Zeiss Milvus 85mm f/1.4 lens test results

Zeiss Milvus 85mm f/1.4 lens test results published by DxOMark.  Tested on the Nikon D810, the prime optic achieved an excellent sharpness and uniformity.

The Milvus 85mm f/1.4 ZF.2 Lens from Zeiss features a fast maximum aperture along with a unique spherical design to produce especially smooth bokeh for selective focus applications. The lens achieved a score of 46 and ranks high in their database.

According to DxOMark, the Zeiss Milvus 85mm f/1.4 lens achieved outstanding results for sharpness. It also has excellent control of distortion, extremely low lateral chromatic aberration.

Zeiss Milvus 85mm f/1.4 lens test results published by DxOMark

Milvus 1.4/85 ZF.2 Nikon vs. Zeiss Planar T 85mm f/1.4 ZF2 Nikon:

Milvus 1.4/85 ZF.2 Nikon vs. Zeiss Distagon T* Otus 1.4/55 ZF.2 Nikon vs. Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G:

From DxOMark conclusion:

Possessing a certain character wide-open but with rather low sharpness, the predecessor to this new lens was beginning to look a little dated, so it is perhaps unsurprising to see a completely redesigned model. What is surprising, however, is just how well the Milvus 1.4/85 performs. At around half the price of the Otus, the optical performance of the new model isn’t far behind. Indeed, at most apertures, the new lens is slightly sharper and even has slightly lower levels of lateral chromatic aberration (though bear in mind that we don’t test for other types of fringing). Wide-open, the Otus is a better performer: it is sharper and it has lower vignetting, but unless that’s crucial, the new Milvus 85mm f1.4 is likely the better choice — especially for portraits, where photographers value control of sharpness in a lens rather than outright acuity.