polylepis wrote:
Juha, those pictures of the Nippon Maru are spectacular examples of this lens' capabilities. Why not post a couple here?
Thanks very much!
I don't currently have "Upload & Sell" subscription to the forum so I can't upload photos currently. My subscription expired a while back and I haven't yet renewed as I don't use the forum for equipment trades (since I'm based in Japan). I'll renew it at some point in the future.
I know that photos can be directly linked from Flickr etc. but I'm not aware of such option with Google Photos which is what I use...
Juha Kannisto wrote:
I don't currently have "Upload & Sell" subscription to the forum so I can't upload photos currently. My subscription expired a while back and I haven't yet renewed as I don't use the forum for equipment trades (since I'm based in Japan). I'll renew it at some point inI know that photos can be directly linked from Flickr etc. but I'm not aware of such option with Google Photos which is what I use...
I don't currently have "Upload & Sell" subscription to the forum so I can't upload photos currently. My subscription expired a while back and I haven't yet renewed as I don't use the forum for equipment trades (since I'm based in Japan). I'll renew it at some point in the future.
I know that photos can be directly linked from Flickr etc. but I'm not aware of such option with Google Photos which is what I use...
I think you do have Upload and Sell enabled, so you should be able to upload or share links here.
I just tested the Voigtlander 28mm f/2 APO-Lanthar M-mount adapted to the Leica SL2 and was impressed. It handled the SL sensor beautifully, almost like shooting on a Leica M. In comparison, the CV 28mm f/2 APO-Lanthar struggles a bit on the thicker Sony sensors. I will share some results soon.
Also interesting is how well the Leica SL 24-90 zoom at 28mm holds up alongside the Cosina APO at f/2.8 and smaller apertures.
I have a 28mm Summicron and a 28mm Summaron, and I am actually thinking of selling both and going the Voigtländer way: 28mm APO and 28mm Skopar. I wonder if anyone has gone this way.
The 28mm APO looks amazing, and the Skopar is as small as the Summaron and gives me a faster aperture. I wish I could have them all!
Fred Miranda wrote:
Lovely samples as always, Juha!
I just tested the Voigtlander 28mm f/2 APO-Lanthar M-mount adapted to the Leica SL2 and was impressed. It handled the SL sensor beautifully, almost like shooting on a Leica M. In comparison, the CV 28mm f/2 APO-Lanthar struggles a bit on the thicker Sony sensors. I will share some results soon.
Also interesting is how well the Leica SL 24-90 zoom at 28mm holds up alongside the Cosina APO at f/2.8 and smaller apertures.
Does that statement apply to the Sony mount version, or the M via adapter…asking for a friend, who totally doesn’t have a Sony version arriving Tuesday. 🫢
Jim
Juha, you wrote it was 'your usual processing' but you're sure you haven't changed your processing recently? These all look more intense than past albums. Higher contrast, richer color... Maybe it's the low winter sunlight (which I love in my own photos). I'm not complaining. Looks great!
rscheffler wrote:
^ Not to speak for Fred but based on his post, it was an M mount 28 APO on the SL...
Juha, you wrote it was 'your usual processing' but you're sure you haven't changed your processing recently? These all look more intense than past albums. Higher contrast, richer color... Maybe it's the low winter sunlight (which I love in my own photos). I'm not complaining. Looks great!
Thanks! I still used the same filmic Kodak inspired preset in C1 Pro as I've pretty much used the last few years, and I'm sticking with a bit older C1 Pro version 16.3 (I only update it when I get a new camera that's not support by older versions). I haven't changed anything else either, otherwise I mostly just adjust exposure a bit here and there if the photos get overexposed or underexposed.
I think the intensity is partly due to the lens (high contrast) and partly due to the extremely clear weather and low winter sunlight. The light is most intense here in the mid-winter season and we tend to get lots of clear weather days in this season.
Grenache wrote:
Does that statement apply to the Sony mount version, or the M via adapter…asking for a friend, who totally doesn’t have a Sony version arriving Tuesday. 🫢
Jim
I had the VM version of the 28/2 APO for a couple of months and it didn't work well on my Sony A7CII in infinity shooting in terms of corner-to-corner sharpness. There was quite much sensor stack induced field curvature and edges and corners were not great before f8. The native E-mount version is a lot better on Sony and I never stop it down further than f4. Corners are fine from f2 but there's vignetting so I think f4 is about ideal for infinity type landscapes / cityscapes.
