the Zeiss Tessar.
A Tessar comp ...
* Sonnar
*Biogon
Biogon is the brand name of Carl Zeiss for a series of photographic camera lenses, first introduced in 1934. Biogons are typically wide-angle lenses.
History
The first lens branded Biogon (2.8 / 3.5 cm, unbalanced) was designed in 1934 by ...
*
*
*Hologon
The Zeiss Hologon is an ultra wide-angle f=15mm 8 triplet lens, providing a 110° angle of view for 35mm format cameras. The Hologon was originally fitted to a dedicated camera, the Zeiss Ikon Contarex Hologon in the late 1960s; as sales of that ...
*Photographic lens design
The design of photographic lenses for use in still or cine cameras is intended to produce a lens that yields the most acceptable rendition of the subject being photographed within a range of constraints that include cost, weight and materials. F ...
Further reading
*
References
*Carl Zeiss lense
*Carl Zeiss SLR Lenses - Planar T* 1,4/5
Photographic lens designs
Zeiss lenses
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