Testing (Almost) Every Entry-Level ZEISS Cine Lens

Jabari tests the video quality of almost every entry-level ZEISS digital cinema lenses, the CP.3 and LWZ.3 series'. He also discusses how they compare to the Zeiss Otus, Milvus, Loxia, and Batis lenses.
Photo vs Cine Lenses: Which Is Right for You?: • Photo vs Cine Lenses: ...
ZEISS Compact Primes (Sony E Mount)
- ZEISS CP.3 18mm T2.9 Compact Prime Lens: bhpho.to/3shA0qA
- ZEISS CP.3 21mm T2.9 Compact Prime Lens: bhpho.to/47vqWyF
- ZEISS CP.3 85mm T2.1 Compact Prime Lens: bhpho.to/3Yxhzuh
ZEISS 21-100mm T2.9-3.9 Lightweight Zoom LWZ.3 Lens (Sony E Mount): bhpho.to/3QFOXwN
ZEISS Otus 55mm f/1.4 ZE Lens for Canon EF: bhpho.to/4570D07
ZEISS Milvus Primes (Canon EF)
- ZEISS Milvus 25mm f/1.4 ZE Lens: bhpho.to/3QIF01J
- ZEISS Milvus 50mm f/1.4 ZE Lens: bhpho.to/45qPsz2
ZEISS Loxia Primes (Sony E)
- ZEISS Loxia 21mm f/2.8 Lens: bhpho.to/45ablCX
- ZEISS Loxia 50mm f/2 Lens: bhpho.to/47vnjZw
ZEISS Batis Primes
- ZEISS Batis 40mm f/2 CF Lens for Sony E: bhpho.to/2y2rSeB
- ZEISS Batis 85mm f/1.8 Lens for Sony E: bhpho.to/3KH23Gr
Cameras used
- Sony FX3 Full-Frame Cinema Camera: bhpho.to/433v59F
- Sony FX6 Full-Frame Cinema Camera: bhpho.to/44nnQum
- Sony a7R V Mirrorless Camera: bhpho.to/3yb2tOs
- Canon EOS C300 Mark III Digital Cinema Camera Body: bhpho.to/3OEBBOG
Other camera gear
- ZEISS Interchangeable Lens Mount for CP.3: bhpho.to/3QWS7wD
- ZEISS Interchangeable Mount Set for 21 - 100mm T2.9-3.9 LWZ.3 Light Weight Zoom Lens: bhpho.to/3OzGCZ1
- DJI RS 3 Mini Gimbal Stabilizer: bhpho.to/4562Tog
- Chrosziel Zoomer Universal Servo Drive Motor: bhpho.to/3zwF2yp
0:00 Intro
0:52 The Zeiss Look
1:52 Photo vs. Cine Lenses
7:19 CP.3
8:51 LWZ.3
10:21 Otus
11:23 Milvus
12:23 Loxia
13:26 Batis
14:05 Final Thoughts
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#Zeiss #ZeissLenses #CineLens

[@BandH]

Could you tell the difference between the footage shot with Zeiss' photo lenses vs. their cine lenses?

[@post-urbanlife]

Something that also Zeiss themself point out is that when designing a lens for particular use case, you'll need to select a set of most important specs for the design and then "tradeoff" from the less important features. For example nowadays breathing is very important for cinema (but wasn't some decades ago) and sharpness is actually slightly less important because the picture is always moving anyway. On the contrary sharpness is very important in photography (for Zeiss at least) and they care less about breathing as the camera can move. Zeiss doesn't make so many zoom designs but for example the LWZ zooms definitely trade of some of the sharpness for parfocality, breathing compared, and they actually allow a smoothly ramping T stop to have more quality in other areas. Surely this is an oversimplification but I guess the point is still that you can't make a zoom nor prime that's just perfect in every aspect you can measure.
Notes on the products:
- Milvus is weather sealed but Otus is not.
- LWZ.3 works "perfectly" also for FX30 if you add a cage
- Touit might be also an interesting set for FX30 operators, sadly they only ever released 12, 32, 50mm models

[@gianlucagattabria2357]

Please make a video about the loxia lenses, the are no technical reviews on the complete set, it would be great!

[@CELproductions]

Production quality and work involved in this video is incredible. Thank you

[@captainkanji1]

I got all of my EF/Contax Zeiss classics for less than $500 each on eBay. The 85mm 1.4 Classic is my favorite lens by far.

[@edclevel402]

"Entry-level" is doing some heavy lifting here... 😄

[@SamGossner]

Thanks for doing this very interesting comparison! Was impressed here by Batis in the imagery. As incredible as Otus are (special shoutout as well to the great Milvus 135!), sometimes just having something made specifically for Sony & other mirrorless sensors can be even more convenient, to ensure perfect performance corner to corner. Since Zeiss hasn't enlarged the Otus line in years (last was 100mm in 2019), nor ported them to mounts other than EF/F, I'm skeptical they will add more.
I think it's also interesting to consider Cosina-Voigtlander lenses, since Cosina jointly develops and builds many of Zeiss' lenses. By their own admission, the lessons learned from the Otus, Milvus, and Loxia optical designs apply directly to Cosina's more recent designs (specifically the 50 f/2 APO).
The APO-Lanthar series in particular is extremely impressive if you need true apochromatic glass on a budget (...and don't care about focus breathing or vignetting), especially paired with small mirrorless like FX3's. While still of full metal construction, the entire lineup is comparatively tiny compared to Otus and even CP.3. I thought the CV 110 APO was big until I set it down next to my buddy's Otus 85; like a Beetle next to a monster truck!

[@fabipuello]

Awesome video.

[@mohamadawad3175]

So the lwz 21-100mm is not recommended for sony fx3 ????

[@officialbrandoncoleman]

I love Carl Zeiss milvus lenses 😊😊😊

[@Plusmonkey]

Zeiss needs to make more Batis lenses. " zooms please.

[@robert18productions]

Zeiss “Entry-Level” Cine Lenses… right… All these lenses are $800 to $10,000 on B&H. None of these are within the “entry-level” price range.

[@christopherduran9926]

Oh man, who wants to tell them…

[@hansfijlstra5932]

Meaningless advertisement for Zeiss lenses…

[@schmel.photography]

Thanks for this great Video 🎉