Voigtlander 28mm Ultron ASPH Type II

[kinetic]

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6 hours ago, lct said:

Using an uncoded lens under lens detection auto is not the best thing to do IMHO. If this does not cause freezes, as i suspect it can on the M11, the camera will apply automatically the last lens profile entered manually. Fine for those who have only one uncoded lens but otherwise a 21mm profile can perfectly be applied to a 135mm lens this way. Been there done that with an uncoded Tele-Elmar 135/4. Only solutions i'm aware of are hand-coding the lens or entering a lens profile through lens detection manual as advised by Leica.

I'll look into setting the lens profile manually. I've never thought of that, but I do remember reading about it in the manual at some point.

[lct]

12 minutes ago, kinetic said:

I'll look into setting the lens profile manually. I've never thought of that, but I do remember reading about it in the manual at some point.

What you will apply this way is the profile of another lens, namely that of a Summicron 28/2. It won't fix possible flaws or unwanted features of the Ultron but the results are good enough for me to hand-code permanently the lens as a Summicron. Just a snap here for the sake of illustration, w/o contrast or vignetting correction. 

https://photos.smugmug.com/Diverse/n-QFBj4/Leica-M11-CV-272-asph/i-J62TwNS/0/3dd3ee44/X4/M1003712_sips-X4.jpg

 

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More about Voigtlander 28 mm F2.0 Ultron Aspherical

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[kinetic]

Shot a few portraits with the lens yesterday when I really needed a wide. I wish I could share more, but for whatever reason the forum won't let me upload (even though they're well below the max file size). These two are just a couple, there's a lot more on my instagram story: https://instagram.com/artchang

 

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[hmzimelka]

M11 with Ultron 28mm ASPH

 

 

[Olaf_ZG]

1 hour ago, hmzimelka said:

M11 with Ultron 28mm ASPH

 

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Great tones in that first image!

[hmzimelka]

Misty Morning.

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[hmzimelka]

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[Winedemonium]

On 4/25/2023 at 12:19 AM, Steven said:

My favourite is the Summaron, then the summilux. I’m looking for something in between and the Elmarit and summicron aren’t it. So I’ll try the silver ultron v2, hoping it can give me some more character than the cron. 
i don’t know well the 1.9 version, but that one did look good to look at ! 

Hi @Steven - did you try the Ultron II yet? I know you have done a lot with the Summaron and Summilux. Just curious to see what you think of the Ultron if you have had some time with it. Thanks.

[Steven]

3 hours ago, Winedemonium said:

Hi @Steven - did you try the Ultron II yet? I know you have done a lot with the Summaron and Summilux. Just curious to see what you think of the Ultron if you have had some time with it. Thanks.

Good lens for the value. Not my style of rendering overall after trying it for a while. Too contrasty, on film it doesn’t fit in my workflow. I always ended up with crushed blacks. But the main problem is it’s design. It’s so ugly I never want to go out with it.  
still don’t like the Summaron, and while I prefer the Elmarit to the Summicron, my two p favourites are the Lux and the Summaron 

Edited August 5, 2023 by Steven

[Winedemonium]

5 minutes ago, Steven said:

Good lens for the value. Not my style of rendering overall after trying it for a while. Too contrasty, on film it doesn’t fit in my workflow. I always ended up with crushed blacks. But the main problem is it’s design. It’s so ugly I never want to go out with it.  
still don’t like the Summaron, and while I prefer the Elmarit to the Summicron, my two p favourites are the Lux and the Summaron 

So your quest for something more compact than the Summilux, but faster than the Summaron continues? Or you are just sticking with those two? 
 

And are you now firmly in the “28” camp, and not touching your 35s these days?

interesting about the crushed shadows. In the digital flow it is easier to pull these back up, less so from film scans. 

[Steven]

10 hours ago, Winedemonium said:

So your quest for something more compact than the Summilux, but faster than the Summaron continues? Or you are just sticking with those two? 
 

And are you now firmly in the “28” camp, and not touching your 35s these days?

interesting about the crushed shadows. In the digital flow it is easier to pull these back up, less so from film scans. 

The quest continues. But my only two options right now are to either give another chance to the summicron since it’s the one I tested for the least time (about 20 rolls of film only), or push two stops with the elmarit when I need, but I don’t always love it’s rendering. 
i bought an apoqualia 28 1.4, but it’s garbage.  
 

at this moment, I’ve decided to (temporarily) abandon the 28 focal length, for lack à of a compact option. I just travelled to India and Palestine with one steel rim 35, and one ricoh gr21.  Shot around 80 rolls in 7 days. I would say at least 60 were on the gr21, which tells me I’m thirsty for wider than 35 at this moment in my life. It’s just easier to compose for me. 

[Winedemonium]

10 minutes ago, Steven said:

I’ve decided to (temporarily) abandon the 28 focal length, for lack à of a compact option. I just travelled to India and Palestine with one steel rim 35, and one ricoh gr21.  Shot around 80 rolls in 7 days. I would say at least 60 were on the gr21, which tells me I’m thirsty for wider than 35 at this moment in my life. It’s just easier to compose for me.

