Touit: How an extraordinary family of ZEISS lenses were developed
How was the new family of lenses for compact system cameras (CSC) created and which steps did the lenses have to go through until they were ripe for the market?
Four years ago, a new market segment emerged in photography: compact system cameras (CSC), which are equipped with interchangeable lenses. Ever since then, compact system cameras have been the camera segment with the highest growth rates. After initially observing how the market was developing, ZEISS determined that high-performance lenses would also be interesting for customers in this market. In order to stay true to the high quality standards of the ZEISS brand, it was decided to focus on cameras with an APS-C sensor, the largest sensor that has been available so far for this type of camera. The new lenses from ZEISS should be developed for cameras from Sony and Fujifilm. The autofocus was planned from the start. Everyday photography was the class of usage defined during the early design phase, and also driven by the market, so the autofocus function was almost a must — it is a step toward higher volume market, but at the usual high ZEISS quality.