ZEISS Milvus 50mm f/1.4 Full Frame Camera Lens for Canon EF-Mount ZE, Black

This review will be short. The build quality is second to none, all metal with extremely tight tolerances. VERY smooth focus ring that is rubberized and a dream to use. The design is subjective, but I like how the lens flares outwards towards the front element. Speaking of the front element, it is beautiful and takes an 82mm filter. The hood attaches securely and very snug, not even the slightest of movements when it snaps on. Also metal, although I prefer the look of the lens without the hood. NOW, image quality.. It is very sharp from 2.8 onwards. The rendering is beautiful. There is vignetting wide open at 2.8 but it's easily corrected with a click of a checkbox in LR. Apart from the almost $2k price tag when new, I have zero complaints. LOVE using this on my Canon R5 with the focus assist feature. This MF lens rekindled my passion for this (expensive) art form.

After researching for 85 prime , I stumbled on this . I have not own a Zeiss lens before, but I have hear a lot of amazing reviews about it so I gave it a try. The canon 85 mm 1.4 L is another option, however, for the price, this is the bang for the buck item. No chromatic fringing, no distortion and tack sharp at 1.4 even if you focus on the extreme side of the AF point. I have tried a manual lens before , but this lens has an amazing focus . It is so precise to nail the perfect focus. I own a 24-70 2.8 ii and 70-200 2.8 ii IS , but this lens blew the previous away and this raised up my bar on the sharpness of the lens. !! I would still keep my canon lens , but this lens is my ace among them all. The quality is so superb on a canon 5dsr body. I would recommend to keep an auto focus lens in your bag. I have done months of research for a 85mm prime 1.4 in the market. Sigma 85mm Art 1.4 is the runner up , however, has issues with auto focus, compatibility issue with Canon 5d iv and reliability. For the price of 1200, I would rather add a few hundreds more for a zeiss milvus since it is built like a tank. In fact, more robust and solid than the famous Canon 70-200ii 2.8 L built. The milvus even has a 3 yr warranty. The 3rd place is the new Canon 85mm L 1.4 is then followed by the Tamron 85mm.

The box of the new lens is not so new and the seal was broken. I trust the quality of Zeiss lenses, but will report on the results afte testing this one on my Canon 7D Mark II camera and the 5D Mark IV.

First impression... Just received it today! I've been deliberating about this for quite some time, watching review after review. I was leaning towards the Canon 85mm f/1.2 L USM..... But with its slow focus and severe chromatic aberration, after renting it found out that the keeper rate wasn't that great about 60%... I was somewhat apprehension about a manual focus lens, With that being said...Don't be!! .. with senior pictures coming up I needed a fast 85, it's replacing my 85 f/1.8.. which for most people it's a decent lens, but I like for my work to outshine the competition.. In my opinion after shooting this all day long the optical quality is Superior!!! To anything else I've used, only canon that's even close is the 135mm f/2 L usm, but that's a different animal... chromatic aberration is virtually non existing , some venetting but evenly distributed across the frame wide open . My 5D mklll controls the aperture, notification when focus is achieved, No guess work with my ageing eyes! I own 6 other Prime pieces of glass... But I have a feeling that this one will soon be one of my favorite! Lol, this puppy is built like a tank, all metal and weather sealed...like the the lens of yesteryear but superb optics..So if manual focus scares you Don't be... I'm so happy with my decision on this Baby, lol..I'll update in the future and I'm not bad for writing reviews! ...Would I recommend it? In a New York minute! Hell Yes, would I buy it again, absolutely!! Hope this helps you decide Ken.....Re Image Photography

Although I have a stable of competent autofocus L-glass (16-35 f4, 70-200 f2.8 II), when it came to a fast prime I wasn't all that impressed by what Canon had to offer. The 50/1.4 has a USM motor with the structural integrity of cheese, and the 50/1.2, while offering superb results at times, is plagued by color fringing and focus shift issues. What else is out there that offers a fast aperture, a floating element and can provide EXIF data for a native Canon mount? Enter the Milvus. I developed my photographic chops on a Contax RTSII with a Zeiss C/Y 50/1.4, so I was well aware of the ergonomics. This lens is everything those older manual focus lenses were, and more, with the addition of weather sealing. Everything, whether you're turning the focus ring or putting the lens hood on, reeks of quality. I shot a friend's Canon 50L for a weekend, and it felt like a toy compared to this lens. I've never had an issue with manual focus - although Canon's implementation of the blinking center point isn't as nice as Nikon's arrow system, even at f1.4 it hasn't been a problem. Unlike the Makro-Planar, this lens has a more reasonable focus throw - along with an actual distance scale for setting hyperfocal distance, and depth of field scale that isn't just there for looks. I don't see myself selling this lens for a long, long time.

This is an amazing lens, for sure. I researched high-end 50mm lenses for months and landed on this one based on it’s specs and it’s 270deg manual focus ring. I was looking at both this and the Sigma 50mm (which is technically a better lens in several areas), but I chose this because I film mostly in the BlackMagic Pocket Cinema 4K, and the manual focus on this lens is impeccable. The only think that isn’t ideal is the resistance on the focus ring. It’s a bit too tight, and introduces noticeable movement. I use a follow focus, and you can see slight frame movement when going back and forth looking for sharp focus.

Zeiss quality is well known, these lenses have fulfilled my expectations. Besides, this item gives an excellent impression of solidity because it is metal and not plastic

Absolut hochwertiges und tolles Produkt. Weite nicht das letzte Objektiv aus dem Hause Zeiss sein, dass ich mit kaufe. Top Verarbeitung und hochwertige Materialien. Die Bilder haben ihren eigenen Character den man sofort erkennt. Klare Empfehlung. Achtung! Wer nicht auf einen Autofokus verzichten kann ist hier allerdings falsch. Das Objektiv hat nur einen manuell zu bedienenden Fokus. Dieser lässt sich jedoch extrem angenehm und genau bedienen.

Super clean and contrast results for portraits

Lovely thing :)

Ich habe das Milvus 21mm bestellt, um die Qualität meines NIKON 24mm 1.4 AF-Objektivs zu toppen. Das ist zu meinem Erstaunen nicht möglich. Das Nikon ist schärfer in der Abbildung. Warum um die Zeiss-Objektive so ein Hype gemacht wird, erschließt sich für mich zumindest bei dem Milvus 21mm nicht. Ich habe es zurück geschickt. Warum die Fachpresse das Milvus so überschwänglich lobt, kann ich mir nur aus lokalpatriotischen Gründen und Zeiss als Werbekunde erklären.