For me, a lens is a tool and as a tool it can only be judged is relation to the job I ask it to do. That job is landscape photography and for that purpose, this lens is very well suited. I always use a tripod, so lens speed is not important, depth of field is. The f/2 maximum aperture allows a smaller minimum aperture. The depth of field scale is easy to read and use and I use it for virtually every photograph. I very seldom want fast focus but when I do I find using an appropriate hyperfocal distance more useful than autofocus.

Build quality is outstanding! Great results if used properly. I found it hard to use on a most crowded and noisy place since I rely on my cameras focus sound as I can?t hear it when it hit the focus so you have to look at the light it get the focus. It?s a little challenging to use in a noisy place at least for me. But the color and sharpness the photo it produces is amazing! I have the lens for 6 months now and I love it! Although it?s not my general lens to use but surely I?m keeping it for years to come

First: this lens is huge and heavy. Bring your A game, because you will need it to focus this bad boy. That said, when you nail it, this lens will reward you with some of the best results you can find. So practice practice practice. Spectacular? Sublime? I don't know how many adjectives you need. It lives up to, and in my opinion even exceeds its reputation. Easily one of the best lenses I've used; a lifetime investment.

Zeiss overall is the best in the industry. Anyone and everyone knows that. Now for this lens. It's great! The focus ring is very smooth and accurate. Wide open it's extremely sharp. The quality and difference with the picture taken SOOC is awesome. It's a great foundation for editing and to make your images pop. It is heavy. But again you get into that with this particular lens and quality. The hood I have mixed feelings. With the great glass and coatings theres no flare, CA, etc. With the size of the lens I really don't think you need a hood. So it's more of a personal choice at this point. Works great though. Snaps in really well, all metal construction. This is a lens that you keep. It's an investment. Main uses: Portraits ONLY. Wedding Portraits and Engagement Portraits in particular. I say this cause of the manual focus. Grown adults know how to hold still. So you can really zero in on focus wide open or any AP for that matter. Kids and family, I would say no way. Just not going to happen with this lens unless you're a freakin stallion with focusing LOL .

I received the Zeiss Milvus 135mm f/2 this morning. I tested it outside on my RRS tripod, hands-free, with a 3-second delay on the electronic shutter. I focused on my Spyder LenCal. Additionally, I also took test shots of tree bark to verify the outstanding micro contrast this lens captures. This is a phenomenal portrait lens - pristine even wide open! The contrast starts to noticeably slightly fall off with diffraction at f/10. I took test shots at every 1/3 stop from wide open at f/2 to f/22 - attached are samples of just a few. The first image shows the full view capture at f/2 of the target positioned 10 feet away from my D850. The following images are 100% crops of the labeled full-stop apertures.

This is not a walk around lens, but using it for the right subjects there is none better. Perfect match for my Nikon D850. Very happy with my purchase.

Perfection.

I'am an amateur enthusiast and have just recently purchased the Zeiss Milvus 135mm ƒ2 lens and use it with a Nikon D850. This lens is spectacular in every way. I was worried I would not be able to adjust to the manual focus only of this lens, that is not even a concern a little practice and familiarization will yield incredible results. Please don't let the manual focus deter you!!!. I don't have much knowledge of all the technical aspects of this lens but this is a special very useful lens and you will love it. See sample.

I used this lens with my D800, very sharp focus and colors are wonderful, I like background and foreground diffusion and images are 3 dimensional, I own Nikon 85mm F1.4 g, but this lens is way better for portrait. This my 1st manual focus lens, I like it. I'm now fan of Zeiss, and will be adding more prime lens to my collection

A wise person once said to me: "Buy cheap equipment first, learn what frustrates you, then you will know what to look for when buying expensive gear". Chromatic aberrations and lack of fine details were the flaws I did not like in my photos.

I bought this lens for its amazing resolving power and lack of chromatic aberrations. When this lens is pointed directly at a light source, it will hardly veil and control bloom wonderfully. Please look to the uploaded image as a testament to how well this lens performs.

This lens is manual focus only. I found it quite easy to get the hang of and nail focus. The great Zeiss engineering makes it a pleasure to use.