Detailed comparison | Voigtlander 50mm APO vs. Leica 50mm APO (and Summilux)

[JimmyCheng]

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13 hours ago, shirubadanieru said:

There’s literally a video he made (for free & using his own time) for our benefit…if you wanna know, go and watch it and make your own conclusions? Least you can do : ) 

@JimmyCheng Been watching your videos recently, really appreciate you add subtitles to the videos so that I can enjoy the content. Also, your collection is amazing ahah keep it up! 

Thank you! I definitely will because of people like you!

[John Smith]

What about performance at closest focusing distance? 

[Product Details]

Complete Overview 50mm Leica M-Mount Lenses

50 mm F1.0 Nokton (Amazon | B&H) – 50 mm F1.2 Nokton (Amazon | B&H) – 50 mm F1.5 Heliar classic (Amazon | B&H) – 50 mm F1.5 Nokton Vintage MC / SC (Amazon | B&H) – 50 mm F2.0 Apo Lanthar (Amazon | B&H) – 50 mm F3.5 Heliar Vintage (Amazon | B&H)

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, JimmyCheng said:

Thank you so much for your kind words! Since I also contribute contents to a mandarin based platform so I happen to shoot lots of videos in mandarin, hence the subtitles haha! It actually takes a lot of time to do the translation. I still couldn't find a piece of software that can do the translation perfectly. 

You have a good formula so keep up the good work.

Surely hardly anyone speaks mandarin? 🙂

[JimmyCheng]

33 minutes ago, John Smith said:

What about performance at closest focusing distance? 

both the yellow cab shots and the Leica M3 shots are taken at close distance.

[JimmyCheng]

30 minutes ago, steve 1959 said:

You have a good formula so keep up the good work.

Surely hardly anyone speaks mandarin? 🙂

yeah not on YouTube but on Bilibili where I have most of my audience, lots of them "demanded" that I speak Mandarin or else they just unsubscribe lol. Well, guess I don't really have a choice do I.

[chasdfg]

@JimmyCheng

I've been wanting to PM you about your YouTube content but since you posted this I'll say it here 

I really enjoy your videos because they cover a fair bit of ground in a short span of time. Sure, there are reviews that are more comprehensive, but yours are short enough to maintain my attention. The content is clean and nicely presented, plus the comparison videos are practical as they compare similar lenses (noctiluxes, fast 50s, apos, etc.).

I've followed you on YouTube from back when you did the videos in English. When you released videos in Chinese, I appreciated them even more because with the subtitles you can pick up new Chinese words when you read the subtitles alongside your speaking and there are a number of terms I wouldn't normally come across which I've also "learnt" (maybe because they are camera- specific terms, though not sure when I'll ever use those terms in my day to day life so not sure if I've learnt them to put them to use). I suppose it's kinda like watching videos in German or Spanish on YouTube, though many others don't actually take the time to do dedicated subtitles like yourself (not that they have to, but it does limit viewship without dedicated subtitles)

 

 

[JimmyCheng]

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30 minutes ago, chasdfg said:

@JimmyCheng

I've been wanting to PM you about your YouTube content but since you posted this I'll say it here 

I really enjoy your videos because they cover a fair bit of ground in a short span of time. Sure, there are reviews that are more comprehensive, but yours are short enough to maintain my attention. The content is clean and nicely presented, plus the comparison videos are practical as they compare similar lenses (noctiluxes, fast 50s, apos, etc.).

I've followed you on YouTube from back when you did the videos in English. When you released videos in Chinese, I appreciated them even more because with the subtitles you can pick up new Chinese words when you read the subtitles alongside your speaking and there are a number of terms I wouldn't normally come across which I've also "learnt" (maybe because they are camera- specific terms, though not sure when I'll ever use those terms in my day to day life so not sure if I've learnt them to put them to use). I suppose it's kinda like watching videos in German or Spanish on YouTube, though many others don't actually take the time to do dedicated subtitles like yourself (not that they have to, but it does limit viewship without dedicated subtitles)

 

 

Thanks man, really appreciate it. Yeah the subtitles are quite time consuming to do actually, because like I said I almost always have to manually translate most of the sentences. But again, I still think lots of viewers can benefit from it. I am still new to this YouTube scene and I am still learning and trying to find a way to deliver the contents in a better way. 

[John Smith]

1 hour ago, JimmyCheng said:

both the yellow cab shots and the Leica M3 shots are taken at close distance.

I guess I don't see what you see in the yellow cab shots. Both Leicas have more contrast and bite than the Voiglander. 

[bags27]

Apropos of this comparison....

Sean Reid published an extensive comparison among the 35 M  Cron APO, the new VC 35 f/2 APO and the Zeiss 35 f/2.8.

