Review: Zeiss 55mm f/1.4 Otus Distagon T*

[Andyx01]

Dustin,

I don't suppose you could post some 100% crops of a brightly lit ruler. positioned like you would for a focus check? (i.e. 45 degrees to the camera - center frame front to back. - compared to canon or sigma.)

Primary to compare OOF areas and the amount of color fringing.

Of all the things the otus does, this is the one thing I think it probably excels at, but I've not seen a good comparison.

 

[Eldar]

Dustin,

I don't suppose you could post some 100% crops of a brightly lit ruler. positioned like you would for a focus check? (i.e. 45 degrees to the camera - center frame front to back. - compared to canon or sigma.)

Primary to compare OOF areas and the amount of color fringing.

Of all the things the otus does, this is the one thing I think it probably excels at, but I've not seen a good comparison.

It´s not the ruler you asked for, but an example never the less. This is straight raw to jpeg with default LR settings.

 

[thepancakeman]

Confirmation bias is an interesting consideration. I wonder how the lens would fare in a double blind test against a few other top choices.

 

[Eldar]

Confirmation bias is an interesting consideration. I wonder how the lens would fare in a double blind test against a few other top choices.

Blind testing is an interesting topic, with lots of believers and doubters. It is being used in a number of areas, such as wine tasting and hifi. It appears to be the true objective test, but in general it is accepted that it is a lot less objective than one would expect. With all the variables that come into play with a photograph ... I´d guess it falls in the same group as wine and hifi.

 

[mike b]

• It is difficult to make a rational judgement about a 50mm lens that costs $4000. Who knows? It might actually be the very best optical tool ever made. Or not — perhaps it is just another very fine lens that costs a lot.
  
  When it comes to such a thing there are several factors to keep in mind:
  
  [list type=decimal]
• There is a sizable group of photo gear fans who are perhaps more enthusiastic about owning the Very Best Shiny Thing than about producing the very best photographs. This sort of urge is not unique to photography, though camera gear acquisition is one of the more obvious playgrounds for such inclinations. For these people, while the test scores (and the brand name, and the cost) matter, the real world photographic effects — beyond the theoretical — may not so much.
• Beyond the stupendous cost, the venerable name of Zeiss conjures up wonderful specialness, too — like Bentley, Bulgari, and others.
• Put these together and there is a serious danger of confirmation bias. Unless you are willing to begin by actually asking what, if anything, the emperor is actually wearing, it is all to easy to begin with assumption that having the nMe Zeiss and the price of $4k, in just must be The Very Best Thing and Worth Every Penny.
• Finally, the correlation between the greatest photographs we see and the use of stratospherically expensive optics like the Zeiss — no matter how good the test results — is pretty close to random.

[/list]

Well put.

I find it somewhat humors to read: "It is a superlative instrument in every detail, and manages the rare feat of combining extraordinary resolution with beautifully artful drawing and rendering"

In 'every detail' ... Except atrocious vignetting? I mean... It's desired, I like the vignetting yeah it's perfect, just the amount I would expect for $4000 not too little, not too much.

How does one quantify that this lens produces "beautifully artful drawing and rendering" - does the plastic fantastic 50 do this too, or does it have to have to be stamped with 'ziess' to produce 'artful drawing'. I'm confused.

It didn't front of back focus - because - well it doesn't auto focus. And uhm.. yeah.. That's good too, becuase... You should manual focus yeah.... A+ for not having a feature.

Badly put

It actually is a superlative instrument in every detail, and does manages the rare feat of combining extraordinary resolution with beautiful rendering.......ok so artfull drawing is getting a bit carried away!

