Review: Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 Apo Planar T*

[Leadfingers]

I'm surprised at the Depth of Field in the sample shots.

At F1.4, I would expect there to be *zero* DOF... but the DOF was surprisingly...deep.


Is that a function of the lens? the full frame camera? distance to subject? Or is it my lack of understanding how DOF works? :\

 

[Sporgon]

Excellent review Dustin. The only downside (for my bank account) is I now know which 85mm to add to my lens collection

Manual focus doesn't bother me as I spent the first 30 years of photography with manual lenses (FD series). And the focus confirmation in the current series of cameras makes it much easier.

Your point about focus confirmation is true. Live View also helps when you have a chance to be a little more deliberate. I've not used any of the better screens for manual focusing, but other have reported that those help, too. My experience is that my keeper rate with manual focus lenses is actually very high; I just take more time at acquisition.

Do you mean you are using the standard 'Brite Screen' in the 6D with the 85 Otus ? If so I'm surprised you're able to get focus at f1.4 with this lens because of that screen showing a dof of about f3.2, unless you are referring to live view, but it doesn't sound as if you are.

Is the sensitivity of the focus confirmation system related to the type of screen used (which I thought only affected the subjective perception of depth of focus)?
If not, Dustin Abbott can use focus confirmation reliably at f/1.4 even when his eyes cannot be trusted.
Curious...

I presume the confirmation dot works from the AF phase detect module and so is not screen dependant. Just means with the standard screen you have to watch for the dot which I find distracting from what else in going on in the 'finder. That also puts an emphasis on AFMA does it not ? What happens if your camera body AF module is slightly out ? Of course you can't AFMA a manual lens !

Actually just thinking about it, maybe you can adjust the camera to correct the in focus confirmation dot.

 

[dancook]

I'm surprised at the Depth of Field in the sample shots.

At F1.4, I would expect there to be *zero* DOF... but the DOF was surprisingly...deep.


Is that a function of the lens? the full frame camera? distance to subject? Or is it my lack of understanding how DOF works? :\

The further the subject from the camera, the greater the DOF will become - but it's all relative when compared to other apertures.

Is there something that says all sample images were shot at 1.4?

 

[Leadfingers]

I'm surprised at the Depth of Field in the sample shots.

At F1.4, I would expect there to be *zero* DOF... but the DOF was surprisingly...deep.


Is that a function of the lens? the full frame camera? distance to subject? Or is it my lack of understanding how DOF works? :\

The further the subject from the camera, the greater the DOF will become - but it's all relative when compared to other apertures.

Is there something that says all sample images were shot at 1.4?

I Was referring to the images in the review video. Most of them are labeled.

 

[danski0224]

And! Do not judge your ability to manually focus by trying manual focus on an AF lens. That is a totally different thing.

Worth repeating.

A dedicated MF lens could have ~270* of rotation on the focusing ring while a Canon EOS EF lens will have significantly less.

Makes a big difference.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

Excellent review Dustin. The only downside (for my bank account) is I now know which 85mm to add to my lens collection

Manual focus doesn't bother me as I spent the first 30 years of photography with manual lenses (FD series). And the focus confirmation in the current series of cameras makes it much easier.

Your point about focus confirmation is true. Live View also helps when you have a chance to be a little more deliberate. I've not used any of the better screens for manual focusing, but other have reported that those help, too. My experience is that my keeper rate with manual focus lenses is actually very high; I just take more time at acquisition.

So does the Otus have focus confirmation?

I am so stunned by those example pictures, they really seem to pop out right of the screen, it feels as if you almost could touch the subjects.

The Otus does have focus confirmation, and, in my experience, it is quite accurate. That isn't always the case with manual focus lenses and focus confirm chips, but my keeper rate with the Otus was very high.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

I'm surprised at the Depth of Field in the sample shots.

At F1.4, I would expect there to be *zero* DOF... but the DOF was surprisingly...deep.


Is that a function of the lens? the full frame camera? distance to subject? Or is it my lack of understanding how DOF works? :\

The further the subject from the camera, the greater the DOF will become - but it's all relative when compared to other apertures.

Is there something that says all sample images were shot at 1.4?

I Was referring to the images in the review video. Most of them are labeled.

The landscape image at f/1.4 was shot at a distance of 75-80 feet away. The depth of field of an 85mm lens at f/1.4 at that distance is slightly more than 20 feet. If you reduce that distance to the subject to 7 feet the depth of field becomes only 2 inches. With most lenses this doesn't really matter - shooting infinity subjects at wide apertures is a joke, but the microcontrast, resolution, and lack of CA on the Otus line makes shooting wide open infinity subjects a reality. That was part of what made the lens so unique.

Here's an image I haven't shared before. Wide Open, medium distance (about 50 feet). Dead branches against a blown out sky. This is wide open (f/1.4). Check out #1) the great detail in the tree (and contrast in this high contrast setting and B) the utter lack of chromatic aberrations/fringing in a scene that would be full of them with many lenses. I have not applied any profile to correct anything. It is a conversion from RAW only (I did remove a distracting power line from the sky)

 

[noncho]

I was on a presentation about the new Zeiss and I can say that this lens is not from my league.

Here is one picture with Otus 85 1.4 on EOS-M (1920x1280):
http://www.nonchoiliev.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/IMG_3172_.jpg

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

And! Do not judge your ability to manually focus by trying manual focus on an AF lens. That is a totally different thing.

Worth repeating.

A dedicated MF lens could have ~270* of rotation on the focusing ring while a Canon EOS EF lens will have significantly less.

Makes a big difference.

