Voigtlander 28mm Ultron ASPH Type II

[insomnia]

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Best M-Wideangle I've come to own.

Lisboa, with a loaned SL2-S (I use it on the M10-P).

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28 ULTRON II on M11

 

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[lct]

The LH-4N hood works fine on the Ultron 28/2 asph. It blocks the VF significantly less than the stock LH-12. Never got vignetting issues with it so it is stuck on my lens when using it on both FF and crop cameras.

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[insomnia]

Got that hood too, makes it a good package for me.

[sergiomarried]

Ok friends, please give me a hand here since I’m trying to make my mind between this little gem 28mm Ultron V2, 28mm Summicron V2 and 28mm Elmarit V4. Main use will be on my M10M but occasionally will also include M240 (or future M10-R BP?!). 95% of the time subjects will be people, reportage, street, documentary. No expectations to use with film. I recently had a quick (in store) test of Elmarit V4 and loved the compactness, handling and even the bokeh seemed surprisingly smooth and creamy to me. Not that I’ll be intending to shoot this wide open all the time, but certainly is an important factor as well. Let’s leave money out of the equation for this time only 🙂

Would love some thoughts here, I know many of you have probably gone through very similar process before. 

Thanks a lot!

[lct]

Not sure what you mean by Elmarit v4 as the "true" v4 is not that compact since it has the same size as the Summicron 28/2 v1. Assuming you refer to the Elmarit 28/2.8 asph v1 i would say it depends on your budget. If you're on a budget, it can only be the CV 28/2 asph to me, otherwise Summicron 28/2 asph v1 or v2. Not to say that i dislike my Elmarit 28/2.8 asph v1 but character and compactness of the CV 28/2 asph are similar with the advantage of f/2 for indoor photos. 

[LarsHP]

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3 hours ago, sergiomarried said:

Ok friends, please give me a hand here since I’m trying to make my mind between this little gem 28mm Ultron V2, 28mm Summicron V2 and 28mm Elmarit V4. Main use will be on my M10M but occasionally will also include M240 (or future M10-R BP?!). 95% of the time subjects will be people, reportage, street, documentary. No expectations to use with film. I recently had a quick (in store) test of Elmarit V4 and loved the compactness, handling and even the bokeh seemed surprisingly smooth and creamy to me. Not that I’ll be intending to shoot this wide open all the time, but certainly is an important factor as well. Let’s leave money out of the equation for this time only 🙂

Would love some thoughts here, I know many of you have probably gone through very similar process before. 

Thanks a lot!

Did you go through the thread? I think there are lots of images and comments that would be helpful.

As I have written several times in this forum, I had the 28mm Summicron Asph v2 before I got the Ultron v2. My tests (also linked in this thread previously) show that, apart from less vignetting wide open, the Leica lens is inferior to the Voigtländer in most parameters, and equal in some. I wanted to prefer the Leica lens since it has a 46mm thread, but in the end I just bought a 39 to 46mm step up ring for my polarizer.

[sergiomarried]

Thanks for the replies. I did of course go through the thread and any possible review/video about this lens… Still not 100% convinced to be honest, specially for lack of examples on M10M… but anyway, that’s why I asked again in this forum… By the way yeah, I did actually refereed before to Elmarit Asph v2 (latest version) when comparing. I tried this at store and I felt the rendering of OOF at close distances of subject (like an environmental portrait) was really smooth and pleasant. The Ultron examples I always see are a bit on the nervous side, but I’m fully aware this is very dependable of type of background etc etc… I’ll have to try them myself, that’s for sure bottom line 😅

[LarsHP]

6 hours ago, sergiomarried said:

Thanks for the replies. I did of course go through the thread and any possible review/video about this lens… Still not 100% convinced to be honest, specially for lack of examples on M10M… but anyway, that’s why I asked again in this forum… By the way yeah, I did actually refereed before to Elmarit Asph v2 (latest version) when comparing. I tried this at store and I felt the rendering of OOF at close distances of subject (like an environmental portrait) was really smooth and pleasant. The Ultron examples I always see are a bit on the nervous side, but I’m fully aware this is very dependable of type of background etc etc… I’ll have to try them myself, that’s for sure bottom line 😅

The central era is very smooth, but depending on focus distance and distance to background, the sides can sometimes become a little nervous, albeit typically less so than the Summicron Asph II, as Benj Haisch also demonstrated in his YT video review.

[insomnia]

The lens is sharp corner to corner, it does not flare, it has a decent bokeh, it vignettes and it is somewhat small. It costs SIGNIFICANTLY less while build quality is equal and optical quality is better. Just do it, unless you need the Leica stamp of approval.

Images on M10-P, wide open or close to it, mildly cropped.

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You can also have a look here, it will begin to fill up after my NYC trip (just came home):

Flickr Album - Voigtländer 28/2 Ultron ASPH

 

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by insomnia

[sergiomarried]

Thanks a lot for sharing these album 👍

[hmzimelka]

On 6/15/2022 at 1:59 PM, sergiomarried said:

Thanks for the replies. I did of course go through the thread and any possible review/video about this lens… Still not 100% convinced to be honest, specially for lack of examples on M10M… but anyway, that’s why I asked again in this forum… By the way yeah, I did actually refereed before to Elmarit Asph v2 (latest version) when comparing. I tried this at store and I felt the rendering of OOF at close distances of subject (like an environmental portrait) was really smooth and pleasant. The Ultron examples I always see are a bit on the nervous side, but I’m fully aware this is very dependable of type of background etc etc… I’ll have to try them myself, that’s for sure bottom line 😅

I've just received my Ultron 28/2 ASPH II, and after just a few test pictures I can easily say its an order of magnitude better than the Elmarit 28 ASPH V1 I had.

