Zeiss Otus 1.4/85: The New World-Class Lens

[Eldar]

Folks, you are comparing this lens to all the wrong stuff!

A Koetsu Coralstone Platinum Phono Cartridge is $14.950, but an Ortofon Quintet MC cartridge goes for $299 and plays the same LPs

Ch. Mouton Rothschild 1945 is $23.000 (last Christie´s auction), but a Mouton Cadet 2011 shares part of the name and goes for $6.99

A black premium 14mm Mikimoto pearl is $2.000, but a synthetic black pearl you´d take for the real thing (if the girl is pretty enough) is $3.50.

A Leica APO-Macro-Summarit-S 120mm f/2.5 CS Lens is $8.495, but of course it has AF ...

The list can be made a lot longer and when you have made enough of these comparisons, you´ll end up thinking $4500 is a bargain

 

[can0nfan2379]

I love the 85mm focal length and if this was $2800 - $3200 I'd probably buy it in a heart beat. I have a couple of Zeiss ZE lenses and I don't have a problem using them with MF and I love the build quality and feel of the focus ring. Granted they are NOT useful for anything that is moving but as long as your subject matter is holding still, all is well.

For $4500 however that could buy me a nice used 24-70II, 70-200II and I'd still have about a $1000 left over for a used 16-35 f4 IS.

 

[racebit]

I think my Samyang 85/1.4 at €300 is good enough for me. Also MF as the Zeiss.
Moreover in the future mirrorless will take over so I don't want to invest too much in the EF mount.

 

[RGomezPhotos]

Zeiss is all I use for my fashion and portrait photography. Ever since my first outing with a rental, I fell in love with them. They are definitely not for everyone and may not be the best in any one category. But overall and how happy I am with my images, there is nothing else than Zeiss for fashion and portrait.

I simply hope that the new model Canon cameras take advantage of these new lenses from Zeiss. On a 5DMKIII, you'll get a 30% increase in sharpness over the older lenses. But is it worth a 400% price difference? Not with these cameras. Sharpness isn't everything.

Give me a 20MP Medium Format camera and I'd be very happy. You can't touch the detail and color resolution with FF. Of course, that would include an amazing Leaf shutter lenses which would give me a 1600/sec sync speed. No HSS! But all this comes at a cost. 2x at least the most expensive Canon system including an Otus lens. And the Pentax system is completely inadequate on so many levels.

If a new Canon body matched with this Otus would give me 90% of that MF look, a sync speed of 1/500 or better and close to a 1DX price, that would be tough to turn down. As a Canon user, there is absolutely no need to upgrade my cameras or lenses until this happens.

 

[sagittariansrock]

I will love to read about this newest Otus though, and see what beauty it is capable of!!!

An example that sometimes people just admire lenses, or the images they create. Without actually meaning to buy it

In response to:

"I'm sure many, including myself, will love to see such a lens." (So.... Are you just going to look at it?)

 

[vdx]

Folks, you are comparing this lens to all the wrong stuff!

A Koetsu Coralstone Platinum Phono Cartridge is $14.950, but an Ortofon Quintet MC cartridge goes for $299 and plays the same LPs

Ch. Mouton Rothschild 1945 is $23.000 (last Christie´s auction), but a Mouton Cadet 2011 shares part of the name and goes for $6.99

A black premium 14mm Mikimoto pearl is $2.000, but a synthetic black pearl you´d take for the real thing (if the girl is pretty enough) is $3.50.

A Leica APO-Macro-Summarit-S 120mm f/2.5 CS Lens is $8.495, but of course it has AF ...

The list can be made a lot longer and when you have made enough of these comparisons, you´ll end up thinking $4500 is a bargain

Yeah, it's all about one's income and priorities. Personally, I would take a "sigma" thing for about 1 grand and get a Fuji X-T1+56/1.2 plus a nice holiday for the rest. I'd enjoy the "wrong stuff"...

 

[thepancakeman]

Honest question: who buys these kinds of lenses? What I mean is this--other "high end" anything is pretty much bought by people than enjoy whatever "it" is and have the income. Pros on the other hand, not necessarily. So are there pros who can honestly say that buying such a lens will improve their income/client list or is it merely the pursuit of perfection?

Please note, I have no problem with the pursuit of perfection. I'm just trying to understand if it fits into the photography world in a similar fashion to industries I'm more familiar with such as high-end audio.

 

[mackguyver]

Please note, I have no problem with the pursuit of perfection. I'm just trying to understand if it fits into the photography world in a similar fashion to industries I'm more familiar with such as high-end audio.

Manual focus=tube amplifiers or analog volume dials. Build quality=toroidal transformers & milled aluminum rack mount chassis. All that special glass=Burr-Brown DAC 192Khz/24-Bit. Zeiss=McIntosh, or any of the other high end analog + latest tech audio companies.

