Image via Digicameinfo
What you see here is the new Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4. And from what I heard this lens should beat the current Zeiss Otus 55mm optical performance and therefore become the best lens on market! It comes in Canon and Nikon mount and if you adapt it on a MFT camera you would get a nice 170mm fast prime lens. Or just use the Metabones Speedbooster (here at BH) and you will go back to the “original” focal length and gain 1 stop too!
Don’t know if such a lens is something for you considering the $4,000 price 🙁
95 Responses
The Panasonic 42.5mm f/1.2 is a relative bargain next to the Zeiss Otus 85mm. 🙂
any idea how much the Otus will be?
Could be wrong, but thought I’d read that the Zeiss Otus 85mm would cost US$4,000. Not quite an impulse buy… 😉
wow,and nobody complains about that? nevertheless, lens wise an interesting one
🙂 I’m sure MANY complain — we photographers enjoy complaining about everything! 🙂 But if this is indeed the “best” performing optic EVER, that’s pretty remarkable. I’m with you though. If I were spending $4K on photography gear, I’d spend it more diversely. Fortunately for us, the Panasonic GM5 will likely cost 1/4 as much and offer at least as much fun!
FL wise , I think it would be interesting, as you i am curious how it performs, but since I am a one fl user, it would not stay in use for a whole shoot, as its rather long. Maybe when i win a lottery or something
Wow – and with a focal range of 170mm I do not think many will fork out that kind of money – so will it be 3 times better then the Panasonic 42.5mm F1.2 ?? I really really doubt it – so a very expensive blue Zeiss logo
It is an exercise in chasing perfection and a brand building marketing mission. In that context, it will likely succeed, if it delivers the quality promised. There’s a lot of that in the Panasonic-“Leica” too, albeit, at a more M43 appropriate price. I like these sorts of releases, even if I never buy them. 🙂
Totally agree – it is a spectacular lens and has IS – and a better focal range in my mind – many of the newer Zeiss lenses like for the FE Sony mount have been just so so – not spectacular but still very pricy – so not every lens with the Zeiss logo is worth the high price – so we will find out about the quality soon – I opt for the Panasonic 42.5 F1.2 with IS and quality construction
I have the Olympus 45 (great quality, but really great portability) and the Olympus 75 for blowing out the background. It is a little long, but not uncomfortably so. It is probably my favorite lens for the system. Still, that Leicasonic beckons… 🙂
Agreed. I saw some real world shots of the Loxia line and I was pretty unimpressed with the Bokeh quality. Not that smooth and pretty busy overall for such a pricey set of glass.
The best thing about FE mount is its placebo effect. I’m yet to see a lens that approaches wide angle without it being soft in the corners. What purpose does all that resolution serve if it’s wasted… if I have to crop I might just as well use a crop sensor with quality glass… end result the same but cheaper.
>Or just use the Metabones Speedbooster (here at BH) and you will go back to the “original” focal length
Um, this requires 0.5x reducers whereas Speedbosters are 0.7x
You’re right. Metabones reduces focal length by 0,71 and gains 1 stop. So you’ll get a 170×0,71=120 (FF equal) F1.0. Fascinating, bit I wouldn’t pay that much for it.
Anyone know whatever happened with this old Olympus patent:
http://www.43rumors.com/ft3-olympus-patent-rumors-adapter-with-integrated-wide-lens-and-adapter-with-swd-auto-focus/
Sounds like a Speedbooster, but specifically for OM to MFT.
ANTI-ZEISS ,because they have racism to M4/3 sensor
racism? how come?
goto top->search “ZEISS”,
they will released lens for big sensor that get max performance to optic(their lens)
it mean lens format to FF,ASP-C
,the others size(sensor) was not.
* include 4/3,nikon cx
sizeism 😀
well, it’s logical if someone wants to have maximum IQ he/she goes for the larger sensor.
http://www.43rumors.com/zeiss-about-making-m43-lenses-we-have-not-made-a-decision-on-that-yet/
i am not suprise because alliance between Sony and Ziess,Sony talk about NEX bigger sensor better qualilty ,and ziess follow.
racism is a hard word, they just prefer other format and i can undrstand them.
Well, Germans have a history
Racism isn’t the right word.
Zeiss has relationship with Sony (like Leica with Panasonic). They’re just designing to their market.
There’s plenty of great glass available to M43. How about a vintage Zeiss lens adapted to your M43 🙂
Really? What is the right word? How “smart” is the vintage Zeiss on m43? Keep us amused sunshine.
In your case the right word appears to be “insecure” SD.
Why so angry? And why so many names?
This guy is one of the “best” here, and he tries to put up a fight whenever he’s called out on his nonsense. Like a hysterical poof, really. Right “zeikon” (LOL)?
I always enjoy it when your screen names talk to each other SD.
And thank you for putting my name in quotes. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery buddy.
Are you going to take any pictures this weekend?
