Rumor of Zeiss Otus coming to Mirrorless Mounts

[Richard CN]

Zeiss posted a teaser on Instagram yesterday showing an image taken with a Zeiss 85mm F1.4 lens. While that is not that newsworthy on their own, they certainly did tease that Zeiss was coming out with something soon.

Rumor of Zeiss Otus coming to Mirrorless Mounts

Zeiss posted a teaser on Instagram yesterday showing an image taken with a Zeiss 85mm F1.4 lens. While that is not that newsworthy on their own, they certainl

www.canonrumors.com

 

[Mistral75]

The 'owlsome' pun, the lens used (Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4) and the bird in the picture (a scops owl, Otus scops in Latin) all suggest that a new Otus lens is about to be announced.

 

[JohnC]

If true this would make me very happy.

 

[Del Paso]

No electric connections to the EF mount?????
My Zeiss Classic EF mount (15, 21 and 50mm) are all "read" even by the EOS R bodies. Including the focusing help...
And the Otus not?

 

[JohnC]

Same here, as well as aperture control.

 

[P-visie]

According to TDP the 85mm EF mountbOTUS has “The Zeiss Otus does have communication with the camera body (including an electronically controlled aperture)”.
See: https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Zeiss-Otus-85mm-f-1.4-Lens.aspx

 

[Del Paso]

According to TDP the 85mm EF mountbOTUS has “The Zeiss Otus does have communication with the camera body (including an electronically controlled aperture)”.
See: https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Zeiss-Otus-85mm-f-1.4-Lens.aspx

Sure, Zeiss lenses with EF bayonet all have the usual contacts. No reason why the Otus shouldn't have them.
I think Richard was referring to the Zeiss lenses in Contax/Yashica mount.
Anyway, it sure would be nice to see them in RF mount.

 

[docsmith]

Back when Otus was released, they were competing against some Canon EF primes that left something to be desired, especially wide open. Just to compare, the Otus 55 f/1.4 vs the EF 50 f/1.2 L, both at f/1.4.

Now? Canon has really been hitting it out of the park with a lot (most? all?) of their RF lenses. Just compare the Otus 55 f/1.4 to the RF 50 f/1.2 or 50 1.4 VCM.

I like options, but the quality of the modern lenses is impressive and does not seem to be leaving Zeiss much room to differentiate themselves.

That said, I'll happily check out what they have to offer. It is not like they get to take my money automatically.

 

[Del Paso]

Back when Otus was released, they were competing against some Canon EF primes that left something to be desired, especially wide open. Just to compare, the Otus 55 f/1.4 vs the EF 50 f/1.2 L, both at f/1.4.

Now? Canon has really been hitting it out of the park with a lot (most? all?) of their RF lenses. Just compare the Otus 55 f/1.4 to the RF 50 f/1.2 or 50 1.4 VCM.

I like options, but the quality of the modern lenses is impressive and does not seem to be leaving Zeiss much room to differentiate themselves.

That said, I'll happily check out what they have to offer. It is not like they get to take my money automatically.

I might add that the RF 50mm f/1,2 also offers an invaluable advantage, especially wide open: AF!

 

[Del Paso]

I also wonder what they could offer.
2 decades ago, they competed with far inferior lenses from Canon and Co. This has drastically changed, not only with RF, but also with the late EF lenses.
To be honest, if, as a beginner, I wanted the very best lenses, I'd get the Leica M APOs, Summiluxes and Summicrons or the RF 50 & 85 f/1,2, the RF 100 macro, the RF 135mm, the RF 70-200 etc... Provided I had the necessary $$$$$$$$$$$$$
Focusing quality and speed matter a lot to me.
But I'm nevertheless very curious as to what Zeiss will bring...

 

[padam]

Back when Otus was released, they were competing against some Canon EF primes that left something to be desired, especially wide open. Just to compare, the Otus 55 f/1.4 vs the EF 50 f/1.2 L, both at f/1.4.

Now? Canon has really been hitting it out of the park with a lot (most? all?) of their RF lenses. Just compare the Otus 55 f/1.4 to the RF 50 f/1.2 or 50 1.4 VCM.

I like options, but the quality of the modern lenses is impressive and does not seem to be leaving Zeiss much room to differentiate themselves.

That said, I'll happily check out what they have to offer. It is not like they get to take my money automatically.

An RF 50/1.2 is still not exactly in the league of an Otus.

The EOS R Diary : RF 50mm f/1.2L USM – Laszlo Pusztai

www.laszlopusztai.net

 

[Del Paso]

An RF 50/1.2 is still not exactly in the league of an Otus.

The EOS R Diary : RF 50mm f/1.2L USM – Laszlo Pusztai

www.laszlopusztai.net

One single opinion.
I'm far from convinced...

