luminorsubm wrote:
I bought the x2d...twice! And all the lenses, I thought I could outdo the Leica and believe me I tried. It's all relative though. We see what we see
That difference of opinion/experience just makes things more interesting. The system and lenses that you are using/about to use are certainly at the top of the segment.
luminorsubm wrote:
I went a little crazy and ordered the noctilux 75. I don't really need the 1.25 but it's allegedly sharp across the frame even wide open. Doesn't hurt to have the extra stop+ of light. But it will be a little more to wield. However, I did have my otus 28 mounted on my m11 so I feel that was a good warmup
also I can't seem to find a APO lanthar 90, just a ultron apo.
Cool. It looks like an impressive performer. I assume you used the EVF with the Otus 28. Do you plan to use it with this lens as well? I understand it chops a good third out of the OVF.
It is an APO-Ultron. I'm not sure why they went with that designation. It made sense with the APO-Skopar 90/2.8, since it was slower than any of their APO-Lanthars and didn't match their overall performance (still a good lens, though). The 90/2 seems right in line with the existing Lanthars in performance, so I have no guess. I also have questions about why B&H feels the need to throw in a free 52-to-67mm step up ring with purchase of the lens. Whatever the case, the naming seemed to deliver a price break, since it launched $200+ less than the APO-Lanthars.
freaklikeme wrote:
Cool. It looks like an impressive performer. I assume you used the EVF with the Otus 28. Do you plan to use it with this lens as well? I understand it chops a good third out of the OVF.
It is an APO-Ultron. I'm not sure why they went with that designation. It made sense with the APO-Skopar 90/2.8, since it was slower than any of their APO-Lanthars and didn't match their overall performance (still a good lens, though). The 90/2 seems right in line with the existing Lanthars in performance, so I have no guess. I also have questions about why B&H feels the need to throw in a free 52-to-67mm step up ring with purchase of the lens. Whatever the case, the naming seemed to deliver a price break, since it launched $200+ less than the APO-Lanthars....Show more →
I agree. It is puzzling why it is labeled APO-Ultron instead of APO-Lanthar. I often just call it "Lanthar". It clearly outperforms the APO-Skopar and, as you noted, is on par with the other Lanthar models. Marketing plays a role here and I doubt a 90/2 APO-Lanthar is coming. It is hard to imagine a 90mm M lens beating this one without increasing in size (more elements), though perhaps the lack of aspherical elements in the 90/2 APO-Ultron explains the different designation. However, it is common for telephoto designs to omit aspherical elements.
The CV 90/2 APO has 8 elements and 6 of them are APD!
freaklikeme wrote:
Cool. It looks like an impressive performer. I assume you used the EVF with the Otus 28. Do you plan to use it with this lens as well? I understand it chops a good third out of the OVF.
It is an APO-Ultron. I'm not sure why they went with that designation. It made sense with the APO-Skopar 90/2.8, since it was slower than any of their APO-Lanthars and didn't match their overall performance (still a good lens, though). The 90/2 seems right in line with the existing Lanthars in performance, so I have no guess. I also have questions about why B&H feels the need to throw in a free 52-to-67mm step up ring with purchase of the lens. Whatever the case, the naming seemed to deliver a price break, since it launched $200+ less than the APO-Lanthars....Show more →
That step up ring makes no sense to me either..I'm wondering what the difference is between lanthar and ultron. can't be a focal length thing because there's the new apo 28 lanthar.
I had a nikon f to leica m adapter from back in my nikon zf days. There's a techart adapter; leica M to nikon Z that allows autofocus. The adapter has linear motors in it that work with the Z autofocus system. It was a lot of fun getting eye tracking on leica m lenses. Then I went off the deep end and adapted all kinds of manual focus lenses. Even the hasselblad 250 5.6...and it worked like a charm.
When I ordered my Leica M11...again, I didn't even have lenses for it yet so started testing out what I had.
Good point on the size, that lens was so front heavy with the adapter. I believe the front element was 95mm and majority of the glass is in the front..I had to hold it by the lens, didn't want to stress the mount.
I tested the otus beside the voightlander ultron and there's just so much more magic/richness in the otus. Of course, given it's size and the monumental amount of glass. But it was not something I'd take around other than inside my house while waiting for my M lens to arrive.
I just used live view and the visoflex 2 when toying with the otus on m11. Crazy blockage and also no rangefinder coupling.
I believe the visoflex 2 will prove extremely valuable with the noctilux. I don't use the visoflex much admittedly, but it stays in the bag incase I need it. I find im much quicker with the rangefinder than using screens. I'm excited to try it with the Noctilux, luckily it just shipped
The Otus 28 is an outlier lens though, probably in my top 3 best lenses of all time.