You have to learn the art of standing back, so you don’t make yourself look too pointless.
Wow, you sound really reasonable TomFriSD
Until you read any of your other posts.
Get out and take some pictures this weekend.
Standing back would be better, you already said enough dumb things.
How about species-ism?
Is that really a news-item? That way, you can feature any old Minolta lens.
Admin decides whats posted here. I have no problem if its either news or not
Zeiss on m43? This is even “better” than EF on m43 LOL.
Totally agree. If you’re going to adapt oversized lenses, might as well make it the good stuff.
Leave EF to the soccer moms.
You’re coming around ‘Tom’.
One of the stupidest comments of the week, amid hard competition… Are you already 12? Don’t bother answering, it might strain you.
Lighten up Francis.
If you want to come in here and do nothing but complain, don’t be surprised when people make fun of you.
But thank you for standing up for soccer mom SLR’s everywhere.
It’s funny that you try to take a sovereign stance, when you are desperate to be taken seriously. I bet you get lots of wedgies.
We’re all impressed SD.
Will you be taking pictures this weekend?
One wedgie for our loser…
I’ll take that as a ‘no’?
Wedgie…
Zeiss on m43 is heathen, beside being dumb.
I always like it when you type like you’re wearing an ascot SD. I mean Tom. I mean DickHarryVeizblahbideeblahblah. All the same.
Will you be taking pictures this weekend?
Otus should do an ad campaign. “Otus, you’ve run out of excuses” (as in “can’t blame it on the lens)
by not going for Full frame Sony A7R!
Zeiss is pumping out lots of lenses – for Sony, Fuji and now M43 – I have read many reviews of the various Zeiss lenses – and it is a mixed bag – some very nice and live up tot he name others are just not mentioned in a way to keep it huss huss that they are nothing special just decent but with flaws and really do not justify the high price tag –
85mm is a rather long focal range as in FF terms 170mm F1.4 – so maybe the competitor is the super super nice Olympus 75mm F1.8 – so it will be some stiff competition for Zeiss –
I am very happy with my Panasonic Leica 25mm F1.4 and the 45mm F1.8 Olympus – I think I would prefer the Panasonic Leica 42.5mm F1.2 with AF and IS over this Zeiss Otus – I would expect the price to be $1000 at least – seems every Zeiss lens starts at $950 🙂 I suspect this lens does not have IS – so hard to get excited over yet another Zeiss as truly not all of them recently have been that impressive – good but not spectacular as the prices are always way high
Indeed. The logo is not a guarantee but a guide. We’ll see what the tests show. I suspect it will deliver the goods. And I still won’t buy one. 🙂
The Schneider Kreuznach rumored lenses will be the German pricey option for MFT.
Only if being 7-25mm range. Otherwise way too long focal lengths and big.
For a m43 sensor, it makes sense, especially when used with a speed booster on a GM1 or the rumored GM5. LOL!
I just don’t see why I would want to put a large expesive FF lens on an MFT camera?
Makes absolutely no sense to this photographer…if I spend that kind of money, I am going to put it on my FF and get the most out of it…but to each there own? 🙂
Putting the FF Zeiss Otus 85mm through an adapter for anything, including M43, would likely compromise the hairsplitting, pixel peeping “best” specs needed to justify its price, making it totally a “because you can” type of exercise.
exactly. You’ll likely get much better results with a Nocticron that is actually designed for this format than adapting the Otus.
That’s why I always insist on m4/3 direct mount lenses on the format , no adapter & speed boaster .
+1000 or the Oly 75mm!
yes we got your point in this already since that 85mm L f/1.2 discussion a while ago and you own both formats, in which it makes sense in most scenarios.
Some people tend to think using an adapter is a solution. It’s not. A slightly misalignment of an adapter would degrade a lens significantly. When spending that kind of money for a lens, you want to squeeze every bit of the resolution. But with an adapter or worse, a speedbooster!? Are you joking?
The whole idea is just stupid an wrong…I love my MFT cameras, but when it comes to the otus (any of them) put them on a Canon 5DIII, NIkon D810 or a Sony A7whatever…or don’t bother. Use them for what they are made for. Duh. Puuuuleeeeese. LOL!
Using this huge and uber expensive ff lens on a 16mp mft sensor is stupid….
easy to come with such opinion, but takes more to include the reasoning, as most in photography involves a healthy dose of subjective matter.
Sony A mount wasn’t taken into consideration by Zeiss with the Otus line because the lack of a high mp sensor (like the one in the D800/D810) so yes, using an Otus lens on a mft sensor with 16mp is stupid 🙂 considering also the size of the MFT sensor and the fact that MFT is about being compact and not about the best IQ like the Otus is targeting. An Otus lens will outperform every MFT sensor and you won’t see much benefits in the IQ department vs. a MFT native good lens like the Pana 42.5 f1.2 OIS.
yes maybe but still, subjectively speaking, it would be interestin to try every lens on another mount, especially with mirrorless cameras, so i see no stupidity here. but ofcourse you dont have to agree with this dude.
