Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f1.5 OR Voigtlander 50mm f2.0 APO, helppp...

[Brilliant Observer]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi,

 

I would like to get some help in selecting these two lenses here as I could not find any direct comparison material online.

There are very close in price and weight, I wonder if any Leica friends here have tried them both before? 

[Advertisement]

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

[FrozenInTime]

A bit of a lazy question - research each individually ; they lie at opposite ends of the artistic <-> technical spectrum.

[Brilliant Observer]

Hi Frozen,

I did spent a couple of days in reading online material. The more I went through, the more I got confused. 

[sometimesmaybe]

14 minutes ago, Brilliant Observer said:

I did spent a couple of days in reading online material. The more I went through, the more I got confused. 

can i ask what how youre planning to use the lens? everyday carry, landscape, portraits etc. whether you have any other M glass (whether you like the rendering etc) and the camera you're planning to pair with the 50mm

the context might help generate some more specific comments / observations from the LUF 🤓

[FrozenInTime]

21 minutes ago, Brilliant Observer said:

Hi Frozen,

I did spent a couple of days in reading online material. The more I went through, the more I got confused. 

The Sonnar is a classic old design, so the character changes significantly as it is stopped down and focused. 

The APO-Lanthar is a modern highly corrected lens, so is consistently sharp and contrasty at all distances and apertures. 

Hope that helps.

Edited April 27, 2023 by FrozenInTime

[tedd]

This is like asking if you should buy a vintage Porsche or a modern Camry. While they are both 50mm lenses they are about as far from one another as you can possibly get. There is no answer here rather than watch a bunch of YouTube videos and read reviews. If that is leaving you more confused than when you started get the APO, as the Sonnar will frustrate the life out of you when you don't understand why you're getting soft images and missing focus at certain apertures. 

[Brilliant Observer]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

20 minutes ago, sometimesmaybe said:

can i ask what how youre planning to use the lens? everyday carry, landscape, portraits etc. whether you have any other M glass (whether you like the rendering etc) and the camera you're planning to pair with the 50mm

the context might help generate some more specific comments / observations from the LUF 🤓

I will pair the new 50 with  M11, I do have a 35 AA so I was thinking to try a new 50 with some different characters. I mainly shoot street, London city landscape, street portraits (not the studio style).

Cheers!

[Brilliant Observer]

22 minutes ago, tedd said:

This is like asking if you should buy a vintage Porsche or a modern Camry. While they are both 50mm lenses they are about as far from one another as you can possibly get. There is no answer here rather than watch a bunch of YouTube videos and read reviews. If that is leaving you more confused than when you started get the APO, as the Sonnar will frustrate the life out of you when you don't understand why you're getting soft images and missing focus at certain apertures. 

Make a lot of sense! I think that is why I saw lot of Leica friends here have 2 or more than 2 50mm, "to keep all style in the pocket". I get it! 

about the missing focus you mentioned, does it apply to digital or film M, or all M?

 

[tedd]

Applies to all M, though likely it is even worse on digital (I've never used the Sonnar myself). The lens design exhibits a lot of 'focus shift,' which is a term worth familiarising yourself with when getting into rangefinder photography. 

[Olaf_ZG]

5 hours ago, tedd said:

Applies to all M, though likely it is even worse on digital (I've never used the Sonnar myself). The lens design exhibits a lot of 'focus shift,' which is a term worth familiarising yourself with when getting into rangefinder photography. 

Because the claims of focus shift I almost didn’t bought this lens.

Happily I did bought it though, as the focus shift is not that bad as stated on the internet, besides with LV/EVF you can overcome this.

The lens renders beautiful, but, I have another 50 as well.

[SoarFM]

5 hours ago, Brilliant Observer said:

Make a lot of sense! I think that is why I saw lot of Leica friends here have 2 or more than 2 50mm, "to keep all style in the pocket". I get it! 

about the missing focus you mentioned, does it apply to digital or film M, or all M?

 

Guilty as charged.

[Brilliant Observer]

3 hours ago, Olaf_ZG said:

Because the claims of focus shift I almost didn’t bought this lens.