 

[Del Paso]

Could the coming Zeiss lenses be based on Zeiss' Nano Primes?

 

[JohnC]

My guess would that if we are going to get Zeiss lenses for the RF mount they will be similar to how the classic series worked with EF.

Canon has done a much better job with the RF L lenses, but I'm not sure about the micro contrast that Zeiss is known for.

 

[Del Paso]

My guess would that if we are going to get Zeiss lenses for the RF mount they will be similar to how the classic series worked with EF.

Canon has done a much better job with the RF L lenses, but I'm not sure about the micro contrast that Zeiss is known for.

Even though I am a Zeiss fanboi, owning several Classics and ZM lenses, I'd anytime trade the alleged microcontrast advantage for the precise RF AF.
For the Leica M owners reading this post: The Zeiss ZM 25mm f/2,8 is absolutely fantastic, contrast, sharpness, colours, flare resistance. I'd go so far as to qualify it as a perfect lens. Alas, not all of them were mechanically on the same level as the optics. The mount has sometimes a tendency to get loose. So better check before buying...but it's worth it (provided you "6 bit code" it !!!!)

 

[docsmith]

An RF 50/1.2 is still not exactly in the league of an Otus.

The EOS R Diary : RF 50mm f/1.2L USM – Laszlo Pusztai

www.laszlopusztai.net

My biggest take away from the article is that the Otus used prices have come way down. Huh. That probably shouldn't be tempting....yet....it would be a bit fun to play around with it vs my RF 50 f/1.2. hmmm.

At least to me, the article almost perfectly surmises my point, even if one person's impressions are exactly correct, the Zeiss Otus 55 f/1.4 is better against 1) flare, 2) with vignetting, and 3) focus breathing. They also bring up color rendition, but that did not make the top 3 list for whatever reason. Seems to indicate resolution is a push. Yet, despite these, they still carry the EOS-R and RF 50 f/1.2 when they take a "second bag" with them for "easy" shooting when they do not feel inclined to use a "proper camera". Which I read that even to someone that previously owned and clearly prefers the Otus (with 5DRs), the RF 50 f/1.2 (with EOS-R) still meets their standards, at least part of the time.

There will always be people willing to pay extra for a specific feature.

I am making an assumption that whatever Zeiss does will have a similar 2x-3x higher price point, similar to the Otus vs "L" 10-15 years ago. Back then, the Otus was clearly better in a number of ways. Yet at that price point even back then with the advantages, I think only a small group of people actually made that investment. If Zeiss comes out with a $5-7k lens even with better flare, vignetting and focus breathing, I would not expect it to sell well. If they come out with a $2-3k lens that is better...then yes, I suspect it will have a reasonable, yet likely smallish (no-AF) market.

 

[JohnC]

Even though I am a Zeiss fanboi, owning several Classics and ZM lenses, I'd anytime trade the alleged microcontrast advantage for the precise RF AF.
For the Leica M owners reading this post: The Zeiss ZM 25mm f/2,8 is absolutely fantastic, contrast, sharpness, colours, flare resistance. I'd go so far as to qualify it as a perfect lens. Alas, not all of them were mechanically on the same level as the optics. The mount has sometimes a tendency to get loose. So better check before buying...but it's worth it (provided you "6 bit code" it !!!!)

Agreed, if you use af a lot that's a big con of Zeiss glass. I shoot mostly landscape so I'm manual anyway most of the time.

 

[koenkooi]

No electric connections to the EF mount?????
My Zeiss Classic EF mount (15, 21 and 50mm) are all "read" even by the EOS R bodies. Including the focusing help...
And the Otus not?

The EF versions of the Otus line has full electronics, just no AF. There even is a persistent rumour that Zeiss one of the very few companies that managed to get an actual license from Canon for EF.

 

[Del Paso]

Agreed, if you use af a lot that's a big con of Zeiss glass. I shoot mostly landscape so I'm manual anyway most of the time.

I also mostly shoot landscapes. MF lenses can indeed be focused very precisely using the loupe function. And usually fast enough.
But I also photograph in cities, where you often have to focus real fast, if you don't want to get people or cars in your picture. No issue at all with the extremely quick focusing Leica M, much more with MF lenses on a MILF.
Additionally, wide open (f/1,2 or f/1,4) photography can be very demanding when shooting portraits wit MF lenses. As I wrote, I love Zeiss lenses, but there are some limitations to their use.

 

[Del Paso]

The EF versions of the Otus line has full electronics, just no AF. There even is a persistent rumour that Zeiss one of the very few companies that managed to get an actual license from Canon for EF.

Should this rumour be true, and Zeiss start making RF/AF lenses, I'm all in!