Yes, I saw some of that work on your IG - quite an adventure! The GR21 is super compact. If you haven't tried it, the 2.8/24 Elmarit-M ASPH is interesting for reportage. Type II of the 2.8/28 Color-Skopar might be interesting, 106g, 23mm from the flange, and a more conventional look... And... (bringing this back to the OP's topic), I look forward to seeing how that one compares to the 28mm Ultron, Summicron and Elmarit(s). 

[Steven]

1 hour ago, Winedemonium said:

Yes, I saw some of that work on your IG - quite an adventure! The GR21 is super compact. If you haven't tried it, the 2.8/24 Elmarit-M ASPH is interesting for reportage. Type II of the 2.8/28 Color-Skopar might be interesting, 106g, 23mm from the flange, and a more conventional look... And... (bringing this back to the OP's topic), I look forward to seeing how that one compares to the 28mm Ultron, Summicron and Elmarit(s). 

I’m sure the 2.8 28 Color skopar is going to be great. But I don’t expect it to offer anything more than value compared to the elmarit. 

[Bronco McBeast]

Summicron 28 is just so good. Sharper than elmarit asph, and yet it oozes finesse all over the image.

It’s definitely a street shooter’s dream lens; compact, fast to focus and you just dont need a hood as it’s so resitant to flare.

Tastes are not debatable, but the summicron is a no-brainer  for reportage.

[Steven]

2 hours ago, Bronco McBeast said:

Summicron 28 is just so good. Sharper than elmarit asph, and yet it oozes finesse all over the image.

It’s definitely a street shooter’s dream lens; compact, fast to focus and you just dont need a hood as it’s so resitant to flare.

Tastes are not debatable, but the summicron is a no-brainer  for reportage.

I don’t consider it compact. It’s way too big for me to find it confortable for daily use. But I’ve been spoiled, I admit. 

[Bronco McBeast]

17 minutes ago, Steven said:

I don’t consider it compact. It’s way too big for me to find it confortable for daily use. But I’ve been spoiled, I admit. 

Without the hood It’s as grandè as a summicron 35mm asph. Totally acceptable and totally geared towards quickly acquiring images via its super light focusing and aperture action.

I loved the Summaron the day it came out, purchased two. Can’t live without it... But for a trip to India with film, where Summilux will quickly become a heavy Toll, and where f5.6 will have me endlessly frustrated for missing a few hundred one-in-a-lifetime shots, the summicron becomes a no brainer. The lens’ physical look is really bland but the images are lovely. I have rarely seen such a mix of sharp yet gentle images like the ones from a 28 summicron.

I simply do not consider, not even remotely, voigtlander 7eleven minolta LLchina etc.

[Marckyokay]

56 minutes ago, Bronco McBeast said:

Without the hood It’s as grandè as a summicron 35mm asph. Totally acceptable and totally geared towards quickly acquiring images via its super light focusing and aperture action.

I loved the Summaron the day it came out, purchased two. Can’t live without it... But for a trip to India with film, where Summilux will quickly become a heavy Toll, and where f5.6 will have me endlessly frustrated for missing a few hundred one-in-a-lifetime shots, the summicron becomes a no brainer. The lens’ physical look is really bland but the images are lovely. I have rarely seen such a mix of sharp yet gentle images like the ones from a 28 summicron.

I simply do not consider, not even remotely, voigtlander 7eleven minolta LLchina etc.

7ELEVEN!
Sorry, nonsensical reply of mine, just had to express how much I laughed... thank you!

[lct]

2 hours ago, Bronco McBeast said:

I have rarely seen such a mix of sharp yet gentle images like the ones from a 28 summicron.

+1. Rare blend of fine micro-contrast with less macro contrast than the otherwise very good Ultron 28/2 the way i feel it. Size wise i find the Summicron 35/2 asph significantly smaller though.

 

[Bronco McBeast]

1 hour ago, lct said:

+1. Rare blend of fine micro-contrast with less macro contrast than the otherwise very good Ultron 28/2 the way i feel it. Size wise i find the Summicron 35/2 asph significantly smaller though.

 

Yes  you are right. It is actually the same size as a summilux 35mm asph.

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[Steven]

5 hours ago, Bronco McBeast said:

Totally acceptable

To you ! Not to me ! If I’m gonna summicron 28 size, I might as well go summilux. 
In India, my only M lens was an original SR (I mention original because it feels noticeably smaller than the remake). 

 

5 hours ago, Bronco McBeast said:

the images are lovely. I have rarely seen such a mix of sharp yet gentle

I really just find them dull. And I’m not the only one, far from it. But hey, it couldn’t hurt to try it again, for a third and last time. It’s just so big to bring around with me when I’m out at night, at the restaurants for example.