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I have had pretty much all rare 50-ish fast lens out there (Noct, Noctiluxes in all 3 different apertures, new Nikon 58mm 1.4, Zeiss 55mm 1.2, Canon 50 1.0L, Tokyo Kogaku 58mm 1.4 limited edition, Konica Hexanon 50mm/60mm F1.2... etc) with an Otus on pre-order. I thought I'd chime in my 0.02 after a quick testing of Otus today (they were delivering the first 2 they got, one of the owner was nice enough to let me try it).
IMO, nothing comes to be in the same league for resolution power to the Otus. It offers a wide-open sharpness beyond anything I've seen in my experience with standard lenses. I don't think any consumer standard lens currently in production (except maybe the Leica 50APO, but I never had/tested it, can't comment, or some crazy expensive cinema lenses) can produce image equally sharp or anywhere close to Otus. Which is why I'm buying one.
Having said that, I think Otus is not perfect. Images from it lacked unique character, specially in the bokeh rendition. (at least from the 30-ish test shots I got)
Don't get me wrong, the bokeh Otus produces is buttery smooth. But if I were to make a comparo wide open prints from Otus, Sigma 35mm, Nikon 24-70mm, and a Noct, I can immediately tell the print from Noct due to the optical deficiency/problem Noct posseses with the production technology back then. The same goes to many other *legendary* lenses out there.
Otus simply showed us what can be done when there is no compromise (the price) given the modern lens making technology. Unfortunately, that also took away its uniqueness. The Otus is uniquely sharp, but not much else.
To certain extend, I'm glad Nikon kept some uniqueness in the new 58mm and not pursue the absolute optical performance. (although I thought they could do better than this, give me a F1.2 for the love of god)
This is the $0.02 from a 50-ish lens gearhead.
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