Voigtländer 75mm f/1.5 Aspherical VM

[Cobram]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

2 hours ago, hdmesa said:

What a great lens. Mine arrived today. This lens is incredibly sharp even at minimum focus distance. It does help to move back slightly so that the point of focus is a couple of centimeters behind minimum distance – that way if I sway back and forth just a little, I can still get something in focus (on objects that recede, not ones parallel to the sensor). I'm also not seeing the reported "glow" wide open at MFD with this lens unless I miss perfect focus or have motion blur from too low of a shutter speed. Maybe I haven't hit the right lighting or pushed the focus point right up to MFD to see the glow. Anyway, I'm finding that for me, 1/500 sec. is minimum for this lens on the M10-R, and 1/1000 or higher is best.

Wide open close to MFD:

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

1:1 crop (exact focus hit above the "eye"):

 

This lens exhibit 3D pop. Based on posted pics it seems one of the best Voigtlander lenses currently on the market. 

[plasticman]

3 hours ago, hdmesa said:

These are 1:1 crops taken on the M10-R very close to minimum focus distance. Very sharp, no glow.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

I'm waiting for delivery of the one I ordered on Tuesday, and gotta say I'm simply astonished at these crops. What happened to lens design the last few years? - it's amazing! I've had a couple of Noktons in the past - the 50 ƒ1,2 most recently I think? - and they were so soft that it was difficult to tell where the actual plane of focus was. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there's not much variation in manufacturing because if mine is as good as this I will be delighted!

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[lct]

•

Edited March 18, 2021 by lct

[hdmesa]

Removed —

Edited March 18, 2021 by hdmesa

[hdmesa]

6 hours ago, plasticman said:

I'm waiting for delivery of the one I ordered on Tuesday, and gotta say I'm simply astonished at these crops. What happened to lens design the last few years? - it's amazing! I've had a couple of Noktons in the past - the 50 ƒ1,2 most recently I think? - and they were so soft that it was difficult to tell where the actual plane of focus was. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there's not much variation in manufacturing because if mine is as good as this I will be delighted!

Full disclosure – sharpening was added in Capture One to these files. The M10-R DNG files for vintage-design lenses like this can accept quite a bit of sharpening before looking unnatural. Anyway, these are sharp, but next to the CV 50 APO Lanthar, they don't look as sharp any more

Here are those two crops with the default sharpening setting in Capture One:

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Edited March 18, 2021 by hdmesa
Added photos

[plasticman]

1 hour ago, hdmesa said:

Full disclosure – sharpening was added in Capture One to these files. The M10-R DNG files for vintage-design lenses like this can accept quite a bit of sharpening before looking unnatural. Anyway, these are sharp, but next to the CV 50 APO Lanthar, they don't look as sharp any more

Here are those two crops with the default sharpening setting in Capture One:

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

These are still better than what I’m used to from the other Nokton lenses I’ve owned in the past. There really wasn’t much detail in the plane of focus to sharpen in the first place 😁 

[Parkplatzmann]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I think I will like this Lens 😀. Picture today in our garden...

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[safox]

Hello everyone, I want to get a 75mm lens. Mainly for studio work, sometimes outdoors. I will use m240 on the body. What do you think when choosing between summikron and VM 1.5? the price for the first one is, of course, three times higher (in used), but I'm ready to pay it if I get a really visible result.
Is the issue of focus shifting on VM 1.5 still relevant? already have statistics on this?

[adan]

14 hours ago, safox said:

Hello everyone, I want to get a 75mm lens. Mainly for studio work, sometimes outdoors. I will use m240 on the body. What do you think when choosing between summikron and VM 1.5? the price for the first one is, of course, three times higher (in used), but I'm ready to pay it if I get a really visible result.
Is the issue of focus shifting on VM 1.5 still relevant? already have statistics on this?

Depends on the aperture you will most often use.

I shoot close-up studio almost always at f/16 for maximum DoF.

In that case, the VM is indistinguishable from the APO-Summicron.

At wider apertures, and especially at closest focus, the APO-Summicron will walk away with clarity and resolution, especially in the corners.

That is where the floating element of the APO-Summicron makes a big difference.

At wide apertures at longer distances (perhaps 3m/10 feet to infinity) the APO-Summicron is not much sharper in the center - but holds its sharpness almost all the way to the edges. While the VM shows some resolution drop-off away from the center of the picture (getting progressively worse the closer one focuses).

So, for example, with a full-length portrait of a person at f/2, the subject's waist and belt may be slightly sharper with the VM, but the face, hair and feet will generally be quite noticeably clearer with the APO-Summicron.

[safox]

8 hours ago, adan said:

Depends on the aperture you will most often use.

