Steve Spencer wrote:
My real hope is that Cosina makes a nice Voigtlander 28 f/2 that weighs less than 350g, and a 90 f/2 APO that weighs less than 500g. That would give me my preferred 21, 28, 50, 90 kit for travel. But I also would really like a 21, 35 (with the new M mount f/1.2 III in E mount), 65, & 110 for when I want to do a lot of close up work and I am less concerned with weight (on a lot of nature hikes this would be a great kit for me). So, I am still a few lenses away from my ideal set up, but I am very happy with the lenses they have made and especially in the last few years....Show more →
It won't be easy for Voigtlander to beat the outstanding Loxia 85/2.4 weighing less than 500 grams.
The Loxia weighs 571 grams. Not sure why Zeiss states it weighs more than that because all their Loxia lenses are measured without hood and caps, except for this one.
It's not APO but LoCA performance is excellent. (On par with Leica 90/2 APO)
Mar 27, 2020 at 11:31 AM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
Fred Miranda wrote:
It won't be easy for Voigtlander to beat the outstanding Loxia 85/2.4 weighing less than 500 grams.
The Loxia weighs 571 grams. Not sure why Zeiss states it weighs more than that because all their Loxia lenses are measured without hood and caps, except for this one.
It's not APO but LoCA performance is excellent. (On par with Leica 90/2 APO)
A few things makes me think they can. First, their Leica M 75 f/1.5 comes in at 350g and therefore a nice light weight. Second the Leica M 90 f/2 APO comes in at 484g. Third, none of the second generation Loxia lenses (21 f/2.8; 25 f/2.4; nor 85 f/2.4) seem to be built to be light. They all seem a bit heavy for the focal length and aperture, suggesting to me light weight was not a primary design goal at Zeiss for these lenses (and that has been pretty typical of Zeiss for most of their MF lenses). So, I think Voigtlander can get the weight down below 500g, but who knows if they will even decide to make such a lens. Maybe I am bit too optimistic and 525g is more realistic, but I still hold out hope they can come in with such a lens at under 500g.
Steve Spencer wrote:
A few things makes me think they can. First, their Leica M 75 f/1.5 comes in at 350g and therefore a nice light weight. Second the Leica M 90 f/2 APO comes in at 484g. Third, none of the second generation Loxia lenses (21 f/2.8; 25 f/2.4; nor 85 f/2.4) seem to be built to be light. They all seem a bit heavy for the focal length and aperture, suggesting to me light weight was not a primary design goal at Zeiss for these lenses (and that has been pretty typical of Zeiss for most of their MF lenses). So, I think Voigtlander can get the weight down below 500g, but who knows if they will even decide to make such a lens. Maybe I am bit too optimistic and 525g is more realistic, but I still hold out hope they can come in with such a lens at under 500g....Show more →
CV 15 f/4.5 - A very nice and small ultra wide. I don't need wider, but if I weren't restricted to Voigtlander this would not be my choice.
CV 21 f/1.4 - I have this lens and it is stellar even if a little larger than I would like
CV 40 f/1.2 - I have had this lens and I like it very much. I plan to get it again if they don't make the new M mount version 35 f/1.2 in E mount, but if they do I will evaluate it versus the 35 f/1.2 to see which I like better.
CV 50 f/2 APO - I don't have this yet, but it looks fabulous. Perhaps the best Voigtlander yet.
CV 65 f/2 APO - I have this lens and love it as an all-around and especially as a macro.
CV 110 f/2.5 APO - I have this lens and it is among my favorites ever. ...Show more →
I have only one CV lens (for now) but if you start a Toronto Voigtlander fanclub I will join!
My 15, 21, 40, 65, 110 have a good spacing, my only criticism is the weight of the 65 & 110 for hiking etc,
I had the 35 but found I always picked up the 40, though I suspect we will see a 35apo to compliment the 50apo, we are very fortunate our choices keep expanding, it’s not a question of are they going to release more lenses but just a mater of what and when
For me, I previously used the M mount 40/1.4 Classic for several years.
From that I eventually picked up the E mount 40/1.2 & it has been my most used, favourite lens since the day I first attached it to the A7
I picked up the CV21/3.5E for a nice lightweight, tiny wide landscape lens. I don't use it often really but almost always carry it.
One old lens I do miss is a Leitz Tele-Elmarit 90/2.8 (thin) that I had for a few years. I sold it on when I wanted a fast 85mm (Batis then FE85) but now, I so wish I kept it. It was a beautiful lens. If Voigtlander would release something like a 90mm f/2 at a good size & weight I might give up the AF of the FE85 for it!!
In November I took an 18 day work trip to China (2 weeks), London and Paris. I did not want to check luggage so in addition to my clothes I packed a Leica M 16-18-21mm Wate, Loxia 25mm, Sony 55mm 1.8, Voigt 110mm. Most of the trip was work related but did have extra time and days to do some site seeing.
I wanted one AF lens for street walking when trying to catch some action in the streets or market areas. Sometimes the 55mm focal length was too long but overall this kit served me well. On other trips I have substituted the Voigt and 55mm Sony for the Sony 70-200 f4 and Loxia 50mm. I admit on the 18 day trip-- I had to hand wash some of my underwear...