I agree. There are better ways to spend 4k in m4/3. Maybe to buy a ticket to Istanbul for some excellent photo opportunies?
So the Otus lens is available for Canon because their 22 MP 5DIII has a higher resolution than Sony’s 24 MP A99 II?
The mk III is selling very well while A99 sales were poor all the time. No third party lens manufacturer will miss Canon because of the sales, even if right now Canon lacks behind Nikon in sensor output.
I’ve seen some pretty spectacular videos shot wide open with the 55mm because of it’s performance. I think any of the Otus line would look pretty great in 4K on the GH4.
Posts regarding expensive equipment always generate comments like these. Like I always say. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it.
Like I always have said: if idiots could fly , we could’nt see the sky
I don’t think you go back to the original FL. Wouldn’t you go to 135mm with the speed booster??
He made a mistake. You get 121mm f1.0 in this case sharp as F’*-%%
You get 121 mm F2, or 60 mm F1, but not 121 mm F1. You also get extra aberrations and flare. No free lunches my friend.
Depends how you look at it or think of it.
And yes we all know equivalence is a great conversation starter…
120.7mm at f1 using 0.71x .
The dof character won’t change with a speedbooster.
60 mm F1 mounted on m43 has a comparable field of view to 120 mm in front of a 24×36 (commonly named FF) sensor. F-stop remains the same. Lens+Metabones means focal length of lens+aperture x 0,71; F1,4×0,71 = F1 (0,994).
Zeiss already exist on MFT system. Tip: cine lens zeiss with mft mount.
Lol admin, have you been smoking the good stuff again. Next time before you post a headline like this, stop and think for a minute how it sounds: it sounds like the 85mm is coming as native m43 mount! You should really be more careful with your words.
Reminds me of how the Drudge likes to sensationalize headlines too.
@Narretz,
make no mistake, that was
a very conscious and calculated head line 🙂
cool.. not sure about the metabones speed booster comment, however… if I’m not mistaken, at best, the speed booster for any lens to MFT mount will give it more of a crop factor a bit better than APS-C (I forget what the magnification or crop factor # is), but not Full Frame.. still pretty nice and good, but not original full frame focal length (and f-stop equivalent)…. I could be wrong, but that’s what I last remembered or know about it..
A speedbooster will lose you resolution, contrast and probably colour fidelity as well. Any extra glass you add to an optical path will likely degrade the quality of final result unless it was designed in from scratch by the original designer.
Even one of those ‘lens protecting’ UV filters most people use is likely degrading the final image quality they get.
What comes to filters, test yourself and see good quality filter hits like 0-1% to quality. Bad can be terrible.
And metabones speedbooster adds sharpness as it makes light density higher. A bad lens comes sharper, but if we have sharper lens before adapter, it can get much sharper than both combined.
Still, the difference is non-critical as only pixel peepers cares about such a sharpness.
It won’t lose resolution… in fact, because it concentrates light it makes original lens flaws less apparent.
indeed a misunderstood thing by some when talking about a FL reducer which has opposite effect of a tele extender.
Every digital camera is “full frame”. Please don’t use film camera terms (“Half-Frame” and “Full-Frame” cameras using same 135 film) as it doesn’t work. Either use “35mm” or “Small Format”.
The metabones speedbooster gives 0.71x. So 10mm x 2 x 0.71 = 14.2mm.
That would be very nice ultra wide angle. Comparable to Olympus/Panasonic 7-14mm but just couple stops faster.
Bla Bla Bla… I know camera stuff… Bla Bla Bla… 😉
I’m not sure that the the optical quality of the Metabone is good enough for this lens.
I’m not so sure if it makes any sense to stick the Otus line onto an m4/3 sensor. I used to do that with my Leica M lenses but then I found the magic sort of disappears. Especially with Mandler era lenses, where the magic is in the corners and the m4/3 sensor of course snips that part off. I think there are far better ways to spend the best part of $4k.
Partly I can dig your motivation. I used an Helios 40-2 which had its well known famous defects in the areas outside the centermiddle part which is sometimes hard to take advantage off on (M)FT
Am I right to understand that the filter thread is 98mm? Kinda defeats the concept of mft (portability), no?
defeats at times that you dont need it…you want to be small alll the time? 🙂
It remains to be seen if this lens is actually better than the Sigma 35mm f1.4, which costs under $1000
It will be better than any 85mm on the market. That’s the entire purpose of the Otus line. Zeiss wouldn’t release it otherwise. Now, how much better for that extra $2,000-$3,000 do you get? No one will know until they release it, but I don’t think there is as much room for improvement as there was in the 50mm focal length. Also, no doubt Sigma will release an updated 85mm Art that will get you 97% of this new Otus for 1/4 the money.
who is going to put this amazing lens on m43 sensor, is this is a joke?