Zeiss Otus ML 35mm f/1.4 Promises Photos With a Ton of Character

Feb 24, 2026

Jeremy Gray

A close-up of a Zeiss camera lens with a black body, blue accent ring, and yellow markings, displayed on a plain white background.

Almost one year to the day after unveiling the Otus ML 50mm f/1.4 and Otus ML 85mm f/1.4 manual focus primes for full-frame mirrorless cameras, Zeiss is back with its third new Otus prime for mirrorless cameras, the Otus ML 35mm f/1.4.

Buy the Zeiss Otus ML 35mm f/1.4 new on B&H Buy the Zeiss Otus ML 35mm f/1.4 used on KEH.com

The Otus ML 50mm f/1.4 and Otus ML 85mm f/1.4 lenses marked Zeiss’ big return to photography and promised an entirely different, fresh experience to photographers. The Otus ML 35mm f/1.4 makes these same promises: excellent image quality, exceptional build quality, a pleasant manual focusing experience, and distinctive, character-filled image quality. The new 35mm prime is designed for street, travel, documentary, and landscape photography, while being fast enough to work well for more environmental portraiture than the longer 50mm and 85mm primes.

Three black Zeiss Otus camera lenses with yellow lettering are arranged side by side on a wooden surface, with the middle lens slightly taller and featuring a lens hood. The background is softly blurred.

The Zeiss Otus ML series, including the new 35mm lens, promises natural color rendition, extreme sharpness, and Zeiss’ signature micro contrast. The lens features an advanced aspherical Distagon lens design that minimizes distortion and chromatic aberrations and, of course, features Zeiss T* coating to keep reflections and flare to a minimum. Zeiss calls the resulting image quality “nearly three-dimensional.” In total, the lens features 15 lens elements arranged across 11 groups. Like the other two Otus ML lenses, the new 35mm f/1.4 prime features a 10-bladed aperture.

Three camera lenses, two facing upward and one lying on its side, are placed on a concrete surface near a green plant. The lens on its side has yellow text and numbers indicating its specifications.

The Otus ML 35mm f/1.4 has a focusing range of 0.3 meters (about a foot) to infinity, which results in a maximum magnification ratio of 1:5.7. The manual focus lens has a generous focus ring rotation angle of 257°, which is nearly as much as the 259.5° of the Otus ML 50mm f/1.4’s focus ring and a fair bit more than the 244° rotation on the Otus ML 85mm f/1.4. Like its longer siblings, the Otus ML 35mm f/1.4 is also not a focus-by-wire lens. Although a rarity in the mirrorless age, the new prime has fully mechanical focusing, which means that each focal distance is consistently, directly connected to a specific rotational angle of the focusing ring.

“The primary advantage [of manual focus] is that you control your story creation,” Zeiss explained of its decision to stick with manual focus designs for the Otus ML series. “You decide what it is you want to see in focus, the focus and depth of it. You control your story.”

A person holds a digital camera with a large Zeiss Otus 1.4/35 lens, preparing to take a photo on a street with blurred white crosswalk lines in the background.

The Otus ML 35mm f/1.4 ranges from 112 to 116 millimeters (4.4 to just under 4.6 inches) long, depending on its mount version, and has a maximum diameter of 77 millimeters (three inches). The E-mount version is the lightest at 698 grams (24.6 ounces), while the Z-mount version is the heaviest at 737 grams (26 ounces). The Canon RF-mount Otus ML 35mm f/1.4 slots in between the two, weighing 717 grams (25.3 ounces).

Looking at the other two Otus ML lenses for E-mount, the 50mm f/1.4 weighs 677 grams (23.9 ounces), and the 85mm f/1.4 prime is 1,033 grams (36.4 ounces). The Otus ML 50mm f/1.4 also accepts 67mm filters, like the 35mm f/1.4, while the bigger, beefier 85mm f/1.4 prime takes 77mm filters.

A black camera lens with a petal-shaped lens hood, labeled "Otus 1.4/35" in yellow text, featuring detailed focus and aperture markings in yellow and white.

A black digital camera with a large lens labeled "Distagon 1.4/35" sits on a patterned, multicolored rug with geometric designs. The camera is viewed from above.

