Mid-field Resolution and Contrast Resolution and Contrast: Simera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. vs Voigtlander 75mm f/1.8 Heliar Classic
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Extreme Corner Resolution and Contrast Resolution and Contrast: Simera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. vs Voigtlander 75mm f/1.8 Heliar Classic
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Reminds me why I didn't warm up to the 75/1.8 way back around 2011-2012. But I was more interested in a walk-around urban landscape short tele than a classic portrait lens. And for walk-around it was a bit chunky. But I did like the look of portraits I did with the 75/1.8. IIRC at the time it was billed as having wide open characteristics similar to the 75 Lux.
Resolution and Contrast: Simera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. vs Voigtlander 75mm f/1.5 Nokton
In my review of the Voigtlander 75mm f/1.5 Nokton, I noted that the lens delivers very high performance a couple of stops down from wide open, though it shows some mid-field weakness when shot wide open. I was curious to see how the Simera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. would compare, especially since both lenses are nearly identical in size and weight. My goal was to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of this new lens.
As you can see in the 100% pixel-level crops below, shot on a 60MP sensor, both lenses have their own strengths and weaknesses, and understanding them can help optimize their use in the field.
At the center, wide open, the Voigtlander 75mm f/1.5 Nokton starts with a slight advantage, but the Simera quickly catches up and even surpasses it at f/2. Both lenses reach optimal performance at f/2.8 and remain nearly identical in resolution and contrast as the aperture is progressively stopped down to f/5.6. At f/8, diffraction begins to appear.
At mid-field, where the Voigtlander shows some weakness wide open, both lenses perform surprisingly similarly. However, the Simera recovers more quickly and surpasses the Voigtlander at f/2 and beyond.
For extreme corners, the Voigtlander takes the lead, performing better wide open and maintaining that advantage throughout most of the aperture range. It is only around f/4 that both lenses produce similar resolution and contrast.
In terms of angle of view, the Simera has a slightly wider coverage compared to the Voigtlander, despite both being labeled as 75mm lenses. The Voigtlander also renders a slightly cooler color temperature. Vignetting appears to be similar on both.
Overall, both are high-performing lenses. The main differences are that the Simera performs slightly better at mid-field, while the Voigtlander has an edge in the extreme corners. At the center, they offer comparable performance.
Distance: Infinity
Focus: Center - Best of three shots at maximum magnification
White Balance: Daylight
Both lenses are well centered, as verified with my decentering test.
Software used: Lightroom with FM Default Landscape Sharpening; all other settings are at default.
PS: Vignetting, Chromatic Aberration (CA), and distortion were not corrected either in post-processing or in-camera.
Center Resolution and Contrast Resolution and Contrast: Simera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. vs Voigtlander 75mm f/1.5 Nokton
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Mid-field Resolution and Contrast Resolution and Contrast: Simera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. vs Voigtlander 75mm f/1.5 Nokton
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Extreme Corner Resolution and Contrast Resolution and Contrast: Simera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. vs Voigtlander 75mm f/1.5 Nokton
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My copy of the Thypoch 75mm arrived and I can't figure out how to mount the bayonet hood since it has no "orientation" marks for mounting. Fred commented that it takes a bit of extra force, but I need to know how to apply that "extra force" when mounting a hood with no marks to orient its mounting.
Thank you, Fred, so much for the video: it did finally get "seated" correctly, though it is honestly "hit and miss" without the video, and is a simple but clear design flaw to not be able to have markings to orient seating the lenshood.
tomdavis111 wrote:
Thank you, Fred, so much for the video: it did finally get "seated" correctly, though it is honestly "hit and miss" without the video, and is a simple but clear design flaw to not be able to have markings to orient seating the lenshood.
Thank you again.
Tom
It will loosen up over the first few days of getting it on and off. Mine is relatively easy to get on now.
All shot wide open at f/1.4, mostly at close distances and under different lighting conditions.
These images have minimal processing with added sharpening and either the Adobe Standard or Color profile. Black-and-white images are converted to Monochrome in Lightroom.
LEICA M10-RSimera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens75mm1/320s100 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-RSimera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens75mm1/2500s100 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-RSimera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens75mm1/3200s100 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-RSimera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens75mm1/4000s100 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-RSimera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens75mm1/4000s100 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-RSimera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens75mm1/500s100 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-RSimera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens75mm1/1000s100 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-RSimera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens75mm1/1250s100 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-RSimera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens75mm1/640s100 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-RSimera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens75mm1/1000s100 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-RSimera 75mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens75mm1/2000s100 ISO-0.7 EV
Fred Miranda wrote: Samples 1
All shot wide open at f/1.4, with varying distances and lighting conditions.
These images have minimal processing with added sharpening and either the Adobe Standard or Color profile. Black-and-white images are converted to Monochrome in Lightroom.
I can’t say I love these samples Fred-
Seems to almost lack any character at all- It’s so smooth that it just sort of fades away into a smooth distraction. Bokeh is always subjective but I really thought this lens would shine here.
RustyBug wrote:
It's what I'd expect from 16 aperture blades. Whether or not someone digs on that, or not ... subjective preference ... but, zero surprise, imo.
I get the intent of what you stated but all of the samples were shot wide open where number of aperture blades would have no influence on rendering/character/bokeh.
RustyRus wrote:
I can’t say I love these samples Fred-
Seems to almost lack any character at all- It’s so smooth that it just sort of fades away into a smooth distraction. Bokeh is always subjective but I really thought this lens would shine here.
Not to my taste with these samples.
What do others think here?
These first samples were taken at close range, so there's a lot of blur. That said, I don't see this lens as a character lens. The rendering feels modern and smooth with little to no outlining. Some people prefer this look, though.
If you find the focus transitions too smooth, you probably won't like the Voigtlander 75/1.5 Nokton either. Their rendering is nearly identical at any distance. I'll post a comparison soon.
The samples are nice, and I'm fond of the smoothness for close portraits.
Looking at other examples taken at night, would you say the bokeh fringing is comparable to the other similar options, or would you agree that specular highlights can look 'hot' or like colours are bleeding out a bit?
Maybe this is just unavoidable with strong light sources (+ affect of editing in below example)
Jonas Rask
Mar 30, 2025 at 06:42 AM
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Paul Z wrote:
The samples are nice, and I'm fond of the smoothness for close portraits.
Looking at other examples taken at night, would you say the bokeh fringing is comparable to the other similar options, or would you agree that specular highlights can look 'hot' or like colours are bleeding out a bit?
Maybe this is just unavoidable with strong light sources (+ affect of editing in below example)
Paul, I think what you are seeing and describing is the effect of saggital coma. It is to some extent unavoidable as very few lenses and none at f/1.4 that I know of are well corrected for it. That said, it is a particular weakness of the Thypoch 75 f/1.4 as the lens does worse in correcting for coma than most of the competitors. In real life shots it rarely bothers me, but it is something to know about and something that may affect some people's evaluation of the lens.
rscheffler wrote:
I get the intent of what you stated but all of the samples were shot wide open where number of aperture blades would have no influence on rendering/character/bokeh.
RustyRus wrote:
I can’t say I love these samples Fred-
Seems to almost lack any character at all- It’s so smooth that it just sort of fades away into a smooth distraction. Bokeh is always subjective but I really thought this lens would shine here.
Not to my taste with these samples.
What do others think here?
It’s essentially a lower contrast CV 75 1.5. And the great colors and contrast of modern CV’s are one of their selling points IM. Even the CV 75/1.5 doesn’t have enough personality for me. So yeah, very meh on the lens from the samples.
Given how similar they are, I’d prefer the Voigtlander unless this is significantly easier to focus.
