Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

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Empire
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p.1 #1 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

I just recieved a practically new CV 40/2 SLII and promptly ran around the backyard shooting tired subjects.

When I checked out the images in LR a couple of hours ago I was dumbfounded by the resolution of this little thing.

But then I came to this image

This image is copyrighted by the owner

doesnt seem unusual right?

Look closer:

This image is copyrighted by the owner

It appears that wide open (and also to an extent at 2.8) the ultron has some pretty extreme coma!

Nonetheless, im schmitten with the thing

Optically it is a very, very well balanced lens. No R-G or B-Y CA that I can see, marvelous resolution, nice clean punchy colour, crisp contrast, and very good flare control (what you see above is at f2, its gone at 2.8).

The only things I dislike are the Longitudinal CA and the coma - which disappears completely at f4 I might add (but then, that would be expected of any lens).

Nov 02, 2009 at 12:20 PM

Empire
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p.1 #2 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

edited my pic links, they were playing up

Nov 02, 2009 at 12:25 PM

thrice
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p.1 #3 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

I found the coma from the 35mm summilux-R similar, but only in extreme situations and only wide open. Also on the 50/1.1 nokton down to f/4 in similar situations.

Nov 02, 2009 at 12:25 PM

Empire
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p.1 #4 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Indeed I would never claim that this is a uniquie attribute of the Ultron but boy oh boy, I anit never seen coma like this before! I actually thought My sensor had eaten something or that something went askew in the A/D stage.

Note to self: F4 is where its at with the Ultron

Nov 02, 2009 at 12:32 PM

you2
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p.1 #5 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

So the question is how does this lens compare to the 35f2 ze

Nov 02, 2009 at 12:59 PM

Yakim Peled
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p.1 #6 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Well, just don't point it at the sun wide open. Alas, no lens is perfect......

Happy shooting,
Yakim.

Nov 02, 2009 at 01:08 PM

Empire
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p.1 #7 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

I was talking about coma, the distortion of point light sources towards the edge of frame, not the flare

It actually does remarkably well shooting into the sun - i'd say it ties with the nikkors that i've used over the years, and it sure trumps any zuiko I've used!

'you2', I would very much like to have acces to a ZF 35 to compare with! Instead I have a 35/1.4 Contax

I can tell you now, the Ultron is much sharper than the contax 1.4. I'd say the Ultron is about 2 apertures ahead of the distagon throughout the range. I'm not getting rid of the Distagon though!

Nov 02, 2009 at 04:42 PM

Sam N
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p.1 #8 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

you2 wrote:
So the question is how does this lens compare to the 35f2 ze

Here's one very obvious comparison.

Nov 02, 2009 at 05:52 PM

Alf Beharie
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p.1 #9 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Empire wrote:
I was talking about coma, the distortion of point light sources towards the edge of frame, not the flare

I can tell you now, the Ultron is much sharper than the contax 1.4. I'd say the Ultron is about 2 apertures ahead of the distagon throughout the range. I'm not getting rid of the Distagon though!

Question is, how does it compare to the Nikon 35mm f1.4 AIS?

Nov 02, 2009 at 06:17 PM

mawz
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p.1 #10 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Alf Beharie wrote:

Question is, how does it compare to the Nikon 35mm f1.4 AIS?

It stomps all over the 35/1.4 from f2-f4, the 35 gets close in performance from f5.6 on.

Owned both, sold the 35/1.4, the extra stop was nice but I almost always reached for the 40 instead.

I'm selling the 40 too, but only because I'm switching to RF's for my 35mm film work.

Nov 02, 2009 at 06:26 PM

Makten
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p.1 #11 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Alf Beharie wrote:
Question is, how does it compare to the Nikon 35mm f1.4 AIS?

They are very different. The AIS a more complex lens with lower (or at least easier to correct) distortion, lower vignetting (but worse corner sharpness) and harsher bokeh. On the other hand it is sharper over most of the frame at f/2.8-4, but that's it, sort of. They both outresolve a 12 mpix FF sensor easily. Probably no problem for the double resolution either.

I sold my AIS too, and I use the Ultron all of the time. Don't regret it one bit.

Nov 02, 2009 at 06:32 PM

dave chilvers
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p.1 #12 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Empire
You probably saw my thread voigt vs contax http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/830477 so I`m not surprised that you find the Ultron good, it is superb but I must admit although I`ve shot at the sun filled sky purposely putting a tree branch in frame and saw just 100% clean image but that was at F8 where I usually use the lens. I`ll have to try a few shots WO and see what transpires. Out of interest I was at the coast today as the sun was shining and this time took along my Leica sumi F2 to compare with the ultron.
Different story altogether from the contax 35 2.8. The Leica held up really well against the voigt with not an awful lot to choose between them other than the Leica had slightly better corners but I think the voigt just edged it out on out and out IQ(not by much though) which is great because my copy(latest) Sumi has always been very very good but just a bit too long to walk a bout with.

