Zeiss Milvus 21mm f/2.8 Distagon Review

When I happened to briefly swap lenses with Swapan Parekh (at the Delhi Photo Festival, in a pub, no less), his exclamation on looking through the viewfi nder summed up my entire review. “It does not look like a 21. More like a 28, isn’t it? Feels good too.” There you have it. That’s the Milvus 2.8/21, its review, and the verdict.

Skirting the upper end of the ultrawide zone, the exaggerated perspective of a 21mm lends a lot of drama, and not subtly at that. This is why control over distortion at these focal lengths have become the holy grail for manufacturers. The Distagon optical design by Zeiss has been extremely effective in this regard. Zeiss proclaims the Milvus 2.8/21 to be ‘the best in its class’.

Features

The distinctively designed Milvus lens has a maximum aperture of f/2.8. This is certainly not be the best in its class, but the reason why Zeiss restricted it was to keep the size and weight of the lens down, and to provide a standard of optical quality across the aperture range.

The 2.8/21 has no AF, but it does have a very useful, detailed distance and DOF scale (lacking in almost every AF lens these days), making it quite easy for a user to quickly start with hyperfocal distances. Other signifi cant features include weather and splash resistance, aperture declicking for video, and a 124o of rotation on the MF ring.

Handling

The all metal lens (including the supplied hood) is easily the best looking wide lens I have come across so far, and it handles the way it looks too. Despite the shape, the 2.8/21 sits nicely in the hand. The MF ring is wonderfully smooth and the best MF experience in a wide. The lens hood fi ts in with the lines beautifully, and can be reversed for easy storage. The on-board fl ash throws a shadow with the hood attached, but not otherwise. The lens cap has had a redesign as well, over the previous editions, and is now quite thick, allowing a much better grasp. The lens is not a fi sheye, and can take slim fi lters of a diameter of 82mm.

Performance

When it comes to shooting with extreme wide angle lenses, quality of bokeh and sharpness are less critical factors than distortion, fl aring and loss of contrast because of it. Wide open, except for the extreme corners where sharpness drops quite badly, the 2.8/21 does well. At f/4, there is noticeable increase in contrast across the frame, and center to corner sharpness evens out at f/8. The lens starts performing at its best from f/8 to f/16. Control over flare across the aperture range is reasonably good. Distortion is superbly well-controlled, and the very slight fringing against the light is easily correctable.

Camera held above the head, this is about 3 feet away from the subjects. I was quite surprised at how natural
and tight the frame feels. Exposure: 1/160sec at f/11 (ISO 1600)

Conclusion

The Milvus 2.8/21, is not without its competitors though. In the past, I was extremely impressed with the 14mm lens (Distagon inspired) of the Sigma DP0 Quattro (21mm equivalent on its sensor). Of course, it is a very different sort of product, but the same angle of view. 

On test in this issue is also the Sigma 20mm f/1.4 Art (which I have yet to get my hands on). It is a bigger lens, but with two stops of undeniable advantage. With the reputation that the Art series has garnered, it might prove to be the more rational choice.

Nikon has been releasing iterations of its 20mm lens since 1959. At about half the price of the 2.8/21, the recently launched Nikkor 20mm f/1.8G would also be an excellent contender. It does not have the
same level of contrast, but both flare and distortion are well controlled, and it is small and light enough for casual street shooting. It is nowhere close to the build quality of the Milvus though.

24mm lenses come close enough to 21mm to become options too, and here, the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art comes through strongly. It would be my preferred lens over both Nikon and Canon’s f/1.4 versions (pricing considerations included). The new Nikkor 24mm f/1.8G (also on test this issue) does well too. And, of course, all them have AF. 

All of this begs the question, why is the 2.8/21 a choice and for whom? It all comes back to the kind of photographer you are. Firstly, the optical quality of this lens is superb. It can handle any situation you throw at it. Secondly, the Milvus will easily outlast competing lens three times over, making it well worth the price tag. Thirdly, as someone who almost constantly uses hyperfocal distances, the 2.8/21 gave me an enormous amount of freedom by not having to bother about continuously focusing or where my focus point was falling. I was free to concentrate on framing and getting the moment. Finally, as Swapan succinctly puts it, the lens feels and looks good.

If these four reasons seem good enough, and make you stop and consider, I can guarantee that the Milvus 2.8/21 is a very worthy choice indeed.

FINAL RATINGS

Features
Aperture declicking for video, superb design.   16/20

Performance
Soft extreme corners up to f/4. Excellent control over flare and distortion.   30/35

Build Quality
All metal, dust and splash resistance.   24/25

Ergonomics
Feels great in the hand, excellent manual focus, detailed distance and DOF scale.   13/15

Warranty & Support
Two-year warranty.   3/5

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