 

[ahsanford]

Apparently Zeiss (unlike Canon or Sigma [cough]) has had the vision to get early copies of this new lens out to neutral photographers for review. Two links worth checking out:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/News/News-Post.aspx?News=11468

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Lens-Product-Images.aspx?Lens=957&LensComp=917&LensComp2=397

Spoiler -- TDP hasn't had a review yet, but clearly Bryan Carnathan has had the lens in his possession long enough to drum up these comparison shots. I look forward to his review... even if I'll never buy a manual focus lens.

- A

 

[RLPhoto]

Zeiss is all I use for my fashion and portrait photography. Ever since my first outing with a rental, I fell in love with them. They are definitely not for everyone and may not be the best in any one category. But overall and how happy I am with my images, there is nothing else than Zeiss for fashion and portrait.

I simply hope that the new model Canon cameras take advantage of these new lenses from Zeiss. On a 5DMKIII, you'll get a 30% increase in sharpness over the older lenses. But is it worth a 400% price difference? Not with these cameras. Sharpness isn't everything.

Give me a 20MP Medium Format camera and I'd be very happy. You can't touch the detail and color resolution with FF. Of course, that would include an amazing Leaf shutter lenses which would give me a 1600/sec sync speed. No HSS! But all this comes at a cost. 2x at least the most expensive Canon system including an Otus lens. And the Pentax system is completely inadequate on so many levels.

If a new Canon body matched with this Otus would give me 90% of that MF look, a sync speed of 1/500 or better and close to a 1DX price, that would be tough to turn down. As a Canon user, there is absolutely no need to upgrade my cameras or lenses until this happens.

MF is not as expensive as it used to be if your willing to look at older systems. I was able to jump into Hassy MF and I'm just an average professional at best. Hassys lenses are very reasonable on the used market and it's got a good size market for MF.

I could buy this otus or a HC 210mm + HC 35mm/100mm HC on the used market. Even to some MF lenses the otus is really pricey.

 

[eml58]

Folks, you are comparing this lens to all the wrong stuff!

A Koetsu Coralstone Platinum Phono Cartridge is $14.950, but an Ortofon Quintet MC cartridge goes for $299 and plays the same LPs

Ch. Mouton Rothschild 1945 is $23.000 (last Christie´s auction), but a Mouton Cadet 2011 shares part of the name and goes for $6.99

A black premium 14mm Mikimoto pearl is $2.000, but a synthetic black pearl you´d take for the real thing (if the girl is pretty enough) is $3.50.

A Leica APO-Macro-Summarit-S 120mm f/2.5 CS Lens is $8.495, but of course it has AF ...

The list can be made a lot longer and when you have made enough of these comparisons, you´ll end up thinking $4500 is a bargain

Love it, have another to add that works for me.

Bower & Wilkins Nautilus speakers cost $90,000 a pair, a pair of Shure earphones cost $500, each have their place in the Market, I own the Nautilis speakers & enjoy them immensely, my son owns the Shure earphones & enjoys them immensely, he will never convince me we are listening to the same quality of music, how far apart are we, pretty sure it's not $85,500 apart but that's not the point, it's what you are prepared to outlay for that little bit (in this case, a lot) of upside. Although he does have a good point when he suggests the Nautilis speakers would look a bit ridiculous strapped to the sides of my Head.

Those that can afford the Otus 85, and feel it has a part to play in their Photography, will outlay the money & based on my own experience of the Otus 55, are likely to be Happy with the decision, those that can't afford the Otus will either quietly decide it's not for them & enjoy their Canon 85f/1.2 (or wait for Sigma to produce the 85 Art), while others will drop verbal bricks from a great height on the Otus for no other reason than, it's "expensive".

But for those People fortunately there is Sigma, and of course Sigma doesn't go overboard with the Marketing Blurb, do they ??

 

[FramerMCB]

For those wondering about the $$$/Value ratio for a Zeiss Otus lens, think of it in car terms. A Zeiss is like owning a Porcshe 918 Hybrid. Foolishly impractical for most of us, due mainly to cost, and for some due to family/personal space requirements. But oh, to get behind that wheel and zoom it around the Nurbring track, or out on the Autobahn for a weekend! If money were not an object for me, I would certainly consider these OTUS lenses. However, for now, I will stick with the Sigma Art options...35mm f1.4 and now the 50mm f1.4. For the price of the Zeiss you could own both of these, plus the highly rated Sigma 18-35 or the Canon 16-35mm f2.8 II plus a 6D...

 

[RobertP]

I know its the wrong website but if someone paid me to shoot fashion I'd be very interested in pairing this lens with a Nikon D810. I wonder how good the prints would look in a magazine or blown up to poster size.

You can bet if I had this lens I'd find some way of mentioning that I using the world leading Zeiss lenses somewhere in my marketing pitch.

 

[KAS]

Zeiss is all I use for my fashion and portrait photography. Ever since my first outing with a rental, I fell in love with them. They are definitely not for everyone and may not be the best in any one category. But overall and how happy I am with my images, there is nothing else than Zeiss for fashion and portrait.

I simply hope that the new model Canon cameras take advantage of these new lenses from Zeiss. On a 5DMKIII, you'll get a 30% increase in sharpness over the older lenses. But is it worth a 400% price difference? Not with these cameras. Sharpness isn't everything.