The Zeiss was surprisingly good, but there was virtually no distinction in the 2 APOs in sharpness. A little fixable CA in the VC.. Again, the VC is a lot larger--covers 1/4 of the RF compared to a very small part of the Leica's. But that's the big drawback. Otherwise, it's really about cost.....

 

[JimmyCheng]

3 hours ago, John Smith said:

I guess I don't see what you see in the yellow cab shots. Both Leicas have more contrast and bite than the Voiglander. 

yeah I get what you mean here, there might be some difference in tonality. But contrast and color can be tuned fairly easily with a few touches. But still maybe I'm not that sensitive to color hence I don't see much difference at all.

Edited December 19, 2021 by JimmyCheng

[Al Brown]

6 hours ago, JimmyCheng said:

Some one just did a great summary for you to save you some precious time : )

Yes I have seen it, thank you @SoarFM .

I have done a similar side by side comparison (sorry no video) of the Summilux 35 FLE vs. Voigtlander APO Lanthar 35 (both at f/2) for the Leica Forum community here.

Similar results to yours. Thanks for your efforts.

 

 

Edited December 19, 2021 by Al Brown

[otto.f]

 Very nice video, very straightforward indeed. I agree with someone up here that I have very little patience with most test videos, mostly too much blabla and this is one exactly right in the length - informative  ratio. The conclusions are also very 1:1 with the images, trustworthy.  I’m very curious about such a test for the 35 APO’s. I saw your comparison of the 35cron iv with the 35 Ultron ii and the FLE, which is also a very informative test. 

[Guest]

21 hours ago, JimmyCheng said:

yeah not on YouTube but on Bilibili where I have most of my audience, lots of them "demanded" that I speak Mandarin or else they just unsubscribe lol. Well, guess I don't really have a choice do I.

I was just kidding,i think half the world speaks mandarin.

[JimmyCheng]

16 hours ago, otto.f said:

 Very nice video, very straightforward indeed. I agree with someone up here that I have very little patience with most test videos, mostly too much blabla and this is one exactly right in the length - informative  ratio. The conclusions are also very 1:1 with the images, trustworthy.  I’m very curious about such a test for the 35 APO’s. I saw your comparison of the 35cron iv with the 35 Ultron ii and the FLE, which is also a very informative test. 

Thank you, really appreciate your kind words. I will keep pumping out contents for gear head like us

[cboy]

Please review the upcoming voigtlander 50 f1 in comparison to the Noct. Perhaps similar way to the way  Christopher Frost does his videos. Thankyou

Edited December 20, 2021 by cboy

[satijntje]

It would be interesting to see a comparison between the 35mm APO Leica and the 35mm VM APO-Lanthar.
Great video, thanks for sharing your work!

[Al Brown]

The consensus is that the Voigtlander 35 APO is 85-90% there on par with Leica 35 APO performance wise.

[Jon Warwick]

Reid Reviews did an extensive review (subscription site) comparing these 2 35mm lenses. It was both a useful insight and worth the subscription fee for me. Separately, I used to own an M 50 APO, and now have the APO Lanthar that I have also recently tried on the M11 and thought was outstandingly good in terms of image quality as a pairing. Based on my very positive experience with the 50 APO Lanthar, I’m now very seriously considering the 35mm model. I don’t particularly miss the 50  M APO. Aside from a large cost difference, the main difference I personally see between the Voigtlander and M APOs is more to do with the physical size of the lens, ie, Voigtlander being bigger. Also I did like the built in hood on the M 50 APO, in contrast the Voigtlander has an attachment hood that I find less convenient.

[Guest]

On 12/18/2021 at 3:13 PM, Prosophos said:

This was great, thank you very much for your efforts.

—Peter.

Peter, I remember one of your old posts on your blog was along the lines of “don’t spend time on photography forums - it’s a waste of time.” - and here you are once again?!? 

Greetings from your old friend from Denmark - you later on blocked 😉 Mads

Happy to see my photography actually growing and maturing. I guess the smug smile you send me at the door of your blog, is now the face palm you didn’t even see coming.

Best of luck with it all,

Mads

Edited February 12, 2022 by mcpallesen

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[yeeper]

On 12/18/2021 at 6:11 AM, Al Brown said:

Please NEVER tell me what I should or shouldn't do, do we have a deal?
I have a reason to write what I wrote.

Al - You literally just told Jimmy what to do.  Perhaps next time you can say "Thank you so much for your work on this, Jimmy.  Can I please ask a favor that you write a summary on your findings?  Again, thank you so much."  And no I'm not telling you what to do:  I'm suggesting a much more polite and appreciative approach.  And perhaps you choose to not bite the head off of another forum member when he or she suggests you accept the generosity of Jimmy by accepting his work as he gifted it to all of us.

Jimmy - Thanks for this comparison!  It is very helpful in my process of choosing an APO 50mm lens.