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Archive 2014 · Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 APO Planar T*

  
 
BostonGreg
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p.16 #1 · p.16 #1 · Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 APO Planar T*


wayne seltzer wrote:
Thanks ZoneV for the info!
Look forward to this Otus 24/1.4, should be a great lens!


Is there really an Otus 24 coming out?



Nov 22, 2014 at 10:03 PM
wiseguy010
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p.16 #2 · p.16 #2 · Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 APO Planar T*


BostonGreg wrote:
Is there really an Otus 24 coming out?


There is some rumour about it:

http://www.dslr-forum.de/showpost.php?p=12599179&postcount=96




Nov 23, 2014 at 11:02 AM
Vancouver47
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p.16 #3 · p.16 #3 · Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 APO Planar T*


phuang3 wrote:
Just read the review and did a comparison on Otus 55 and 85. It appears that this 85mm is weaker at edge. I looks like the 55mm version is the best performer.



I have both Otus lenses, but have only shot the 85 for the past two months, mostly in natural light. So far I have to conclude the 55 is better balanced. The 55 may be slightly sharper, colour and micro contrast are a hair better. The 85 is very sharp but contrast is different and I find I occasionally feel the need to cut back contrast in post.(fall/winter light??) It's early, but there is no doubt, nothing else is close to either lens. One thing that is missed by the 50 Art and other sharp lens advocates is the Otus difference is much more than just sharpness.

Edited on Dec 07, 2014 at 08:50 AM · View previous versions



Nov 23, 2014 at 10:42 PM
Vancouver47
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p.16 #4 · p.16 #4 · Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 APO Planar T*


DmitriM wrote:
I've got to say, 85mm @ 1.4 is incredibly hard to manual focus. Buying a manual focus lens for $4000 is beyond stupid. I can't believe there are people who are actually even considering it, in hopes it will help them in some mysterious way to become a better photographer. Aside of slightly sharper glass that will NOT translate in real life AT ALL, there's just not a single reason to buy it. Well, you will impress fellow photographers here,but that's about it. Even if it had autofocus, the real-life difference between this lens and say Sigma or Canon's version
...Show more

"They mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for real world environment" This is the only comment that is correct in your diatribe. Yes the Otus lenses are very sharp, but you have obviously never shot with either Otus or you would understand their difference is far beyond sharpness.

Your comment about manual focus and f/1.4 DOF ridiculous since very few users of these shallow DOF lenses rely upon AF. Most fine tune with manual focus, but the Otus lenses have much longer 270 degree focus throw making fine focus much easier than every other AF lens.



Nov 23, 2014 at 11:10 PM
phuang3
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p.16 #5 · p.16 #5 · Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 APO Planar T*


Vancouver47 wrote:
I have both Otus lenses, but have only shot the 85 for the past two months, mostly in natural light. So far I have to conclude the 55 is better balanced. The 55 is slightly sharper, colour and micro contrast are a hair better. The 85 is still very sharp but contrast is different and I find I occasionally feel the need to cut back contrast in post.(fall/winter light??) It's early, but there is no doubt, nothing else is close to either lens. One thing that is missed by the 50 Art and other sharp lens advocates is the Otus
...Show more


Thanks for the info. I also have the 55, it's an excellent lens. I thought Zeiss will extend the 55's formula and create the 85, but they replaced the Distagon with Planar. As for 85, I think I will pass.




Nov 26, 2014 at 10:53 PM
wayne seltzer
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p.16 #6 · p.16 #6 · Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 APO Planar T*


Vancouver47 wrote:
I have both Otus lenses, but have only shot the 85 for the past two months, mostly in natural light. So far I have to conclude the 55 is better balanced. The 55 is slightly sharper, colour and micro contrast are a hair better. The 85 is still very sharp but contrast is different and I find I occasionally feel the need to cut back contrast in post.(fall/winter light??) It's early, but there is no doubt, nothing else is close to either lens. One thing that is missed by the 50 Art and other sharp lens advocates is the Otus
...Show more

Thanks for your comparison of the two lenses. I have the Otus 55/1.4 since it csme out and love it. I wondered how the 85 compared and noticed that both Ming Thein and Lloyd Chambers have said the 85 is slightly better and sharper but that conflicts with the mtf''s and review mentioned above which have the 55 better in the corners wide open. For now I will skip the 85 and wait for the 24 which I hope is f1.4. Don't get me wrong, the 85 is a sweet lens too and maybe one day in the future I will get it to complete the Otus trio.



