Is it as good as Zeiss/Arri? Long term review (Ongoing)

The 21mm is a cinema lens that renders images beautifully with its dimensionality, clarity and depth of field. You should watch my review of it first as this review will only cover things I did not go over deeply.

Shimming

Can switch EF or PL mount. To make sure focus/sharpness is accurate, simply use the provided tools and unscrew the mount to add or remove as many shims as required.

The construction of this lens is great, a concern you might have is shimming, which is required if you changes mounts from EF to PL. It’s a very tedious process that involves measuring, a focus chart and a ton of patience. Trial and terror is the only way to shim lenses correctly so they focus properly. It’s a complete pain, so just suck it up cause you really shouldn’t be sending the lens to a professional to get it done when you can do it yourself. It’s like changing your guitar strings. It’s pretty easy after you do it once and it isn’t that bad because DZO is quite generous with giving you tools for it.

Trial and terror especially the first time.

Cons

The soft, fuzzy performance at T1.4 actually isn’t that big of a deal for me because the depth of field is already quite excessive. I think T1.8 is already very shallow and it performs as perfectly as you’d want at T2. The biggest con for me is the color. I don’t like that there is a yellow cast, this requires an additional step in the color grading process, especially when you want color neutrality for skin such as with mixed or artificial studio lighting or even overcast. But the warmer color shift is quite nice if you are filming outside in the day.

Is the lens usable at T1.4?

I ordered a replacement for the 21mm as I could not believe the bokeh at T1.4 in comparison to the other stops. This is what I filmed with my 2nd copy.

DZO Arles 21mm @T1.4 & BMCC6kFF, which has a sharper sensor. The bokeh at T1.4 still has the same fuzziness.

This confirms that the Arles doesn’t perform exceptionally well wide open. Still has pretty good sharpness but that just makes the bokeh more distracting by juxtaposition. It improves but is still slightly noticeable at T1.8 and T2. Once again, this problem is mostly around T1.4-T1.8 and when there is not a lot of separation between the subject and background foliage. If the subject was positioned closer, then the bokeh would be stronger and smoother. And even the Zeiss Milvus ultrawides have such problems wide open and they are only f2.8

DZO Arles or Zeiss Otus?

Zeiss doesn’t make a comparable 21mm that is as fast as T1.4 for consumers so there’s no competition for DZO ultrawides. I also can’t really definitively compare since 21mm is quite far from 28mm and I wouldn’t waste money on getting a focal length close to one of my Zeiss Otus. If I must recommend one, go Arles if you are a professional that needs consistency and dependability. Or if you like the clean Hollywood look but a touch of character to balance on your digital camera, it will also be a pleasing, subtle choice. If you want absolute perfection, convenience, photography, performance wide open, color, then Zeiss.

It comes down to this. The Arles has an organic look that makes all your images look pleasing, not too sharp. The Otus screams, “look at me, I have an expensive modern lens”. I would say that the Otus can be quite loud in that regard, providing flawless contemporary images, which might require more skill in framing to take advantage of it. It might also look out of place for a period piece as it looks so modern. So as a general recommendation for those that don’t know what they want, I’m assuming you don’t have as much experience so I’d recommend the Arles for cinema work and the Otus if you’re a handheld run and gun kind of guy that rarely needs to switch lenses. A one lens kind of person, so to speak.

Arles: Natural, organic look with clarity but other character.
+ good focus breathing
+ minimum close focus
+ rig ready
+ more light at T1.4
- T1.4 performance
- yellow color cast
- chromatic abberation & color fringing
- long focus throw

Otus: Strong, modern, premium look, flawless image fidelity.
+ sharpness
+ contrast
+ color accuracy
+ more 3d pop
+ pleasing flare resistance
- mediocre minimum focus
- noticeable focus breathing
- requires workaround gears for rigs
- limited focal lengths