I have the Ultron 35/2 ASPH II, because I prefer the focal length, but the lens has left me a bit unimpressed at wider apertures for distant subjects on the Leica M11. It seems to be better optimised for closer working distances and the mid zone astigmatism is quite harsh at further distances for apertures wider than f/5.6. Form f/5.6 it is quite excellent. 

Back to the 28 Ultron ASPH II.... its an improvement over the Ultorn 35 for distant subjects. It also has a fair amount of field curvature (moustache shape) but there is no jarring mid zone harshness. The drop off of detail is smoother.

One thing I have noticed over the 35mm Ultron is more purple fringing in very high contrast areas  areas. I wouldn't say its an objectionable amount. 

The build is lovely. It's perhaps even a step above the Ultron 35/2 ASPH II and Color Skopar 21/3.5 ASPH II, both of which I have in silver chrome.
Particularly with the Ultron 35mm ASPH II, I find the exposed helicoid thread tends to temporarily bind up or get heavy spots when ingesting just a tiny bit of crud. Especially lens cap debris which I find quite a lot of on my lenses for whatever reason. Little bits of black plastic. 

The Voitlander has covered up the helicoid neatly on the Ultron 28mm and I think this a both cosmetically and mechanically a very good idea.

Below are the rear ends of the three lenses. The Ultron 28mm in the middle, 21mm left, 35mm right.

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[hmzimelka]

Erm, this is a cool lens! I'm very very impressed.

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[genji]

On 3/31/2022 at 11:00 PM, LarsHP said:

I have seen some owning both at Fred Miranda's site, and I think there is a comment or two about the old versus new 28mm Ultron. From what I have seen, the old Ultron has less vignetting wide open. That said, according to Fred Miranda, the 28mm Ultron Asph II is one of the best 28mm lenses ever made (without considering price). I had the Summicron Asph II and sold it after getting the Voigtländer. It's sharp right into the corners, even wide open. It's that good.

And yet Fred replaced his Utron 28mm ASPH II with a Summicron 28mm ASPH II.

[LarsHP]

1 hour ago, genji said:

And yet Fred replaced his Utron 28mm ASPH II with a Summicron 28mm ASPH II.

Did he say why? I am particularly curious since he said that Voigtländer lens was one of the best 28mm lenses ever made, even without considering price. The only reason I would have favored the Summicron over the Ultron would be if vignetting wide open was my primary concern.

Edited June 18, 2022 by LarsHP

[hmzimelka]

40 minutes ago, LarsHP said:

Did he say why? I am particularly curious since he said that Voigtländer lens was one of the best 28mm lenses ever made, even without considering price. The only reason I would have favored the Summicron over the Ultron would be if vignetting wide open was my primary concern.

I recall the rendering of the Summicron 28mm at wider apertures to be more pleasant, in addition to the lower levels of vignetting at f/2 and f/2.8. 

If I had the budget for Leica glass I would also consider the Summicron 28mm, but I cannot fault the looks and build of the Ultron, and the strong vignette wide open doesn't bother me much since I'll hardly use it wide open. 

Edited June 18, 2022 by hmzimelka

[genji]

55 minutes ago, LarsHP said:

Did he say why? I am particularly curious since he said that Voigtländer lens was one of the best 28mm lenses ever made, even without considering price. The only reason I would have favored the Summicron over the Ultron would be if vignetting wide open was my primary concern.

In his listing for the Ultron on the Buy & Sell he wrote: "After acquiring the Leica 28/2 I have not used the Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II much and it makes no sense for me to keep both lenses."

[genji]

Lens preferences are highly idiosyncratic. A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to purchase a copy of the special edition Black Matte Summicron 28mm ASPH II, used it a couple of times, and sold it for what I paid because I didn't like the built-in hood, the matte black finish, and the air of preciousness that it exuded. I got an Elmarit 28mm ASPH II to pair with my Summilux 28mm and am much happier.

[lct]

The way i use them (link) the Summicron 28/2 v2 is a bit less contrasty with less color fringing than the Ultron 28/2 asph whose chracter is closer to the Elmarit asph to me. I kept both lenses though as the Ultron is more compact and fits better the digital CL from this stand point. FWIW.

Edited June 18, 2022 by lct

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[LarsHP]

5 hours ago, genji said:

In his listing for the Ultron on the Buy & Sell he wrote: "After acquiring the Leica 28/2 I have not used the Voigtlander 28mm f/2 Ultron II much and it makes no sense for me to keep both lenses."

Hmmm. Maybe the Leica lens will make more sense for him for side by side comparisons, since his audience will rather see a given lens compared to a Leica lens than a Voigtländer lens.

For actual and practical image quality, I would prefer the Ultron II in almost all cases except vignetting wide open. That point may be more important for some than sharpness (anywhere in the frame), for instance.

Ideally, Cosina should have gone for a larger front lens element, but they didn't. The same could perhaps be said about the 35mm Summilux-M Asph which vignette about as much as the Ultron II.