Grenache wrote:
Does that statement apply to the Sony mount version, or the M via adapter…asking for a friend, who totally doesn’t have a Sony version arriving Tuesday. 🫢
Jim
Hi Jim,
Unfortunately it's not possible to use Sony E-mount lenses on the Leica SL L-mount. I was referring to the adapted 28/2 APO M-mount lens. The SL sensor, at least up through the SL2, is built with microlenses that help direct light toward the corners of the sensor, so it actually performs very well with most M lenses. I would say you get about 90% of the performance compared to Leica M bodies with thinner sensor stacks. That last 10% shows up mostly as a bit of extra field curvature, so in practice the lens performs similarly but with a touch more character due to a slight outward field curvature compared to native M bodies.
On Sony it is a totally different story. Performance degrades much more, and you really see field curvature and astigmatism show up clearly.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Hi Jim,
Unfortunately it's not possible to use Sony E-mount lenses on the Leica SL L-mount. I was referring to the adapted 28/2 APO M-mount lens. The SL sensor, at least up through the SL2, is built with microlenses that help direct light toward the corners of the sensor, so it actually performs very well with most M lenses. I would say you get about 90% of the performance compared to Leica M bodies with thinner sensor stacks. That last 10% shows up mostly as a bit of extra field curvature, so in practice the lens performs similarly but with a touch more character due to a slight outward field curvature compared to native M bodies.
On Sony it is a totally different story. Performance degrades much more, and you really see field curvature and astigmatism show up clearly....Show more →
Thanks. I have the E-mount version coming and had expected that to perform well on Sony bodies. From other comments, it sounds like it will be fine.
Grenache wrote:
Thanks. I have the E-mount version coming and had expected that to perform well on Sony bodies. From other comments, it sounds like it will be fine.
Yes, E-mount version optimal on Sony sensors. The M-mount performs best on M bodies, but they also do very well on the SL and on sensors with the Kolari modification.
The Voigtlander 28mm f/2 APO Lanthar was designed first and foremost for the Leica M system. That matters because Leica M cameras use a much thinner sensor coverglass than most modern mirrorless bodies, which allows rangefinder lenses to project their light rays onto the sensor at the angles they were designed for. With lenses like this, ray angle control is everything, especially toward the edges of the frame.
Mounted on the Leica SL2, the Voigtlander behaves remarkably well. Even though the SL2 does not have as thin a sensor stack as a Leica M10-R or M11, it is thin enough that wide angle M lenses like this one still perform almost optimally. From wide open, the image field is very well corrected, corners stay clean, and the APO characteristics remain intact. It is not quite Leica M thin glass performance, but it is easily about 90% of the way there, which in real world shooting means the lens looks the way it was meant to look, just with a touch more field curvature.
That is one of the main reasons I enjoy shooting with the SL system. I can adapt my M lenses without having to worry much about IQ falling apart. The rendering, sharpness, and field behavior stay very close to what I see on a native M body.
The contrast to Sony makes this even clearer. On a Sony A7R II (Resolution test here) with its much thicker sensor stack, the Voigtlander shows obvious optical compromises. The most noticeable is strong field curvature, where the plane of focus bends so the center is sharp but the corners fall out of focus. You also see more astigmatism and some color fringing, especially toward the edges. None of this is the fault of the lens. It is simply the result of putting a rangefinder optic in front of a sensor stack it was never designed to work with.
For fun, I also compared the Voigtlander 28mm f/2 APO Lanthar on the SL2 to the Leica SL 24-90 zoom (at 28mm). What surprised me was how well the zoom kept up, especially from f4 and smaller apertures. The APO still has its own look, but the 24-90 is no slouch and holds its own much better than many would expect. I consider it one of the best normal zooms every produced.
Overall, the SL2 once again proves why it is such a strong platform for M lenses. The Voigtlander 28mm f/2 APO Lanthar, which can be a problematic lens on thicker sensor stacks, looks and behaves the way it should here, delivering nearly M level performance while giving you the ergonomics, EVF, and flexibility of the SL system.
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:Chromatic Aberration (CA), and distortion were not corrected either in post-processing or in-camera.
Center Resolution and Contrast
Infinity performance adapted to Leica SL2 (47MP)
(open the browser window to view entire image without resizing)
Just placed an order for the Sony E-mount version of this yesterday from CameraQuest, and it arrived today. I ordered a 'used' copy but you could have fooled me into thinking was brand new. First time ordering from Stephen, I'm impressed.
Looks like he still has one more 'used' E-mount version for anyone else that's interested. $200 off. I'm looking forward to getting out and trying my copy later this week.
I posted some in the E-mount & Z-mount thread. I have 4 albums with my usual PP (on my A7CII and E-mount 28/2 AL) so far:
