#490. Ongoing OTUS 28 review: 8 hours of street photography in Marseilles
After a walk in the vines and some architectural photography in Aix-en-Provence, here is the third and last "leftover pics" post I'll be publishing about the OTUS 28.
This is a biggie ...;) The lens is large and its possibilities even more so. So let's honour this fact with a large post. I'll mostly shut up and let you take in the photographs, but here's a little bit of context and intentions to help it all make sense.So, the occasion is a trip to Marseilles taken to photograph some regattas and classic sailboats. One of the boats is below.Having made the trip with time to spare, I decided to walk about and enjoy the area. By the time the follower boat was set to depart, I was having so much fun in the little back streets of Provence's capital that I didn't bother returning to the port.
What you see on this page, then, is just a series of photographs made during my aimless wander. Since Wordpress (annoyingly) insists on inserting batches of photographs in reverse chronological order, you should start at bottom if you want to retrace the walk. But it works just as well in top-down mode.The goal for my walk, and for this article, is to evaluate how useful a wide-angle OTUS can be on the streets. Generations of street photographers have used smaller ans stealthier lenses, usually in slightly longer focal lengths to insert themselves inconspicuously into the lives and events of others to tell their stories on film, or in pixels. Can a dark grey manual focus behemoth be used for the same purpose?
Well, I probably wouldn't want to carry such precision machinery into a war zone, to be honest. Nimbleness is one limiting factor, resistance to rough handling, another. But for wading through a city all day long, shooting landscapes, shops, people and general street life, it's actually quite brilliant. Optical qualities obviously have a lot to do with this, but ergonomics play a major role as well.
Yes, the lens is large, and quite heavy. But not more so than many a decent zoom. And I know which I'd rather carry with me at close quarters or for broad landscapes. The day a zoom produces (almost sooc) image quality such as displayed on the photographs above, I'll gladly invest. But today (Q2 2016), that doesn't exists and I'll happily loose (what many perceive as, but really isn't) convenience and keep the unparalleled imaging style. These hand-held shots have a distinct medium or large format look to them. 
Then, there's that focusing ring. Every bit as smooth as anything I have ever used, at any price, it is better weighted than on my OTUS 85. Slightly firmer, so more reassuring (it's easy to change the focus point on the 55 and 85 by accidentally touching the large rubber ring post-focusing).And, there's the aperture ring. It's super sexy to see a 28mm go all the way down to 1.4. It's just great to have a ring to use, any ring.<rant>So many lens designers, even of good lenses, rely on in-camera aperture control, these days. Zeiss themselves are guilty of that with the Batis range. Poo poo is DearSusan's verdict on that trend. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Creating a lens is not just about delivering photons to a sensor. Everything we create in life tells our philosophy. It's our responsibility, as creators of anything to promote a vision, not just rake in cash (this may explain why immense wealth seems to elude me with great talent). And creative lenses should promote creativity, which is 110% stifled by abandoning our decision-making to a silicon brain or the rancid ergonomic divagations that have plagued camera body design in the past decade. </rant>
Anyway ... big, yes, heavy yes. Great in hand? Oh yes!About weight, about price (the other pachyderm in the OTUS room). Out of range for most. Undeniably. The unlucky who simply cannot afford this lens include me. That's too bad. (famous last words ...)For others, the decision is more along the lines of "a single 28 or a 12mm, a 24-70, a 70-200 and a 300 ?" Weight and cost are roughly similar, if you aim for mid-to-high-range lenses. Weight probably in favor of the single fatboy. In my mind, there's only one answer to this: get the fatboy. Think about it.
- Only one lens is paradise. No lens swapping is paradise. I walked all day with just the one lens and didn't feel the vaguest itch for more at any point.
- More importantly, the zoom spread is all about quieting your fears. Fear of missing a shot. Who cares? I probably missed a 1000 shots today. But still have at least 10, I'm really happy with. Fear is never a good guide, whatever your life mission. Whereas the single prime is all about image quality and creativity. Positive choices. Minimalist empowerment. Of course, if your thing is wildlife, being stuck with a 500/4 might be a tad tricky on holiday ;) And if you're a pro, you need the range to feed your family. But amateurs shouldn't imitate pros. Amateurs should imitate successful amateurs and creative minded individuals.
But enough with the lecturing. Men with grey hair compensate for their keratin deficiencies by lecturing others ;) Don't listen to them and have fun!Fun! I doubt that Christophe Cazenave and Dr Nasse's brief mentioned fun-to-use as top design goal. But, among the copious doses of technical righteousness poured into the conception of the OTUS 28, these two gentlemen have instilled generous amounts of giggle-inducing fun into it as well. Coupled to the lovely sensor in the Sony, it repeatedly brings a huge smile on your face when you watch a scene, focus in a snap and watch the sublime result on the rear screen seconds later.
All of this begs a question ... Every time I'm given the opportunity to review one of Zeiss' masterpieces, I should be grateful and express my thanks at length. Instead of which my answer to their generosity is to repeatedly ask the same question : "when are you releasing the camera that would complement these lenses so brilliantly?" It's become a recurring joke between Christophe Casenave and myself. I had to ask ;)Except, this time, what if the answer to this repeat request came from another North European country? If you've read Ming Thein's blog lately (if you haven't, you should) you'll know Hasselblad are making a major announcement on June 22nd. These guys have taken a bad rap after the whole celebrity-Sony-rebrand episode. Which hasn't stopped them delivering sublime medium format gear at prices that (like Pentax) are gradually bridging the gap with high-end full-frame.So, what if ...? I mean, just, what if ... ? Who knows. This here photographer will be watching the live feed with pulsing heart and feverish wallet! Spouce-cajoling arguments welcome from readers ...
But, back to the OTUS 28 and back to Marseilles.Gentrification happening at a pace that big-profit-perspectives alone can fuel has made this place a wonderful paradox to photograph. Littered with posers and insufferable pseuds, it is also (still) host to crime and violence unparalleled in France. But, beyond these irks, the amount of creativity that has accompanied the big money renovation of all the waterfront has helped create a really, really lovely place to be and to photograph.I've been wanting to host a workshop here for years and might well do so if enough readers twist my arm. Now is the time and the city is changing so fast that all ancient-modern contrast will soon be lost to gucci and versace. Your call guys.
Anyway, a 28 seems like a perfect lens for this city and the OTUS is the perfect 28. What started as a search for test targets soon ended up being an 8-hour long walk that only my inability to focus (mentally) any longer finally interrupted. It's a hard life reviewing the world's best lenses, you know :D
But let me shut my trap for now and just enjoy the photographs, the city and the lens. Some pics are straight out of camera, some have been processed. Some are colour, others B&W. Some are both. My only intention is to show you the city and show you what photographs made with that lens on a Sony sensor (that covers a lot of the market) can be made to look like.The formal review and comparison will be published shortly and I'll be much more specific about settings and processing. For now, just let the look and rendering sink in. I've tried to include many subjects and scenarios to mirror as many reader preferences as possible.I'll conclude with this: in 3 days time, this Zeiss OTUS 28/1.4 will leave casa Jappy to ship to its new owner's residence. Sad? Not really. I know the owner. And so do you, if you're a regular. So you'll see plenty more of Karl on DearSusan in the future. Oh yeah, we've called him Karl. I'll let the rightful owner explain why in a few days !
So. What are your thoughts on this lens' qualities and about Marseilles? Please share your thoughts :)
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