Zeiss (older) Distagon/Planar or Milvus for Raven?

[Thomas Ramsey]

The 1/10 stop feature sounds remarkable. I've always used manual ap glass, but I do get into a lot of situations where that 1/10 of stop would count. Recommend ZE?

 

[Hugh Scully]

I have a set of Duclos modded Zeiss ZFs on a Nikon mount on my SD. Their pretty nice. Beautiful bokeh, great contrast, sharp all the way across, with nice throw. It varies and can be tricky but they work. I use a FF that flips so that focus goes the right way. The best thing about them is that they match so nicely - completely seamless. The wides are crystal. Duclos has the 21mm I just picked up. It is amazing how little distortion - so nice. I have other Nikon lenses and the RED mount manages their apertures like the ZF2s. I've seen some sets on here for good prices. I'd consider them. You'll like them.

 

[Jonathan Grevsen]

Nice post Contax Survival guide. Made me look at these ones for the Raven. Right ones?

 

[Thomas Akira Nakasone]

I think it is important to mention that the milvus are also "sealed" against moisture and dust. I Have had more than a few dusty TOs and landings. While I don't currently own any milvus, when handling them the gaps are visibly much tighter.

 

[Ksawery Jan Oroczko]

Im using ZE lenses since years on RED and there in terms of sharpness and colors very nice, focus pulling is a different story. I highly recommend the 15mm, 21mm, 25mm, 35mm (1.4), 50mm (2.0), 100mm and 135mm. The 28mm and 50 (1.4) are not really good. 85mm is good as well but you will get a lot of CAs same issue with the 35mm (2.0). The 18mm should be ok as well, but this is the only one which don`t had in my fingers

 

[Thomas Ramsey]

Outside of the weatherproofing, I could save around 1,200 on a base set of classics. Should I just go for a set of classics? 18mm, 35mm, 50mm and 85mm. The ZE/ZF debacle is just killing me. Would be nice to cinemod ZF

 

[Edward Saltau]

Personally, I see the value of a set of cine Rokinons. Price to quality is pretty good.

I see the value of a set of cine Leica Rs. Beautiful colour and contrast on those. Hard to put your finger on it but just good lenses I think. In the same basket, I would put a cine Nikon AI-S set and a cine canon FD set. The last two are cheaper. All are reasonably sharp but really, their main upside is that they offer some character. A bit less like a magazine image and more like an old film.

I see the value of a canon L set. Focus pulling is a nightmare but the features you can use with the red (and likely more and more remote control options becoming available) make it worthy. Also you can use them on a DSLR for stills which is a nice plus.

I don't really see the value of the Zeiss ZF and ZE. If sharpness is what you're after then the Rokinons offer a similar very clean image and high detail for much less. Focus pulling? Still not amazing. Good solid build but is that worth the money? If you're spending that much. why not go the leica set and really see some beautiful glass?

I think I could make a stronger argument for going bigger and getting a Xeen or Compact Prime set than a ZF or ZE set.

Sorry if I've offended anyone or contradicted a few much more experienced than me. This is just the process I would go through.


Has anyone used the Otus lenses by Zeiss? I shot with a 55mm recently and have really been blown away by a 50mm but I think this thing takes the cake. Phenomenally smooth and buttery. Just incredible.

 

[Jonathan Grevsen]

Im using ZE lenses since years on RED and there in terms of sharpness and colors very nice, focus pulling is a different story. I highly recommend the 15mm, 21mm, 25mm, 35mm (1.4), 50mm (2.0), 100mm and 135mm. The 28mm and 50 (1.4) are not really good. 85mm is good as well but you will get a lot of CAs same issue with the 35mm (2.0). The 18mm should be ok as well, but this is the only one which don`t had in my fingers

I Found a 28mm f2 that I thinking og buying. You don't like that one or are you refering to the 2.8?

 

[Mohammed Almedfa]

Using the very sharpest lenses you can does yield a significant benefit when shooting 4K+. You can 'discover' a lot of hidden perspectives in post via cropping into the shot. This becomes even more true when shooting 6K. And you don't want to have yourself locked yourself out of those options in post.

The key in general is not to rely on this, but rather to get an extra 10% 'shot optionality' out of every shoot just by being able to crop in like that.

So I would go Milvus for the 85mm or others where the difference in sharpness is significant.

 

[Maik Müller]

There is only one answer to all this: Otus!

Now, seriously. All what Phil said. Milvus is the way to go, ZE and electronic aperture on RED is what i personally prefer. Metadata, precision and controllable via buttons/redmote/foolcontrol. It's just great, i never missed manual aperture.

Starting with Milvus today, i would choose the new 50/1.4 and 85/1.4 for sure, add the 21/2.8 and hope for the 15, 35/1.4 and 135 to get the Milvus-treatment soon. Replacing the 50/85-combo with the 50/2.0 and 100/2.0 also might make sense, and is a matter of your personal preference. I'm not than convinced about the 35/2.0, i don't understand why Zeiss didn't choose to put the 1.4 into a Milvus-housing.

To be honest, when it comes to the 21/2.8 i would have some problems choosing this over the SIGMA ART 20/1.4. Both are great lenses, but the SIGMA offers more.

Weather-sealing on Milvus is something i miss on Otus, don't underestimate this feature.

 

[Thomas Ramsey]

I ended up getting 3 EF Zeiss classics (18mm, 35mm, 50mm) to start. I found used prices on them all that I couldn't refuse (I saved over $1200) and the optics are clean. 85mm to follow. I decided to keep my Rokinon 16/35/50/85mm for now as well to have a full manual option. Very excited to put these to use on the Raven! Loving the pictures they give already.

 

[Kevin D'Haeze]

To be honest, when it comes to the 21/2.8 i would have some problems choosing this over the SIGMA ART 20/1.4. Both are great lenses, but the SIGMA offers more.

However, the Sigma 20/1.4 has no filter threads, so that can be an issue if you want to run without a matte box.

 

[Josiah Duncan]

One lens that's kind of terrible is the 50mm ZF which is terrible at f1.4 (bad coma / really soft). However, at f2 it's much better. I saw a chart test and the new Milvus 50mm is much cleaner at f1.4 than the old ZF 50mm. I'm thinking of replacing the 50mm only and keeping the other ZFs as those are great lenses.

I have ZE 21/35/50 with cinemod gears and the 50 planar is definitely the weakest, the other two are beasts. I've also contemplated replacing the 50 with the milvus and grabbing the 85. Also need to get the 15 classics as well since Milvus doesn't go that wide. Will someone let us know if the milvus and ze look near identical? I really like my 21 and 35 and would love if they matched.

 

[Kevin D'Haeze]

I ended up getting 3 EF Zeiss classics (18mm, 35mm, 50mm) to start. I found used prices on them all that I couldn't refuse (I saved over $1200) and the optics are clean. 85mm to follow. I decided to keep my Rokinon 16/35/50/85mm for now as well to have a full manual option. Very excited to put these to use on the Raven! Loving the pictures they give already.

Congrats. The Zeiss ZE's are great, and you can definitely find some deals on those. I actually prefer using still lenses vs. cine lenses, particularly when traveling. Smaller, lighter, sharp as a tack, but still built like tanks.