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CZ T* - Rollei HFT
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 9:29 am    Post subject: CZ T* - Rollei HFT Reply with quote
How do Zeiss T* and Rollei HFT compare?

Since this has recently grown into a frequently asked question we feel it is appropriate to provide an official and unequivocal answer from Carl Zeiss:

HFT, meaning "High Fidelity Transfer", is a multi-layer anti-reflection coating system co-developed by Zeiss and Rollei. This occurred several decades ago at a time when Zeiss T* coating was new on the market and could only be applied at the Zeiss Oberkochen plant to rather small camera lens production batches. Rollei envisaged very large volume production in their then new Singapore plant and therefore encouraged this joint development.

Today the situation is this: HFT has become a well established trademark for Rollei's proprietary multi-layer anti-reflection coating. The optical performance of this Zeiss/Rollei co-development is so close to the performance of the original Zeiss T* that one can hardly detect any difference in all practical picture taking.

The Planar®, Distagon®, Sonnar® lenses that Rollei produces under license from Carl Zeiss are all HFT coated by Rollei. All the lenses that Carl Zeiss produces for Rollei at the Zeiss Oberkochen plant are actually Zeiss T*. coated. However, the designation on these lenses is "HFT" in the interest of remaining fully consistent throughout the Rollei product range.


PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 3:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
this is bad news - how many speculative threads have to be closed now Twisted Evil


thanks for sharing


PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 6:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Sounds like HFT is just a development of the T* process to allow mass production and the two are effectively the same.


PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 6:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
der einrahmer wrote:
this is bad news - how many speculative threads have to be closed now Twisted Evil


A definitive answer never really stops speculation.
Wink

This is a excellent post. Thank you. As such, I've Google +1'd it.


PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 3:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
der einrahmer wrote:
this is bad news - how many speculative threads have to be closed now Twisted Evil


thanks for sharing

I read that statement long time ago, but discussion about this topic always interesting to me. So no need to close anything Wink

Today's reality, Zeiss HFT price tends higher than T*. Why?
Many people compare them side by side. Maybe it just subjective opinion, but I think everyone has each fave lens.


PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 4:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
IAZA wrote:

Today's reality, Zeiss HFT price tends higher than T*. Why?


I'm not sure that they really do, but if they do, it's surely related to the fact that Rollei SL lenses are usually rarer than the Contax corresponding models. Which makes Contax versions a better choice for DSLR users, also because Rollei versions can not reach infinity on Canon cameras without a hardware mod, as the register distance difference between Rollei SL and Canon EF is too small to produce a thin enough adapter.


PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 4:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
trust me Orio, I've been watching on bay, but I gave up Very Happy


PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
Sounds like HFT is just a development of the T* process to allow mass production and the two are effectively the same.

I think what Zeiss must have done is to help Rollei set up the coating process (machines etc.) in Singapore. It's logical that if Rollei was going to do mass production, that they wanted to do the coating themselves.
Most likely T* was already being used for mass production by Zeiss though, wherever they were doing it (Germany/Japan).

I believe that there are differences in color rendering between HFT and T* though. Some people prefer the colors produced by HFT coated lenses over Contax with T*. It would be interesting to compare a Rollei HFT lens produced in Germany (having T*) to one produced in Singapore.
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