Thank you for the quick response. I guess it's time to nag David for an Otus Leitax mount
As for the bokeh, having shot with the STF for a while, I guess other lenses can hardly be called King of Bokeh . Certainly, it's much smoother than my Contax or the ZA 50.
p.3 #4 · First Shots with the Otus - Bokeh Samples
wayne seltzer wrote:
The Lenstip review has plenty bokeh samples at different apertures. Have you looked at them? The model with b&w checkered jacket and same background is a good torture test for bokeh and the Otus handled it well.
Do you agree that the bokeh here is having some kind of spiral effect like when you see a storm from above earth. It's not bad or good but I like this this effect.
p.3 #5 · First Shots with the Otus - Bokeh Samples
Beautiful looking lens. Ticks off all the marks in the technical department, clinically sharp, controlled CA etc, but bokeh wise not as good as the 85 1.2L; so I imagine this is better used as an all around lens since there are better options for portraiture. I'm curious to know if 55mm is not too tight for an everyday lens? It's not clear to me what the sweet spot for this lens is in terms of usage.
p.3 #6 · First Shots with the Otus - Bokeh Samples
bushwacker wrote:
Do you agree that the bokeh here is having some kind of spiral effect like when you see a storm from above earth. It's not bad or good but I like this this effect.
Could be new signature Zeiss rendering?
There is some swirl, yes. Not a disturbing degree of it.
I've seen the image earlier as the Lenstip samples have been on-line for some time now. The first time, and now again, I found the focus distribution a bit odd in this image. There is something I don't understand: The woman's face is in front of the focus plane, we can see parts of her hair, behind the face, being sharp. At the same time there are parts of her coat (lower part), now in front of her face, which are sharp. Am I the victim of an optical illusion?
I'm very interested in this lens. Is there a good way of attaching it to a Sony A7? I think I would prefer the Nikon version over the EF-mount one as I like the aperture ring. I don't know how the F-mount works though. Can you set it to stop the lens down as you turn the aperture ring?
That was a couple of questions. As nearly everything I have seen from this lens has been looking good to me I hope you knowing the lens can tell me about these concerns.
p.3 #7 · First Shots with the Otus - Bokeh Samples
arize84 wrote:
bokeh wise not as good as the 85 1.2L
This is very much a question of taste, very much. I find the colour treatment and Gaussian blur of the 85L to be quite uninteresting, and I guess since this forum exists at all, there are quite a few people here who agree, or we just all have 85Ls. Anyway, if you prefer the 85L boke, then that does make the Otus a bit redundant and very expensive for little gain. Not quite the same focal length, but not wildly different either.
p.3 #8 · First Shots with the Otus - Bokeh Samples
Jonas B wrote:
I'm very interested in this lens. Is there a good way of attaching it to a Sony A7? I think I would prefer the Nikon version over the EF-mount one as I like the aperture ring. I don't know how the F-mount works though. Can you set it to stop the lens down as you turn the aperture ring?
That is a function of the adapter. The F-mount lenses are stopped down mechanically. I think that all adapters would either do that by default, or offer a mechanism for you to do it. The camera certainly won't do it for you, and I doubt adapters exist which can convert the electronic signal to physical movement.
p.3 #9 · First Shots with the Otus - Bokeh Samples
carstenw wrote:
That is a function of the adapter. The F-mount lenses are stopped down mechanically. I think that all adapters would either do that by default, or offer a mechanism for you to do it. The camera certainly won't do it for you, and I doubt adapters exist which can convert the electronic signal to physical movement.
Ah, I see. Thank you Carsten. Then the adapted F-mount lenses work the same way as, for example, adapted FD, OM and K-mount lenses. There should be no problems using it with an E-mount camera then. I was hoping it worked that way but it is good having it confirmed.
p.3 #10 · First Shots with the Otus - Bokeh Samples
Jnas,
The advantage of the EVF on the sony with a adapted ens is that as you stop the lens down the EVF adjusts the brightness so it does not look dark like in a regular optical viewfinder.
p.3 #11 · First Shots with the Otus - Bokeh Samples
Jorge Torralba wrote:
Jnas,
The advantage of the EVF on the sony with a adapted ens is that as you stop the lens down the EVF adjusts the brightness so it does not look dark like in a regular optical viewfinder.
Yes... I love that with my RX1 - and I don't often use words like "love" and "hate". I just needed to learn how the F-mount lenses work. I would like to see some Otus images taken with the either the A7 or the A7r just to learn about the Cat's eye effect with the mount. I guess time will tell. And Jorge... Thank you for sharing your images and impressions!
p.3 #12 · First Shots with the Otus - Bokeh Samples
Toothwalker wrote:
How is the lens cap?