Exactly. The worse lenses to manually focus, though, are STM or other focus by wire lenses (Canon 85II is similar). I hate the disconnected feeling and the lag of focusing with those.

I'm reviewing the 24-105 STM right now, and it is still there. Of course, I'm also reviewing the Makro-Planar 50mm f/2 at the moment and when you add the macro range onto a manual focus lens it feels like you could focus at day before getting to infinity! I think I'll keep my 100L Macro!~

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

I was on a presentation about the new Zeiss and I can say that this lens is not from my league.

Here is one picture with Otus 85 1.4 on EOS-M (1920x1280):
http://www.nonchoiliev.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/IMG_3172_.jpg

That must have been a very interesting balance! I never put the Otus on my M. I've got the Zeiss Distagon 15mm right now for review from Zeiss - I'll have to throw it on my M just for the fun of it.

 

[Click]

Thanks Dustin. Great review. I enjoy watching it.

 

[Leadfingers]

One other noob'ish question...

The bokeh on this lens seems really smooth and soft. As opposed to the bokeh I get on my cheaper lenses which is very "computer pixelly"...Is that generally a sign of a quality lens?

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

One other noob'ish question...

The bokeh on this lens seems really smooth and soft. As opposed to the bokeh I get on my cheaper lenses which is very "computer pixelly"...Is that generally a sign of a quality lens?

The bokeh is exceptionally good from the Otus, yes. There are some much cheaper lenses that produce very nice bokeh, however. The most notable is the Canon 135L.

I'm not quite sure what you are describing, but if you are shooting with narrow aperture zoom lenses (f/5.6) you frequently will not have much subject separation and your backgrounds will look more busy. This is less true with longer telephoto lenses, as f/5.6 can be a very narrow depth of field at longer focal lengths.

 

[Lawliet]

As opposed to the bokeh I get on my cheaper lenses which is very "computer pixelly"...Is that generally a sign of a quality lens?

Some lenses have their spherical aberrations(those causes fast lenses to appear soft and low contrast when used wide open) overcorrected. That makes the in focus areas appear extra sharp and gets them higher marks in the commonl tests, but the bokeh appear tends to busy or nervous. (Optical image stabilization can exacerbate the issue.)
Zeiss prefers the spot on approach.

 

[can0nfan2379]

I wonder whether Canon or Nikon will ever think about a DSLR with a really good optical viewfinder optimised for manual focusing.

Greetings Andy

^^^^ This....I own the Zeiss 135 APO, stunning lens, wish my 5D3 allowed precision screens and perhaps a microprism screen or even more accurate Focus Dot Confirmation. Every manufacturer right now is really pushing video features, I would like an optimized stills camera.

 

[Hjalmarg1]

Great Review - and thank you a lot. Having the 1.4/50mm from Canon (and a very old 1.4/50 from Zeiss from my Contax times) as well as the 1.4 85mm Sigma (and the 1.4/85mm Zeiss Planar as well for Contax) I love these lenses!!

Now I know that I will not buy Sigma ART Lenses... I will grab all money together and wait for the OTUS....

You are obviously comfortable with manual focus lenses. Not everyone is, but the Otus line certainly rewards anyone who is willing to A) spend the money and B) do the focusing themselves!

+1, for a pixel peeper Otus would be the best option but, for regular photographers Canon 85/1.2L is as good in terms of sharpness and hopefully the new Sigma 85/1.4 (Art) if release will follow very close the Otus in terms of IQ and sharpness

 

[JoFT]

Excellent review! I always enjoy your reviews.

I am purposely staying away from this 85 and the 55 Otus. I know exactly what will happen if I go near them…

That is probably wise ;D

I totally agree, that´s wise. I made the failure@ photokina...

http://delightphoto.zenfolio.com/blog/2014/9/photokina-2014---lens-tryouts

And now being away from it... I do not think I will get one of the SIGMA ART Lenses...

 

[Hill Benson]

I really need to avoid these reviews of the Otis 85 because the more I see and hear about the lens the more justified the price tag becomes to me. I was lucky enough to feel the build quality of the 85/1.4 at a presentation and it felt nothing short of phenomenal. The movement of the focus ring was the smoothest I had ever felt. If dare rent the lens for a weekend I can imagine it being very hard to hand back!

Great review Dustin.

 

[NancyP]

I don't expect to see one anytime soon. I expect that I will get the Sigma Art 50, which is very sharp wide open, as I don't need the extra 5% of Zeiss goodness. I am contemplating the Zeiss ApoSonnar 135, which is both sharp and bokehlicious. But really, lens pron is fun but not what I need to be thinking about from a photographic learning standpoint. Gear is good enough, by and large. Yes, if you have a 6D, the S screen is a HUGE help in focusing manual lenses - I have some old soldiers from the 1960s that I am using (with adapters) for interim, until I fill in a few holes in my EF range of lenses (I have EF-S lenses). I need to learn external lighting (Speedliteing), and need eventually to add another speedlite and stand/clamps and decent-sized reflector and grids and a softbox and radio triggers to my basic 580EXII, correction gels, StoFen dome, Rogue Flashbender reflector/flag/add-on diffuser panel, and one nano stand.

 

[JoFT]

I really need to avoid these reviews of the Otis 85 because the more I see and hear about the lens the more justified the price tag becomes to me. I was lucky enough to feel the build quality of the 85/1.4 at a presentation and it felt nothing short of phenomenal. The movement of the focus ring was the smoothest I had ever felt. If dare rent the lens for a weekend I can imagine it being very hard to hand back!

Great review Dustin.

You are 100% right, I totally agree!!