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MTF for Milvus 50/1.4, f/1.4 - f/16
These are measured results from one of the first production samples of the Milvus 50mm f/1.4 Distagon. Measured results are credible—vendors such as Canon, Nikon, Leica do not provide measured results from actual lenses—they compute an ideal result. Moreover the spectral weighting may differ, and for Canon and Nikon, the graphs only go to 30 lp/mm so no valid comparison is possible.
Performance across the aperture range
Performance wide open is consistent across the field, remarkably so for a 50mm f/1.4 lens, but micro contrast is modest. Compared to its 55/1.4 APO-Distagon sibling, the Milvus 50/1.4 requires f/2.8 to achieve similar micro contrast—so the considerable Otus price premium really is reflected in the first three apertures.
Also of note is that peak contrast for coarse and medium structures (the two top pairs of lines) at f/1.4 through f/2.8 is significantly lower than the Otus 55/1.4. At f/4 and f/5.6 the Otus retains an advantage, but by f/5.6 the two lenses are performing similarly, except that the Milvus 50/1.4 does not deliver from the long edges to the corners as the Otus does. But nothing approaches the Otus.
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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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