ZEISS Otus ML 1.4/85

Testers report high sharpness at f/1.4 that holds well toward the corners, with stopping down mainly adding edge contrast. Longitudinal colour fringing is low enough at full aperture that it rarely needs correcting, and backgrounds render smoothly at most distances. The supplied metal hood is flocked, and backlit resistance is generally rated good, though some ghosting has been seen wide open against strong light sources.

The criticisms are size, weight and price. For roughly the cost of a premium autofocus 85mm, buyers get a heavier manual-focus lens with no stabilisation and an unremarkable 0.12x close-focus ratio. Wide-open vignetting is visible until about f/2.8, and testers note that focusing accurately at f/1.4 really needs magnification or a good EVF.

Owners praise the damped, precise focus ring, the all-metal finish with clear yellow scales and the ZEISS colour and micro-contrast. Video users like the de-clickable aperture and the fact that the lens does not change length when focusing.

The main complaints are the weight on smaller A7 bodies and the price compared with autofocus 85s that are as sharp. Some find the clicked aperture ring a little light, and several say a manual 85 at f/1.4 is hard to use for moving subjects.