RustyBug
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 p.2547 #5 · Leica M/X/T/S/Q/CL/SL Picture Thread | |
newyork wrote:
This is great and unique Kent!
How do you feel about that lens?
Thanks Rich,
My first day out with it. I was mostly setting it to different combinations of zone focus distance / apertures to get a feel for where I might set one or two DOF ranges.
Focusing and aperture are silky smooth without being "loose", quite nice actually. My one nit (TBD) might be that when I pre-set my focusing distance to the zone / distance / aperture combo I want ... that silky smooth focus seems to move off my pre-set sometimes if I'm not paying attention. For RF use, that silky smooth focusing is a blessing. For keeping a "fixed zone" ... I'd like something a bit stiffer, with more resistance. Choose your poison(s) kinda thing. Tough to have it both ways, but it is clearly quality craftsmanship. Probably just a matter of Voigt choosing a really "slippery" lubricant (i.e. not to be confused with loose mechanics). I've noticed similar in different Leica's, where some of the newer ones are "super-slick" compared to the older ones (yet, both are well finished).
Optically, I think it has the qualities of that "soft razor". By that, it only has ONE ASPH element, so it does have a little bit of SA (which I like, similar to the Vintage 75/1.5) ... BUT, it takes to PP pretty well to add some "pop" in post to put the edge back on things. Kinda like the difference between sharpening a blade vs. honing a blade that is already sharp. This doesn't need a lot of sharpening, but it seems to take well to some honing if you prefer a bit more "clinical" look (as if it to render it more like a multi-ASPH design).
I got mine for that "soft razor" thing ... and I think that Voigtlander "got it right" (or darn close), such that your vintage SA is available, but it's not so much that it keeps you from tweaking it tighter in post.
Mine is the Nickel / Brass panda version ... and it's a chunk in density. But, after I got on with it for a bit ... I began to forget about the weight (for the most part). Mounted on my M246 (which is a slightly thicker body than M10/M11 bodies) today.
Again, only day one with it outside ... but, it might become my "mono" lens of choice.
Oh, I did do some testing against my (truly vintage) M 40/2 Summicron-C. 50 years of optical improvements are noticeable, as one would hope. But, the difference is what I'd call "nice" ... not OMG earth shattering. Which, is pretty much what I was hoping for ... 40 Cron-C vintage vibe, just updated to modern, vintage, "soft razor".
I never got around to testing it for focus shift. I was shooting at basically two apertures f/3.5 for my "shallow DOF" and then f/5.6-f/8 for my "more DOF". So, at those apertures and focus distances, it wasn't something that was going to rear its head, anyway. I can't speak to shooting it wide open yet. Not something I really do with zone focusing.
Fyi, given the size of the 40/2 Cron-C (i.e. compact / pancake), it still holds its own after 50 years ... just don't expect it to shoot like a multi-ASPH APO that cost 10X as much, and is much larger. The Voigt 50/1.5 II is a nice little bump in that direction, not a quantum leap to the APO side of things.
I watched Fred's review and others images of this lens for a long time, now. It's pretty much as advertised.
Bottom line on the Voigt 50/1.5 II (for what I was looking for). 
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