"atrocious vignetting".....not in my personal opinion from long term use.

value for money does not seem to be a useful judgement on any photographic equipment as coming from an optical industry background it all appears overpriced........fancy packaging et al

I wrote ferrari on the the back of my plastic fantastic ford focus last night and what a shame it didnt turn red or hit 150mph today

what on earth is " front of back focus" ......like any" normal "photographic lens it" hopefully" only focuses at one point .What i presume you are talking about is the allowable depth of field due to the human eyes limited resolution

Sorry but you have to shift focus manually and not have a camera motor tell where to focus . Incidentley the 5dmk3 green focus indicator light is not accurate enough to nail focus- even when on you sometimes get soft focus!Only way i have found to nail it is to use live view magnifier with tethered or oncamera display
A+++ to Zeiss


As an aside to the other contributer ,the reason for NOT testing this lens on a 7d mk2 is because this is a so called" full frame "design lens with edge to edge sharpness and is somewhat wasted on aps crop sensor.Bring on the blind testing and maybe we can also blind test the nikon 810 with a 85mm otus v 7dmk2 with a55 mm otus and see whose sensors are better with similar fov.....just kidding! Shouldnt we as a forum(and personally as someone who is heavily invested in canon lenses) be pushing /helping canon to give the customer what we want and not worshipping at the church of canon when the vast majority of semi pro photographers will admit canon sensors are ,at the moment,technologically behind the sony/nikon sensors..........lots of chatter about switching
from canon to nikon and none the other way round.

 

[Dholai]

As a owner of both 55 and 85 Otus and using them on 1Dx and 7D MKII, I can say with confidence that these are unparallel in every aspect of producing an image that is strikingly pleasant and an "wow" producer. The lenses have their unique signature in every shot.

To me, the difference between the Otus and the L series is more like the difference between the L series and the kit lenses ( barring the 85 1.2L MK II- which is very close).

I hated manual focus due to my bad eyesight but still love this duo - always give the focus confirmation beep with lighted AF point. I am used to them now!

Cant wait to try them on the 5DsR coming tomorrow !

Caution: very unforgiving . My wife refused to sit in front of them after seeing some shots on the first day !

Dholai

 

[epsiloneri]

I'd be really interested to know the Otus performance in terms of coma wide open.

Here's a simple test: during night, focus on a far-away point source (like a distant light, or a bright star) centered in the field, then, without re-focusing, re-compose and put the point source near a corner of the field. How round does the source look like?

(this test can be challenging at northern latitudes this time of the year)

Ideally, the point source should look the same as when centered in the field of view, but all lenses faster than 1.8 that I've seen perform rather miserably in this respect (including the 50 Art). Given all the praise and the high price tag, I'd be really curious to see how the Otus performs.

 

[mike b]

I'd be really interested to know the Otus performance in terms of coma wide open.

Here's a simple test: during night, focus on a far-away point source (like a distant light, or a bright star) centered in the field, then, without re-focusing, re-compose and put the point source near a corner of the field. How round does the source look like?

(this test can be challenging at northern latitudes this time of the year)

Ideally, the point source should look the same as when centered in the field of view, but all lenses faster than 1.8 that I've seen perform rather miserably in this respect (including the 50 Art). Given all the praise and the high price tag, I'd be really curious to see how the Otus performs.

tested in Portugal (clear unpolluted sky) and very little coma ----fairly circular from memory.No kept files and was messing about with a new lens.I can possibly have another go when i am out of the city pollution and post images on the forum

 

[mike b]

As a owner of both 55 and 85 Otus and using them on 1Dx and 7D MKII, I can say with confidence that these are unparallel in every aspect of producing an image that is strikingly pleasant and an "wow" producer. The lenses have their unique signature in every shot.

To me, the difference between the Otus and the L series is more like the difference between the L series and the kit lenses ( barring the 85 1.2L MK II- which is very close).

I hated manual focus due to my bad eyesight but still love this duo - always give the focus confirmation beep with lighted AF point. I am used to them now!

Cant wait to try them on the 5DsR coming tomorrow !

Caution: very unforgiving . My wife refused to sit in front of them after seeing some shots on the first day !

Dholai

Please refer to my previous reply and beware........the autofocus (green light on)range in my canon 5d mk 3 is too wide to nail the focus with this lens and if you are viewing this on a large ish screen or making large prints ,this becomes very obvious esp at shorter distances.Only way i have found to nail it is to use live view magnifier with tethered laptop ,camranger wifi setup or oncamera display/shutter release cable.Glad to hear your are enjoying this superb lens .I also thought about the 85mm but decided the optical benefits didnt quite justify the cost so i kept the1.2 85mm canon.(by the way great easy focus pull for video with the stepper motor focus although not repeatable).

