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Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

MCMXCAD
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p.11 #1 · p.11 #1 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

Could someone post a portrait picture please? That would be great...

Jul 09, 2021 at 04:44 PM

naturephoto1
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p.11 #2 · p.11 #2 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

Image taken earlier this afternoon; processed in LR, no adjustment for vignetting, increase in sharpness and detail settings to 28 and 27 respectively; Cloudy White Balance according to my in camera adjustment standard.

This is a hill to the right, it is not due to distortion from the lens.

Photo taken at 5:24 PM.

Looking at flowers and grasses across the field toward trees at an overlook.
Tripod mounted A7rII Kolari Vision Ultra Thin sensor modified camera and Voigtlander 28mm f2 Ultron II Asph VM lens; silent shutter.
ISO 100, f4, 1/500 second.

July 9, 2021
Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, PA.

The distance to the corners was just right for the focus of the image; focus was on the spikes of flowers and their leaves (not the corners).

Rich

Jul 09, 2021 at 07:54 PM

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p.11 #3 · p.11 #3 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

Infinity Performance on the Leica M10-R vs Leica SL2

The Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II is optically designed for the Leica M sensor thickness and micro-lenses arrangement. It should be no surprise that this lens performs optimally on a Leica M body.

However, it's been reported that Leica SL line is equipped with sensors that offer better compatibility with M-lenses compared to other mirrorless bodies. I wanted to see if this was true and how much of an improvement it is, so I tested the Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II on the Leica M10-R and Leica SL2 bodies side by side.

Here is the full image thumbnail showing the area demonstrated at 1:1 magnification.

Distance: Infinity
Camera: Leica M10-R and Leica SL2 (no resizing so it's also 40MP vs 47MP crops)
Focus: Center - Best of three @ 12.4x magnification. The 28mm f/2 Ultron II was focused at hard stop on the M10-R. (optimal at infinity)
WB: Daylight
Lens centered using my decentering test
Software: Lightroom with my default landscape sharpening. All other settings set to default

PS: Vignetting and distortion were NOT corrected. All in-camera corrections turned 'off'.

At 28mm
Center Resolution and Contrast: Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II (Leica M10-R vs Leica SL2)

(Ignore the lens name and aperture reported in the EXIF)

Center at f/2: Strong and similar performance. This was the hard stop for the lens on the Leica M10-R

Center at f/2.8: Incremental improvement. Similar performance on both cameras

Center at f/4: Perhaps optimal aperture but not that different from wide open

Center at f/5.6: still strong performance

Center at f/8: Signs of diffraction

Jul 09, 2021 at 10:51 PM

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p.11 #4 · p.11 #4 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

At 28mm
MID-FIELD Resolution and Contrast: Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II (Leica M10-R vs Leica SL2)

(Ignore the lens name and aperture reported in the EXIF)

Mid-field at f/2: Surprise! Similar performance on Leica M10-R and SL2. The Voigtlander 28/2 Ultron II is sensitive to thicker sensors as we've already seen with the A7R IV test, but it performs great at mid-field on the SL2!

Mid-field at f/2.8: Visible improvement for both cameras. Still similar performance

Mid-field at f4: Similar performance. Perhaps even higher resolution for the SL2 since it has more MPs.

Mid-field at f/5.6: Not much changes

Mid-field at f/8: Signs of diffraction but still strong performance on both cameras

Jul 09, 2021 at 10:52 PM

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p.11 #5 · p.11 #5 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

At 28mm
EXTREME CORNER Resolution and Contrast: Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II (Leica M10-R vs Leica SL2)

(Ignore the lens name and aperture reported in the EXIF)

To my eyes, the Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II performed similarly on both cameras. It's still optimal at the very corners on the M10-R though. Same performance at center and mid-field for both cameras. The Voigtlander 28/2 II performed much better on the Leica SL2 than the Sony A7R IV.

For this test, I resized the Leica SL2 DNG files (47MP) using zero sharpening to 40MP. Then, I matched the same sharpening in LR for both cameras at 40MP.

Extreme corner at f/2

Extreme corner at f/2.8

Extreme corner at f/4

Extreme corner at f/5.6

Extreme corner at f/8

Jul 09, 2021 at 11:42 PM

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p.11 #6 · p.11 #6 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

The SL2 is a fine camera, very good colour performance here. I prefer its images in centre and midfield, especially given the small resolution difference (8%).

Jul 09, 2021 at 11:51 PM

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p.11 #7 · p.11 #7 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

philip_pj wrote:
The SL2 is a fine camera, very good colour performance here. I prefer its images in centre and midfield, especially given the small resolution difference (8%).

If the Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II performs this good on the SL/SL2 bodies, I can only assume that other M-lenses with optical designs less sensitive to sensor stack thickness will offer even better compatibility.

Jul 09, 2021 at 11:57 PM

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p.11 #8 · p.11 #8 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

For Australian readers, this one is now in stock. Alas, my cameras are too sensitive.

