Carl Zeiss lenses now in Pentax K mount

Owners for the legendary Pentax Spotmatic, K1000, and now the K100D can now take advantage of Carl Zeiss premium lenses. The German-based lensmaker has debuted the ZK line of lenses with the Pentax K bayonet mount. (There will also be a line of lenses available in the M42 screw mount, called ZS, for Pentax SLRs made before 1975.) Because current Pentax cameras are backwards compatible, the manual focus Zeiss lenses will fit on all models from the K1000 onward. Lenses are: Distagon T 25mm f/2.8; Planar T* 50mm f/1.4; Planar T* 85mm f/1.4; and Makro-PLanar T* 50mm f/2 and 100mm f/2. The lenses are to be available starting next month.

For details, including pricing in Euros, read the Carl Zeiss press release:

Carl Zeiss SLR Lenses Now Available for K Bayonet

OBERKOCHEN/Germany. Carl Zeiss now offers its premium lenses for 35 mm SLR (single lens reflex) cameras for an additional camera connector: the K bayonet. This lens series is sold under the ZK name. Until now, the manually focusable SLR lenses were only available for the F bayonet (ZF) and the M42 screw threads (ZS).

SLR lenses from Carl Zeiss are known for their outstanding image quality and precise, long- lasting mechanical parts. For the design of its lenses, Carl Zeiss draws on more than 100 years of experience in camera optics and current developments from the production of high-quality lenses for cinematography. Cine lenses from Carl Zeiss have been used in numerous major productions such as The Lord of the Rings and Perfume.

Lenses for the K bayonet will initially be available as Distagon T* 2.8/25 and 2/35, Planar T* 1.4/50 and 1.4/85 as well as Makro-Planar T* 2/50 and 2/100. In the future, the SLR line of lenses will be expanded to offer demanding photographers an even larger selection of focal lengths for their work.

The K bayonet has been available since 1975 and is the standard connector on various well-known analog and digital SLR cameras for the 35 mm format. The manually focused ZEISS SLR lenses (with their transmission elements) for the K bayonet fulfill the SMC-A standard and thus permit the utilization of the shutter priority, aperture priority and programmed auto exposure on all camera models with these features.

With the expansion of the line of SLR lenses, Carl Zeiss provides fans of SLR photography with lenses featuring outstanding imaging performance and high durability with which they can further enhance the performance of their camera system.

The first lens will be available for shipping in August 2007:

Planar T* 1,4/50 ZK
503,36 € (without VAT)

All other lenses will be available in Q4 2007:

Distagon T* 2,8/25 ZK
671,43 € (without VAT)

Distagon T* 2/35 ZK
671,43 € (without VAT)

Planar T* 1,4/85 ZK
881,51 € (without VAT)

Makro-Planar T* 2/50 ZK
881,51 € (without VAT)

Makro-Planar T* 2/100 ZK
1.343,70 € (without VAT)