 

[Dholai]

Mark,

I always use single point AF and I have made at least four 40 X 60 inches canvas prints and they are magnificent. In fact, to me it seems like bigger is better ;D

Watching those on a 34 inches 4K monitor is soul soothing!!

Anyway, while shooting portraits in studio setting, I always refine focus with magnified live view.

yes, I am enjoying them

Thanks

Dholai

 

[epsiloneri]

I can possibly have another go when i am out of the city pollution and post images on the forum

That'd be great! No need for actual stars - distant point-like lights (street lights some km away) should be good enough.

 

[mike b]

Mark,

I always use single point AF and I have made at least four 40 X 60 inches canvas prints and they are magnificent. In fact, to me it seems like bigger is better ;D

Watching those on a 34 inches 4K monitor is soul soothing!!

Anyway, while shooting portraits in studio setting, I always refine focus with magnified live view.

yes, I am enjoying them

Thanks

Dholai

Hi Dholai
I did read about somebody else who came up with an ingenious solution to the accurate focusing problem.....he said he adjusted the camera micro adjustment so when he racked the focus from near to infinity slowly the point when the green light first came on coincided with perfect focus.
mike

 

[eml58]

i´ll be first in line.

Spot taken, sorry Eldar.

And for the 35f/1.4 as well.

 

[mike b]

I can possibly have another go when i am out of the city pollution and post images on the forum

That'd be great! No need for actual stars - distant point-like lights (street lights some km away) should be good enough.

Hi
It shall be done!
I do understand the optics but finding a suitable point source in a light polluted city with rising temperature bands is not so easy so it might be a couple of weeks!!As you obviously understand coma is always going to effect "faster lenses" as the further off axis you are the more difficult it is to control but from memory i certainly considered it v acceptable with this lens.........always some limiter in photography!
mike

 

[mike b]

• It is difficult to make a rational judgement about a 50mm lens that costs $4000. Who knows? It might actually be the very best optical tool ever made. Or not — perhaps it is just another very fine lens that costs a lot.
  
  When it comes to such a thing there are several factors to keep in mind:
  
  [list type=decimal]
• There is a sizable group of photo gear fans who are perhaps more enthusiastic about owning the Very Best Shiny Thing than about producing the very best photographs. This sort of urge is not unique to photography, though camera gear acquisition is one of the more obvious playgrounds for such inclinations. For these people, while the test scores (and the brand name, and the cost) matter, the real world photographic effects — beyond the theoretical — may not so much.
• Beyond the stupendous cost, the venerable name of Zeiss conjures up wonderful specialness, too — like Bentley, Bulgari, and others.
• Put these together and there is a serious danger of confirmation bias. Unless you are willing to begin by actually asking what, if anything, the emperor is actually wearing, it is all to easy to begin with assumption that having the nMe Zeiss and the price of $4k, in just must be The Very Best Thing and Worth Every Penny.
• Finally, the correlation between the greatest photographs we see and the use of stratospherically expensive optics like the Zeiss — no matter how good the test results — is pretty close to random.

[/list]

Hi Dan
Had a little look at your website and was most impressed but thou doth protest too much.Your unbiased site mentions that you personally have preordered a 5dsr and this seems to be before even any raw files were available..............if you havent even seen this emperor yet, how can you possibly know what he is or not supposed to be wearing.I am certainly interested in this camera but would never dream of just getting the latest stratospherically expensive gadet before i had evaluated it.Beyond the stupendous cost,i know the venerable name of canon does conjure up some sort of wonderful specialness, so that might be a perfectly sensible reason for your choice !!
Go on sell your grandmother you know you want this lens really!
mike
ps good lenses tend to hold their value better than quickly out of date/fashion camera bodies.....just saying.

 

[Eldar]

i´ll be first in line.

Spot taken, sorry Eldar.

And for the 35f/1.4 as well.

