Fred Miranda
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Grenache wrote:
Many pages of drool-worthy images!
I had the impression from the early reviews that this lens did not work well (softness away from center and perhaps color smearing) on Sony bodies, but that does not seem to be the case.
Is that correct, or is it only good stopped down?
Thanks, Jim
Jim,
Does the Voigtlander 28mm f/1.5 Nokton perform well with the thicker Sony sensor stack? I'd say it's better than expected but far from optimal. In real-world images, photos captured with either a Leica M or Sony body will have similar resolution and contrast at the focused area. The main difference is in the field curvature, which is amplified by the thicker stack. This means that OOF areas may appear more in focus when shooting with the Sony, but this depends on the subject distance..
Focusing on a subject very close and wide open, results in a high amount of blur that masks this ill-effect. However, at mid or long distances, the transition zone becomes more apparent, making discrepancies in rendering more obvious. For example, if you focus on a bicycle in the center area at mid-distance, the further outer zone (towards the edges), which should be blurred, may appear sharper than it should.
Shooting flatter subjects at a distance, like landscapes or architecture, will make the focus areas uneven due to field curvature (as seen here). However, these applications usually require stopping down the lens. The broader depth of field will also mask the unevenness of the field curvature shape. In this case, the lens performs well, nearly as good as when shot using a Leica M.
There's also an increase in astigmatism, causing the outer zone to underperform as tangential and sagittal lines become further apart. Therefore, it's best to use fast wide-angle lenses like the Voigtlander 28mm f/1.5 on a sensor with a thin stack, as the optical design was intended for it.
Can it be used on the Sony? Absolutely, as long as these issues are not very apparent or do not bother you.
From my experience testing many lenses, only slower lenses with a maximum aperture like f/3.5 or smaller perform well on both thin Leica and thicker Sony stacks, but it also depends on the optical design.
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