Photographyblog posted the Zeiss slideshow of the official Zeiss Milvus presentation. And made it clear why those lenses are made for Sony E-mount owners too:
– The lenses are manual focus anyway. So by using an adapter you don’t lose anything.
– Smooth precise manual focusing system ideal to use with Sony focus peaking.
– All lenses of the range are color matched. Ideal for video post processing.
– 4K ready (high-resolution power edge to edge) and HDR ready (excellent ghost and flare resistance)
– No need of in camera lens correction. The lenses are already top of the notch.
Sounds like this could be a ncie lens for Sony A7s and Sony A7rII photographer and filmmakers!
Here are the detailed Lens info and preorder links at BHphoto:
Zeiss Milvus 100mm f/2M ZE Lens for Canon EF at BHPhoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here).
Zeiss Milvus 100mm f/2M ZF.2 Lens for Nikon F at BHPhoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here).
Zeiss Milvus 21mm f/2.8 ZE Lens for Canon EF at BHPhoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here).
Zeiss Milvus 21mm f/2.8 ZE Lens for Nikon F at BHPhoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here).
Zeiss Milvus 35mm f/2 ZE Lens for Canon EF at BHPhoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here).
Zeiss Milvus 35mm f/2 ZE Lens for Nikon F at BHPhoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here).
Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/1.4 ZE Lens for Canon EF at BHPhoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here).
Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/1.4 ZF.2 Lens for Nikon F at BHPhoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here).
Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/2M ZE Lens for Canon EF at BHPhoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here).
Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/2M ZE Lens for Nikon F at BHPhoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here).
Zeiss Milvus 85mm f/1.4 ZE Lens for Canon EF at BHPhoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here).
Zeiss Milvus 85mm f/1.4 ZE Lens for Nikon F at BHPhoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here).
54 Responses
“– No need of in camera lens correction. The lenses are already top of the notch.”
This is silly! All lenses need some correction albeit small one.
For example I have many of the newer Zeiss lenses for FE including Batis and when I make panoramas with wide open aperture unless I correct for vignetting the panorama gets dark stripes all over.
Also wideangle always exhibit some distortion. So if you need to shoot architecture some correction is needed. When using expensive Zeiss lens one expects less correction to be needed then when using cheaper lens but still the lens has some distortion.
LoCA are also present on most Zeiss lenses. Perhaps Otus lenses do not have them but the set of Zeiss lenses I have with wider apertures and longer focal distance have some LoCA. Again I am talking about Zeiss designs from the last 10 years as ar emost of their Canon and Nikon lenses.
Except for maybe 100mm-150mm lenses. Even some of the higher end 80’s designed macros had almost zero distortion…like .01.
DSLR cameras can be “OFF” too – this is a product of their design as seen in the D750 AF module debacle of late.
What’s with the ‘4K ready’ marketing speak? Surely any decent lens released in the past several years can resolve 8 megapixels…
Exactly.
Blurb actually says 6K on Zeiss’ website.
It’s a buzzword.
No wonder they can’t deliver batis on time
So if its such a great E mount lens, why not make it for E mount??
Because they want to recycle the ZE and ZF range which is designed for the DSLR flange distance.
E mount benefits more from redesigned ZM lenses, which is the Loxia range.
Bunk. The focus magnification of the Loxias is what I would call “ideal” for Sony E-mount. Everything else is marketning nonsense.
Zeiss, please announce the next Loxia!
I love Zeiss, but until they release a dedicated, weather sealed ZF-FE mount adapter for Milvus line, I will call BS on them on saying this lens line is for Sony: Loxia and Batis is for Sony and a7 series owners are all waiting for this two lens line. Those wanting to do videography will want Loxia, not this dslr lenses.
Yeah, unless they really behave like Loxias for automatic focus aid, this is just a lame excuse.
Imagine the price of their adapter;)
so is the 100mm just a repackaged 100mm Makro-planar or was the optical formula tweaked at all (to maybe address LoCA)?
Agreed. I don’t want an adapter. I want dedicated native mount lenses of high optical quality and hopefully smaller than their DSLR counterparts. I know they might be similar, but sony and zeiss have both shown it is possible. It seems zeiss is falling into the trap of cheaper alternative third party vendors trying to make a one-size fits all… Perhaps, this means they will abandon further development on the Loxia and Batis lines like they did with their Touit line. I hope not, because it seems like Sony is committed finally to a lens mount ~ the E (or rather FE) mount.
and, by the way, there is only a very few lenses I would consider using with an adapter and these are not them.
This is exactly the fear i’ve had with mirrorless. 3rd party manufacturers acting like the fact that you can use an adapter is an excuse to not spend the money on new lenses for mirrorless systems. I hope that loxia and batis sales will start to show them that many people want native mount lenses which are often smaller and lighter than their DSLR counterparts. At least sony has gone all in and released some really nice glass for the A7 series. I hope tomorrow they continue to exceed our expectations.
