Zeiss Otus 55mm F1.4 – Canon EF

The Otus lens has been made by top level manufacturer Zeiss with the brief of making a lens without compromise – using over a century of expertise at their disposal.

The result is images of top quality right to the edges of the frame even at full aperture to give an image quality akin to a medium format lens. The Otus lens uses the longer construction technique of the Distagon configuration to give superior performance compared to compact standard lenses, giving better correction of aberrations and field curvature. This lens also has apochromatic and aspherical lens elements to correct for both spherical and chromatic aberration.

Accept no substitute.

Spectacularly detailed portraits full of contrast. High fidelity images and exceptional performance into the corners even at full aperture. The Otus 1.4/55 makes absolutely no compromises and brings together over a century of ZEISS optical and technical excellence. This standard lens is the exception to the rule: perfect optical correction eliminates nearly all possible flaws, from color fringes and distortion to chromatic aberrations. With the highest contrast performance over the entire image field, even at an aperture of f/1.4, this lens offers the spectacular medium format look when working with a modern SLR camera. Phenomenal detail and exceptional performance, regardless of whether it’s using available light or in the studio, the Otus 1.4/55 is the absolute best lens in the world today.#

Design

In contrast to its predecessors with similar focal lengths and speed, this is first time that the Distagon type has been selected for the optical construction of a standard lens. Only this optical design with its considerably longer construction makes it possible to already realise consistently excellent correction from corner to corner of the frame and extremely low image field curvature at a very large initial aperture.

The ultimate in image contrast

Aberrations caused by extreme differences between shadows and highlights are particularly obvious in images captured at night. Thanks to the outstanding correction of lateral chromatic aberration, the floodlit facade is reproduced with absolute perfection.

No colour fringing

Sources of light located in front of or behind the plane of focus present particular challenges to every lens. In the case of the ZEISS Otus, longitudinal chromatic aberration is so low that practically no colour fringing occurs.

The medium format look

Thanks to its exceptional sharpness, the ZEISS Otus exploits the full potentials of contemporary high-resolution sensors and rewards photographers with images characterised by breathtaking rendition of even the finest details.

Apochromat

Because this lens is an apochromat, chromatic aberrations (axial chromatic aberations) are corrected with elements of special glass with anomalous partial dispersion. The chromatic aberrations are therefore significantly below the defined limits. Bright-dark transitions in the image, and especially highlights, are reproduced almost completely free of color artifacts.

Aspherical design

The aspherical lens design ensures consistent imaging performance throughout the entire focusing range as well as sharpness to the periphery of the image. The asphere’s more complex surface profile can reduce or eliminate spherical aberration and also reduce other optical aberrations compared to a simple lens.