I shoot close-up studio almost always at f/16 for maximum DoF.

In that case, the VM is indistinguishable from the APO-Summicron.

At wider apertures, and especially at closest focus, the APO-Summicron will walk away with clarity and resolution, especially in the corners.

That is where the floating element of the APO-Summicron makes a big difference.

At wide apertures at longer distances (perhaps 3m/10 feet to infinity) the APO-Summicron is not much sharper in the center - but holds its sharpness almost all the way to the edges. While the VM shows some resolution drop-off away from the center of the picture (getting progressively worse the closer one focuses).

So, for example, with a full-length portrait of a person at f/2, the subject's waist and belt may be slightly sharper with the VM, but the face, hair and feet will generally be quite noticeably clearer with the APO-Summicron.

I shoot mainly at F8 aperture. When I work with constant light, the aperture is of course wider - 2.8-4.
Maybe should add Summarit 75 2.5 / 2.4 to the comparison? (as I understand them, only the minimum focusing distance is different)
Version 2.5 at a cost (used) is released as a new VM

Edited April 1, 2021 by safox

[Noctiluchs]

My copy of the VM 1.5/75 arrived just a few days ago and so far I am quite happy!

It checks all of the boxes, I wanted in a medium telephoto prime lens:
- reasonable fast
- lightweight & compact
- few optical flaws

Sharpness / Contrast: As some of you have already written before, it is not clinical sharp at minimum focus distance @f1.5, but from 1 m (3.3 ft) onward it is very good (with almost too much micro contrast).
At medium and far distances it is just a little softer in the extreme corners than it is in the center. Stopping down to f4 - and it is as good as it gets.

Vignetting: There is quite an amount of vignetting wide open - but in a good way. The fall off is not harsh by any means.
Once you stopped down to f2, it is reduced significantly and by f2.8 it is almost gone.

Chromatic Aberrations (CAs): What bothers me the most with fast primes are longitudinal (lo) CAs, because these are difficult to correct in post processing.
Luckily Cosina did a good job here: loCAs are very well controlled. Only wide open and in very high contrast situations loCAs are visible - but you have to 'pixel-peep' a little.
On the other hand I couldn't find any traces of lateral CAs.

Bokeh / Signature: Probably the most important aspect of a fast prime lens - in this case it's a little of a mixed bag.
While the focus falloff is very smooth (one of the smoothest I've seen so far) at shorter distances (1 m / 3.3 ft to 5 m / 16 ft), it is quite pronounced at distances from 10 m / 33 ft onward. The pictures I took wide open at these distances looked more like a f2.5.
Or to put it that way: At shorter distances the bokeh is Lux alike, while at longer distances it is more like a modern Cron or Summarit... strange...
I assume it's because of the relatively high contrast lens design.
The onion rings you normally get as a 'bonus' from aspherical elements are well suppressed. Only in specular highlights you'll find traces of onion(ish) texture - but you have to pixel-peep here as well.
The twelve blade aperture produces a nice sun star, but these blades are not well rounded. As a consequence you'll notice a polygon shape in highlights, once you stop down.

Mechanics / Appearance: If you already know Leica / Zeiss / Voigtländer lenses, it comes to no surprise, that this one is from a handling point of view almost perfect, too.
Although for my taste the focus throw could be a little longer, it is precise for sure and well damped with the right amount of resistance.
The aperture ring turns very precise as well, but could have just a little more resistance. (Of course these are complaints on a very high level!)
As for the appearance is is certainly a matter of taste. In my opinion it's not the most beautiful lens - it's more like a 'form follows function' design.
The three rings (aperture, focus, bayonet) have a reasonable distance to each other, so you can easily distinguish between them (blindfolded) and unlike some other lenses it's very easy to mount / unmount it one-handed.
 

To sum this little review up: No lens is perfect - this one included. But its trade-offs are little and it's worth to take a closer look.
As for me it was mostly a quality / weight decision and for this price you certainly get a lot in return.

The overall character of this lens reminds me a lot of the VM 1.7/35 Asph II - they're both excellent lenses in my opinion.

[Noctiluchs]

Here are some shots from my sunset walk along the beach.
(all @f1.5)

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Noctiluchs]

Interestingly I forgot an important chapter... I wonder why...? 😉

Flare / Ghosting: Without any doubt I can claim, that this is the least flare / ghosting pronounced lens I've ever used!
Even with my 'flashlight-torture-test' I could provoke just minor flares.You should avoid f-stops like f1.5 and f2 (maybe even f2.8) with the light source close to the corner, if you're absolutely sensitive about flares.
But like I said: I used a very bright flashlight with the beam directly into the lens for my flare-tests in controlled environment.
In reality you don't see much of it (see the sunset picture with the swan couple above), if any...
I also don't see any significant contrast falloff, when pointing the lens towards or directly into the light source.
Outstanding performance!