Maybe for SEO, the 90 f2 was designated APO-Ultron to differentiate from the older 90mm f/3.5 APO-Lanthar. It turns up better in the inventory searches too to avoid confusion.
Also, if anyone is traveling to Japan right now, the CV 90 f2 APO is oddly the same price brand new as the 2.8 CS for $475.
ftllens wrote:
The Otus 28 is an outlier lens though, probably in my top 3 best lenses of all time.
Maybe for SEO, the 90 f2 was designated APO-Ultron to differentiate from the older 90mm f/3.5 APO-Lanthar. It turns up better in the inventory searches too to avoid confusion.
Also, if anyone is traveling to Japan right now, the CV 90 f2 APO is oddly the same price brand new as the 2.8 CS for $475.
not sure if I'm biased but I prefer the images from my 35 apo over the otus. Didn't think that'd be possible, hence the search for a telephoto version. Hopefully I'm right
Update. Got the noctilux 75, and it looks more medium format than my xcd or gfx system somehow. there's a bit of aberrations but also insanely high detail + micro contrast. It's gorgeous.
Fred Miranda wrote:
If you want true optical perfection (high resolution/contrast from center to edges wide open), no axial CA, no spherical aberration, and a smooth, clean rendering, I have not tested a telephoto that outperforms the Voigtlander 90mm f/2 APO-Ultron.
Yes, you can go for the Leica 90mm f/1.5 Summilux-M asph, but it's not corrected to the same degree and it's less clinical, if that's the look you're after. It is similar to choosing the Leica 50mm f/1.4 Lux ASPH over a 50mm f/2 APO from Leica or Voigtlander, where speed and higher blur take priority over absolute correction.
Agree - I have the Noctilux 75, Summilux 90, and Apo-Telyt 135. In that order, they show significantly more purple and green fringing compared to the Leica 35 and 50 APOs. Sharpness is great at f/2 for the 75 and 90, I would argue that in most cases they would blend nicely with 35mm APO images. The 135 at f/4+ is also no slouch (honestly I haven't ever seen a 135mm lens from anybody that didn't do well - Leica's magic is to put it into such a small form factor + I really like the contrast falloff outside of the plane of focus.
luminorsubm wrote:
Update. Got the noctilux 75, and it looks more medium format than my xcd or gfx system somehow. there's a bit of aberrations but also insanely high detail + micro contrast. It's gorgeous.
Congrats on the Lux ... although, from the OP / thread title (i.e. "most clinical") I was a bit surprised.
luminorsubm wrote:
I'm aware some leica glass has character and other flaws that are attractive, I'm going for more of a clinical/sharp look.
OP: it would be great to see some work from the 75 Noctilux, eventually!
rsolti13 wrote:
Clinical Leica 90s and nobody has mentioned the 90 Macro Elmar? If you don’t need f/2 or f/2.8, I can’t imagine the 90AA being any sharper at any aperture than the macro elmar. I’ve never used the 90AA, but did use the 90 Voigt and it was clinically sharp. I never compared the two side by side, but I’m guessing the macro elmar would be just as sharp, in 1/3 the size
FWIW, I have both and the 90AA is the better lens, optically, but it's also not a huge difference stopped down. The Macro shows some CA but easily fixed in post. It's in my bag more often simply because it's so small; a lot of my M 'walk around' work is during the day and stopped down. IMO the 90AA has a more 'transparent' look in that it introduces few optical aberrations within the plane of focus. One downside though is the potential for onion ring bokeh due to the 'old school' aspherical element. Both don't handle backlight veiling flare very well, but that seems to be broadly inherent Leica M lens 'character' (weakness).
I'm curious about the VM 90/2 APO and will probably grab one in Japan in a few months. As mentioned in another post, the price there is currently extremely compelling (along with a lot of Voigtlander and Zeiss lenses). For those times when I don't need AF, I'll probably also adapt it to my Canon RF system, even if there is some residual sensor stack incompatibility/degradation. It's crazy that you can get a high performance APO lens like the VM 90 cheaper in Japan than Canon's budget RF 85/2, which by all accounts is a decent performer, but not APO. TBH, I feel like a lot of my Leica M kit is on the verge of being replaced by Voigtlander at a fraction of the cost. The ergonomics are not as nice, nor as consistent across lenses, but it's a tradeoff for performance that punches above the price point.
man I didn't even consider posting some snaps. here's a few just around the house stuff. I used a close focus adapter for that one of my pup on the carpet, that was taken wide open at 1.25 and I can't quite find the in focus area, but 1/250 shutter speed and my shaky hands could be the culprit
green tarp at f1.25 approx 2 meters away
short column candlestick at 2.8
btw no sharpening or clarity etc. just exposure adjustments
