Jonas B
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 Re: ZEISS Otus ML line officially announced! | |
philip_pj wrote:
First up, its not hatred as such, people are simply and justifiably disappointed in their lack of responsiveness. I think you will find that kind of response to any major manufacturer that:
(i) disappears from view without any explanation to their base;
(ii) while claiming the exact opposite, that they are still a player; to then
(iii) produce an over-hyped nonsense camera that is stillborn in the marketplace ((ZX1), and finally
(iv) to produce endless glossy PR material that makes out they are the greatest with the latest.
Those bad business practices might help explain it a little. The past is another country, and current Zeiss management is a very different outfit to what we had back in Contax days, when they were helter skelter making the best lenses they could. Times have moved on and they have disrespected their stills lens base and burned what goodwill remained among many of them.
They involved themselves in a series of faux 'ranges' that they did not even bother to complete: such as Batis (five lenses), Loxia (five lenses), Otus (four lenses). To use an Americanism, modern day Zeiss is all hat and no cattle. They tanked a decade ago and were already heading for the stills lens exit door with Milvus, a misbegotten range of giant cine-capable lenses that were totally out of touch with the emerging mirrorless cameras of the age.
They are living off their glorious past. And the patronising condescension in their PR stance (we are the greatest!) rankles with many, leaving aside the true believers. People want 20th century Zeiss, not some on again, off again cine-oriented dilettantes.
The passage of time has cut them down to size and brought them back to the field, and they are now just another lens maker in a very busy market full of appealing lenses from many harder working companies. True to form, they have not even committed to any more Otuses after these two. And they are big askers, never a good thing.
philip_pj wrote:
A strange omission, leading to a likely response of no. It does have internal focus with what looks like an MFD of 0.5m, so let's hope it is an FLE design.
260 long degrees of focus throw, and that's a lot of racking for a 50mm MF lens. They show a lot of pre-release imges with the camera/lens mounted on a tripod. Focus throw is one of those issues that sees many at each end of this bimodal distribution, probably due to what and how they shoot, and how fast they need to acquire focus. Zeiss's opinion:
'The Otus ML 1.4/50 is indispensable in every photographer's toolbox. Whether you're capturing portraits, street scenes, or cinematic moments, this lens is your perfect partner for bringing your creative vision to life.'
It might be another byproduct of Zeiss's period away in the cine arena; we have in mirrorless effective tools to use to attain focus with short-medium throws. Zeiss have never made a high end MF lens for mirrorless systems - excluding the 52mm Loxias in that category, as Zeiss would agree.
I found some other issues with it, but not anything people here would want to hear.
philip_pj wrote:
Their management is out of touch, simple as that. People should have a realistic opinion of Zeiss, based not on some rosy fond remembrances and respect for their great lenses, but their corporate behaviour in recent years (a decade really). Harsh like a shunned lover, if you will. Zeiss should also compete in the M-mount too, because it's going to be very strong from now on.
CZ employs 46,000 people (2024), you would think they could spare 20-40 to keep the photography side of things afloat and up with the changing times. Leica is just the opposite, a small company (n=1800, 2019) that punches well above its weight.
Times might change, though. I remember Sony dicked around for years in A-mount days then they got a samurai style chief before the a7 series came along. It seems photo companies need a strong hand at the top, Cosina does it that way too. And Leica, of course.
I don't think I ever have agreed with philip_pj on so much at the same time.
Somehow i missed the interview DPReview published at the end of February. While reading my frustration with Zeiss increased:
They paused everything about photo during the pandemic as they didn't see any possible profit, they jump in now as they see an opportunity, they are always interested in photographer developing their own stile, they have been able to lower the price of the new lenses compared to the old Otus prices thanks to less material being used. They actively avoided reply to a question about more Otus lenses.
It doesn't matter I really liked my old C/Y 35/1.4 or how impressed I was with the original Otus line (judging by images at the net only as I never owned an Otus). The new 50mm doesn't meet any expectations. It is all very embarrising and a shame.
I don't think there will be any more FF lenses for still imaging from Zeiss.
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