For the folks working in R&D, the hardest thing to deal with are the compromises they must make when creating a new product. Typically, these compromises come are the reduction of quality in order to lower the overall cost of manufacturing. You can only imagine the zeal of the design team at Zeiss when they were given one simple mandate, which was to make the best lens they could possibly make, period.
The result, the Otus, produces an image free of nearly all possible flaws, from color fringes and distortion to chromatic aberrations. The design of the Otus, with its 12 elements divided into 10 groups insures consistent imaging performance throughout the range of focus. In this interview Zeiss’s Richard Schleuning breaks explains how they were able to achieve this perfection, and why the design of the lens is key to its performance. Schleuning also advises that even though this is still lens, video shooters should look for an video incarnation of the series coming soon.
To find out more information about the Otus and all of the other great lenses from Carl Zeiss, go to their website at: lenses.zeiss.com