Voigtlander vs Leica: A dilemma.

[imported_reinierv]

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I had the Ultron on my M8 and returned it to the shop within a week, I can use some faul words for this lens when you use it at it's limits, full open and/or high contrast, bright lights in the picture. It is also very very soft. It will probably give good results during daylight and stopped down, Im sure of that.

 

We recently had a topic about someone with a Ultron who expirienced the same problems like I did with some examples with boxes

 

like me he traded it is against an elmarit 28 and was happy ever since

 

 

I do however own a VC15. that is a bargain lens with pretty good quality

[thai.charlie]

re ultron, apparently there are bad examples out there. i've got one (bought second hand) and am very happy with it. I also own the 28mm Elmarit non asph. I like the out of focus areas the ultron renders wide open, so that spends more time on my M8 than the Elmarit.

[Double Negative]

I just got my first VC lens as well; the 1,2/35 Nokton. I haven't really had a chance to go out and shoot with it yet, but so far the handling and IQ seem pretty good. Honestly, I wouldn't rate it quite as high as my Zeiss ZMs, but pretty close - and especially for the money. Excellent value with VCs. They also make some very unique glass that neither Zeiss nor Leica offer.

[SteveYork]

So what are the standout VC lenses? I got into Leica before the M mount Zeiss and Voigtlander lenses were around, and also when Leica was a little more reasonably priced. Every once in awhile, I'm tempted to dump all my Leica stuff and just replace it with Voigtlander. For my purposes, (a lot of B&W) I probably wouldn't see much of a difference.

 

The fast voigtlander lenses look appealing -- 50/1.1; 35/1.2; 35/1.4. And I was also thinking that for traveling these would be nice.

[keeds]

I've used VC lens on film and been very happy. 15/4.5, 35/2.5, 35/1.4, 75/2.5. All great. Just got an M8 and the new 35/1.4 I got was VERY soft. Sent that back and tried a new 15/4.5 with 21 finder. The mask in the finder is not level. Great. Not chuffed with VC quality control for these last two items. Will avoid from now on....

[jsrockit]

The 35mm Color Skopar f/2.5 PII is a very good lens. Very cheap too.

[Jamie Roberts]

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There's been lots of posting on this, but the super wide CVs are great values on the M8. They do require some correction since you can't code them, but the CV 15 and 21 are both very nice.

 

My all-time favourite is the 28 1.9 Ultron (not the 2.0), which they don't make anymore. I wish they did; I'd have two of them just to use as general purpose wide backups

[Printmaker]

I take the other side of that coin... And in cases like the C/V 35 f/2.5 Skopar, why even try?

 

That is a great lens. Its even a touch sharper than my 35 Summicron IV. However, I only mount the CV 35 when I'm in an ocean spray zone. Otherwise the 35 Summicron is my body cap. It has the legendary Leica glow that the CV seems to lack. But if I didn't have a 35 cron for comparison, I'd be convinced that the 35/2.5 CV is the best 35 mm lens available.

 

Tom

[chrisleica]

I've just ordered a CV 90/3.5 APO Lanthar. I figured it would be a decent lens (considering is relatively low price tag of ~400 USD) to try at this particular focal length.

 

There have been the odd occasion, where I needed the longer reach, so i could noy justify the more expensive offerings from Leica or Zeiss.

 

Has anyone else used the CV 90/3.5 ?

 

Cheers,

Chris

[!Nomad64]

Optical and mechanical quality follow the price differences although not along a linear proportionality. That said, I bought (and will buy) Leitz for the lenses I use more, CV for those I plan to use less and Zeiss for what falls in between.

I could eventually replace CV with Zeiss in the future, but in any case I see no point in spending a fortune after a lens I do not use often.

 

Cheers,

Bruno

[Ronazle]

While one can argue the relative merits of the CV lenses, it is difficult to not recognize the great value given for all of them, particularly the S-W Heliars and 50mm f:1.1 Nokton. Having said that, it seems that the CV SM lenses are the only way to update the Leica SM cameras and make them more than competitive, image quality wise, with the various 21st century rfdr/dslr cameras.

[SteveYork]

So what are the standout VC lenses? I got into Leica before the M mount Zeiss and Voigtlander lenses were around, and also when Leica was a little more reasonably priced. Every once in awhile, I'm tempted to dump all my Leica stuff and just replace it with Voigtlander. For my purposes, (a lot of B&W) I probably wouldn't see much of a difference.

 

The fast voigtlander lenses look appealing -- 50/1.1; 35/1.2; 35/1.4. And I was also thinking that for traveling these would be nice.

 

If I was doing it today, I wouldn't pay these new prices for Leica optics. They may be better lenses, but great pictures have more to do with light and composition then the resolving power of a lens.

[chronomaniaque]

I have bought and tried many CV optics, but kept only one, the CV 35 Skopar, which is really excellent on the M8. All the others (28 Ultron, 50 1.5 Asph, 75 2.5) were good but not really impressive, they all lacked a specific "signature" : except the Skopar, all where a bit cold, sharp but not amazingly sharp, etc.

I think the real deals can be found in the Zeiss catalog. I've tried the 25mm, both 50mm (Planar and Sonnar) and all three are really impressive, warm, contrasty but not hard, very sharp, with a 3D "pop" effect that I enjoy very much. The 25mm could persuade you to buy a M8 by itself and the Planar is so perfect that I would not want another 50mm.

[wilfredo]

Hamza,

 

Have you come back to this thread? You have lots of folks giving you their thoughts but I don't know that it has been helpful to you?

 

From what I've read here most of us are fine with the likes of Konica, Zeiss and CV lenses. I just ordered the Voigtlander 50mm f/1.1. The 90% discount over the Noctilux was the decisive factor. If price were not an issue, then I think most of us would stick to Leica, but perhaps not? Part of the beauty of the M8 for me is that it performs exceptionally well with all these less expensive brands.

 

BTW using Leica or other brand lenses should not pose a dilemma of any serious consequence unless it messes with your head, and that's really another issue.