Zeiss Ventum 21mm f/2.8 Lens Announced: Lightweight industrial lens with E-mount for use with drones

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The previously rumored Zeiss Ventum 21mm f/2.8 lens is now officially announced – a lightweight industrial lens with E-mount for use with drones. The US price is $1,500. You can check the availability at B&H and Adorama.

The ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21 offers outstanding optical quality in a compact and rugged aluminum housing. The extremely fast, fixed-focal-length lens for Sony’s E-Mount was primarily developed for use with drones. Lenses used for this purpose must be as small and light as possible, yet still offer outstanding image quality. Thanks to its compact design and the use of a fixed-focus setting, the weight of the ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21 has been reduced by 50% compared to the Interlock Compact 2.8/21. This reduction in weight allows drones to fly longer, resulting in greater efficiency.

The lens is equipped with the E-Mount and is compatible with large area-scan and line-scan sensors with an image circle of up to 43 mm and a pixel size starting at 2.8 µm. The aperture can be adjusted on the lens by 1/3 f-stops from F2.8 to F22. The locking and torque of the aperture ring are designed to prevent accidental adjustment due to vibrations or the movement of the drone through the air.

Press release:

ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21: High Precision from a Bird’s Eye View

Lightweight industrial lens with E-mount for use with drones

OBERKOCHEN/Germany, 2019-04-30.

With the release of the ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21, ZEISS presents a particularly lightweight wide-angle lens that enables long-range shots that are rich in detail. The focus is on the use of drones. “To enable more efficient workflows for industrial customers, the ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21 had to be compact and lightweight without compromising on quality,” says Michael Pollmann, product manager at ZEISS. “Thanks to its special design with a fixed focus, the ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21 weighs just half that of the comparable ZEISS Interlock Compact 2.8/21.” Thanks to its low weight, the drone consumes less energy and can remain airborne for longer.

Highly detailed images for demanding applications

The ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21 was designed for full-format cameras with E-mount and an image circle of up to 43 millimeters. Its fixed focus is set up to cover a maximum area of focus: at aperture F8, for instance, all objects between a distance of around three meters and infinity are reproduced in high definition. This allows the drone to fly at different heights without the pilot having to worry about readjusting the focus. “What’s more, the lens offers high levels of contrast, resolution and color fidelity across the entire imaging area,” says Pollmann. “This saves time in data acquisition and data processing, resulting in higher-quality images.” Furthermore, ghosts are minimized thanks to the ZEISS T* antireflective coating.

These properties make the ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21 suitable for a multitude of drone applications, but also for stationary applications outdoors: inspections and surveys, three-dimensional model creation, damage assessments, monitoring of events, and much more.

A sealed housing

In an industrial setting, a lens must be able to withstand all weathers. “The whole design must therefore be dust- and weather-resistant,” says Pollmann. “The ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21 is protected against the finest dust and splashes. Even extreme temperatures and high humidity are no problem for this lens.”

Price and availability

The ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21 is available now. The recommended retail price is 1,500 euros (plus 19 percent sales tax).

Via: Zeiss