p.11 #3 · Official: Voigtlander 35 F1.7 Ultron M mount
Greatly appreciate your review, Phillip, and all the other collective insights on this thread.
I've now had a chance to process and check approximately 100 images taken with the Ultron on my A7R during a two-day trip, and am generally very happy with the results. Since seeing the tissue-over-lens test for vignetting, I've shot a set of my own (below), which I've used to set up presets that contain a correction for both vignetting and colour cast within each of three aperture ranges: 1.7-2, 2.8-4, and 5.6+ - the degree of correction gradually decreases with stopping down, and also with closer focus. They are very easy to apply after my usual LR import preset and make processing very straight forward.
As to sharpness I'm very impressed with central sharpness, which seems excellent on the A7R right from wide open. I shot quite a lot of landscapes at F/8 and corners are mostly ok, though not up with the FD 35 F/2 I've previously used. However, overall versatility is generally better. And my sense is that I may well get better corners now that your testing has shown the degree of curvature, Phillip, i.e., focusing for the corners rather than the centre, which is what I've previously done. - added later - just checked this, and it makes a huge difference, delivering very sharp corners at F/8!
John
Vignetting and colour cast - Untron 35mm on Sony A7R focussed at infinity, and corrected for central colour balance
Fellow photographer - F/1.7 - only complaint was that he wished he'd cleaned his glasses first
Infinity landscape - F/8 - graduated nd filter and polariser
Early morning beach shot at F/8 - corners not quite so good, but infinity focussed in centre
p.11 #4 · Official: Voigtlander 35 F1.7 Ultron M mount
I had a chance yesterday to try CV 35/1.7 with my A7r ii briefly at a local shop. I really like it a lot but did not buy it yesterday as I was waiting for the optional hood to come in since it looks much nicer than the stock one (a little practice in self restrain but now I really wish that I bought it yesterday).
Some shots were f1.7 and some were F2. I can't remember if these 2 pictures are at what F stop though The picture was opened in Capture One and exported to PS as TIF for resize and conversion to jpg for web only. No other editing was done.
Sharpness is very good and not quite as sterile looking as 35/1.4 fle can be sometimes but lack a little pop of the fle. Out of focus area is smoother and not as harsh as fle could be sometimes.
I had a chance yesterday to try CV 35/1.7 with my A7r ii briefly at a local shop. I really like it a lot but did not buy it yesterday as I was waiting for the optional hood to come in since it looks much nicer than the stock one (a little practice in self restrain but now I really wish that I bought it yesterday).
Some shots were f1.7 and some were F2. I can't remember if these 2 pictures are at what F stop though The picture was opened in Capture One and exported to PS as TIF for resize and conversion to jpg for web only. No other editing was done.
Sharpness is very good and not quite as sterile looking as 35/1.4 fle can be sometimes but lack a little pop of the fle. Out of focus area is smoother and not as harsh as fle could be sometimes. ...Show more →
p.11 #9 · Official: Voigtlander 35 F1.7 Ultron M mount
Following this thread with interest and considering spending some cash when the Ultron finally arrives in the UK.
Excellent Northland shots navmannz (whereabouts in Northland is that?)
Phillip, that final shot of the tree is stunning. Mustn't attribute too much of this to the lens however because I suspect that if you glued two broken beer bottle bottoms to a hollowed out carrot and stuck it in front of your A7 you would probably still produce amazing images!
p.11 #10 · Official: Voigtlander 35 F1.7 Ultron M mount
What am I missing here? Is this lens really better than the FE 35/2.8? Are the corners as sharp? Are the colors better? Is the bokeh preferred? I want to like this lens because I have good experience with Voigtlanders but I am not seeing a significant advantage. I am perfectly willing to be convinced. It performs more like a 2.8 than a 1.4 to my eyes. Maybe at the European price, it looks more advantageous.
p.11 #12 · Official: Voigtlander 35 F1.7 Ultron M mount
ebookman wrote:
What am I missing here? Is this lens really better than the FE 35/2.8? Are the corners as sharp? Are the colors better? Is the bokeh preferred? I want to like this lens because I have good experience with Voigtlanders but I am not seeing a significant advantage. I am perfectly willing to be convinced. It performs more like a 2.8 than a 1.4 to my eyes. Maybe at the European price, it looks more advantageous.
I've not compared it with the FE35/2.8, Errol, and have compared it mostly with the (more venerable) FD 35 F/2, a top performer in its day. To me it has significant advantages in wide open performance where the centre is much sharper, the bokeh nicer and more blurred and without the aberration generated glow of the FD - and considerably better than I would expect with a 2.8 lens. With stopping down the central parts of the image are razor sharp at F5.6-8 and the edges by F/8, and clearly ahead of the FD - the extreme corners are best at F/11 but central sharpness is declining then. It has good resistance to flare and is small and light, so overall wins easily over the FD, except for corners, and as Phillip has showed that's partly caused by focus curvature, so can be compensated for to a degree in use.
