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45-megapixel Nikon D850

Zeiss Milvus 25mm f/1.4

2.8: Shaded Boulder Field, North-East Escarpment, Twenty Lakes Basin

The scene was chosen for particular reasons so that this 3-way shootout can look at all of the following:

General sharpness across the field.
Ability to sharpen near to far with stopping down: which lens(es) can deliver the best near-to-far sharpness?
Secondary color and lateral chromatic aberration.
Bokeh in out of focus areas and general look and feel.
How the 25/1.4 compares in vignetting at f/2 versus the 25/2 and at f/2.8 and f.4 versus the 25/2.8.
Presence or absence of focus shift.

What I look for in a lens for landscape or architectural use is (0) ease of focusing, e.g., an f/1.4 lens is a major advantage in very low light so long as it has high contrast (but a flashlight can work around that focusing issue), (2) a flat field, (3) strict control of focus shift and field curvature, (3) high contrast and sharpness corner to corner, (4) good bokeh or at least not unpleasant bokeh, (5) size and weight.

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Diglloyd Guide to Zeiss offers comprehensive integrated coverage of Zeiss DSLR lenses for Canon and Nikon. Nearly a decade in the making, it covers everything you need to know for every lens in the ZF.2, ZE, Milvus and Otus lines. Guide to Mirrorless and Zeiss ZM rangefinder lenses in Guide to Leica.

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Aperture series from wide open through stopped down, showing the full range of lens performance and bokeh.
Optical quality analysis of field curvature, focus shift, sharpness, flare, distortion, and performance in the field.

Want a preview? Click on any page below to see an excerpt. And see Lloyd’s articles for Lenspire.Zeiss.com.

Zeiss Milvus 25mm f/1.4, Zeiss 25mm f/2 Distagon, Zeiss 25mm f/2.8 Distagon