p.6 #2 · New M-Mount 28/1.4 and 35/1.4 from Thypoch
I ordered this lens because I needed a 35mm to use until I get my other 35mm back from Leica repair. I really liked the sample photos I saw online when looking up the lens. I am pretty impressed with it. I haven't found any optical issues with it so far. I have been using it for about a week or so. I also ordered the Voigtlander nokton 1.5 but honestly I like the thypoch more. The Thypoch renders a bit warmer from my little testing.
What I like about it. Optically I have no complaints, it is very sharp even wide open. I haven't done any actual tests like a brick wall and all that. So far in my everyday shooting I haven't encountered an image with rendering that bothered me.
The focus markings are awesome and make zone focus very easy. Plus it is just fun to play with and I think it looks cool.
The stop at .7 is great, especially because I use it on film M's too. That is something I dislike the most about voigtlander lenses that focus closer.
I have the silver and it doesn't match perfectly but it looks good on the camera still, I also like that the middle portion is a darker silver.
It was a little stiff to focus at first but I haven't noticed it in a while. Not sure if it loosened up a bit from use or if I am just used to it now. I think the former.
It has the de-click aperture thing, but that means nothing for me.
Personally I like the lens locks. I put it there in transport and then I am always sure where I am at when I pick up the camera. Same thing with the steelrim, I learned to love it I think.
A couple minor complaints though. The lens hood locks in place but it is pretty easy to unlock out of place. It is not loose or anything, I just notice it twists a little now and then.
The focus tab isn't a big deal, nor is the lock but the tab itself is closer to the camera body than I am used to so it feels a little cramped when focusing quickly.
The focus throw is pretty short for the range of focus you have. When using the close focus portion there is not much to work with so it becomes a little hard to nail focus. You would be using live view or the evf so it isn't a big deal. It forces you to slow down a bit which is fine with me.
The aperture ring not being spaced out evenly threw me off a little bit. I like it because you have more control on the open side but I don't like it because I can't operate the aperture ring without looking at it.
I posted these photos of a mushroom my wife grew on my IG, they are all taken with the Thypoch 35mm on my M10P. Gives you a good idea on sharpness and also the bokeh.
p.6 #3 · New M-Mount 28/1.4 and 35/1.4 from Thypoch
Mine came last week, but I've returned it. My copy was pretty de-centered. Which is what it is, but is why I'll be returning it. Too bad though, the size and rendering are really quite nice.
I like it better than the CV 35/1.5 in terms the rendering which is important to me. Sharpness is not really an issue either. I find the lens generally has a low contrast feel--even stopped down. Files just feel anemic. And while it's not the worst lens ergonomically, I find the infinity focus lock annoying, and the aperture ring (1/3 stop, then 1/2 stops, then 1 stop) more annoying. CA was not great but not horrible in my book--you'll get some in high contrast scenes, probably a bit better than the CV 35/1.5. I'd prefer less, but not deal breaker. I am willing to tailor my expectation of optical performance to lens size and price. Flare resistance was also worse than the CV 35/1.5, but better than I anticipated.
p.6 #6 · New M-Mount 28/1.4 and 35/1.4 from Thypoch
I personally have less than zero interest in the 35 as there's many other options already for that FL/aperture combination, with a few coming in at better prices.
For 28/1.4, the competition is a lot slimmer. That's the lens I'm waiting to see real world shots from.
As always, thanks for the work. I am especially interested in the 28/1.4. Most of your findings and preferences in this case line up with my own for the 35/1.4. When looking at my files, I have a lot of slight misfocuses, largely because of short throw.
Did you find the 35/1.4 low-contrast? I found my files to need a good amount of contrast and saturation help in post, and I didn't enjoy the files that much in terms of richness. I liked the rendering though.
p.6 #9 · New M-Mount 28/1.4 and 35/1.4 from Thypoch
Rendering/character from both looks good and surprisingly quite similar. Maybe someday they'll release Mark II versions to address the handling/ergonomics concerns. Interesting to read that the variable aperture stop values indeed are as annoying as I anticipated, which I guess made sense on paper, or as a marketing point, but less so in actual use.
p.6 #10 · New M-Mount 28/1.4 and 35/1.4 from Thypoch
nehemiahphoto wrote:
Did you find the 35/1.4 low-contrast? I found my files to need a good amount of contrast and saturation help in post, and I didn't enjoy the files that much in terms of richness. I liked the rendering though.
Ah, not particularly low (like a Mr. Ding 50mm 1.1 at short distances),
but for sure not as contrasty as the latest Voigtländers.
I think this Simera reminds me a bit of the older Voigtländer 28mm 1.9 here.
rscheffler wrote
Interesting to read that the variable aperture stop values indeed are as annoying as I anticipated
Just make it full stop clicks all the way, seriously...