I have never been a fan of manual focus lens. but for landscape photos auto focus is not much help. so I got the 21 F3.5 voigtlander based upon many of your comments on this site.
wow, what sharp clear photos from a tiny lens. I just love it.
philip_pj wrote:
The tiny 21/3.5 kicked my Contax 21/2.8 out, hit it for six actually. It's a harmonious combo of ergo, colour and clarity.
it was your review that convinced me to get this lens, so thanks for that,
My first CV was the 40/1.4 and again that was after reading yours and Fred's reviews, again a must keep lens,
the 21/3.5 is a perfect trade off in my opinion and will be in my bag for a long time, I kept my Loxia 21 for nearly a year after getting the CV but it never got taken out, and that is saying something,
I also got the CV 35/1.4 again for its size and hoping it had the same trade off, but i found after 6 months i had always gone for the 40/1.2 so i have got shut of it, not a bad lens but when you have the 40 why would you take the 35?
Does anybody know why CV lenses are hard to find and get Canada? Very few retailers here have them and are usually out of stock and B&H won't ship them here. Perplexing. I'd like to get some.
andyptak wrote:
Does anybody know why CV lenses are hard to find and get Canada? Very few retailers here have them and are usually out of stock and B&H won't ship them here. Perplexing. I'd like to get some.
Interested to know too.. was hoping to find a shop that sell used ones too.
matt-to wrote:
Interested to know too.. was hoping to find a shop that sell used ones too.
You can usually get them at Downtown Camera in Toronto, but if you want to get them from B & H or Cameraquest you can always ship them to someone you know in the states and have them bring them or send them to you in Canada. Not an option right now, but when life returns to normal it is an option for a lot of people. I often go to the states so it is easy for me, but realize it isn't for everyone.
They certainly can, the question is if they will. These are the easiest of lenses to design, that is why there are so many very good low element count 85-100s around, from way back. And see the four native 85s for Sony - all very good.
Fred and others hanker for an E version of the very sweet 75/1.5 VM - will they go for fast with character (and reduced CA over the M vsn), or push for a longer APO lens? Good points can be made for each option.
Not sure how strong the market is for MF portrait lenses in a crowded field. So I guess my vote is for the all rounder APO path (with f2.8 round aperture), they all have very good bokeh.
It would maintain the 'only APO longer than 50mm in Sony' theme too, and may even use the 65/2 design, stretched and in a lighter barrel and longer MFD. It's a winning formula. And in corona time, funds are tight so 'versatile' works in with that. And users want 'great wide open' lenses these days.
How is the 50/2 selling? Maybe Juha and certainly Stephen Gandy would know.
The 50/2 was the hard one, which is why they put a big effort into it, made it a 20th anniversary lens, even reduced the retail price to what it is - the staff were surprised, they thought maybe 75% more. With our currency heading south for the winter, it was appreciated.
philip_pj wrote:
...
How is the 50/2 selling? Maybe Juha and certainly Stephen Gandy would know.
The 50/2 was the hard one, which is why they put a big effort into it, made it a 20th anniversary lens, even reduced the retail price to what it is - the staff were surprised, they thought maybe 75% more. With our currency heading south for the winter, it was appreciated.
I don't know the actual sales numbers but I keep an eye on Cosina's Japan lens sales rankings via Japanese price comparison site "kakaku.com" and the 50/2 has been their best selling E-mount lens since it was released and it peaked higher on the overall lens sales list (at #9 among all lenses) than any other Cosina lens from what I've seen before... Nowadays both versions of the 40/1.4 VM lens are steadily fighting for the Cosina top selling position with the 50/2, I guess part of the charm of those 40/1.4 VMs is the very attractive pricing.
So I think 50/2 has been selling pretty well at least in Japan, and 65/2 still seems to be Cosina's #2 most popular e-mount lens here (it steadily held #1 position until 50/2 was released). Recently the 110/2.5 has also been climbing up the list. That implies that they might be motivated to keep releasing more E-mount APO lenses, and in their 2020 catalog they had categorized the E-mount APOs under their own new category as "Super high performance lens series" which I think means that the category will keep growing with more lenses in the future.
My E-mount #1 favorite is probably the 21/3.5, I enjoy shooting cityscapes and travel shots with it as it's small and light and always produces crisp results that I really like. #2 would be one of 40/1.2, 50/1.2 and 50/2, I like them about equally and it's hard to pick a clear favorite from those 3.
My VM/LTM top favorites are the 75/1.5 and probably the new 35/1.2 III but it's still too early to say since I just got it 2 days ago
Juha Kannisto wrote:
I have 2 sets of Voigtländer lenses, E-mount set for my Sony A9 and VM/LTM set for my Sigma fp, with 40/2.8 working great on both cameras.
My E-mount #1 favorite is probably the 21/3.5, I enjoy shooting cityscapes and travel shots with it as it's small and light and always produces crisp results that I really like. #2 would be one of 40/1.2, 50/1.2 and 50/2, I like them about equally and it's hard to pick a clear favorite from those 3.
My VM/LTM top favorites are the 75/1.5 and probably the new 35/1.2 III but it's still too early to say since I just got it 2 days ago ...Show more →
Pretty fantastic dual kit Juha! I think you may be the only one I know of working with the Sigma fp with these lenses (very cool)!
Are you already posting first impressions of the 35/1.2 III somewhere?
