  Using the Very Large Telescope in Multi Object Spectroscopy mode, we have
observed a sample of 113 field spiral galaxies in the FORS Deep Field (FDF)
with redshifts in the range 0.1<z<1.0. The galaxies were selected upon apparent
brightness (R<23) and encompass all late spectrophotometric types from Sa to
Sdm/Im. Spatially resolved rotation curves have been extracted for 77 galaxies
and fitted with synthetic velocity fields taking into account all observational
effects from inclination and slit misalignment to seeing and slit width. We
also compared different shapes for the intrinsic rotation curve. To gain robust
values of V_max, our analysis is focussed on galaxies with rotation curves
which extend well into the region of constant rotation velocity at large radii.
If the slope of the local Tully-Fisher relation (TFR) is held fixed, we find
evidence for a mass-dependent luminosity evolution which is as large as up to 2
mag for the lowest-mass galaxies, but is small or even negligible for the
highest-mass systems in our sample. In effect, the TFR slope is shallower at
z~0.5 in comparison to the local sample. We argue for a mass-dependent
evolution of the mass-to-light ratio. An additional population of blue,
low-mass spirals does not seem a very appealing explanation. The flatter tilt
we find for the distant TFR is in contradiction to the predictions of recent
semi-analytic simulations.
