Carl Zeiss – Who was this photography genius?

It has been said that without Carl Zeiss and his inventions, we would not really know what the world looks like. And anyone who has ever has the chance of handling or using a digital camera or smartphone fitted with a Zeiss lens knows that this is true.

Carl Zeiss, born on 11 September 1816 and died on 3 December 1888, was a German manufacturer of optical instruments known for the company he founded, Carl Zeiss Jena, now known as Carl Zeiss AG. Brought up in Weimar, Germany, he became an outstanding lens-maker in the 1840s when he produced expert lenses that had an exceptionally large aperture range which allowed for extremely bright images. This has become somewhat of a distinguishing feature in Carl Zeiss lenses as the images they capture are most often crystal clear and vividly detailed.

Zeiss worked in the university town of Jena, from which he got the original name of his company, at a workshop he set up himself where he commenced his lens-making vocation. His lenses were initially used solely in the production of microscopes but his company later began manufacturing their high-quality lenses when cameras were invented.

By the time Zeiss began creating microscopes for scientists in 1846, glass lenses were an accepted way of magnification, but it was a time-consuming, arduous and costly procedure using trial and error on each piece of glass. In his first year, he only sold 23 microscopes. But subsequently, it was the contribution Zeiss made to lens-manufacturing over 170 years ago that have facilitated the modern production of many lenses today.

The Carl Zeiss lens is most commonly known as a feature in Nokia smartphones, which is a major selling point for many of the brand’s products. However, the Carl Zeiss Master Prime umbrella of lenses, which merge an exceptionally high speed with brilliant image sharpness, perfect contrast, and true colour, has also set new standards in cinematography. These lenses have been used for numerous Academy Award-winning films, including “The Social Network”, “The Fighter”, and “The King’s Speech”. Even “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which won a total of 17 Oscars, was shot with a Carl Zeiss lens. And famed film director Stanley Kubrick also used a customized Zeiss lens, originally intended for NASA space missions, to shoot his film “Barry Lyndon”.

Carl Zeiss’s legacy now lives on through the lenses we take for granted, and are often unaware of, in cameras, smartphones, surgical equipment, and microscopes with the accuracy, precision and peak image quality that he strived to capture throughout his career being produced every single time.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 vs. the Apple iPhone 6

The rumours so far about the smartest smartphones

The rivalry that began not too long ago between Samsung and Apple is set to continue this year as the two manufacturers – arguably the best in the electronics business – will be releasing their latest top-of-the-range smartphones; the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Apple iPhone 6.

The first Apple iPhone was released in 2007, running on Apple’s iOS software while the first Samsung Galaxy was released in 2009 with an open-source Android operating system. Both the brands are keeping the specs and features of the smartphones under wraps until they are officially released. The Internet is mostly abuzz with rumours of what the two phones will have to offer. The latest release approximation is that the Samsung Galaxy S5 will arrive soon around April this year, while the iPhone 6 will hit the market in the latter part of the year in November.

Apple may continue using the same 8-megapixel setup as with their iPhone 5S or up it. But there’s more; a new patent filed by Apple suggests the new camera technology inside the iPhone 6 could feature Lytro-like capabilities. Lytro is a type of camera which allows the capturing of an image and then to dynamically select (and re-select) a focal point later on. This form of wizardry is achieved using something called "plenoptic" technology, and the idea is you can shoot an image and then re-focus it later. This is pretty amazing if it is true.

An interesting bit of information is that apparently Steve Jobs had met with Lytro's founder to discuss a partnership before he passed away. This patent was filed in September 2011 and various sources have claimed that most of Apple's products released since he passed away were developed in accordance to blueprints laid out by the late CEO-genius. In light of this, it's quite viable that the iPhone 6, complete with the Lytro-like camera, could be a part of his posthumous plan and legacy.

It has also been leaked that the iPhone 6 might even have a name change. The most recent snippets claim that this iPhone will have a chassis of only 6mm thick. And so may be called the iPhone Air as a result of this and to keep up with the iPad Air re-branding. The screen will be approximately 4.5mm thick, definitely another record-breaker for smartphones. If there’s one thing that Apple has in the bag, with all their products, it’s the sheer beauty of their sleek designs and creations.

The early release date of the Samsung Galaxy S5 will certainly set the manufacturer up for major sales around the world. But the pre-Christmas release of the iPhone 6 is even more strategic, ensuring that the smartphone will be on a lot of festive season shopping lists. In terms of spec info, the latest news about the Galaxy S5 is that it might feature eye-scanning technology, a security feature of remarkable proportions. If this is true, it does seem a bit like outright competitiveness with Apple, mimicking their fingerprint-scanning technology that was included in the iPhone 5S. Another rumoured component is that the Samsung will include a full 4GB of RAM.

The body of the Galaxy S5 is also rumoured to be more rugged and might even be metal, unlike its plastic predecessors, making it dust- and waterproof. There are mixed reports that the smartphone might have a 13- or 16-megapixel camera. While the megapixel count with the S4’s camera is 13, the S5’s unit features more advanced anti-shake image-stabilisation. The unit is said to support anti-shake correction of up to 1.5 degrees, while existing image-stabilisation for smartphones tops out at 0.7 degrees.

But whatever the specs and features will be from these two smartphones, technology is undoubtedly ever-changing and far too fascinating to be comprehended. Samsung and Apple have been the two heavyweights when it comes to electronics, and most importantly smartphones and computers, so if their unsaid rivalry and competition bring about some of the most amazing, sci-fi-like developments in the tech world, all the better for us.