[farnz]

16 minutes ago, Noctiluchs said:

You should avoid f-stops like f1.5 and f2 (maybe even f2.8) with the light source close to the corner, if you're absolutely sensitive about flares.

If you need to stop the lens down to f/4 it's difficult to understand your claim that it resists flare well.  It sounds like low-light/night shooting would be a problem with the lens considering the spectral highlights from street lights and reflections after dark.

I know I'm talking about a different lens but for comparison I regularly shoot my 50/1 Noctilux at night wide open and spectral highlights and light sources at the edge of the lens have never caused flare problems.  Sure, shooting it wide open directly into the sun will produce flare but I'm not surprised by that.  The same goes for my 28/2 Summicron asph v1 so these two lenses I consider to be very flare resistant. 

Pete.

[Ouroboros]

53 minutes ago, Noctiluchs said:

......But like I said: I used a very bright flashlight with the beam directly into the lens for my flare-tests in controlled environment.
 

Have you tried dunking it into a bucket of water to see if it’s weather-sealed?

[lct]

47 minutes ago, farnz said:

If you need to stop the lens down to f/4 it's difficult to understand your claim that it resists flare well.

+1

[Ouroboros]

1 hour ago, Noctiluchs said:

Interestingly I forgot an important chapter... I wonder why...? 😉

Flare / Ghosting: Without any doubt I can claim, that this is the least flare / ghosting pronounced lens I've ever used!

Outstanding performance!

The image of the swans you posted above seems to be at odds with your “review”.
 

 It shows great gobs of flare just as if someone had shone a flashlight straight st the lens.

[adan]

6 minutes ago, Ouroboros said:

The image of the swans you posted above seems to be at odds with your “review”.
 

 It shows great gobs of flare just as if someone had shone a flashlight straight st the lens.

Be sure you are not confusing the out-focus-rendering of this large-aperture lens with "flare."

I think the bright patches, bottom center, are highlights reflecting off the wet, rippled shoreline sand (as in the back to the left of the swans), but rendered completely out of focus.

Subdued "Bokeh balls" in the foreground, in other words.

My experience with the 75 f/1.5 VM is that it is quite resistant to lens flare.

But like any longer lens on the digital Ms - which lack the internal baffle one can find in all the film Ms since the M6, and have a more cramped shutter chamber to squeeze in all the surrounding electronics - there is a possibility of veiling flare from internal camera reflections of bright light sources just inside or outside the sensor/film area.

Although even then, the 75 Nokton does better than some other lenses (e.g. 90mm Elmarit-M) because of its fairly strong vignetting at f/1.5 . Lights in the image circle outside the film or sensor frame are pretty dim and subdued by the vignetting.

[Noctiluchs]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb Ouroboros:

The image of the swans you posted above seems to be at odds with your “review”.
 

 It shows great gobs of flare just as if someone had shone a flashlight straight st the lens.

I was just waiting for the first to write that... 🙄
 

vor 1 Stunde schrieb adan:

Be sure you are not confusing the out-focus-rendering of this large-aperture lens with "flare."

Yes, thank you for noticing - it is indeed a reflection from the foreground. 👍
 

vor 2 Stunden schrieb farnz:

If you need to stop the lens down to f/4 it's difficult to understand your claim that it resists flare well.  It sounds like low-light/night shooting would be a problem with the lens considering the spectral highlights from street lights and reflections after dark.

Not at all. Like I said: I used a very strong light source at a short distance. In nature or street scapes this kind of beam is rare.
Normally you wouldn't point your tele-lens directly into the sun in the middle of the day, would you?? (That's the kind of beam I'm talking about.)
I have many lenses more pronounced to flares and even with them I don't have any difficulties with bright street lights or something similar.

Edited April 1, 2021 by Noctiluchs

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Ouroboros]

2 hours ago, adan said:

Be sure you are not confusing the out-focus-rendering of this large-aperture lens with "flare."

I think the bright patches, bottom center, are highlights reflecting off the wet, rippled shoreline sand (as in the back to the left of the swans), but rendered completely out of focus.

Subdued "Bokeh balls" in the foreground, in other words.

 

Then we'll have to agree to differ.

Those other areas which clearly are out of focus specular highlights (the sunlight glinting off the surface of the water) are downright ugly.

The main problem for me is with the image, not the lens, or rather the way that people who set themselves up as reviewers try to pass off unrealistic 'test shots' like this as definitive.  Frankly, it's garbage.