Zeiss ZF.2 lenses for Nikon

Zeiss has announced electronic “chipped” versions of the outstanding ZF line. I should have samples this week of ZF.2 18/3.5 Distagon and 21/2.8 Distagon, and I’ll report on the salient differences by this weekend. See my Guide to Zeiss ZF/ZE Lenses.

Optically things are unchanged. A key feature which is retained is that in spite of being electronic, the ability to use ZF.2 with a Canon EOS lens adapter remains intact, because an aperture ring is retained to control the aperture. This is similar to what the Voigtlander lenses for Nikon do (see DAP for reviews of the Voigtlander lenses).

Also worth noting is an approximate 23% price increase, no small thing, so you might want to grab one of the existing ZF models now. View prices . I’m told that in Europe the price increase is only about 8%, presumably the difference is simply due to a debauched dollar.