May the best man win 8)

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

One thing that jumped out at me about Roger's new article RE: the 5Ds/5dsR was that fact that the Otus 85 outresolved the 300L by almost 24% in the center (on the 5D3). The Otus 85 was stopped down to f/2.8, so that is an advantage, but still... The 300L is one of the sharpest lenses in the world, period.

Those who wanted to see some resolution numbers for an Otus on a high megapixel body should take a look at the numbers here.

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2015/06/canon-5ds-and-5ds-r-initial-resolution-tests

 

[Andyx01]

One thing that jumped out at me about Roger's new article RE: the 5Ds/5dsR was that fact that the Otus 85 outresolved the 300L by almost 24% in the center (on the 5D3). The Otus 85 was stopped down to f/2.8, so that is an advantage, but still... The 300L is one of the sharpest lenses in the world, period.

Those who wanted to see some resolution numbers for an Otus on a high megapixel body should take a look at the numbers here.

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2015/06/canon-5ds-and-5ds-r-initial-resolution-tests

So there you have it, the 300 f/2.8 IS II is 19% sharper in the corner, 5% sharper on average, and within 7% of the Otus in the center. It must be a truely artfull-er ... lens ... with even more beautiful drawing, and umm, It's probably got that magic stuff too.

I suppose if you stitch (16) 300mm 2.8 pictures together you end up with (1) 75mm f/0.75 composite.

Factor in a bit of overlap and you may end up at 85mm.

16 times the resolution of the Otus. not to mention at f/0.75 v.s. 2.8

Stop the otus down to 1.4 and now the differnece is presumably well over 16x in favor of the composite.

And I don't think anyone cares because who is going to seriously stitch 16 images together?

Back on topic - isn't the 55 sharper than the 85 though? For some reason I thought it was....

Thanks for the fence post Eldar - is that the 55mm OTUS? - It was interesting to see the amount of green in the background bokeh, v.s. purple in the foreground bokeh. I would have guessed this to have been from a different lens. That said; do the competing lenses look substantially worse under those conditions?

The amount of vignetting looks like what I would expect.

P.s. Anyone else notice the fly that happend to be right near the focus plane on the left side of the frame?

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

One thing that jumped out at me about Roger's new article RE: the 5Ds/5dsR was that fact that the Otus 85 outresolved the 300L by almost 24% in the center (on the 5D3). The Otus 85 was stopped down to f/2.8, so that is an advantage, but still... The 300L is one of the sharpest lenses in the world, period.

Those who wanted to see some resolution numbers for an Otus on a high megapixel body should take a look at the numbers here.

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2015/06/canon-5ds-and-5ds-r-initial-resolution-tests

So there you have it, the 300 f/2.8 IS II is 19% sharper in the corner, 5% sharper on average, and within 7% of the Otus in the center. It must be a truely artfull-er ... lens ... with even more beautiful drawing, and umm, It's probably got that magic stuff too.

I suppose if you stitch (16) 300mm 2.8 pictures together you end up with (1) 75mm f/0.75 composite.

Factor in a bit of overlap and you may end up at 85mm.

16 times the resolution of the Otus. not to mention at f/0.75 v.s. 2.8

Stop the otus down to 1.4 and now the differnece is presumably well over 16x in favor of the composite.

And I don't think anyone cares because who is going to seriously stitch 16 images together?

Back on topic - isn't the 55 sharper than the 85 though? For some reason I thought it was....

Thanks for the fence post Eldar - is that the 55mm OTUS? - It was interesting to see the amount of green in the background bokeh, v.s. purple in the foreground bokeh. I would have guessed this to have been from a different lens. That said; do the competing lenses look substantially worse under those conditions?

The amount of vignetting looks like what I would expect.

P.s. Anyone else notice the fly that happend to be right near the focus plane on the left side of the frame?

I presume you are looking at the 5DSr results? On a 5DIII the opposite is true.

 

[Andyx01]

Yeah I was - that is interesting!

If the 300 can score 1545 on a 5DS R

Odd that it would score 1050 on a 5D III considering a different lens can score 1300 on that same 5D III.

Is it possible the focus was missed? (the corner still scores better on the 300.) The average score sufferes from the poor center score.