Performance at Infinity: Voigtlander 75mm f/1.9 Ultron vs Leica 75mm f/1.4 Summilux
The Voigtlander 75mm f/1.9 lens demonstrated exceptional sharpness and contrast in the central area when focused at infinity and used at wide apertures. In this regard, it outperformed the Leica 75mm f/1.4 Summilux lens. However, the Leica lens exhibited remarkable improvement when stopped down, delivering superb performance in the mid-zone and corners. In certain apertures, it even surpassed the Voigtlander lens in terms of performance. It is important to highlight that both lenses maintained excellent consistency across the entire image field.
Here is the full image thumbnail showing the area demonstrated at 1:1 magnification.
Distance: Infinity
Camera: Leica M10-R
Focus: Center - Best of three @ 12.4x magnification
WB: Daylight
Lens centered using my decentering test. The Voigtlander 75mm f/1.9 Ultron is perfectly centered.
Software: Lightroom with my default landscape sharpening. All other settings set to default
PS: Distortion is not corrected. All in-camera corrections turned 'off'.
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Center resolution Voigtlander 75mm f/1.9 Ultron vs Leica 75mm f/1.4 Summilux
Interesting comp, but not surprising to me. I used the 75 Lux as a landscaper many times. I always found it to resolve phenomenally with just lovely colors and signature even at 42mp across the frame.
The issue were more flare resistance and weight (and of course, price!). Thanks for posting.
I have the lens since a couple of months but have not yet tested it much. I spent two days in Barcelona and decided to try it a bit more.
I haven’t taken enough pictures with it to have enough of a complete sense of it. It is obviously a great lens but I’m still gauging it. Sometimes I wish I dared order the Sonnetar but I don’t know yet.
I took the single coated version and I wished it flared more easily in direct light.
Sonnar-7 wrote:
I have the lens since a couple of months but have not yet tested it much. I spent two days in Barcelona and decided to try it a bit more.
I haven’t taken enough pictures with it to have enough of a complete sense of it. It is obviously a great lens but I’m still gauging it. Sometimes I wish I dared order the Sonnetar but I don’t know yet.
I took the single coated version and I wished it flared more easily in direct light.
When the Sonnetar was introduced, its small size was truly remarkable. I love the way it captures images with a wide-open aperture. The Voigt 75/1.9 lens, while not as fast, is also quite compact, even a bit shorter than the Sonnetar. I plan to compare the image quality of both lenses.
Fred Miranda wrote:
When the Sonnetar was introduced, its small size was truly remarkable. I love the way it captures images with a wide-open aperture. The Voigt 75/1.9 lens, while not as fast, is also quite compact, even a bit shorter than the Sonnetar. I plan to compare the image quality of both lenses.
At first I wanted to go for the Nokton 75mm 1.5 but the 1.9 was announced and it was obvious that it would have a little more character to it or more of an old school rendering with the offer of a single coated version, I was sold on it even though I tend to prefer my lenses at 1.5 more than 2 when I can. And the size of it was of course appealing.
From my tests that are not enough yet, I think it’s a great lens but I might like more the more outlined bokeh bubbles of the Sonnetar. I was a bit disappointed in the flaring resistance of the single coated which sounds strange to say.
I still very much like the lens but the Sonnetar is quite intriguing.
Looking forward to your comparison.
I was enamoured with the idea of possessing the Voigtlander Nokton 75mm 1.5 when the Ultron 75 1.9 was announced, I took the single coated version of the Ultron and I believe it to be a great lens, if the Sonnetar didn’t exist I wouldn’t question much my choice despite having a liking for faster apertures but all in all, I don’t feel cheated with the Ultron.
A few samples I took, it always helps to see some pictures to decide, I know it does for me.
I recently got the Voigtlander 75mm f/1.8 Heliar Classic lens. I've always liked how this lens renders, and I'm going to compare it to the CV 75mm f/1.9 Ultron lens.
With the A6600 I am still shooting with the CV 75mm f/2.5 MC Color-Heliar using the Shoten L.M.-S.E. Macro adaptor. I was always curious to see how this old lens (40+ years) compares to the Heliar Classic or the Ultron. I like the colours and the bokeh of the Color Heliar a lot.
Curious to hear what the thought is about the old vs. the new optics.
jowul wrote:
With the A6600 I am still shooting with the CV 75mm f/2.5 MC Color-Heliar using the Shoten L.M.-S.E. Macro adaptor. I was always curious to see how this old lens (40+ years) compares to the Heliar Classic or the Ultron. I like the colours and the bokeh of the Color Heliar a lot.
Attached are two quick shots I took today. The first was taken at f/4 and the second (brick wall in the background) at f/2.8
Fred Miranda wrote:
Hi Joachim,
I could not see the images you posted.
The CV 75/2.5 is a well regarded lens but personally I never tried it.
Hi Fred,
thank you for responding to my question. I am not sure why you could not see the pictures I had posted.I am trying one more:
With the A6600 I am still shooting with the CV 75mm f/2.5 MC Color-Heliar using the Shoten L.M.-S.E. Macro adaptor. I was always curious to see how this old lens (40+ years) compares to the Heliar Classic or the Ultron. I like the colours and the bokeh of the Color Heliar a lot.
Curious to hear what the thought is about the old vs. the new optics.
A little walk with the Ultron 75mm 1.9, I forgot what a blast it was to shoot with a 75mm or so, it’s great until you can’t take a shot for half an hour because your back is against the wall and nothing works.
That lens is quite a performer, maybe a bit underrated because it’s not just its size, there’s something I like about the images it produces, can’t put my finger on what it is, I almost don’t even mind that it’s not more messy to fit my taste in hazy old lenses.
Sonnar-7 wrote:
A little walk with the Ultron 75mm 1.9, I forgot what a blast it was to shoot with a 75mm or so, it’s great until you can’t take a shot for half an hour because your back is against the wall and nothing works.
That lens is quite a performer, maybe a bit underrated because it’s not just its size, there’s something I like about the images it produces, can’t put my finger on what it is, I almost don’t even mind that it’s not more messy to fit my taste in hazy old lenses.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Great series. Paradise for street photography!
Thank you! Some medium sized french cities manage to offer more than they should in terms of variety and bustling city life and some just don’t, that one is quite alright.
I still wish I lived in Tokyo or Hong-Kong for street photography.
Did not know about this lens! Loving the tiny footprint it has. Similar to the 75/2.5 that I used to own many years ago and dearly miss it now... But might have a great replacement with this one...
Any photos of how it looks like mounted on an A7 body?
nampramos wrote:
Did not know about this lens! Loving the tiny footprint it has. Similar to the 75/2.5 that I used to own many years ago and dearly miss it now... But might have a great replacement with this one...
Any photos of how it looks like mounted on an A7 body?
