Just Announced: ZEISS Otus 28m f/1.4

From ZEISS:

With the new ZEISS Otus 1.4/28, users of shorter focal lengths can now also take advantage of the most powerful image quality of the ZEISS Otus lens family.

Where details count in wide-angle photography, the Otus 1.4/28 for DSLR cameras with F- and EF-mount is the lens of choice.

The Otus 1.4/28 shows off its strengths particularly in landscape and nature photography. Even with a maximum aperture, the corners of the image are completely usable, so there are no limits to composition. In poor light combined with fast-moving objects, the lens also doesn’t break a sweat – thanks to its high speed of f/1.4. While other lenses reveal their shortcomings in correction in night photography, especially when lots of open light sources dominate an image, the ZEISS Otus 1.4/28 boasts a stellar performance. Finally, the latest member of the ZEISS Otus family is excellent for taking pictures of image elements in the foreground, as they take on a greater feeling of depth to the scene due to the wide background and the open aperture; here, the lens’s harmonious bokeh ensures a 3D effect.

For professional photographers
Inner focusing, a dial window and yellow labeling of the dials for easy legibility designate the Otus 1.4/28 as a lens, developed to meet the high demands of professional photographers. The mechanical quality also impresses: the soft focus operation with the large rotation angle allows for the finest variations when focusing – something that is only possible with a metal construction. In every focusing situation, the user is given freedom to compose – one of the most important creative factors in photography. An artistic tool is literally put in the photographer’s hands. With its robust all-metal barrel and easy-to-grip focus ring, the Otus 1.4/28 is also well suited for a photographer’s demanding everyday work.

With high image contrast all the way into the edges of the image – already at an open aperture of f/1.4 – the Otus 1.4/28 demonstrates its optical brilliance. At all distances it offers consistent performance (minimum working distance of 0.15 m), highly detailed images without any bothersome artifacts, and a neutral bokeh in the background.

Intricate construction for uncompromising imaging performance
A view inside the lens reveals how such optical excellence is achieved: The lens consists of 16 elements in 13 groups. One of the lens elements has an aspheric optical surface and one element is aspheric on both sides. Eight other lens elements are made of special glass. The basis of the optical design is a Distagon. The special glass has anomalous partial dispersion, as is typical for an apochromatic lens. This corrects the longitudinal chromatic aberrations superbly, which therefore lie considerably below the tightly defined boundaries. Bright-dark transitions in the image, in particular highlights, are depicted almost completely free of color artifacts. The floating elements design (the change of distances between certain lens elements when focusing) allows for unrivalled imaging performance along the entire focusing range, from 0.3 m to infinity.

The ZEISS Otus lens family
When ZEISS introduced the ZEISS Otus 1.4/55 in 2013, creating a new family of high-end SLR lenses, the trade press and users alike were enthusiastic. The ZEISS Otus 1.4/55 has exceeded its promises up to this day. The second member of the family, the ZEISS Otus 1.4/85, which was presented at photokina 2014, continued this success story in the short telephoto range. It enables photographers to express their creativity in a unique way – and that with the unsurpassed high imaging performance for which the lenses in the ZEISS Otus family are known.

“The ZEISS Otus 1.4/28 continues the tradition of its lens family. It is the best wide-angle that has ever existed. Now we can offer three outstanding lenses for the widest variety of applications,” added Casenave.

Price and availability
The Otus 1.4/28 ZF.2 and Otus 1.4/28 ZE will be available worldwide starting in the second quarter of 2016. The lens shade is included with delivery. The retail sales price is unknown to date.

For high resolution sample images, check out the Carl Zeiss Lenses Flickr Photostream.

B&H carries ZEISS Otus lenses.