Nov 27, 2014 at 12:49 AM
simonw
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p.16 #7 · p.16 #7 · Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 APO Planar T*


I'd love to be able to use my 85mm Otus but it has been sitting on a shelf for six weeks while I wait for Zeiss to pull their finger out and start delivery of the matching 86mm UV filter.

Unfortunately they did exactly the same thing when I purchased the 15mm Distagon. You would have thought that they would have got the idea by now that there are some people that do like having protective filters for their expensive lenses (or at least include one of these rare beasts in the box as they did for the old anniversary Contax lenses).

Cheers, Simon W.



Nov 27, 2014 at 02:50 AM
wiseguy010
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p.16 #8 · p.16 #8 · Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 APO Planar T*


wayne seltzer wrote:
Thanks for your comparison of the two lenses. I have the Otus 55/1.4 since it csme out and love it. I wondered how the 85 compared and noticed that both Ming Thein and Lloyd Chambers have said the 85 is slightly better and sharper but that conflicts with the mtf''s and review mentioned above which have the 55 better in the corners wide open. For now I will skip the 85 and wait for the 24 which I hope is f1.4. Don't get me wrong, the 85 is a sweet lens too and maybe one day in the future
...Show more

My guess is that Ming Thein and Lloyd Chambers both have an interest to state that the latest offering of Zeiss is almost always the better one. I had a subscription with Lloyd Chambers and noticed this behaviour already with the Zeiss 35/1.4 and the 15/2.8. A few months later other tests from him appeared in which he added more nuance, but at that point the introduction of that new lens was already done.



Nov 27, 2014 at 08:54 AM
Vancouver47
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p.16 #9 · p.16 #9 · Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 APO Planar T*


simonw wrote:
I'd love to be able to use my 85mm Otus but it has been sitting on a shelf for six weeks while I wait for Zeiss to pull their finger out and start delivery of the matching 86mm UV filter.

Unfortunately they did exactly the same thing when I purchased the 15mm Distagon. You would have thought that they would have got the idea by now that there are some people that do like having protective filters for their expensive lenses (or at least include one of these rare beasts in the box as they did for the old anniversary Contax
...Show more

You put a filter on these lenses. I can't imaging degrading them with a filter, especial with such rugged hoods for protection.



Dec 09, 2014 at 10:07 PM
simonw
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p.16 #10 · p.16 #10 · Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 APO Planar T*


Vancouver47 wrote:
You put a filter on these lenses. I can't imaging degrading them with a filter, especial with such rugged hoods for protection.


I think that photographers divide neatly into two camps, those that like filters and those that don't.

Simply buying into the concept of the Otus means that I believe Zeiss know exactly how to manufacture a lens to the highest quality so why would I then believe they were unable to manufacture a filter to the same standards?

Anyway, my filter arrived last week and I spent some time shooting the 85mm Otus at the weekend in-between the grey skies and rain. It is a very interesting lens.

Cheers, Simon W.



Dec 10, 2014 at 05:22 AM
chongcs
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p.16 #11 · p.16 #11 · Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 APO Planar T*


Just got myself an Otus 85 to go with my D810. Coming from 2 years of shooting mainly on Zeiss 100 Makro Planar (portraiture mainly), I think the wow factor for me is less as 100MP is already an awesome lens.

But the 85mm focal length is actually my beloved length, and the lack of CA, bokeh, and overall sharpness, and 3D-ness of the Otus is a step up from the 100MP lens. If you are shooting and posting on FB, one may not notice that much of a different to be really honest.

Having said that, there's something magical about how the lens was constructed and the smoothness of the focus ring, you have to put it in your hand and use it for sometime to really appreciate it.

My biggest challenge is to nail focus at f/1.4 - f/2 in which if I shoot using VF i am only getting 30-40% in focus images. The DOF is just too narrow to shoot portrait, unless you and the subject and hold still while you hunt for the focus. After some research, I bought myself a Zacuto z-Finder 2.5x, and it really helps me in nailing the focus at wide aperture. But too bad.... I just learned that Nikon will disable live view when shooting tethered...hence rendering Zacuto useless in such shooting situation. Nonetheless when I am not shooting tethered Zacuto is the best tool to help to improve the focus accuracy and number of keeper images.

Will share some images when I have the time. For the time being just sharing some experience of using this lens.

Oh, ya, the filter.... I cant understand as well why Zeiss can't lauch their filter together with the lens, or maybe perhaps Otus 85 was launch much earlier due to pre-launch information leak? Not sure but I ended up buying a Sigma 86mm for the time being, and for critical shoots i just remove the filter. Pretty much defeat the purpose of buying it at the first place though.... Anyway the Filter is available now and I am going to get one although its really costly .

Cheers
Chong!





Dec 16, 2014 at 03:50 AM
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