I did also look at other fast alternatives in 35mm focal length, but they are all expensive and/or heavy, and given the hiking I like to do, I try to limit what I carry - my Canon TS-E excepted!
In broader terms, I'm also keen on the VM mount, not necessarily because I think that its the best in technical terms, but because other CV/VM lenses work well for me (15 Heliar III and Ultron 21 1.8). I now have a three lens kit (15/21/35) with my A7R that covers most of my landscape needs and weighs a whisker over 2 kg, with only one adapter. Admittedly, the two ultrons are both troubled to a degree on the A7R with colour cast around the corners, but I've created LR presets that combine vignetting correction and a radial filter with minus magenta correction, and find them very easy and effective to apply. I did seriously consider the FE 35/2.8 but its max aperture limits it for candid wide open photos, and I'm also wary, given the volatile state of the camera market over the last decade, of buying into a fairly new proprietary mount for the long-term unless it is easily adaptable - VM strikes me as a stayer in this respect.
p.11 #13 · Official: Voigtlander 35 F1.7 Ultron M mount
ebookman wrote:
What am I missing here? Is this lens really better than the FE 35/2.8? Are the corners as sharp? Are the colors better? Is the bokeh preferred? I want to like this lens because I have good experience with Voigtlanders but I am not seeing a significant advantage. I am perfectly willing to be convinced. It performs more like a 2.8 than a 1.4 to my eyes. Maybe at the European price, it looks more advantageous.
I am with you in this question
At 5.6 it might really compare well. Trouble is to really really tell, critical focus is required at infinity. One test at DPI seems to have the ultron obviously focused in the center, and the FE 35/2.8 murders it on the edges. But some finesse might bring in the edges better, like we see in Phillip's landscape, which on 3rd look seems very good.
Maybe used properly it can compete at faster speeds too, but we don't see many shots where the edges are at a true infinity. The close shots only confuse the evaluation, though they do look very nice
p.11 #14 · Official: Voigtlander 35 F1.7 Ultron M mount
ebookman wrote:
What am I missing here? Is this lens really better than the FE 35/2.8? Are the corners as sharp? Are the colors better? Is the bokeh preferred? I want to like this lens because I have good experience with Voigtlanders but I am not seeing a significant advantage. I am perfectly willing to be convinced. It performs more like a 2.8 than a 1.4 to my eyes. Maybe at the European price, it looks more advantageous.
I don't know if it's any better on Sony than native options, but it is a sharp lens with pleasing (IMO) rendering. On Leica it gives pretty much any other 35mm RF lens a run for its money. It seems competitive with the ZM 35/1.4, which is probably now the technical 'gold' standard 35mm RF lens. It doesn't appear to have any mid zone quirkiness typical of many Leica lenses. It has the least distortion I've seen in a wide angle lens, ever. I'd say it's technically way up there in respect to across-frame sharpness (very good by f/4). While it's not a perfect lens (can purple fringe, flares with certain types of backlighting), it's very impressive for its price.
For me the EU price ended up being $625 US including free shipping. Pretty difficult to argue with that, IMO.
But on Sony, I suspect you'll only achieve its full capability with a Kolari-modified sensor to mitigate the field curvature Phillip has reported..
p.11 #15 · Official: Voigtlander 35 F1.7 Ultron M mount
uhoh7 wrote:
I am with you in this question
At 5.6 it might really compare well. Trouble is to really really tell, critical focus is required at infinity. One test at DPI seems to have the ultron obviously focused in the center, and the FE 35/2.8 murders it on the edges. But some finesse might bring in the edges better, like we see in Phillip's landscape, which on 3rd look seems very good.
Maybe used properly it can compete at faster speeds too, but we don't see many shots where the edges are at a true infinity. The close shots only confuse the evaluation, though they do look very nice
Here are a couple that might help, both shot on an A7R. The first shot is at mid focus distance at F/5.6 and the second at infinity at F/8 - I took the latter deliberately because of the pylons that provide a good resolution test across the skyline, except for the close one far left of course! Unfortunately in the latter, the near foreground is out of the zone of sharp focus, so the corners and the centre bottom are both a little blurred - the first provides a more realistic indication of corner performance. John
p.11 #16 · Official: Voigtlander 35 F1.7 Ultron M mount
Thanks guys. Good answers. What I was missing was that I switched over from the Sony Forum and thought the comments all related to use on Sony cameras. I guess I would be all over this lens at the Euro price, especially if I shot on multiple platforms.
p.11 #19 · Official: Voigtlander 35 F1.7 Ultron M mount
The CV35 is very sharp across the frame but only if you focus on the corners and sacrifice a tiny little bit of center sharpness. My copy is sharpest in the center at the 5m setting (short adapter) but the corners are best at the 3m setting (at f/8).
The picture was opened in Capture One and exported to PS as TIF for resize and conversion to jpg for web only. No other editing was done.
