That won't work. It will hard vignette. A filter for the CV 15/4.5 III must be very thin and I don't think any polarizer will work. As far as ND filters, I tested many and the one that does not vignette is the Breakthrough brand.
p.69 #2 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
OK, so made some somewhat better test shots. Zero adjustments in LR, other than applying lens corrections.
Shot at F8 and at the infinity hard stop.
The lens doesn't look terrible to me, but not fantastic. I had a CV 12mm that was horribly smeared in the corners, and this lens is nowhere near that level.
TBH, I probably wouldn't notice the corners on this lens, unless I was photographing something I needed sharp in the corners - but IMO, it's also important to consider the overall IQ because it may find it's way to a new owner some day.
What's the consensus?
If you received this lens in a sale, would it be acceptable? or do I still need better images to tell for sure?
p.69 #4 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
To be honest, I still see the smearing. Depending on the application of the lens and your tolerance, this might be acceptable. But I wouldn't. Just my 2 cents.
p.69 #6 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Fred Miranda wrote:
That won't work. It will hard vignette. A filter for the CV 15/4.5 III must be very thin and I don't think any polarizer will work. As far as ND filters, I tested many and the one that does not vignette is the Breakthrough brand.
I've got a B+W 58mm Kaesemann, which doesn't seem particularly thin, and I can't see any vignetting with this combination. I just took two shots to reconfirm, with and without, and there's none. I just got it a few weeks ago, and I'm surprised that there isn't any vignetting; the filter rim sits about 1.5-2mm higher than the short petals on the lens, and I expected minor vignetting. I don't normally compose 3:2 ratio, so I didn't mind too much, but there definitely isn't any visible at all!
p.69 #7 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
stjepan wrote:
To be honest, I still see the smearing. Depending on the application of the lens and your tolerance, this might be acceptable. But I wouldn't. Just my 2 cents.
p.69 #8 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
I would say that it does not look as good as the good copies of the form but it certainly doesn't look as bad as the bad copies it really is right in the middle. If I had the option to return it I probably would.
p.69 #10 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
DannyBurkPhoto wrote:
I've got a B+W 58mm Kaesemann, which doesn't seem particularly thin, and I can't see any vignetting with this combination. I just took two shots to reconfirm, with and without, and there's none. I just got it a few weeks ago, and I'm surprised that there isn't any vignetting; the filter rim sits about 1.5-2mm higher than the short petals on the lens, and I expected minor vignetting. I don't normally compose 3:2 ratio, so I didn't mind too much, but there definitely isn't any visible at all!
If you do controlled tests at different apertures, you will see that it vignettes. It's not very noticeable but it's there. I tested this exact same filter. The CV 15/4.5 III already vignettes a lot even step down, so we don't want any increase in that even if it's small.
p.69 #11 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Interesting - I see plenty of "natural" vignette from the lens, but I'm not seeing anything additional. Since I don't see actual black corner tips, I'll live with it - most of the time I'll most likely crop to 4x5 ratio anyway.
p.69 #12 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Well my copy came and it definitely has some corner smearing. I compared it to my 16-35/4 and the two are pretty equal across most of the frame until you get to the extreme corner where the Voigtlander degrades rapidly. Kinda reconsidering this vs. the zoom altogether now.
p.69 #13 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
grahamgibson wrote:
Well my copy came and it definitely has some corner smearing. I compared it to my 16-35/4 and the two are pretty equal across most of the frame until you get to the extreme corner where the Voigtlander degrades rapidly. Kinda reconsidering this vs. the zoom altogether now.
That's a great test if you have both lenses. Compare it to the FE 16-35/4 @16mm, f/5.6. If the zoom is much better at the extreme corners, your CV 15/4.5 III suffers from smearing. I have tested good copies of both and the zoom is only slightly worse at the extreme edges (1:1). The CV is also slightly better at mid-zone. However, in practice, both FE 16-35/4@ 16mm and CV 15/4.5 III are very similar because the zoom is optimized for the wider range.
There are some advantages for the CV like nicer sunstar rendering (subjective), price and weight. The zoom offers more flexibility and less vignetting.
p.69 #14 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
DannyBurkPhoto wrote:
I've got a B+W 58mm Kaesemann, which doesn't seem particularly thin, and I can't see any vignetting with this combination. I just took two shots to reconfirm, with and without, and there's none. I just got it a few weeks ago, and I'm surprised that there isn't any vignetting; the filter rim sits about 1.5-2mm higher than the short petals on the lens, and I expected minor vignetting. I don't normally compose 3:2 ratio, so I didn't mind too much, but there definitely isn't any visible at all!
I don't use a thin CPL and I see no vignetting on my 15/4.5 either. Those that do must be using a really thick filter.
p.69 #15 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Yeah, I thought I might like the Voigtlander more for the advantages you mentioned, but I'm kind of leaning towards just keeping the zoom at this point. I dunno, maybe I'll get out and shoot with it a bit (non-test shots) before deciding.
p.69 #17 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Does the e-mount version of the lens have a correction profile built into the RAW files like Sony lenses do? I'm toying around with Capture One vs. Lightroom and the latter seems to have a profile for this lens available whereas C1 just lets me pick "Manufacturer Profile". I'm new to C1, but does that mean the program is applying some correction?
p.69 #20 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Upper right looks weakest. Did you shot any at f/5.6 or wide open. Test wider. You get a better understanding.
I went through two bad copies before I got a very nice third one. It was frustrating and worrisome but man was I happy with copy #3. So much so I could live without my Loxia 21.......
Just my 2 cents.
