The first lens I bought was a Nikon 135mm f2 DC. After reading many reviews about it online, one day my father and I drove to the local camera shop where it was up for sale, and I decided to pull the trigger. I still own this lens to this day and value it for its amazing bokeh on portraits. But what I considered excellent back then doesn’t necessarily hold up today. Not to say that the Nikon 135mm F2 DC is a bad lens; on the contrary, it has its merits but also its flaws. Like many other lenses from that time, chromatic aberrations are pretty pronounced when shooting wide open, contrast can be a little lacking as soon as stray light hits the lens, and colors can seem slightly less vibrant than reality.
After coming to terms with these inherent flaws, the question “can a lens fix these flaws?” appeared, to which the Otus answered yes.
The Otus 55mm features a 77mm filter thread and yellow markings, a nod to Zeiss cinema lenses. The Nikon version also includes an aperture ring and a control aperture lever, ensuring compatibility with fully manual film cameras!
Zeiss highlights on their website that the Otus lenses ensure uncompromising image quality. My experience with the Otus 55mm 1.4 has proven this to be true, as it maintains incredible sharpness even when fully opened. Whether the goal is to achieve separation between the subject and the background or to utilize the f1.4 aperture for increased light intake, the Otus delivers in spades. Chromatic aberrations, a common issue with many of my older lenses, have nearly disappeared. When they occasionally emerge, they are minimal and remarkably well managed.
The Otus, released in 2013, was noticeably larger than the standard 50mm lenses we were used to at the time. Its weight of 970g gives it a substantial heft, which, rather than being a drawback, enhances its perceived quality. This is in line with most well-corrected 50mm lenses for DSLRs or mirrorless cameras, which are comparable in size and weight. The lens’s exceptional quality is further highlighted by its beautiful all-metal construction and the exceptionally smooth focusing mechanism.
Achieving sharp focus with this lens at f1.4 can be difficult because DSLRs offer limited assistance in this area. The focus indicator is not precise enough for critical focus. Despite being created for DSLRs, the lens ironically finds a better fit with film cameras that have split prism focusing aids and mirrorless cameras like the ZF, which boast eye detection capabilities for manual focus lenses.
For me, the true allure of this lens lies in its fusion of image quality, construction, design, and versatility. It stands out as one of the few high-end modern lenses that is fully compatible with my Nikon FM2, my D850, and mirrorless cameras, consistently delivering exceptional performance across all these devices. I wouldn’t hesitate to sell some of my other lenses to acquire more lenses from the Otus family.
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