It is also worth noting that this is the first 35mm Otus lens Zeiss has ever made. The company’s older Otus series for DSLR cameras featured 28mm, 55mm, 85mm, and 100mm f/1.4 prime lenses. The widest of the four, the 28mm f/1.4, weighed 1,350 grams (47.6 ounces) and had a massive 95mm filter thread.

Sample Images

An elderly man in orange robes sits cross-legged on a wooden boat, hands in prayer, with a plate of offerings in front. Behind him, people gather along the riverbank with temples, fires, and smoke rising in the background.

A person wearing dark clothing and jewelry stands beside a tree in a wooded area, gazing at the camera. Sunlight filters through the trees, creating a serene atmosphere.

A person in profile against a black background wears a large, bright blue headwrap and gold necklaces. The lighting highlights their face and the texture of the fabric.

A person in traditional attire sits on a large tree overlooking a wide river and lush green landscape under a cloudy sky.

A woman wearing colorful, intricate beaded jewelry and headpiece stares directly at the camera, her expression calm and serious against a dark background.

A boy leans against the windowsill of a weathered, cracked yellow wall, one hand resting on the sill, one foot crossed in front of the other. He wears a brown shirt, black pants, and blue-green sandals.

A person wearing a helmet rides a bicycle through a sunlit, empty city street, passing by an ornate, historic stone building with large windows and arched doorways.

Two people stand at the top of outdoor stairs under a large structure, looking at the London skyline with The Shard skyscraper prominently in view on a clear day.

A person holding an umbrella stands in the rain at night, silhouetted against bright neon red and blue signs in a city street. The image has a moody, cinematic atmosphere with blurred reflections on the ground.

A glowing red Japanese lantern with black writing hangs outside, reflected in a window. The scene includes tiled walls, dim lighting, and Japanese posters, creating a cozy and urban nighttime atmosphere.

A person with long blond hair and bangs stands in a city at night, illuminated by red and blue neon lights with Japanese signs glowing brightly in the background.

A young woman with long, straight blonde hair and bangs stands outside at night, illuminated by red and blue neon lights. She looks to the side with a serious expression, and a city street is blurred in the background.

A woman with long, straight platinum blonde hair sits next to a green public payphone, bathed in neon pink and blue light, wearing a black fur coat and looking over her shoulder with a serious expression.

A woman in a black coat stands with arms crossed on a subway platform as a train speeds by in the background, creating a motion blur. She looks directly at the camera with a serious expression.

Black and white photo of dramatic coastal cliffs and large, jagged rock formations rising from calm water, with a partly cloudy sky overhead and a distant shoreline visible on the horizon.

An elderly man with a long gray beard wears orange robes, a matching turban, and multiple beaded necklaces, sitting on a blue chair against a weathered, textured wall with faded markings.

An elderly man with a long beard and hair tied in a topknot sits indoors. His face and body are covered in white ash with yellow and red paint markings on his forehead. Ornate wooden panels with geometric patterns are in the background.

A close-up of a spider web glistening with golden light, with bokeh effects creating a warm, glowing atmosphere. Out-of-focus vertical bars appear in the background.

Commuters walk through the grand hall of a train station with high windows, chandeliers, an American flag, and electronic schedule boards. The lighting is warm and there is a sense of motion among the people.

People walk along the pedestrian path of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City on a clear day, with the bridge’s iconic stone arches and cables prominently visible. City buildings can be seen in the background.

Black and white photo of a modern, spacious indoor atrium with high ceilings, geometric lines, and people walking or sitting on benches. Light streams in from the upper windows, creating dramatic shadows.

Pricing and Availability

The Zeiss Otus ML 35mm f/1.4 will be available through authorized retailers starting this spring for a suggested retail price of $2,299 (€2,399). The lens comes in Sony E, Canon RF, and Nikon Z mounts.

Buy the Zeiss Otus ML 35mm f/1.4 new on B&H Buy the Zeiss Otus ML 35mm f/1.4 used on KEH.com

 Image credits: Zeiss

Equipment, News

35mmf14, emount, manualfocus, prime, rfmount, zeiss, zeissotusml, zeissotusml35mmf14, zmount

Discussion