Nikon D810 plus the Carl Zeiss Otus 55mm 1.4 Lens Combination A One month Trial

paulr

Nikon D810 plus the Carl Zeiss Otus 55mm 1.4 lens

After using both the Nikon D810 and the Otus lens for just over a month and covering just over 10,000 images from studio to Artic conditions, is the hype and manufactures claims just propaganda or is there a difference.

If you have used top end medium format cameras and lenses I don’t think anything will match that quality.

If however you want the flexibility of 35mm and you are trying to achieve medium format performance,, this combination comes a very close second and at a serious difference in cost.
The Otus lens does have qualities above and beyond the Nikon equivalent such as very little CA, lens Flare, and slightly richer colours. Especially in low light conditions.
When used with the Nikon D810 the advantage of high pixels resolution and making crop shots really brings high quality combination, without detail loss

With regard to manual focus, which the Otus is, within a couple of days this really is not a problem due to the smoothness of the focus ring. It operates like no other lens and enables detailed focusing, simple to use.

Weight and size wise I would compare to the Nikon 24-70 lens. In what I call , the feel of the camera/lens combination.

This is not a cheap lens, however if you trawl the Internet the prices do vary.

I would say this lens has limited use and a prospective buyer should consider if it meets their specific needs. For studio work in low light it is in a league of its own. If you use your camera where there is a major difference in dynamic range, again, this lens is superb.
I used the combination in freezing conditions with very varying light conditions and found it performed true to the claims of the manufacture.
The first time I looked at the images on a large screen at 400% was when I realized that you really do get what you pay for.

I look forward to seeing Nikon bring out even higher pixel cameras than the D810 and I am sure The Carl Zeiss Otus lens will be capable of handling so many pixels.
No doubt when Nikon announce these Mega Pixel cameras, they too will probably announce new lenses to match the performance.

Only time will tell.

Photobug

Nice summary of your findings. There is really not a lot to say about both items. They are at the top of their respective "hills".