As if the Batis line up didn’t sell well. Insane move from Zeiss.
It’s very strange that in many cases they are bigger or heavier for mirrorless (70-200 f/4, 35 1.4, 90 2.8, etc…)
do you mean by actually suppling them?
Yeah, Sony was ignored on both mounts!
Uh…. ok, if you say so Zeiss. Now get some more Batis out
AMount version would be most suited for these curvy lenses. Then I could keep my better battery, bigger grip, and fully articulating LCD. The one camera these Milvus lenses would be best suited upon is still ignored.
No joy in mounting my Otus onto tiny a7RII. The EF adapters are wide and knurled… they bite the knuckles because a7RII grip is so tiny. Seriously it’s painful to use the combo. Forget about gloves.
Wish Sony would spread that grip outward a bit… and even allow the larger battery to be used. Just silly how two EMount batteries with VG give less shots than one battery inside a99. And with VG, it’s a larger camera than a99 body only.
Geesh I wish Minolta would purchase AMount back again… and get cozy with Leica again.
I wonder if Leitax could convert the ZF’s to native AMount?
Hmm. I was excited to read about these… then saw the same old ZE electronic aperture, and the ZF manual one. The rest of the worlds’ cine lenses all rack focus one way, Nikon the other way. Terrible for muscle memory, and kinda rules it out for critical film usage. I’d love an ef-mount option with manual aperture for blackmagic cameras etc. Or a Nikon mount version that racks the standard way.
Let’s use the right terminology here… “compatible”, not “ideal”. It’s nice to have color matched set, but these aren’t cine lenses and no one will buy them as a set for video (different housing sizes, focus breathing, etc.). That said, I certainly welcome this new line, always nice to have more quality options. Curious to see what the Canikon crowd thinks…
It does irk me a bit to have a full set (even if some are just updates of existing glass) launched at the start vs. the measly 2 of each for the Sony system…
This might explain the production delays on the Batis/Loxias – Zeiss has their hands full and you know they’ll be pumping out a whole of a lot more of these Milvus’s for the big two…
Lack of AF is a big deal, based on CR comments.
I can see that given that modern CaNikon’s are so very poor as manual focus cameras below f/4.
The last thing you wanna do with high precision floating element designs is put a lens adapter with more or less random thickness (within limits) between the lens and the body. High precision suddenly goes out of the window and so do some of the benefits of floating elements.
So, no thanks.
You DO loose weather sealing, which to me is very important considering the price.
Hey people,
I asked the the same thing on the Photo Rumors:
I just want to hear your opinion.
Let’s say someone is starting to build his system from beginning… And he / she wants exclusively Zeiss lenses. Which mount to choose? ZF.2 or ZE? Which one do you prefer?
And which one is better for use on mirrorless cameras, like alpha E mount…
Regards
ZE focuses same direction as standard AMount, Leica, Contax, Canon, and Tammy 15-30, Siggy Art. So if you’re gonna mix, might want them to at least be consistent with focus direction.
ZF might be adaptable to AMount with Leitax. So better handling with AMount creature comforts might be doable. Then Tamron 24-70/70-200 SP both focus same direction as Nikon… So a few standard AF lenses could fill in when needed.
Answer… I dunno. Soon selling my EMount/Otus and sticking with a99, Tamron 15-30, Siggy Art, Minolta Super Telephoto… with a dash of ZA135 and Mitakon 85/1.2 for good measure… Voigtlander 125/2.5 is dreamy on AMount, and small enough to balance nicely on EMount toy trash. Did I say trash? Yes, I think I did. Just not up to pro game.
Tamron 15-30 for A mount is not an existing lens and same goes for newest Sigma art. A mount is dying death by 1000 cuts
A99 is also less pro than simple a7. Sorry mate you are talking trash
My tether fails with a7RII after every three shots, even with 6ft USB cable. Had to finish yesterday shoot with 24mp a7II and a99, no tether issues. Shot today with a77 for low angle vertical with full LCD articulation. Not possible with Etrash.
Try getting what you call “pro” performance with AF-C and any Emount monkey. Not going to happen. 810 shots with a99 single battery writing two cards. 700 shots with a7RII with two battery VG… but needed computer and backup HD to save… That Efunk rig is much larger than simple a99 body only.
Don’t talk “pro” to a 40 year vet my friend. Emount is a toy by comparison. Soon to be in the sold archives… as soon as Amount is properly supported, or CaNikon answers with robust alternatives. Emount is a stop gap until better arrives.
No one would argue that any of the a7 series are a solid, pro camera.
If I had real work to do that required 100 percent reliability and the toughness to endure trips and new locations I’d take an a99 over any a7, as would I also take a Nikon or Canon.
The a7 series has a place but Sony is confused if they think it’ll be used by pros that’ve relied on the quality of real DSLRs.
