philip_pj wrote:
'Vintage' takes on a range of meanings, that's the crux of it. In Cosina's case, it seems to sometimes mean 'we used an older design as a starting point and made the externals in the old style'. It might largely be styling, in fact probably is, looking at the 50/3.5.
But then the vintage VM 75/1.5 comes into view, with three APD and one asph element of its seven elements. Cosina had this to say about the 75/1.5:
'It's a medium-telephoto lens that combines an exterior *reminiscent of the styling of a classic lens* with a lens with optical performance that matches modern photography equipment.' It certainly 'matches modern equipment'.
We'll see, but I anticipate a thoroughgoing modern lens - with lower contrast and interesting flare behaviour from the SC. And the vintage look, the Japanese market loves this kind of thing. Me too, I like how they reimagine designs others left off long ago....Show more →
Yes, when referring to Voigtlander's 'Vintage' line of lenses, I consider those to be cosmetically styled similar to older lenses, whereas optically they are thoroughly modern.
It will be interesting to see what, if any, differences are noticeable between the 50/1.5 SC and MC versions.
Has anyone compared the VM 35/1.4 or 40/1.4 SC and MC versions? (maybe I should just Google it...)
teh_rebel wrote:
i went from 40/1.4 SC to 40/1.2 FE and although i love it ... i re-purchased the 40/1.4 SC again recently. 40/1.2 is quite small/light for a 1.2 lens but i missed the size of the 40/1.4. since i dont really shoot much anymore i wanted the smaller setup and do miss the rendering of the 40/1.4. This lens got me tempted although 50 is pretty close to the 40. But later on when there's some on the used market. i would probably go with the SC version. i do love the SC on the 40/1.4
although these are processed but love the rendering of it when i was in Japan a few years ago with the 40/1.4 SC...Show more →
I have the MC version. It has a really pleasing lush quality, IMO. I also like the busier, more vintage bokeh. But it has pretty crazy field curvature on Leica (that I noticed Sony's sensor stack seems to negate). Back when I briefly used the Ricoh GXR with A12 M module (APS-C), I really liked the 40/1.4 as a slightly tighter framing option for people photos.
IMO, the 40/1.4 is closer to a 'vintage' lens in the way I think of vintage image quality. In Voigtlander's terminology, it's called 'classic.'
Got a call from Map Camera and my Nokton 50/1.5 VM II (Black MC version) is ready for pick-up but I need to wait until tomorrow (official release date). Looking forward to it
Juha Kannisto wrote:
Got a call from Map Camera and my Nokton 50/1.5 VM II (Black MC version) is ready for pick-up but I need to wait until tomorrow (official release date). Looking forward to it
Fred Miranda wrote:
Can't wait to see your samples Juha!
Thanks Fred! I picked up my lens already and did some initial shooting in Shinjuku. I'll post some samples later today when I get back home. Initial impressions are very good
I'm glad I bought the hood about 1.5 weeks in advance as today they are out of stock at Map Camera. All 6 versions of the lens are in stock so none of them were sold out by preorders alone.
Very nice. I'm looking forward to your photos as well! I'm on the preorder list for the release here in the States next week, but I"m eager to see some more samples.
This is a small thing to appreciate, but I really like the script on the lens ID ring. It looks like they went with the old Voigtlander font from the Septon or Prominent Nokton lenses.
Here are some of my initial samples on my A9 (SOOC JPEGs), almost all were taken wide open and 2 were at f5.6. Today's weather wasn't really photogenic, quite cloudy and dull / hazy so I focused more on close range shooting wide open while I was coming back from picking up the lens. Had to work a lot today so I didn't have much time to shoot yet. I think the lens is pretty sharp wide open. Tomorrow I should receive my A7c so I will probably post next samples with A7c.
astrobuoy wrote:
Very nice. I'm looking forward to your photos as well! I'm on the preorder list for the release here in the States next week, but I"m eager to see some more samples.
This is a small thing to appreciate, but I really like the script on the lens ID ring. It looks like they went with the old Voigtlander font from the Septon or Prominent Nokton lenses.
Thanks! Yes, the script on the lens ID ring looks quite different from my other Cosina Voigtländer lenses and feels more vintage. I also like it that they printed M.C in green. I think with the previous SC and MC lenses they only had SC markings (in blue).
Juha Kannisto wrote:
Here are some of my initial samples on my A9 (SOOC JPEGs), almost all were taken wide open and 2 were at f5.6. Today's weather wasn't really photogenic, quite cloudy and dull / hazy so I focused more on close range shooting wide open while I was coming back from picking up the lens. Had to work a lot today so I didn't have much time to shoot yet. I think the lens is pretty sharp wide open. Tomorrow I should receive my A7c so I will probably post next samples with A7c.