How are you finding the handling? mainly the aperture ring? you`ll see by that link that I fitted a cable tie to my ring and it`s really great plus I removed that small hood and fitted a rubber collapsable Nikon hood that gives more protection and shields the front element better. I`m gonna be looking for a small metal lens hood in the future.

The Ultron is an amazing little lens for sure and at F2 I find Live view focussing right on

Dave

Nov 02, 2009 at 07:51 PM

dave chilvers
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p.1 #13 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Empire

I meant to ask you if your Ultron goes past infinity?

Mine goes well past using a cheapo Nik-Eos adapter on my 5d2. I`ve just ordered a happypage V5 adapter to see if that might be better and am hoping with the micro adjust in the adapter I can get it closer.

Dave

Nov 02, 2009 at 08:11 PM

Greg Feldman
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p.1 #14 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Nov 02, 2009 at 08:22 PM

mawz
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p.1 #15 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Nov 02, 2009 at 08:22 PM

jcolwell
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p.1 #16 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

dave chilvers wrote:
Empire

I meant to ask you if your Ultron goes past infinity?

Mine goes well past using a cheapo Nik-Eos adapter on my 5d2. I`ve just ordered a happypage V5 adapter to see if that might be better and am hoping with the micro adjust in the adapter I can get it closer.

Dave

Dave, my Ultron goes well past infinity on my 5D as well. I'm using a relatively new style of adapter for the Ultron that doesn't have the little square tab to lift the lock pin that older generic ones have, rather it has a lever-spring lock pin mechanism. I just tried the Ultron with the old square-tab adapter, and it gets infinity at infinity. Here's shots of the two adapter styles: the new one at left and in the second photo, and old one on the right and in the last photo. Please ignore the IQ, as I cranked the levels to show detail in the lever-spring mechanism. I'll keep the old adapter on the Ultron from now on. Jim.

2008 © jcolwell

Nov 02, 2009 at 08:57 PM

Empire
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p.1 #17 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Dave, yes mine goes wayyy beyond infinity on a cheap chinese adapter.

I'm getting so fed up with it (because it makes scale-focusing a real pain, particularly at night) that I think I will be getting some high-quality adapters for F and OM lenses quite soon.

Does anybody have any known infinity-correct F-EF adapter sources? I'm thinking of going with Happypagehk at his stage?

As you said, the aperture ring is not ideal. I find that it is really hard to change when the camera is verticle and held low down, so I will be following your lead with the zip tie trick - I may even use two thin ones so I can have a tab for horizontal AND vertical shooting.

I think I will also be getting a different hood for the same reasons you mention. How have you found the HR-2 in terms of protecting the front element? Half the reson I want a hood is so that I can drop the lens face down into my domke without the front getting damaged. I've always been sckeptical of rubber hoods for this reason..

I've had good results from some ultra-cheap metal hoods the 'bay lately so I may see if I can find something suitable there.

Note, for anyone wanting a reasonable and very cheap ($4.89 US) metal hood for their 'slow' zuiko 24 or 28, check out these:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110434519611&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Nov 03, 2009 at 04:29 AM

dave chilvers
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p.1 #18 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Empire wrote:
Dave, yes mine goes wayyy beyond infinity on a cheap chinese adapter.

I'm getting so fed up with it (because it makes scale-focusing a real pain, particularly at night) that I think I will be getting some high-quality adapters for F and OM lenses quite soon.

Does anybody have any known infinity-correct F-EF adapter sources? I'm thinking of going with Happypagehk at his stage?

As you said, the aperture ring is not ideal. I find that it is really hard to change when the camera is verticle and held low down, so I will be following your lead with the zip tie trick - I may even use two thin ones so I can have a tab for horizontal AND vertical shooting.

I think I will also be getting a different hood for the same reasons you mention. How have you found the HR-2 in terms of protecting the front element? Half the reson I want a hood is so that I can drop the lens face down into my domke without the front getting damaged. I've always been sckeptical of rubber hoods for this reason..

I've had good results from some ultra-cheap metal hoods the 'bay lately so I may see if I can find something suitable there.

