philip_pj wrote:
Jim also tests the 65/2 against the Otus 55 in an aperture range and sees very little difference in the results, and notes a little fringing in the 65/2.
Jim also compares the Otus 55 to the Nikon 50 1.8S and seems to conclude that the $570 Nikon is about equal to the Otus, including in terms of CA correction. Note that the Otus is better corrected, according to Jim (by a tiny amount) than the Voigtlander 65/2. So I wonder if the Nikon 50 1.8S is actually a better lens than the Voigtlander 50/2 APO? Of course, it isn't better for us Sony users.
I have a few comparisons to post, probably not exactly what you were looking for, but I had limited time and limited ideas on where to shoot. I turned off corrections in camera (what I could) as well as Lightroom. Default sharpening. Focus is on Milton Hershey's eye/face.
JohnJ wrote:
I think the bokeh fringing is the most relevant of these, and it certainly is a major failing. I personally don't shoot the kinds of images where specular highlights are relevant to me, although the shape of the highlight is obviously directly related to how OOF backgrounds are rendered in an image. In the 4 years I've had the sony 1,8/55 I think this is the only occasion I've ever seen the onion rings, but I'm sure that for some people it's way more common because of the subject matter that they shoot.
Thanks, I think that would be great. I suspect images with subject at close to mid range, say 2-5m or so, with a cluttered background would be useful and representative of normal use for a lot of people. A few random samples below (from various lenses but to illustrate the type of pic). Anything with a busy background, horizontal and verticals at a distance, would be good.
Same caveats as the shots above. Focus is on the left metal railing topper doohickey. I think this one provides a lot of shapes and textures at various distances.
I received my 50mm f/2 Apo-Lanthar from Cameraquest last week, super service by the way, (my first purchase from them). I'm using it with my A7RIV.
Fred's description and opinion are spot on.
In Lightroom, (current version) the lens profile reads "built in." Is that what other owners are seeing as well?
If one chooses Voigtlander, there are lots of choices but the 50mm f/2 App-Lanthar is not listed. I was tempted to use the one for the 65 f/2 Macro-Lanthar but did not. I looked at the Adobe website listing of supported lenses and it is not there, https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/kb/supported-lenses.html.
It's just too new for Lightroom to have a profile yet. There's still isn't one for the Tamron 17-28 and that's been out since summer I believe.
You can try the CV 65 profile and see how it looks, or just wait.
doc4x5 wrote:
I received my 50mm f/2 App-Lanthar from Cameraquest last week, super service by the way, (my first purchase from them). I'm using it with my A7RIV.
Fred's description and opinion are spot on.
In Lightroom, (current version) the lens profile reads "built in." Is that what other owners are seeing as well?
If one chooses Voigtlander, there are lots of choices but the 50mm f/2 App-Lanthar is not listed. I was tempted to use the one for the 65 f/2 Macro-Lanthar but did not. I looked at the Adobe website listing of supported lenses and it is not there, https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/kb/supported-lenses.html.
So it seems quiet, maybe everyone is just worn out (or is off doing other things as is probably the more accurate reason.) I'll give my thoughts. Looking past the CA in the FE 55/1.8 ZA shot, I think the bokeh balls are more defined at the edges. This gives it a more busy look in my mind. I realize there are slight differences in focal length here, but to me the CV bokeh looks softer and more refined.
-Tim
tsdevine wrote:
Same caveats as the shots above. Focus is on the left metal railing topper doohickey. I think this one provides a lot of shapes and textures at various distances.
Same caveats as the shots above. Focus is on the left metal railing topper doohickey. I think this one provides a lot of shapes and textures at various distances.
Unfortunately I botched the f/2.8 FE 55/1.8 ZA shot. But I could post f/4.
-Tim
Thanks for that. Disregarding CA related bokeh fringing.
These two pics show a significant difference in their bokeh, the voigtlander is considerably better/softer (IMHO) in the mid range but maybe not much difference much further back. It's most noticeable at the left edge-middle of the frame showing a variegated (yellow/green) shrub at mid distance showing a harshness (double lines, nissen bokeh, overcorrected SA, call it what you will) in the sony that you don't see in the voigtlander. Note that the trees in the background are fairly similar given that the sony has an extra 5mm of focal length which can have a significant effect on bokeh. I'm a little surprised because I've seen plenty of voigtlander pics that exhibit a small but noticeable degree of harshness/double lines, hence thinking it was similar to the sony 1.8/55, and in some respects they are and especially at distance, but clearly the voigtlander can have softer bokeh in this fairly typical scenario. Thanks again. John
doc4x5 wrote:
I received my 50mm f/2 Apo-Lanthar from Cameraquest last week, super service by the way, (my first purchase from them). I'm using it with my A7RIV.
Fred's description and opinion are spot on.
In Lightroom, (current version) the lens profile reads "built in." Is that what other owners are seeing as well?
If one chooses Voigtlander, there are lots of choices but the 50mm f/2 App-Lanthar is not listed. I was tempted to use the one for the 65 f/2 Macro-Lanthar but did not. I looked at the Adobe website listing of supported lenses and it is not there, https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/kb/supported-lenses.html.
Any thoughts?
That "Built-in profile" is embedded to the RAW file and can't be removed as long as exif is transmitted from the lens' RAW file to Lightroom.
An Adobe custom profile is not available for this lens yet but it will probably be included in the next LR update.
Built-in Lens Profile applied (bottom). This does not reduce distortion or vignetting. (Only CA)
If you click on the i symbol, this the alert message
Here is the CV 50/2 at f/2.8. I'm not going to post the FE 55/1.8 shot as something is slightly off with it. I don't know whether I refocused, or had some vibration during the shot.
Sony a7R III + Voigtlander 50/2 APO-Lanthar Aspherical @ f/2.8
Last night, our jetty goes out about 1km but still not far enough for big ships to come in. Out the end on the right side is an old tall ship as well, you can just see it's masts if you zoom in.
F11 @ 25 secs
Had to look that one up. In the end this lens only has one flaw for me. I wish it was a 40mm
