Featuring an apochromatic design and utilizing the Planar design, this lens uses a series of six anomalous partial dispersion glass elements and one aspherical element to virtually eliminate chromatic and spherical aberrations throughout the aperture range. A floating elements system is also used for consistent performance throughout the focusing range and a Zeiss T* anti-reflective coating has been applied to significantly reduce ghosting and lens flare for improved contrast and colour.

It is a manual focus lens, complemented by a 261° focus ring rotational angle, rubberized focus ring, and an all-metal lens barrel with high-visibility yellow scale markings. An internal focusing mechanism maintains the overall lens length and the front filter thread does not rotate during use, making it simple to use circular polarizers or graduated neutral density filters.

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. 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.