Note, for anyone wanting a reasonable and very cheap ($4.89 US) metal hood for their 'slow' zuiko 24 or 28, check out these:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110434519611&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I have a metal lens hood that is 55mm thread (bought for contax) I have plenty of reducing rings so mavbe I`ll try that one although it`s a tele hood so I will have to cut down the length. At present I`ve stuck a B&W UV filter on the lens so might have to remove it ( I tend to stick a filter on my better lenses like my 21 and my 100) The nice thing about the Nikon hood is that it takes a nikon cap for ultimate protection. I use a domke photo vest a lot and sometimes the rubber hood will grip the pockets and make the lenses a bit harder to remove from the pocket or put away in a hurry but to be honest it does afford a pretty decent protection. I think a metal hood will be better though because seeing as the focus ring is up near the front when using a rubber hood your hand has to be held clear of the hood because it tends to touch and grip whereas a metal hood would allow your hand/fingers to just slide around.

With regards using two cable ties! well how about using two short ones and joining them (like we do when we need a longer one) and positioning the joins where we need them? that way you can still leave the smaller row of f stop values on show?

With regards focussing vertical! well I tend to walk around without a tripod unless i know exactly where or what I`m doing and just use live view hand held horizontal and once focussed just turn the camera. Luckily the focus ring is at the other end of the lens so avoiding touching it once focussed isn`t difficult.

I`m waiting for the Happypage adapter to arrive but to be quite honest, even if the lens still goes past infinity I`d probably still use live view unless a complete hurried grab shot appears and lets face it, once you are using a lens that can make a 21 million pixel image look almost processed at 100% before you start then you really do want to nail it.

You`ve got to say that adding the cable tie and hood is really turning the lens into more or less run of the mill standard lens (size wise) but the IQ across the frame for me anyway is worth the hassle. My wife calls me Mr Tester

but if I wasn`t playing around with cameras and lenses then I`d probably be out and about robbing banks or mugging little old ladies

Nov 03, 2009 at 10:04 AM

dave chilvers
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p.1 #19 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

jcolwell wrote:
dave chilvers wrote:
Empire

I meant to ask you if your Ultron goes past infinity?

Mine goes well past using a cheapo Nik-Eos adapter on my 5d2. I`ve just ordered a happypage V5 adapter to see if that might be better and am hoping with the micro adjust in the adapter I can get it closer.

Dave

Dave, my Ultron goes well past infinity on my 5D as well. I'm using a relatively new style of adapter for the Ultron that doesn't have the little square tab to lift the lock pin that older generic ones have, rather it has a lever-spring lock pin mechanism. I just tried the Ultron with the old square-tab adapter, and it gets infinity at infinity. Here's shots of the two adapter styles: the new one at left and in the second photo, and old one on the right and in the last photo. Please ignore the IQ, as I cranked the levels to show detail in the lever-spring mechanism. I'll keep the old adapter on the Ultron from now on. Jim.

Jim

I`m using the older square release tab adapter

Dave

Nov 03, 2009 at 10:19 AM

dave chilvers
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p.1 #20 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Take back what I said about the rubber hood, it`s far enough away from the focus ring to not be a problem and because the Nikon rubber hood is better quality than the off the shelf rubber hoods it is a lot smoother and less grippy than the likes of the Friday night specials that I have just this minute tried

Dave

Nov 03, 2009 at 10:22 AM

dave chilvers
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p.1 #21 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Just out of interest the Nikon HN-3 hood looks like it might fit the bill and available from China for a few dollars post free.

Dave

Nov 03, 2009 at 02:10 PM

Empire
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p.1 #22 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Yep I was just looking at the HN-3 type offerings. Looks quite promising

I may just have to give one a try. If I do I shall report back when it arrives.

Max

Nov 03, 2009 at 04:14 PM

dave chilvers
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p.1 #23 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Empire wrote:
Yep I was just looking at the HN-3 type offerings. Looks quite promising

I may just have to give one a try. If I do I shall report back when it arrives.

Max

Max

I ordered one from the States http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200383796010&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT should do the trick.

Dave

Nov 03, 2009 at 06:33 PM

Lotusm50
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p.1 #24 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Sam N wrote:
you2 wrote:
So the question is how does this lens compare to the 35f2 ze

Here's one very obvious comparison.

It appears that size does indeed matter.

Nov 03, 2009 at 06:39 PM

dave chilvers
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p.1 #25 · Ultron 40mm is wow -but...

Sorry I haven`t got upload turned on.

I took a few into the sun with tree when the clouds cleared today, maybe I`m doing something wrong but I`m seeing just what I would expect wide open with the sun in the frame.

http://www.pbase.com/davechilvers/voigt_into_the_sun_f2

Comments please

Dave

Nov 03, 2009 at 07:07 PM


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