Yes, I didn't find it to have SA induced lack of contrast like many not well-corrected near MFD optics (Mr. Ding). I didn't find any real SA either. Just lower contrast. For a new ASPH design with little SA, I had expected better. A couple generations behind like a CV 28/1.9 is good comp.
p.6 #12 · New M-Mount 28/1.4 and 35/1.4 from Thypoch
Whatever the case, Bastian's images have a 'relaxed' wide open rendering quality that is unfortunately not common with 28 and 35mm rangefinder (and other) lenses. Particularly the comparison shots along the pedestrian shopping street don't show much of the dreaded sharpening of distant background details along the image periphery, relative to the image center, due to optical vignetting and/or field curvature seen with so many other lenses.
p.6 #14 · New M-Mount 28/1.4 and 35/1.4 from Thypoch
rscheffler wrote:
Whatever the case, Bastian's images have a 'relaxed' wide open rendering quality that is unfortunately not common with 28 and 35mm rangefinder (and other) lenses. Particularly the comparison shots along the pedestrian shopping street don't show much of the dreaded sharpening of distant background details along the image periphery, relative to the image center, due to optical vignetting and/or field curvature seen with so many other lenses.
And this in a compact package and with a short minimum focus distance is something not seen often.
If I end up liking the 28mm 1.4 enough to buy it I will definitely get out my dremel and remove that useless infinity lock though
p.6 #15 · New M-Mount 28/1.4 and 35/1.4 from Thypoch
BastianK wrote:
And this in a compact package and with a short minimum focus distance is something not seen often.
If I end up liking the 28mm 1.4 enough to buy it I will definitely get out my dremel and remove that useless infinity lock though
I agree the rendering of this 28mm looks great, but also think the CV 28mm 1.5, despite being more in the league of the elmarit kind of rendering (which I love even being so sharp), comes with more "long term" warranties (build construction, second hand market, customer service if needed). Let's wait until Fred or/and you put your hands on both models to have a proper comparison. Thanks for your work, as usual, Bastian.
p.6 #16 · New M-Mount 28/1.4 and 35/1.4 from Thypoch
FWIW, Juha posted a link to a gallery of images with the VM28/1.5 shot on stock Sony a7CII. Gallery contains images shot either wide open or at f/8, which he indicated was optimum for far distance across-frame performance on the Sony sensor.
One clear and obvious advantage in favor of the VM is its much, much better flare resistance.
What is less clear is how much the sub-optimal stock Sony sensor stack affects wide open imaging characteristics, such as focus transition, which I find quite nervous. Noticeable optical vignetting also appears to be present, consistent with many VM lenses...
p.6 #17 · New M-Mount 28/1.4 and 35/1.4 from Thypoch
I ran Find Edges filter on one of Bastian's photos and it suggests the 28/1.4's field curvature bends towards the camera at the edges, which if the case, certainly will benefit peripheral background blur.
Based on Bastian's sample photos viewed full-rez from Flickr, the VM is the sharper lens on-axis wide open. The Thypoch 28 shows some residual SA glow, but it's not a huge amount. The relatively thick zone of focus on the ground also suggests lower micro contrast.
p.6 #18 · New M-Mount 28/1.4 and 35/1.4 from Thypoch
rscheffler wrote:
FWIW, Juha posted a link to a gallery of images with the VM28/1.5 shot on stock Sony a7CII. Gallery contains images shot either wide open or at f/8, which he indicated was optimum for far distance across-frame performance on the Sony sensor.
One clear and obvious advantage in favor of the VM is its much, much better flare resistance.
What is less clear is how much the sub-optimal stock Sony sensor stack affects wide open imaging characteristics, such as focus transition, which I find quite nervous. Noticeable optical vignetting also appears to be present, consistent with many VM lenses...
For my use, the flare resistance and haptics on the CV lens make it a much better choice.
p.6 #19 · New M-Mount 28/1.4 and 35/1.4 from Thypoch
Yeah, I'd generally agree.
Here's the same with the 35, though there wasn't much plane of focus on the ground. This image was focused on the front edge of the front wheel, whereas the 28mm image was focused on the front fork area.
Based on viewing a few of the 35/1.4 images, it has somewhat different rendering than the 28 in respect to background blur characteristics. I'm seeing a bit more double-edges and harder edged bokeh balls in the 35 images, along with a somewhat more bokeh fringing.
At the moment the 28 appeals more to me than the 35, strictly based on rendering. Maybe at some point Fred can get one and do a 3-way between it, the VM and 28 Lux.
Bastian: strictly based on image character/rendering, how do you feel the Thypoch 28 compares against the Laowa Argus 28/1.2? (Of course realizing that one is Leica M optimized and the other for various mirrorless systems such as Sony.)
p.6 #20 · New M-Mount 28/1.4 and 35/1.4 from Thypoch
rscheffler wrote:
Bastian: strictly based on image character/rendering, how do you feel the Thypoch 28 compares against the Laowa Argus 28/1.2? (Of course realizing that one is Leica M optimized and the other for various mirrorless systems such as Sony.)
I guess you are thinking of the Laowa on Sony and the Thypoch on something with a thinner filter stack.
At close to mid distances the Laowa has amazing rendering thanks to very high contrast, wide FoV and nice bokeh.
Out of ~250 lenses I have used one of my favorites.
So I definitely prefer it to the 7A 28mm 1.4, Thypoch 28mm 1.4 and Nikon AF-D 28mm 1.4 here.
Not sure yet about the Sigma 28mm 1.4, just arrived two days ago, but it is way too big anyway.
Sadly the field curvature pattern of the Laowa is very unfavourable at longer distances.
If that wasn't the case, it would probably be my most used lens.
From my initial tests the Simera looks better at these distances (as your find edges modification confirms).
