DavidBM wrote:
I guess that’s right, just so long as there’s more than one independent focus group. Some of the older or smaller Sony lenses are linear focussing with just one group, which is just classic internal focussing, which is sometimes better than unit focus for consistency across distances but maybe not always....
That's a good point David. It's not the linear motor that's 'acting' like a floating group, it's the multiple linear motors changing the way elements interact for optimal resolution at different distances. It's an ingenious way to optimize performance and speed for AF lenses.
I hope that my Voigtlander 50mm f2 Apo-Lanthar Asph. in E mount, my Voigtlander 110 Apo-Lanthar, and my Zeiss 85mm f4 Tele-Xenar ZM lenses are OK. All 3 were purchased as either from an FM Buy/Sell, and 2 eBay purchases- one basically a new/open box from a sale to the buyer from Adorama, and the other from Japan in M condition. I only did some relatively quick cursory tests of the lenses relatively close-up of one of our wall hangings in our dining room. But, I couldn't confirm that the camera was totally parallel to our wall.
For the first time I had the Apo Lanthar 35 in my camera bag. What a great landscape lens for every little detail in the wide vistas shots.
Sunrise on Karwendel and Lake Gerold, Bavaria. Karwendel by Albrecht Ziburski, auf Flickr
naturephoto1 wrote:
I hope that my Voigtlander 50mm f2 Apo-Lanthar Asph., my Voigtlander 110 Apo-Lanthar, and my Zeiss 85mm f4 Tele-Xenar ZM lenses are OK. All 3 were purchased as either from an FM Buy/Sell, and 2 eBay purchases- one basically a new/open box from a sale to the buyer from Adorama, and the other from Japan in M condition. I only did some relatively quick cursory tests of the lenses relatively close-up of one of our wall hangings in our dining room. But, I couldn't confirm that the camera was totally parallel to our wall.
Rich
Hi Rich,
What I wrote was for the purpose of my resolution tests on this review. From the copies I've tried, three of them were actually well centered but one did slightly better towards the corners. For real world usage, unless one is checking at high magnifications, there is no way to detect this difference.
From the lenses you mentioned, I only saw some variation with the Zeiss 85/4 ZM. I would worry more about other brands as Cosina has tighter tolerance in comparison but it depends on the lens' optical design complexity.
Sharing some crossposted shots from the Sony FE thread
After weeks of usage, I am pleased with the performance of the AL 35/2 but somehow couldn't stop the idea of trying out the Nokton 35/1.2 SE. I first entered the CV line with the Nokton 50/1.2 and found the versatility of the lens (dreamy 1.2 rendering with decent sharpness in portrait distance + stop down sharpness for landscape) to be highly desirable. Can anyone who have both the AL 35/2 & Nokton 35/1.2 SE share their experience?
Hi, I have both but I have not directly tested them against each other.
My thoughts. I prefer the apo lens. It has a nicer look stopped down. I am surprised by this. The 1.2 has dreamy and low light, narrow dof and before I had the apo I was happy with it stopped down. But now I feel the apo is cleaner and the image is more calm (precise) as the image is better overall and corner to corner.
I am going to get a ND filter to use the 1.2 in bright light @1.2/1.4 for dreamy and will also use it at night but I think the apo will be my main 35mm. So I guess I am saying that I think the 1,2/35 is a speciality lens - for 1.2 & 1.4 otherwise the apo trumps it.
tzhang, I have been thinking about your question over the last day and have done a few test shots to check my initial comments.
I wanted to add that if you are looking for a 35mm that does nice bokeh, I have found the Anthy35 to be the best. It is not a lens in the league of the apo stopped down but I believe it has the smoothest backgrounds of all the 35mm's (apart from the Sigma beast). I prefer it to the Nokton for backgrounds - although the Nokton has the best low light and is better than the Anthy35 stopped down but then I would use the apo.
So whilst he Nokton is in many ways the best allrounder and what I thought might be an arty lens, it is not actually that useful, just for low light and the 'glow' with super narrow dof.
Hi tri_fin, thanks for the suggestion, I am aware of the Yasuhara Anthy 35/1.8 when it was reviewed by Dustin Abbott. And yep, agreed that the rendering is smooth but there are quite a couple of flaws from the lens that I could not live with. If I recall correctly, the worst aspect was the flare which looks real bad to me. The purple blob is quite unpleasant for images and may not even be possible to remove during post processing. I actually am really fond of the glow from the undercorrected SA of the 35, 40 & 50/1.2 Noktons as well! The glow and the smooth rendering is what I feel distinguish the wide open shots of the Noktons from images of other lenses (at least for me). I have used the Nokton 50/1.2 extensively and many of my favourite shots came from it. But of course, reviews also regarded the Nokton 50/1.2 as the best of the trio in terms of image quality and the Nokton 35/1.2 the weakest despite having similar optical design.
After some thought, I think I will keep the AL 35/2. The Nokton 50/1.2 should be able to carry out the duty of a Nokton 35mm when I need a dreamy look since I shoot outdoors very often and could step back for that. At least until a better single alternative is available on the market
tri_fin wrote:
tzhang, I have been thinking about your question over the last day and have done a few test shots to check my initial comments.
I wanted to add that if you are looking for a 35mm that does nice bokeh, I have found the Anthy35 to be the best. It is not a lens in the league of the apo stopped down but I believe it has the smoothest backgrounds of all the 35mm's (apart from the Sigma beast). I prefer it to the Nokton for backgrounds - although the Nokton has the best low light and is better than the Anthy35 stopped down but then I would use the apo.
So whilst he Nokton is in many ways the best allrounder and what I thought might be an arty lens, it is not actually that useful, just for low light and the 'glow' with super narrow dof.
bjornthun wrote:
The Sigma 35/2 DG DN C is next best and see how the relationship changes at f/5.6 where the Sigma 35/2 overtakes the Voigtländer Apo Lanthar 35/2.
Central sharpness is just one of several aspects I usually consider to evaluate a lens.
There is a place for both the CV 35/2 APO and Sigma 35/2 C (and the GM 35/1.4, Sigma 35/1.2....and arguably the plethora of other 35mm choices.) No one lens can be #1 at everything (fastest, smallest, lightest, sharpest, best "rendering", best haptics, best color, best AF and MF, etc.)
tsdevine wrote:
There is a place for both the CV 35/2 APO and Sigma 35/2 C (and the GM 35/1.4, Sigma 35/1.2....and arguably the plethora of other 35mm choices.) No one lens can be #1 at everything (fastest, smallest, lightest, sharpest, best "rendering", best haptics, best AF and MF, etc.)
For sure.
And I also agree the 35i (which I own) is a great lens.
But the results offered by this Voigt surprised me in a extremely positive way.
We should be discussing the forthcoming Zeiss mini-Milvus 35/1.4 and 35/2. No shortage of AF lenses for the masses. Zeiss's exit was a sea change, now seen in retrospect.
