Zeiss introduces Milvus 25mm f/1.4 lens for Canon and Nikon
posted Wednesday, October 18, 2017 at 10:00 AM EDT
High-end optical company Zeiss has announced the eleventh lens in their Milvus family of SLR lenses. The new Zeiss Milvus 1.4/25 is also the fourth Milvus lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.4 and is going to be available for Canon and Nikon lens mounts.
Christophe Casenave, Product Manager at Zeiss, says of the new lens, "The completely new optical design ensures superior performance across the entire image field. This results in high-contrast photos and a harmonious bokeh." The optical design Casenave refers to includes seven low dispersion elements and a pair of aspherical elements. The lens also includes Zeiss' T* anti-reflective coating. At the mount side of the lens, there is a rounded 9-blade diaphragm.
The advanced optical formula is encased within an anodized metal barrel with a weather-sealed construction. The lens shares the same general design philosophy as other Zeiss Milvus lenses, including a rubber focus ring, focus markings and a simple, smooth appearance. Like many other Zeiss lenses, the Milvus 25mm f/1.4 prime is a manual focus lens, so the rubber focus ring is of particular importance. Of similar importance is the laser-engraved focusing and depth of field scales and the hard stops at infinity and minimum focus positions. Minimum focus distance is 9.92 inches (25.2 centimeters).
Zeiss states that the lens is well-suited to landscape, nature, architecture, interior and astrophotography thanks to its focal length and maximum aperture. It has also been designed to work well for video. For filter users, the Zeiss Milvus 25mm f/1.4 uses an 82mm filter thread. As mentioned, the lens is available for Canon and Nikon mounts. The two mount versions have slightly different dimensions and weights. The Canon version has a diameter of 3.75 inches (95.2 millimeters) and is 4.82 inches (122.5 millimeters) long. The Canon version weighs 2.7 pounds (1.22 kilograms). The Nikon version has the same diameter but is slightly longer at 4.85 inches (123.3 millimeters) and weighs a bit less, 2.58 pounds (1.17 kilograms). Both versions are available for preorder now for US$2,399 and you can order them through the links below.