(From Carl Zeiss lens literature) When designing the Otus 1.4/55 we had one brief: make it the best. Representing the pinnacle of over a century of optical and technical expertise, this prime lens offers truly spectacular, world-class performance. Without compromise.
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 ƒ/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.
Features
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 color 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 color 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 characterized by breathtaking rendition of even the finest details.
Apochromat
Because this lens is an apochromat, chromatic aberrations (axial chromatic aberrations) 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.
