Amazing Otus

[BernardLanguillier]

I had the chance to shoot the Otus 55mm f1.4 on the d810 yesterday, and was just amazed by this image.



This is shot at f1.4. The ability of the lens/sensor to retain contrast in the wires in front of the totally blown sun reflection in the sea left me speechless. Amazing performance at f1.4.

The image is in 1920 res but may be displayed at a lower res in the browser.

Cheers,
Bernard

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Very impressive, Bernard.

Are you sure that isn't a pano of some 1200 images?   

Cheers,
Eric

[allegretto]

Amazing imaging and suppression ...!

Now that the 85 has been made, I hope for a wide in the mid to upper 20's...24-28mm in that that region

although perhaps that's a very difficult thing to to, or easier... I don't know enough to say which is which...

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Shouldn't we credit the sensor as well?

[BernardLanguillier]

Shouldn't we credit the sensor as well?

Indeed, and possibly some to Capture One Pro 8 as well. I intend to compare the output of other raw converters to see if they play a role or not.

But if the lenses messes up in the first place, there is little the sensor and processing pipeline can do for sure.

Cheers,
Bernard

[dwswager]

Indeed, and possibly some to Capture One Pro 8 as well. I intend to compare the output of other raw converters to see if they play a role or not.

But if the lenses messes up in the first place, there is little the sensor and processing pipeline can do for sure.

Cheers,
Bernard

Not just the sensor either, but the entire sensor/capture subsystem including the algorithms and electronics driving it.

This is exactly correct for all types of systems.  Most any component plays a part, but as data is passed down the chain, once it is corrupted, no matter how good the remaining elements of the chain, there is nothing they can do to recover, only make the most of what they get.

Consider back to film and you understand why the lens was where the money went.  Cameras pretty much did their thing, but the lens and film were the 2 material elements in the chain that could be controlled.

[synn]

A good performance for sure, but how many folks really need razor sharp in-focus areas at f/1.4? Stop down to more common apertures and I don't see much of an advantage. Add to the fact that this is still, an MF lens.

If they did a wide/ ultrawide Otus with edge to edge sharpness at all apertures, then they have my attention.

[BernardLanguillier]

Very impressive, Bernard.

Are you sure that isn't a pano of some 1200 images?   

I don't know what happened, I must have pressed the shutter by mistake... this is one image only!

Cheers,
Bernard

[BernardLanguillier]

If they did a wide/ ultrawide Otus with edge to edge sharpness at all apertures, then they have my attention.

They are rumored to release a wider lens this year as well. I am afraid it may be a 35mm f1.4, which would be a bit too close to 55mm in my book, but they may as well go for a 24mm, who knows.

I think that 35mm is a very crowded space already with truly excellent lenses from Nikon, Sigma and Zeiss themselves.

Cheers,
Bernard

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi Slobodan,

A good question, but in this case it is mostly about the lens. Modern CMOS sensor have great resistance to electron leakage between the pixels. My understanding is that they essentially have a drain gate taking  care of excessive electrons that otherwise would leak to neighbour pixels. OLP filtering would of course smear the wires a bit.

I am quite impressed, as the Otus has a large number of air to glass surfaces, but it seems that internal flare is well suppressed. I don't have similar images to compare with, but I guess that if Bernard is impressed there is some good reason for it.

Best regards
Erik

Shouldn't we credit the sensor as well?

[Tiger1]

They are rumored to release a wider lens this year as well. I am afraid it may be a 35mm f1.4, which would be a bit too close to 55mm in my book, but they may as well go for a 24mm, who knows.

I think that 35mm is a very crowded space already with truly excellent lenses from Nikon, Sigma and Zeiss themselves.

Cheers,
Bernard

They should do a killer 28mm F1.4 lens. Not super wide but far enough away from the 55mm to make people buy it.

[shadowblade]

They should do a killer 28mm F1.4 lens. Not super wide but far enough away from the 55mm to make people buy it.

They need to do the full lineup, really - 14/15mm, 18mm, 21mm, 35mm, 55mm (done), 85mm, 100mm, 135mm and 200mm. A few tilt-shifts would also be nice, as would some optically-excellent zooms for those who don't need super-fast lenses but could use the versatility (e.g. landscapes)

Sensor resolution is getting to the stage where even their best previous-generation lenses need an update to keep up.

[Torbjörn Tapani]

The Otus (the name of an owl that sees well in the dark) is a line of f/1.4 lenses. If they could make a 15/1.4 that would be great. I don't think we will ever see that. The 135 Apo could be an otus based on performance but it's f/2 and was designed before the Otus line existed. I would not expect a 135 Otus anytime soon.

[BobDavid]

The foliage in the foreground looks icky.

[kers]

Hello Bernard-
it seems you pushed the sunpart a little- did you not? Would like to see how the image would come out of ACR.

Please let me know why you like C1 better then ACR?  Personally I do not like the detail sharpening of C1 ...

[shadowblade]

The Otus (the name of an owl that sees well in the dark) is a line of f/1.4 lenses. If they could make a 15/1.4 that would be great. I don't think we will ever see that. The 135 Apo could be an otus based on performance but it's f/2 and was designed before the Otus line existed. I would not expect a 135 Otus anytime soon.

It's supposed to be fast for the focal length, not necessarily f/1.4.

At 24-85mm, it probably means f/1.4. At 100-135mm, f/2 is fast. At 21mm and below, f/2.8 is fast.

The previous line of Zeiss lenses, e.g. Distagon 15-18-21-35 were good, but struggle to keep up with the newer high-resolution sensors available now. They all need to be updated with the latest high-precision optics to make the most of these sensors.

[NancyP]

I have no interest in trying to lift an f/1.4 135mm or 15mm high performance lens covering full frame. I am still hesitating about the Sigma Art 50mm because of the weight and size.  The he-men around here can plan to hand hold a 200mm  f/1.4 Otus, which would likely resemble the Sigma 200-500mm f/2.8 green rocket launcher sometimes seen on the sidelines/press boxes for MLB or NFL games.
I guess that I would have to try a 21mm f/2.8 Distagon on a D810/ A7r sensor to see the blurriness. That lens looks dang sharp and contrasty on my lowly Canon 6D at f/2.8. The difference between wide open and stopped to optimal aperture is small, compared with most lenses.

[BernardLanguillier]

The previous line of Zeiss lenses, e.g. Distagon 15-18-21-35 were good, but struggle to keep up with the newer high-resolution sensors available now. They all need to be updated with the latest high-precision optics to make the most of these sensors.

Indeed, but that is clearly not the case of the 135mm f2.0 that is at least as good as the Otus.

Cheers,
Bernard

[Paulo Bizarro]

If they did a wide/ ultrawide Otus with edge to edge sharpness at all apertures, then they have my attention.

The existing ZE/ZF 21 f2.8 and 25 f2.0 are already pretty good.

[shadowblade]

The existing ZE/ZF 21 f2.8 and 25 f2.0 are already pretty good.

At Zeiss prices, I expect more than 'pretty good'. Willing to pay for top optical performance.