Photography News | Issue 52 | photographynews.co.uk
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First tests
Zeiss Milvus 25mm f/1.4 £1999.99
Specs
The Zeiss Milvus family is aimed at photographers keen to experience the joy of manual focus prime lenses and have the budget to indulge themselves. The 25mm f/1.4 is the latest in the range. It is available in Canon EF and Nikon F fittings. I had the Nikon version that I used on the Nikon D800 and D810. On these cameras the combination, although weighty at over 2kg, is well balanced, giving a solid shooting platform. With the wide view and stability enhanced by its weight, shooting at reasonably slow shutter speeds is possible – there is no image stabilisation to help. I managed successful shots at 1/30sec but struggled at longer speeds. The focus barrel is impressive, with a beautifully smooth action throughout its entire range, and its rubberised finish is comfortable and gives a positive grip. There’s enough resistance to stay put once focused but it’s also really easy to make fine-tune adjustments with no backlash for critical focusing. Honestly, it needs to be used to be appreciated. The barrel itself takes a half rotation to go from infinity to the 25cm minimum focusing distance. There is travel of 1cm to cover from infinity to 1.5m so most of that rotation comes into play with closer subjects. To aid accurate focusing, the camera’s focus confirmation signal does work. The lens’s mostly metal body trims down at the camera body end and that is where the aperture ring is positioned. The design is such that is helps with using the aperture ring because your fingers just naturally slip into the gap between the lens and camera body. Of course, with modern Nikon bodies the aperture is controlled from the camera body, and for that the lens is locked at f/16. The fast aperture delivers a lovely, bright viewing image, as you’d expect, and it’s contrasty, too – all told
Prices £1999.99 Format Full-frame, APS-C Mounts Canon EF, Nikon F Construction
15 elements in 13 groups Special lens elements 7x anomalous partial dispersion, 2x aspheric Coatings T* Zeiss anti-reflective coating Filter size 82mm Aperture range F/1.4-16, de-click option Diaphragm Nine blades Internal focus Yes Manual focus Yes, manual only Minimum focus 25cm Focus limiter No Maximummagnification 1:4.6 Distance scale Yes Depth-of-field scale Yes Image stabiliser No Tripod collar No Lens hood Supplied Weather-sealed Yes Dimensions 123x95mm (Nikon) Weight 1171g (Nikon) Contact Zeiss.com
this helps a great deal with precise manual focusing. Yes, it is a wide- angle so there is room for error with the extensive depth-of-field you get at mid apertures and subjects away from the camera. Move in close, though, and shoot wide open – then focusing must be critical. A final comment on the lens’s design, and that is how good the lens hood is. It bayonets on very firmly, does the job and the curvy design looks the business on the lens. If I had any complaint with the lens it is when taking it off the camera. You can’t grip the hood because it bayonets off, and it’s tricky to get your fingers onto the aperture ring and most of the main body is focusing barrel. That leaves a smooth strip, with two indents, about 7mm across to grip the lens when fitting or removing the lens. This could be better. There’s no real point of a f/1.4 lens if it can’t be used at its widest aperture, but no such concerns with this Zeiss. Corner-to-corner sharpness is yours if you shoot at f/1.4, giving images full of crisp detail and contrast. The
The Zeiss Milvus range features top-end optics and the 25mm f/1.4 is a worthy newcomer. Optically, it is a class act giving great performance in terms of sharpness and detail resolution at every aperture from f/1.4 onwards only relenting at f/11 and f/16 where quality tails off slightly. There is vignetting at the wider apertures but that is easily resolved in software if it is an issue. Of course, the lens is not a budget buy and a significant investment so you would expect a high level of performance. Well, the upshot is that you get it, so if the idea of a super-fast wide- only downside is there’s quite obvious vignetting from f/1.4 to f/2.8, and it goes after that point. Image quality at f/1.4 is very high and it gets even better with stopping down, peaking at f/4 and f/5.6, and although the gains in actual resolution are small they are discernible if you look at images viewed at 100% on a good quality screen. However, the lens is so good at the wider settings that gaining a deeper depth-of-field is the only reason to stop down. Diffraction impacts on quality at f/11 and f/16, but a little tinkering in editing and use of some gentle unsharp mask recovers shots taken at these settings, so no problem if you want to stop down for the maximum depth-of-field – and you can still enjoy excellent image quality. Shoot into bright light or have sunlight striking the lens front obliquely and there is the small risk of flare, but the coatings are good so you’d have to work quite hard to get ghosting and flare spots. All in all, this 25mm gets a very clean bill of health. WC Verdict
Above Shooting directly into the sun holds no fears for this Zeiss Milvus lens and images remain full of contrast andmostly free of flare. Below Shoot at maximumaperture and vignetting is obvious and this goes with stopping down. It is easily cured in software, but the effect canwork for some shots.
Original image
F/1.4
F/2.8
F/4
F/5.6
angle appeals there is much to commend this Zeiss lens.
Images The latest Milvus lens performs very well at every aperture including at f/1.4. So you can enjoy the very shallowdepth- of-field possible, while what it is focused on is pin sharp.
F/8
F/11
F/16
Pros High optical quality at every aperture, fast maximum aperture Cons Price, weight, large filter thread, vignetting at the wider apertures
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