Zeiss Teases Its Long-Awaited Return to Photography

Zeiss’ dedicated photography Instagram account, @zeisscameralenses, published an exciting new teaser, suggesting the company is getting back into dedicated camera lenses after a lengthy hiatus.

In June 2023, reports began floating around the web that Zeiss was wholly and officially leaving the photo industry, instead focusing on its other endeavors, including smartphone lenses and optical designs. Zeiss tepidly refuted these reports then, but that refusal did not amount to any new product announcements.

About a month later, Zeiss spoke to PetaPixel, saying the company was “not leaving the photo industry.” Zeiss said its lenses were not discontinued, although admitted that its ZX1 camera was a failure, and there would be no successor.

As of today, the company’s most recent lens is the Zeiss Otus 100mm f/1.4, which was released in 2019. That was long ago, so it has been challenging to entirely embrace the legendary German company’s claimed commitment to the photo industry.

However, with a new Instagram post, spotted by Mirrorless Rumors, hope is restored — Zeiss appears poised to return to making new camera lenses.

Like most teasers, Zeiss’ is short on details. However, it offers some basic info and opens the door for plenty of speculation. The post shows a photo of an owl, undoubtedly one of the 59 owl species belonging to the Otus genus. The image was captured with Zeiss’ decade-old, excellent Otus 85mm f/1.4 lens and comes with a pithy caption, “Get ready for owlsome news!”

The Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 lens for DSLR cameras was released in 2014.

Unless the owl photo, owl pun, and use of an Otus lens are all red herrings, there’s little doubt that Zeiss will be announcing a new Otus lens soon. The Zeiss Otus lenses are renowned for their incredible image quality, earning acclaim from photographers and filmmakers alike. Zeiss only released four Otus lenses over the years, starting with the Otus 55mm f/1.4 in October 2013. This was followed by an 85mm f/1.4 prime the next year, a wide-angle 28mm f/1.4 in 2015, and the 100mm f/1.4 four years later in 2019 — Zeiss’ last lens — until now.

Unlike the Batis, Loxia, and Touit series, the Zeiss Otus line has also exclusively been available for DSLR cameras. While easily adapted, it stands to reason that a new Otus lens will not come in Canon EF or Nikon F mount but will instead be available natively for mirrorless cameras, although which mount(s) remains an open question.

Given the timing of the teaser, the most likely time to announce a new lens is at CP+ in Japan, which starts in two weeks. Zeiss may not be bringing a Godzilla-themed display to Yokohama, but it is looking like the beloved company is about to start a new chapter in its rich photographic history. Finally!

Image credits: Zeiss