If you have ever dropped a lens, you know the rush of fear and anxiety that washes over you in those few seconds it takes for the lens to hit the floor. You also know what a huge relief it is when your lens is okay; or the crushing sadness when it’s not. Researchers at the Zeiss Center for EMC and Environmental Tests perform cringe worthy tests just like this to make sure your gear is safe.
Carl Zeiss Lenses – “Stress Test”
The Center’s tests include: extreme temperature changes from 158 degrees (Fahrenheit) to -40 degrees, transportation simulations to show wear of the lens from years of travel, and of course, the obligatorily drop tests; all in the name of science.
[REWIND:Carl Zeiss Lenses Documents Its History As a Camera Maker]
Manufacturers know that we are not perfect and no matter how careful we are with our gear, accidents do happen. Zeiss is one of the companies that goes out of its way to make sure that our gear stays an investment for many years. You should be confident in your gear that you can pick up and use it when your need it. “A device that doesn’t work like that is not worth having at all”, explains researcher Norbert Wittekindt, a 15 year veteran.
It is obviously not advised to push the limits of your gear to the extent the researchers do; they do this for your piece of mind. Now if only Canon hired football players for their tests, you would hear less stories of their gear snapping in half.
[Via No Film School / images screen captures]
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