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Hi Jim,
not many news about Batis I am afraid. However, it was more than clear that Zeiss is paying lot of attention to Sony in general and I am sure that this line will grow-up. Considering their supply problems recently, it might take a bit longer till they come with new Batis lenses, but not too long. I would expect something in the 1st quarter of 2016, wild guessing 135/2.8 and maybe 50/1.4. Those are really wild guesses, not info from Zeiss.
Regarding Milvus, Zeiss is convinced (and I share that opinion) that DSLR market is far from being dead. With Milvus, Zeiss is just replacing old – “Classic” line, which was available for Canon and Nikon (earlier for Pentax too) for over 10 years now. Reasons for that are several, officially they wanted to update 50 and 85 for new high resolution sensors (other “classics” were already resolving enough), move toward new – modern and differentiating design, add weather protection and new coatings. On the other side of the equitation, there is probably effort to reduce production costs (barrels are now really similar and less complicated forms and assembly is needed), and it builds a space for slight profit increase.
Regarding MF and DSLR vs MILC, there are situations where OVF can still beat EVF (in speed and low light), but most of all, OVF is still preferred by majority of professionals, for rather emotional but also some rational reasons. (When I shot model with EVF I always have a feeling that I am watching him/her on TV, while through OVF I feel as a part of the set. Also, most of portrait shooting doesn’t go at really wide apertures, especially in studio and with flash and modeling light it is easier for me to focus using OVF).
Anyway, looking at the recent Zeiss camera lens offer, we can see 7 lines recently (ZM is on hold unfortunately and Classic is slightly dying) from which 3 lines are only Sony E mount dedicated (Loxia, Batis and Touit). With Sony/Zeiss lenses it makes it actually 4 and I think that it is more than clear, which technology and brand, Zeiss consider as a most promising.
regards,
Viktor