There was an old SL, SL II image thread, but no one has posted on that for about a year and I thought with all the mirrorless lenses it might make sense to put both SL and M Voigtlander lenses together. I know I would be interested in seeing both the M 90 f/3.5 APO and the SL or SL II 90 f/3.5 APO in the same thread. They have such different form factors and even MFDs but are supposed to have the same or similar optics.
Anyway, I recently got a SL II 90 F/3.5 APO and finally got to shoot it this weekend at my parent's farm. An interesting lens so far. With its short MFD I found I was able to get pretty shallow depth of field on portraits if I took them up close. The first post of my son it was actually shallower than I expected and only the back eye is in sharp focus. I am finding I like the bokeh behind the focus plan with close focus shots.
The second shot is at a mid distance (about 30 or 40 feet). This shot is blisteringly sharp at full resolution. That is the good news. The bad news is that at this distance the bokeh is not that impressive. I have certainly seen worse, but I much prefer my Zeiss ZE 100 MP for this type of shot.
The third and the fourth are flower close ups. The lens did great for theses. Maybe just a tiny bit less sharp than my Zeiss ZE 100 MP, but just maybe. The 90 APO is pretty close to full sharpness wide open, but that isn't very surprising give the relatively small max aperture.
Yep, my 90/3.5 SL-II is a keeper for sure. Super sharp up close and very very good at distance. It does my D800 justice for sure . . . . if I can nail the focus.
Getting an A7r today which should cure the focusing issues
I also have a 180/4 APO SL that might stay around now that the A7r is in town.
I like my 90/3.5 SL-II a lot too. Picked it up on a whim when i discovered they were being discontinued, and am well pleased that i did. I particularly like the close focusing ability, and the close-up adapter is great for flowers
I got mine from Robert White in the UK when I too heard they were discontinued - they were the only place that had any new stock at the time. I also take it hiking as part of a light weight prime kit for my D800 (and now A7R).
Here is a better portrait of my son from today. I think the 90 f/3.5 APO will be nice for many types of portraits. I am still learning the focussing on it, but I am getting it.
Here are a couple more with the 90 SL II APO. The first is of a lovely little river in the Berkshires. The second is using the close focus adapter to shoot a lovely wild daisy that was growing by the river.
Amazing images from this lens. Thank you for sharing! I have the 58mm 1.4 and prefer it a bit over my Zeiss. I am saving for the ultra expensive 125mm APO, but after seeing this, I may change my mind and go for it instead.
Been a hot minute since I've posted on FM, but I'm still a very avid lurker these days
A few months ago I was in South Korea and did some street style motion shooting with my Red Epic Dragon at 72fps 6K and the Voigtlander 40mm f/2.0 SL II.