Happily I did bought it though, as the focus shift is not that bad as stated on the internet, besides with LV/EVF you can overcome this.

The lens renders beautiful, but, I have another 50 as well.

What is your verdict on the sonnar and VM APO since you owned both of them? Do you use them on different applications?

[Olaf_ZG]

I don’t own the VM, have a lux asph.

[Brilliant Observer]

24 minutes ago, Olaf_ZG said:

I don’t own the VM, have a lux asph.

What is your thought on these 2 50mm?

[Olaf_ZG]

As someone else said here on the forum: the lux is perfect, but the sonnar has soul

 

[skahde]

You can't go wrong with either one and you can't have too many 50's in my oppinion. It is such a versatile focal lengtht and there are so many variation with different characters, especially if you include the vintage ones. Just go and explore what fits your personal interpretation of the world.

As a starting point, I'd recommend something on a middle ground: Planar ZM 2/50 or Summicron 2/50 v4/5. If it starts to become boring or you find weak spot, add another one for about a year and use it extensively. Then to the next, if you like aso. Every lens will teach you something. 

[JoshuaR]

I own the Sonnar, and have owned the Voigt 50 f/1.5, but not the Voigt APO. 

I really like the way the Sonnar photographs look. They are beautiful and "classic," with a film-like appearance. The bokeh is sometimes noticeable and gives the pictures a vibe. In my experience, the focus shift issue, though real, is somewhat overstated: I simply shoot my lens at f/1.5 and then skip to f/4 and higher. I like the size of the lens; it's possible to put it in a coat pocket, and so to carry 28/50 very easily without resorting to a bag.

A bigger issue, for me, is the "Zeiss wobble." My lens, which I bought used, was fine at first, but after heavy use the focus ring has gotten weird. It's tighter in one direction than in the other, and it "wobbles"—you have to move it just a smidge before it catches and starts to alter the focus. That said: these issues bug me when I'm idly playing with my lens, but when I'm taking pictures I never think about them; I'm just focused on the image. I may send it off to get serviced.

I've also been toying with the idea of replacing the Sonnar with a 50 Cron v4 (I like focus tabs) or 50 Lux ASPH. But when I look at images from the Sonnar, I don't see much to improve (except for the big pole sticking out of my wife's head in the photo below).

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!

[Brilliant Observer]

10 hours ago, JoshuaRothman said:

I own the Sonnar, and have owned the Voigt 50 f/1.5, but not the Voigt APO. 

I really like the way the Sonnar photographs look. They are beautiful and "classic," with a film-like appearance. The bokeh is sometimes noticeable and gives the pictures a vibe. In my experience, the focus shift issue, though real, is somewhat overstated: I simply shoot my lens at f/1.5 and then skip to f/4 and higher. I like the size of the lens; it's possible to put it in a coat pocket, and so to carry 28/50 very easily without resorting to a bag.

A bigger issue, for me, is the "Zeiss wobble." My lens, which I bought used, was fine at first, but after heavy use the focus ring has gotten weird. It's tighter in one direction than in the other, and it "wobbles"—you have to move it just a smidge before it catches and starts to alter the focus. That said: these issues bug me when I'm idly playing with my lens, but when I'm taking pictures I never think about them; I'm just focused on the image. I may send it off to get serviced.

I've also been toying with the idea of replacing the Sonnar with a 50 Cron v4 (I like focus tabs) or 50 Lux ASPH. But when I look at images from the Sonnar, I don't see much to improve (except for the big pole sticking out of my wife's head in the photo below).

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!

Splendid! Thanks for sharing.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[SNJ Ops]

I have just bought the 50mm f2 Planar, not shot with it yet but its 35mm f2 Biogon sibling is a great mix of small, lightweight with excellent optical performance. I imagine the Planar will offer something very similar.

[Brilliant Observer]

2 minutes ago, SNJ Ops said:

I have just bought the 50mm f2 Planar, not shot with it yet but its 35mm f2 Biogon sibling is a great mix of small, lightweight with excellent optical performance. I imagine the Planar will offer something very similar.

I think Planar has less characters than Sonnar, but I could be wrong.