Initial observations: some LoCA/purple fringing but not terrible, though noticeable in high contrast transitions. Difficult to know if the slight peripheral nervousness in wide open images is Sony sensor stack induced or inherent in the lens. At near distance appears to have a some SA and not bitingly sharp, but sharp enough. Focus transition zones seem somewhat busy. This is what I like least about what I've seen so far. When subject is clearly separated from the background, then no problem. But with more gradual transition, or background relatively near the plane of focus, bokeh is somewhat nervous. This of course is a problem with many other lenses. Plane of focus seems pretty flat, but difficult to tell for sure. At least no obvious indication of waviness.
My reference is the 50 Lux ASPH. In comparison I feel it has less LoCA/fringing (if any). My biggest dislike of the Lux ASPH is the wavy field curvature and ninja-star aperture shape slightly stopped down. It can also have funky bokeh in transition zones or with minimal subject/background separation, but would really have to compare side by side.
For now, the new 50/1.5 is not a sure thing, as my 50 Lux ASPH replacement. If I didn't already have the Lux, I'd probably get the Voigtlander. The question I now have: how do the 50/1.5 and 50/1.2 compare optically...?
rscheffler wrote:
My reference is the 50 Lux ASPH. In comparison I feel it has less LoCA/fringing (if any). My biggest dislike of the Lux ASPH is the wavy field curvature and ninja-star aperture shape slightly stopped down. It can also have funky bokeh in transition zones or with minimal subject/background separation, but would really have to compare side by side.
For now, the new 50/1.5 is not a sure thing, as my 50 Lux ASPH replacement. If I didn't already have the Lux, I'd probably get the Voigtlander. The question I now have: how do the 50/1.5 and 50/1.2 compare optically...?
The 50 Lux ASPH is the comparison lens I'm curious about as well. I'd really like to know how these two stack up against each other.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
Here are some of my initial samples on my A9 (SOOC JPEGs), almost all were taken wide open and 2 were at f5.6. Today's weather wasn't really photogenic, quite cloudy and dull / hazy so I focused more on close range shooting wide open while I was coming back from picking up the lens. Had to work a lot today so I didn't have much time to shoot yet. I think the lens is pretty sharp wide open. Tomorrow I should receive my A7c so I will probably post next samples with A7c.
Thanks for these, Juha. Would leave to hear your overall impressions when you eventually have some time! And I agree about the script, the green M.C was unexpected but I like it above the blue color they previously used
Juha Kannisto wrote:
Here are some of my initial samples on my A9 (SOOC JPEGs), almost all were taken wide open and 2 were at f5.6. Today's weather wasn't really photogenic, quite cloudy and dull / hazy so I focused more on close range shooting wide open while I was coming back from picking up the lens. Had to work a lot today so I didn't have much time to shoot yet. I think the lens is pretty sharp wide open. Tomorrow I should receive my A7c so I will probably post next samples with A7c.
Thanks for the samples. I see pleasant rendering with smooth transition zone. Here is a sample.
It's hard to judge rendering off-axis since you are using it on the Sony sensor.
It looks like there's RSA wide open at close distance which is in line with the Nokton look. From these samples, it looks like Voigtlander designed a well balanced fast and compact 50mm lens.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
Thanks! Yes, the script on the lens ID ring looks quite different from my other Cosina Voigtländer lenses and feels more vintage. I also like it that they printed M.C in green. I think with the previous SC and MC lenses they only had SC markings (in blue).
Thanks for the samples, very helpful.
This lens has pretty smooth bokeh. It remind me a lot of VC75 which should not be a surprise. I do see it has strong mechanic vignette lead me to believe the lens may not have generous coverage, not just for using at larger format but also to avoid corner issue at different shooting case. 50lux ASPH is quite good in this regard, which is one of the reason I like it. I have to say I sm not sure the corner issue here are from sensor stack or just the design or both. It do show slightly CA, but well controlled.
These two samples are telling about corner rendering.
I am not sure yet if I will get it or not. if not having all those 50mm, I will. I like VC75 quite a lot after using it more. The biggest selling point again is size/performance ratio just like VC75. The bokeh looks good to me.
They want to keep the lens brand name upfront, but a strong convention is 'make, then model', like Toyota Landcruiser or Subaru Outback, hence Cosina Voigtlander (CV for short). Because of their other businesses, they would prefer you just use: Voigtlander.
The V word has cost them many sales, when simply using their company name would be much better. Branding is important business. For example, 'Ultron' sounds like a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books.
They included the diacritic mark (the diaereses or umlaut), ending up with an unknown and (for many in their important markets) impossible to pronounce correctly: Voigtländer. A decent and easy to recall approximation is: 'vote lender'. Easy to remember in the current times, but then again, many would rather steal your vote than lend it to you.
zz, I should have known since I have the "VC75" and now I'm hip on that one, the Leica not so much.