Give me a 20MP Medium Format camera and I'd be very happy. You can't touch the detail and color resolution with FF. Of course, that would include an amazing Leaf shutter lenses which would give me a 1600/sec sync speed. No HSS! But all this comes at a cost. 2x at least the most expensive Canon system including an Otus lens. And the Pentax system is completely inadequate on so many levels.

If a new Canon body matched with this Otus would give me 90% of that MF look, a sync speed of 1/500 or better and close to a 1DX price, that would be tough to turn down. As a Canon user, there is absolutely no need to upgrade my cameras or lenses until this happens.

I agree with this 100%. I still haven't really upgraded from the 1DsIII, other than a secondary 5d3 for low ISO work. I've been waiting since pre-1Dx days...great for the wallet, though.

 

[gsealy]

I'm sure these are wonder optics that live up to their billing, regardless of how overblown some of the verbiage is in the marketing slicks.

But for my money, I think I would pour my $ into a medium format system for portraits before I considered the Otus lenses. I could do a lot more with, say, a Pentax 645Z and a couple of lenses, than by adding the Otus lenses to my lineup.

Just my take on them.

Doesn't mean I won't lust after this 85mm...

How much better is this lens compared to the Canon EF 85mm F1.2L II? Is it worth over twice as much? I don't know and I am not trying to be cynical. I would just like to hear what people say. Thanks.

 

[Phenix205]

They should have some built in variable ND Filter so that it can be used under bright daily light wide open. Any ND filter or any filter put on it won't have the same Carl Zeiss quality.

 

[RGomezPhotos]

Zeiss is all I use for my fashion and portrait photography. Ever since my first outing with a rental, I fell in love with them. They are definitely not for everyone and may not be the best in any one category. But overall and how happy I am with my images, there is nothing else than Zeiss for fashion and portrait.

I simply hope that the new model Canon cameras take advantage of these new lenses from Zeiss. On a 5DMKIII, you'll get a 30% increase in sharpness over the older lenses. But is it worth a 400% price difference? Not with these cameras. Sharpness isn't everything.

Give me a 20MP Medium Format camera and I'd be very happy. You can't touch the detail and color resolution with FF. Of course, that would include an amazing Leaf shutter lenses which would give me a 1600/sec sync speed. No HSS! But all this comes at a cost. 2x at least the most expensive Canon system including an Otus lens. And the Pentax system is completely inadequate on so many levels.

If a new Canon body matched with this Otus would give me 90% of that MF look, a sync speed of 1/500 or better and close to a 1DX price, that would be tough to turn down. As a Canon user, there is absolutely no need to upgrade my cameras or lenses until this happens.

I agree with this 100%. I still haven't really upgraded from the 1DsIII, other than a secondary 5d3 for low ISO work. I've been waiting since pre-1Dx days...great for the wallet, though.

Totally. That's the way I look at it. If you have a scene with good and plentiful light, will you be able to tell the image difference between a 35mm digital camera made in 2007 and another from 2014? I seriously doubt it. In fact, I know a full time, successful sports photographer who still uses his two 2005 Canon 1D MKII Ns! That camera has a great AF system even by today's standards and his type of work doesn't need great ISO. He's replaced the shutters a few times. But they keep on ticking. No problems. His work is always published and he makes posters from his work. All on a 2005 digital camera.

I'd like to get at least 1 1DX because that's a camera you can use for a good 10 years. It's a great investment and built to last. I shoot much more than just fashion and portraits and it can easily handle all that other work. If I didn't, I'd be happy with my current gear and go MF when it's time to make the jump.

 

[PureClassA]

I love how this chain moved into high end audio. Talking about the toys I used to work with and sell some of... ;D

 

[Maximilian]

Honestly I don't understand, why people who don't know enough of photography get paid for such... yeah, you got it... moronic marketing blurb!

IMHO this is what sells Leica's - the quality of the 'image' is more important than the image quality

Of course you're right. But is this press release good sign of a high quality of the 'image' ?
IM not so HO really not! It is sort of slipslop not worth of a brand like Leica.

 

[Eldar]

Love it, have another to add that works for me.

Bower & Wilkins Nautilus speakers cost $90,000 a pair ...

Well Edward, you live a hard life. Using a pair of Nautilus as headphones requires a phenomenal physique

For those of you who have not seen these, an image is attached. People (a very few I admit) buy Moore sculptures for millions of dollars. With the Nautilus you get something just as beautiful with the additional feature of producing mind blowing sound quality. I must admit I wonder what other components you have in your sound system ...

I do not have Nautilus. I have been an electrostatic freak since I got my first Quad ESL-63s in the mid 80ties. And using them as a metaphor for lenses, my current Martin Logan speakers produce phenomenal midrange and a beautiful soundstage, at the expense of a slightly less impressive bass. A bit like an 85/1.2L II, with a phenomenal center, beautiful bokeh, but an issue with CA. I'm sure the Otus 85/1.4 will be the equivalent to the Nautilus.