Today, Zeiss is expanding the reach of its Milvus line of high-end DSLR prime lenses in both directions, wide and telephoto. The trio of new lenses includes the Zeiss Milvus 15mm f/2.8, the Zeiss Milvus 18mm f/2.8, and the Zeiss Milvus 135mm f/2. Here are the individual details.
Zeiss Milvus 15mm f/2.8
With a 110-degree field of view, this is a true super-wide lens, but Zeiss claims that the Distagon lens design keeps distortion and other undesirable optical effects to a minimum. It uses a lot of fancy tech to make it happen, including 15 elements in 12 groups. There are two aspheric elements, special glass with anomalous partial dispersion, as well as some floating elements. Like all the lenses in the line, flare is handled by the T* coating. And if past performance is any indicator, the flare fighting abilities will be very good.
The Zeiss Milvus 15mm f/2.8 will be available for $2,699.
Zeiss Milvus 18mm f/2.8
While not quite as wide as the 15mm Milvus, the 18mm f/2.8 is noticeably more compact, with a standard 77mm filter thread diameter, compared to the massive 95mm on the 15mm lens. It has 14 elements in 12 groups, which includes two aspheric elements. It can also focus down to .25 meters which gives it some added versatility.
The Zeiss Milvus 18mm f/2.8 will be available for $2,299.
Zeiss Milvus 135mm f/2
On the other end of the focal length spectrum, the longest lens in the Zeiss Milvus lineup uses 11 elements in eight groups, as well as a big aperture to make it seem like a real winner of a portrait lens. it focuses down to 0.8 meters and promises super-clean bokeh, which is extremely important for portraits.
The Zeiss Milvus 135mm f/2 will be available for $2,199.
All three lenses will come in both Canon and Nikon mounts and, of course, be exclusively manual focus. We should have some samples to try very soon and we’re looking forward to seeing what they can do.