Nikon D3 compatibility: Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/2.0 Macro Nikon F (ZF.2)

[kasperbergholt]

Clever people,


I'm considering buying a Zeiss Milvus 50 2,0 ZF.2 lens. A short while back, I was close to buying a lens that wouldn't work in full-frame mode.

For safety's sake: The 50mm Milvus is fully full-frame compatible, right?

Thanks in advance,

Kasper

[Eric Borgström]

Full frame. Google is your friend.


https://www.zeiss.com/consumer-products/int/photography/milvus/milvus-2815.html


/Eric

[pluton]

The 50mm f/2 Milvus Makro Planar ZF.2 is a full frame-capable lens, as are the previously issued 50/2 Makro Planars in ZF and ZF.2 flavors. A Nikon PN-11 extension tube will take it to approximately 1:1 reproduction ratio.  I haven't shot much with mine plus the PN-11, but it has been an excellent general purpose 50mm lens from infinity to it's close focus at 1:2. I have the first ZF version for sale locally right now; I switched to the Milvus in order to get the slightly lower amount of flare that the Milvus revision brings.

[Roland Vink]

There is also the Voigtlander 40/2 Ultron SL IIs, the one styled like a 1960s Nikkor. It's not a macro lens but it does focus a lot closer than most normal lenses -  down to 0.25m, giving 1:4 magnification. It has a CPU so is fully compatible with modern cameras. It's a very nice little lens.

And if you don't need the fast aperture and can live without the CPU, the Nikon AIS 55/2.8 or AI 55/3.5 are also optically superb. Both get to 1:2 without accessories.

[richardHaw]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3fRx7Caf90
 

[kasperbergholt]

There is also the Voigtlander 40/2 Ultron SL IIs, the one styled like a 1960s Nikkor. It's not a macro lens but it does focus a lot closer than most normal lenses -  down to 0.25m, giving 1:4 magnification. It has a CPU so is fully compatible with modern cameras. It's a very nice little lens.

And if you don't need the fast aperture and can live without the CPU, the Nikon AIS 55/2.8 or AI 55/3.5 are also optically superb. Both get to 1:2 without accessories.

Thank you for the reply - the Voigtlander is a great suggestion. Beautiful work! Regardring the two last ones - the 2.8 will work 'out of the box' as a manual focus lens, right? Whereas the 3.5 needs setting up a profile for it in the shooting menu?

[kasperbergholt]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3fRx7Caf90
 

Beautiful lenses! I think the minimum focusing distances of 0.4 and 0.5 meters render them suboptimal compared to the shorter ones for the other lenses (at least for the vacuum tube project).

[Roland Vink]

Thank you for the reply - the Voigtlander is a great suggestion. Beautiful work! Regardring the two last ones - the 2.8 will work 'out of the box' as a manual focus lens, right? Whereas the 3.5 needs setting up a profile for it in the shooting menu?

If you are shooting with your D3, the setup is the same with either 55mm micro.
just enter the CPU data for the lenses: focal length = 55mm, max aperture = f/2.8 or f/3.5

The Voigtlander has a built-in CPU - it is an AI-P lens - so it will automatically transmit the focal length and aperture to the camera, so no need to set up a profile in the shooting menu.

[pluton]

The Voigtlander has a built-in CPU - it is an AI-P lens - so it will automatically transmit the focal length and aperture to the camera, so no need to set up a profile in the shooting menu.

The same can said of the Zeiss ZF.2 lenses, Classic 50/2M  ZF.2 and Milvus 50/2M ZF.2. The older ZF units don't communicate with the camera bodies.
If your budget is on the low side, the Micro-Nikkor 55/2.8 is the best choice IMO.

[kasperbergholt]

The Voigtlander has a built-in CPU - it is an AI-P lens - so it will automatically transmit the focal length and aperture to the camera, so no need to set up a profile in the shooting menu.

But the Voigtlander lenses (in the YouTube video) are Z mount, right? Will these fit on a D3 without an adaptor?

[Birna Rørslett]

No. In fact, they cannot be used on the F cameras at all no matter what adapter you try.

[BruceSD]

Clever people,


I'm considering buying a Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/2.0 Macro Nikon F (ZF.2) lens. A short while back, I was close to buying a lens that wouldn't work in full-frame mode.

For safety's sake: The 50mm Milvus is fully full-frame compatible, right?


Thanks in advance,

Kasper

Yes, I have one and just went out today and shot a few photos with it on my Z6 camera.  Indeed it does cover a full frame, however, I do notice vignetting in the corners, so I guess that it's full frame coverage is not perfect.

The Zeiss Milvus 50/2 macro is a well made lens.  It's very sharp.  Bokeh is good, but not great.

I own many Zeiss lenses (Milvus and Classics).  The 50/2 Milvus is not one of the better Zeiss lenses (it's not in the 35/1.4,  85/1.4, or 135/2 Milvus leagues).  I also own the Zeiss Milvus 50/1.4.  The 50/2 Milvus is a little sharper, but the 50/1.4 has better bokeh and overall rendering (at least to my eye).
.

[kasperbergholt]

Yes, I have one and just went out today and shot a few photos with it on my Z6 camera.  Indeed it does cover a full frame, however, I do notice vignetting in the corners, so I guess that it's full frame coverage is not perfect.

The Zeiss Milvus 50/2 macro is a well made lens.  It's very sharp.  Bokeh is good, but not great.

I own many Zeiss lenses (Milvus and Classics).  The 50/2 Milvus is not one of the better Zeiss lenses (it's not in the 35/1.4,  85/1.4, or 135/2 Milvus leagues).  I also own the Zeiss Milvus 50/1.4.  The 50/2 Milvus is a little sharper, but the 50/1.4 has better bokeh and overall rendering (at least to my eye).
.

Thank you for your reply! I assume it being a macro lens causes disadvantages in comparison to the 35, 85 & 135 lenses? Do you own other macro lenses that are better than the Milvus? The Otus range is stunning.

[F2F3F6]

Like Bruce said, many Zeiss lenses, known for their sharpness exhibit some vigneting (wide-angle and 50 macro) or CA (100 macro). I had a very good 2/25mm but it had severe vigneting from f:2,0 to f:4 or 5,6.
I tested several other wide-angle lenses from Zeiss and they behave similar...as you can see in some test reports.

For a good macro lens in Nikon F mount, there are some good old Nikkors, like the 3,5/55 or 2,8/55 Micro-Nikkors, the AF-AFD 2,8/60 and AFS 2,8/60.
Or with a longer focal lenght, the Nikkor Ai-Ais 4/105 or the 2,8/105 are also pretty good. Other candidates, the last Tamron 2,8/90 VC macro (better than the Nikkor 105 AFS), or the Sigma 2,8/150 with or without vibration reduction (OS optical stabilization).
Last but not least, the legendary Voigtländer Apo Lanthar 2,5/125, but this one is getting pricey !