The fourth lens in the Otus line-up is a no-compromise wide aperture telephoto prime for professional users
The Zeiss Otus 1.4/100 is a premium quality wide aperture short telephoto lens for full frame Canon and Nikon DSLRs. We first reported on the rumored specs for this lens two weeks ago, but Zeiss has now made it official.
Zeiss Otus lenses are designed for optical quality and engineering above all else – including price. The Zeiss Otus 1.4/100 will cost an eye-watering $4,500, and joins the three other Otus premium DSLR lenses launched since the series began back in 2013 (the Zeiss Otus 1.5/55, 1.4/85 and 1.4/28.)
They're aimed at the best professional cameras, specifically high-resolution full frame DSLRs including the Nikon D850 and Canon EOS 5DS, where Zeiss says the results are on a par with some of the best medium format cameras – though you'll still get the characteristic bokeh 'pop' on lower-resolution models.
The Zeiss Otus 1.4/100 is designed for studio photography, portraits and commercial product photography. It’s a focal length that’s well suited to producing flattering portrait shots and flattening perspective in product shots for more natural-looking proportions.
It’s built for high edge-to-edge resolution right across the aperture range, with ‘harmonic’ bokeh to ensure ‘3D pop effect’ that makes sharply focused objects stand out against blurred backgrounds. It uses aspheric lenses and special glass to control distortion and chromatic aberration, and its Zeiss T* anti-reflective coating is designed to minimise stray light and maximise contrast, even shooting into the light.
The Zeiss Otus 1.4/100 will come in Nikon F and Canon EF full frame DSLR mounts.
Zeiss Otus 1.4/100 specifications
Focal length: 100mm Maximum aperture: f/1.4 Type: Prime Optical construction: 14 elements in 11 groups Focusing: Manual Mounts: Nikon F, Canon EF Filter size: 86mm Dimensions: 126.5 x 90mm Weight: 1,336g (2.95lb)
Build quality and design
The Zeiss Otus 1.4/100 is a manual focus lens with what Zeiss describes as an ‘extended rotation angle’ and smooth operation for precise focusing. The lens has a full metal housing and an internal focus mechanism so that the lens does not extend during focusing and the centre of gravity doesn’t change. The lens is designed for professional use in rough conditions and for long-term durability.
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It’s not designed for light weight and portability. With a weight of over 1.3kg (2.95lb) and a length of 126.5mm, this is a bit of a monster – but typical for very wide aperture telephoto primes.
Focusing is manual, but the extended focus rotation means there’s a precise distance scale, and you also get depth of field index markers for the near and far depth of field limits at different apertures – something that’s unique to premium manual focus prime lenses.
The Zeiss Otus 1/4/100 takes the number of lenses in the prestigious Otus family up to four.
Availability and price
The Zeiss Otus 1.4/100 is available now and will cost $4,500 / £3,999.99.
Rod is an independent photography journalist and editor, and a long-standing Digital Camera World contributor, having previously worked as DCW's Group Reviews editor. Before that he has been technique editor on N-Photo, Head of Testing for the photography division and Camera Channel editor on TechRadar, as well as contributing to many other publications. He has been writing about photography technique, photo editing and digital cameras since they first appeared, and before that began his career writing about film photography. He has used and reviewed practically every interchangeable lens camera launched in the past 20 years, from entry-level DSLRs to medium format cameras, together with lenses, tripods, gimbals, light meters, camera bags and more. Rod has his own camera gear blog at fotovolo.com but also writes about photo-editing applications and techniques at lifeafterphotoshop.com
