The Zeiss Makro-Planar T* 50mm f/2 ZF.2 Lens is a macro lens that provides a normal perspective and allows for close focusing down to 1:2. It uses a new lens design which incorporates floating elements to ensure high performance across a wide focusing range. As a result, the lens can be used for non-macro applications and becomes a versatile \'standard\' lens when used with a full frame camera.

The new ZF.2 lenses are an enhanced version of ZF lenses. They feature an electronic interface (CPU) that enables support of all important camera operating modes such as shutter priority, aperture priority and programmed auto exposure or manual exposure settings on non-AI compatible camera housings. Photographers no longer have to set the parameters in the camera menu as the lens now transmits standard data such as focal length, speed and the aperture setting to the camera. This data can then be viewed in the EXIF data of each picture.

Furthermore, silver fork coupling is not available. For this reason, you cannot use light metering on older cameras (F, F2, Nikkormat, etc.). The ZF.2 lenses have a mechanical lock on the aperture ring to lock the aperture ring at the lowest setting and prevent unintentional adjustment while taking pictures.

For technical reasons, these lenses do not have a half-step aperture lock between the lowest (stop position) and the second lowest aperture setting. This guarantees reliable recognition of the automatic position. The lowest aperture on ZF.2 lenses is colored orange to emphasize the automatic position of the aperture ring.