Jul 10, 2021 at 12:04 AM

Juha Kannisto
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p.11 #9 · p.11 #9 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

Yesterday the weather in Tokyo was pretty nice and hot for a change (after a lot of rainy and cloudy days since we've been going through the rainy season) so I did a long walk with my Sigma fp and the CV Ultron 28/2 VM II again. All shots were processed in-camera. I took most of the shots at f5.6 and the rest at f2 again.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/U8z3RAudpo6VHL6Q6

Jul 11, 2021 at 06:57 AM

raizans
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p.11 #10 · p.11 #10 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

Arvaker wrote:
All wide open on the M10, under the harsh mid-day sun, Österlen.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51268085009_91ca311da3_o.jpg VM 28/2 II & Milk

Have you tried f/4 for photos like these? The bokeh of the 28mm Ultron seems to behave like the 35mm Ultron: harsh at f/2, smooth at f/4.

Maybe the bokeh on indoor environmental portraits, my most common use case, will look fine at f/2?

Jul 11, 2021 at 07:12 PM

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p.11 #11 · p.11 #11 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

I hated that bokeh of 35 Ultron outdoors.. was ok indoors. Had to return as a result...

Jul 12, 2021 at 08:02 AM

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p.11 #12 · p.11 #12 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

MCMXCAD wrote:
I hated that bokeh of 35 Ultron outdoors.. was ok indoors. Had to return as a result...

Are you referring to the 35/2 Ultron? Yes, transition zone can be a little rough with this lens. However, the discontinued CV 35/1.7 Ultron was in a different league.

Jul 12, 2021 at 08:13 AM

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p.11 #13 · p.11 #13 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

Fred Miranda wrote:
If the Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II performs this good on the SL/SL2 bodies, I can only assume that other M-lenses with optical designs less sensitive to sensor stack thickness will offer even better compatibility.

Do you plan a side-by-side test with the SL2 versus a Sony a7RIII or the like with "difficult" Leica M mount wide angle lenses? That would be quite interesting, I think.

Jul 12, 2021 at 09:19 AM

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p.11 #14 · p.11 #14 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

LarsHP wrote:
Do you plan a side-by-side test with the SL2 versus a Sony a7RIII or the like with "difficult" Leica M mount wide angle lenses? That would be quite interesting, I think.

Hi Lars,
Although not side by side at the same time, this was already done with the SL2 and A7R IV.

Here are the links:
Infinity Performance on the Leica M10-R vs Sony A7R IV
https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1704868/0#infinity

Infinity Performance on the Leica M10-R vs Leica SL2
https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1704868/10#infinityb

Jul 12, 2021 at 09:56 AM

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p.11 #15 · p.11 #15 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

Fred Miranda wrote:
Hi Lars,
Although not side by side at the same time, this was already done with the SL2 and A7R IV.

Here are the links:
Infinity Performance on the Leica M10-R vs Sony A7R IV
https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1704868/0#infinity

Infinity Performance on the Leica M10-R vs Leica SL2
https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1704868/10#infinityb
Thanks. I forgot you did a M10-R vs Sony a7RIV comparison earlier in this thread that basically is the same test as the one with Leica M10-R vs SL2 here.

This is strongly affirms the claim from Leica that the SL2 is the best non-M camera for M mount lenses. The images with M mount lenses I have seen done with the Leica SL camera didn't impress me and the SL has no IBIS which is half the reason (to me) buying a mirrorless cameras instead of a M camera.

Jul 12, 2021 at 12:58 PM

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p.11 #16 · p.11 #16 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

Sagittal Coma Flare performance:

The Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron has great coma control wide open and outstanding at f/2.5. Stopping down diminishes vignetting but does not improve coma any further.

Here are 100% crops showing a bright star at the very edge of the frame. (at f/2 and f/2.5)

thumbnai showing the cropped area

Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II (f/2 vs f/2.5) - Coma performance

Jul 13, 2021 at 12:52 AM

jeffersoncasey
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p.11 #17 · p.11 #17 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

I'm seeing the Ultron showing diminishing bokeh towards the corners and edges even on M bodies. Otherwise it seem like a no brainer choice if anyone wants a 28/2.

Edited on Jul 13, 2021 at 08:39 PM · View previous versions

Jul 13, 2021 at 02:53 PM

Makten
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p.11 #18 · p.11 #18 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

Hmmmmmm! I wonder how this lens would fare as a "short normal" on Fuji APS-C. I suppose field curvature wouldn't be too bad, even if I know that for example the Summicron 28/2 ASPH wasn't good at all on Sony APS-C.

Jul 13, 2021 at 04:12 PM

MCMXCAD
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p.11 #19 · p.11 #19 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

Fred Miranda wrote:
Are you referring to the 35/2 Ultron? Yes, transition zone can be a little rough with this lens. However, the discontinued CV 35/1.7 Ultron was in a different league.

Yes the f2 Ultron. Didn't try f1.7 but have always heard good things about it. After watching Ben's primary review on YouTube, looks like these voigtlander lenses have busy swirly bokeh. I like swirly bokeh but not this kind 😂

Jul 15, 2021 at 01:16 PM

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p.11 #20 · p.11 #20 · Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II Review

MCMXCAD wrote:
Yes the f2 Ultron. Didn't try f1.7 but have always heard good things about it. After watching Ben's primary review on YouTube, looks like these voigtlander lenses have busy swirly bokeh. I like swirly bokeh but not this kind 😂

The Voigtlander lenses aren't even close to being the same. The f/1.2 render nothing like the f/2 APOs and to my eyes even the 35 f/2 is much different from the 28 f/2 and the 35 f/1.7 something different yet. I just don't think you can lump all the Voigtlander lenses together.

Jul 15, 2021 at 01:58 PM

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