I find it finicky, but improved from the other MF Zeiss lenses that I also own. As usual, I've put them in the lens' box and am using a new generation center-pinch Canon cap, specifically this one:
Do you agree that the bokeh here is having some kind of spiral effect like when you see a storm from above earth. It's not bad or good but I like this this effect.
Could be new signature Zeiss rendering?
Yes, I have seen that before and agree there seems to be some swirl in the corners in that shot but nothing that alarms me imo. My Biotar75 can render much more swirly bokeh. This lens has no coma wide open and has such contrast too that it is unique. There is no undercorrected SA to help soften the bokeh more and render any glow.
That I prefer. If you want that soft beauty look, just put a Softar filter on the front which will add some SA for you.
This lens will shine in low light like the m 50/2 APO.
Will be shooting hopefully with one of Roger C's fine copies of the Otus 55 soon if he let's them out of his hands.
p.3 #14 · First Shots with the Otus - Bokeh Samples
Just for fun, did a bit of testing today on my Leica m240. Done for my use but I thought others might find insightful. 1st photo below is with the Otus with a Novoflex adapter and the 2nd is with a 50mm Summilux ASPH. Both wide open at 1/350 sec. handheld. The third is the Otus cropped and the forth is the Summilux cropped. Used focus bracketing to try and get the best focus possible. The Otus looks much sharper to me with this test. Of course the Otus is much larger than the Summilux and I don't think I would want to walk around with the Otus on my M camera body. No post processing in Lightroom other than matching white balance and slightly increasing the exposure on the Summilux to match the Otus. Sorry if the photos are a bit large. Best - Andy
p.3 #15 · First Shots with the Otus - Bokeh Samples
wayne seltzer wrote:
Yes, I have seen that before and agree there seems to be some swirl in the corners in that shot but nothing that alarms me imo. My Biotar75 can render much more swirly bokeh. This lens has no coma wide open and has such contrast too that it is unique. There is no undercorrected SA to help soften the bokeh more and render any glow.
That I prefer. If you want that soft beauty look, just put a Softar filter on the front which will add some SA for you.
This lens will shine in low light like the m 50/2 APO.
Will be shooting hopefully with one of Roger C's fine copies of the Otus 55 soon if he let's them out of his hands. ...Show more →
Hi Wayne,
This softar filters are they in any way degrade global IQ of the picture or only parts of it?
p.3 #16 · First Shots with the Otus - Bokeh Samples
bushwacker wrote:
Hi Wayne,
This softar filters are they in any way degrade global IQ of the picture or only parts of it?
Yes, they introduce SA (spherical aberration) to soften and give that soft beauty bokeh look.Problem is that they don't make different strength versions so it may be too much at times.
p.3 #17 · First Shots with the Otus - Bokeh Samples
Jonas B wrote:
Ah, I see. Thank you Carsten. Then the adapted F-mount lenses work the same way as, for example, adapted FD, OM and K-mount lenses. There should be no problems using it with an E-mount camera then. I was hoping it worked that way but it is good having it confirmed.
Well, if you plan on using only the Zeiss ZF, I would suggest going with the regular adapter (without the aperture control). Zeiss ZF has a built-in aperture ring. Some of the adapters' aperture lever arms might scratch your mount if you're not careful (or worse your rear element). I would hope they come out with the "smart" version though. If people can fit an AF motor into that Contax G adapter, it's not out of the question to have a built-in lever mechanism in that Nikon adapter. Sony did it with the LA-EA.
p.3 #18 · First Shots with the Otus - Bokeh Samples
agprkr wrote:
Just for fun, did a bit of testing today on my Leica m240. Done for my use but I thought others might find insightful. 1st photo below is with the Otus with a Novoflex adapter and the 2nd is with a 50mm Summilux ASPH. Both wide open at 1/350 sec. handheld. The third is the Otus cropped and the forth is the Summilux cropped. Used focus bracketing to try and get the best focus possible. The Otus looks much sharper to me with this test. Of course the Otus is much larger than the Summilux and I don't think I would want to walk around with the Otus on my M camera body. No post processing in Lightroom other than matching white balance and slightly increasing the exposure on the Summilux to match the Otus. Sorry if the photos are a bit large. Best - Andy...Show more →
Thanks for those test shots. Look at how much the chain popped off from the background compared to the Leica.
. Certainly, it's much smoother than my Contax or the ZA 50.