With ZF.2 the real advantage is that you can adapt it also on Canon bodies. ZE cant be used on Nikon. So with ZF.2 you are free to choose your camera. Theoretically you also wouldn’t need an electronic adapter but that’s non-sense. There are many electronic adapters for Canon mount. The aperture ring is only of real use de-clicked in documentary video (not really artistic video). The focus direction is something you get very quickly acustomed to. The ZEs feel a bit more compact and solid at the mount. 1. Dou you really need Iris pulls in Video?
2. What would you choose besides the Sony? Canon or Nikon?
I thought the DSLR was dead? Why the hell is Sigma/Tamron/Zeiss still making great optics for them and barely anything for native FE mount?
so now we can back order milvus lenses, loxia lenses and batis lenses all carrying zeiss logos but made in Japan or somewhere in the far east.
Milvus is manual focus for the fastest autofocus camera in production so far.
Have I missed something?
Yes you can mount it on the 7D II 😉
DSLRs were focusing fast since many years yet Zeiss sold only MF lenses.
And Milvus (what an akward name) isn’t an E-Mount lens….
Well said. They are just desperate in getting these overpriced rebadged lens now. Had Cosina owns a better in-house marketing team…
Here Here, most sense I’ve heard today.
Want more Loxias, pass on this line. EF doesn’t have manual aperture and F have reverse focus throw – no thanks. Also as pointed out, these are not cine lenses and photogs tend to like AF lenses – weird in-between product, don’t think they will sell well.
Zeiss is a f*ing cheater!!!! Not only they keep monopoly on Sony E mount lens market but they make new lenses for competitor camera but not for Sony A or E mount….
Here is the thing, Zeiss removed the datasheets for the “Classic” ZF.2 lenses that overlap with the Milvus line, gladly I had them in my Dropbox. This is what I noticed by comparing them.
1. Other than the 1.4/50 and 1.4/85, all lenses have EXACTLY the same optical technical data: Relative Illuminance/Vignetting, Relative Distortion and MTFs Graphs; MFD etc.; They ONLY DIFFER in data related to the outer casing, where the differences are that the new Milvus line is quite a bit heavier and a bit larger than the original ZF.2 lenses;
2. For the 1.4/50, the optical data is improved, not a whole lot, but it is improved. The weight though more than doubled as well as the size;
3. For the 1.4/85, the optical data DEFINITELY improved, like more than a bit. But again, weight more than doubled and size increased almost as much.
I just find it sad that the folks at Zeiss decided to preclude people from having easy access to those documents. Kind of a d##k move…
Anyway, if I ever decide to grab a Milvus, it would only be if I’d be willing to lug around the new 1.4/85 for the improved optics or for value retention of the new line. Other than that, I’ll be looking for the classic lenses…
They apparently don’t know the meaning of the word “ideal.” An adapted lens simply isn’t ideal. That’s heresy, I say.
It can’t be ideal to adapt those to Sony E-Mount. The optical stack in front of the sensor is quite different to Canikon. Those are accounted in lens design and can have a great impact at wide apertures. It’s a nasty recommendation.
Btw: As an owner of the classic Makro-Planars I can’t see any difference in optical performance from the samples. Probably they just got new coatings. The optical design is the same in regards to elements and groups. As such you shouldn’t be able to adress the few flaws they have: loca & vignetting. The 35 looks also very familiar.
The 50 and 85 though seem to be stellar. Definetly much better than the old planars.
The barrel design is ugly in comparison to the Classic and ZM series. The rubber ring won’t last for many years. Overall they look like soulless technical tools whereas the Classics are delicious masterpieces. Zeiss these days… Once loved them like no other company but now you alpha guys are ruining the tradition with your dollaries 😉 Touit, OLED, Autofocus and in the hands of the great mass….Nhhh
Not to feed the troll, but Canon’s lone market share is larger than all of mirrorless market combined. It maybe declining, but its surely far from dead.
Canikon will also get a small boost fairly soon by A-Mount userbase. Some will go mirrorless, some will switch to either one of the big two. And the longer Sony waits with A99II, the more anxious people become.
Don’t have better name? Milvus pronounces almost like “mucus”…yuck.
I’m kinda disappointed. But yeah, if Zeiss make a weather proofed good F/EF -> E adapter that makes the Milvus behave like a Loxia (EXIF+focus aid) I’d probably buy that. Don’t expect them to though.
I’m surprised they did not make these in cine housings. It is my understanding that many canikon shooters use manual Zeiss lenses exclusively for video.
Where is the wide angle Loxia?
I got the specs tonight! Will post them early next week. Announcement in 1 month.
No thank you Zeiss. If you ask +1000 USD from me, then I expect lenses that are optimised specifically for my mirrorless camera’s 18mm flange distance.
You don’t get to swat both flies on the wall with me. No shortcuts.