Zeiss' $4,000 55mm Otus Lens

Diminishing returns meets Moore's Law

The Zen of aftermarket lenses is here.

Zeiss has announced a new lens series - Otus. Zeiss has started to name each lens series after birds. The first series is the Touit. Touits are a species of parrot. Otus is an owl genus.

I'm going to talk about diminishing returns. Computer programs easily compensate for lens compromises. I'm not going to say 'deficiencies,' because all manufactured goods are a compromise. All manufactured goods have tolerances - ANSI. Claims to the contrary, a product designed with no compromises would never be made, because it could never be completed. In this case, Zeiss' compromise is manual focus, rather than auto-focus. 

One reviewer who gushed over the Zeiss is Lloyd Chambers. Mr. Chambers offered this proof of the the Zeiss superiority (fair use claimed; non-commercial):

Mr. Chambers writes: "Observe the fine details within the iris of the cat's eyes as well as the small hairs."

This is a photograph I took of my cat:

click for a close-up

Readers may also observe the same fine details of the iris, small hairs and the reflections as well as the curvature of Max's cornea.

 I used a Fuji E-550. Details: Program, ISO 400, widest zoom with  macro, natural light from a south facing window.