p.14 #2 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Bobu wrote:
I will definitely not keep it. The question is: would Voigtländer be able (and willing) to adjust this lens for corner sharpness if I would send it to Voigtländer instead of returning it. I would trust Zeiss to do this with a lens with bad performance, but I'm not so sure about Voigtländer.
Boris
Certainly not an easy decision. If they are sending out so many of these copies I have the feeling that they might not adjust anything. Hopefully that feeling is wrong.
The new 18mm Batis seems to be a stellar lens, but 15 still is a lot wider.
p.14 #3 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Bobu wrote:
I will definitely not keep it. The question is: would Voigtländer be able (and willing) to adjust this lens for corner sharpness if I would send it to Voigtländer instead of returning it. I would trust Zeiss to do this with a lens with bad performance, but I'm not so sure about Voigtländer.
Boris
Voigtlander will not repair you lens and will (very likely) just replace it with another.
p.14 #4 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Gary Clennan wrote:
Voigtlander will not repair you lens and will (very likely) just replace it with another.
Hi Gary,
If the bulk of the new lenses have poor corners are returned, I do not know what CV could or would do under those circumstances. It does not sound good with so many poor corner samples of both the M and E mount lenses.
p.14 #5 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
My preliminary conclusion:
CV seem to have an excellent theoretical lens design.
CV seem to be unable to consistently build actual lenses accordingly.
Choppy seems to have set the standard for now.
Question: On average how many new lenses would one have to try to get a similarly good one?
Answer: Nobody knows - except for CV.
p.14 #6 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
ruffellprefley wrote:
I guess it depends on how "mush" it is. I wouldn't be generally upset by the samples that Fred has provided, but the more recent samples by Bobu I would tend to agree with you.
and also what comparable lenses are available in a similar price point with similar size and weight.
I think it's important to remember in all of this that people still thought the CV 15 was a good option even when the "mush" was thought to be a characteristic of the lens on an A7 body. And that was without EXIF, auto focus magnification, etc.
p.14 #8 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Vcize wrote:
I think it's important to remember in all of this that people still thought the CV 15 was a good option even when the "mush" was thought to be a characteristic of the lens on an A7 body. And that was without EXIF, auto focus magnification, etc.
p.14 #9 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Having seen what a GOOD copy can do though, I don't begrudge people for wanting that same high level of performance out of the lens they (we) plunked our hard earned down for.
p.14 #10 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
OK I screwed up the first test posted yesterday! Sorry!!! I forgot to set the A7R2 back to full frame mode after using it in APS-C mode to test my Zeiss Touit 12mm f/2.8 lens.
So the corner crops looked much better in APS-C mode than they do in full frame (go figure)
I re-tested the lenses this morning at the same scene. The morning light is a bit harsher so bare with that but I can easily tell that the CV15 III VM has softer corners than both the FE16-35 f/4 and the Loxia 2.8/21. The Loxia is clearly the winner here with the cleanest corners of all the lenses tested.
I did not have any Lens Corrections set in LR so Vignetting and Chromatic Aberrations are not corrected. These are straight RAW files with no post-processing other than a + 50 bump in LR Exposure slider too each shoot due to the harsher contrast. Sharpening is my standard RAW sharpening at Amount = 50; Radius 0.8; Detail 50; masking 0.
My CV 15 III does not look as good as "Choppy" in the extreme corners maybe in the center and the rest of the frame? I do think it is better than some of the other CV 15III's posted here but still a little disappointing non the less. I will look forward to seeing how the Batis 18mm tests compared to the FE16-35 and the Loxia 21. Now I'm not sure if I want to sell the CV15III VM and try to get a good performing native E-mount version or just stick with this one and use it on my A6300 as a nice 22.5mm lens to go along with my Touit 12mm lens (18mm)?
CV 15 III M version on the left - FE 16-35 @ 16mm on the right
p.14 #11 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Try testing against your Loxia 21 if you can. Pretty much a gold standard lens. If it's close than its really good. It's just a few steps back so should be a easy test to do. Heck go shot the back side of Target or a store like that if you can't find a Big Bronco
p.14 #14 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Well that was a worthwhile exercise. I'm actually very surprised at how good the FE 16-35 held its own compared to the CV 15 III and even the Loxia 2.8/21. The Loxia 2.8/21 still out shines both of these other lenses but given the 16mm focal length I'm thinking I have a decent version of the FE16-35 f/4. I have the Batis 18mm on order so I'll be interested in doing a similar comparison when that arrives. It is really hard to understand the sample variations that exits. Fred certainly had a couple of bad samples that he tested. I really hope that Sony comes out with a 14mm - 24mm f/2.8 GM or a 16mm - 35mm f/2.8 GM with similar IQ to the excellent 24-70 f/2.8 GM lens. If the Batis 18mm tests almost as good or better than the Loxia 21 we will have at least a fairly wide angle lens to work with in the mean time.
p.14 #17 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Soooooo for a novices take on this... If I like the corners on my M mount then I would not want to risk or worry about not having the E mount. (information passing through the lens aside)
Whew great.... but now where will the 10mm end up...sigh
p.14 #18 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Bobu wrote:
Today I received my E-mount Voigtländer 15mm lens. Sadly it looks like Fred's lens or even worse in the corners.
Here are some links to full size images for your own evaluation:
All images shown were shot with aperture f/8 and the same sharpening settings as posted by Fred above. If you need to see any other apertures just let me know (wide open until f/11 are available).
At the moment I have no idea what to do.
a) Return the lens and try another one.
b) Forget about 15mm and just get the Batis 18mm.
c) Send the lens to Voigtländer for some adjustments.
Hi Boris,
I know the feeling. It's disturbing to see those corners. I would say return it. You tested it perfectly BTW.
Unfortunately, you manage to get a copy even worse than mine! I'm starting to lose hope getting a good copy of this lens.
Please someone post good corner crops from the new E-mount!
I'm getting a replacement and will update this thread with the results.
p.14 #19 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
I was looking forward to buying this lens for my Peru, Rio, Iguaza falls trip next week. Now, I'll just have to borrow friends Sony Zeiss 16-35 and buy this later if better copies come out.
p.14 #20 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Fred, don't fret! I just got my CV15 from CameraQuest today and I didn't have time to take a lot of pictures or post, but I got home an hour ago, snapped a few pics and examined the corners in lightroom and no smearing over here. They seem pretty good at first glance, but I won't have time to really test mine until tomorrow after work.
edit - I'll try to post something tonight, had to run out to dinner almost right after I got home!
