ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21 – Lightweight Industrial E-Mount Lens for Aerial Use

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by Jakub HanMay 6^th, 2019

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ZEISS released a new lightweight industrial lens designed especially for aerial use. ZEISS Ventum is a 21mm E-mount lens with fixed focus and a maximum aperture of f/2.8. It covers full-frame sensors and features weather sealed housing with ZEISS T* antireflective coating.

ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21 Lens. Source: ZEISS

ZEISS announced the new Ventum lens as member of their industrial range of lenses. The fact, that this lens has no focus ring already communicates it is not going to be a regular filmmaker’s tool. The focus is fixed and set up to cover a maximum area. The lens is permanently set to a focal distance of about 15 meters. The rear focal point for all aperture values goes to infinity while each front focal point depends on the aperture setting (at f/8, for instance, focus covers 3m to infinity). The fixed focus design makes the image acquisition process easier and it saves some weight.

Weight is important for this particular lens because its main purpose will be to capture aerial images. For drones, less weight equals more airtime. The ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21 lens weighs just 227g (half of the comparable ZEISS Interlock Compact 2.8/21 lens, which weighs 448 g).

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. The lens features E-mount and it covers full-frame sensors with an image circle of up to 43mm. There is a 52mm front filter thread.

ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21 Lens. Source: ZEISS

The ZEISS Ventum lens has an all-aluminum body and it is weather sealed (protected against dust, humidity, extreme temperatures, and splashing water). The lens features ZEISS T* anti-reflective coating to minimize ghosting. According to ZEISS, the Ventum 2.8/21 optics feature high levels of contrast, resolution and color fidelity across the entire imaging area.

The main purpose of the ZEISS Ventum industrial lens will be cartography, creating three-dimensional models, inspections, surveys or monitoring project progress from the air. It will as well be suitable for stationary applications outdoors: inspections and surveys, three-dimensional model creation, damage assessments, monitoring of events, and much more.

The ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21 is available now and the recommended retail price is €1,500. There is no information about pricing in the US yet.

What do you think of the new ZEISS Ventum 2.8/21 lens? Do you use E-mount full-frame camera for aerial image capturing? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.