//Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.5 Comparison\\ /  by juan martinez

Quick comparison between the Voigtlander 35mm f1.5 Nokton, Voigtlander 35mm f2 Ultron, Voigtlander 40mm f1.2mm Nokton and 7Artisans 35mm f2 WEN. Original files for download here. Images taken with the Leica SL2-S under same lighting conditions as well as white balance settings.

Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.5 at f1.5

Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f1.2 at f1.2

Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f2 at f2

7Artisans 35mm f2 WEN at f2

Sample flare test. The Voigtlander 35mm f1.5 Nokton and 35mm F2 Ultron doing best here.

Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.5 flare

Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f2 flare

Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f1.2 flare

7Artisans 35mm f2 WEN flare

Below samples are with every lens at f5.6 to even out the playing field. One can see the similar overall look of the two 35mm lenses with the 40mm showing a shallower depth of field. The 7Artisans 35mm lens showing flaring and poorer overall performance.

Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.5 at f5.6

Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f2 at f5.6

Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f1.2 at f5.6

7Artisans 35mm f2 WEN at f5.6

Voigtlander 35mm f1.2 Fuji X-Mount /  by juan martinez

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Voigtlander has finally awoken! Fuji fans love adapting lenses too! What better way to inaugurate their first Fujifilm X-Mount lens than reimagining the popular Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 Nokton but as X-mount instead of M-Mount. First, my initial thoughts below , followed sample photos used in all sorts of scenarios and lastly by some more methodical analysis against 2 other popular 35mm focal length glass for Fujifilm cameras; the Fujifilm Xf35 f1.4 (a classic for sure) and the new 7Artisans 35mm f.95 lens which is arguably a strong competitor to the Voigtlander. Special thanks to Cameraquest for this loaner lens and borrowed Fujifilm XT4 camera which was used to take all of these photos.

Images below taken with XT4 with image label corresponding to the aperture used.

Initially i was really blown away by the build of the lens. In typical Cosina fashion as of late, the lens feels really well built, with dampened aperture clicks, smooth and fairly short 120 degree or so focus throw and communication with the camera body to populate EXIF data! There is no apparent weather sealing, at least no rubber seal at the lens mount as is normal on weather sealed lenses; a disappointment but not a deal breaker for the lens’ intended audience. The lens is a svelte 201 grams of all metal construction and smallest of the three tested; even with the hood screwed on. The first thing that occurred when I focused the lens after mounting was the slick automatic zooming-in of the EVF image to show a magnified view of the focus area. This brought memories flooding back to our Sony Zeiss Loxia days, which had a similar implementation. And just like then, I was impressed but after a few dozen clicks disabled the feature as it makes quick photography harder to compose. The EVF is too good on the Fuji XT4 that focus peaking serves as good enough focus assist while allowing a full image to be composed on the fly; your mileage may vary in this regard. Speaking of composition, the Voigtlander has a magnificent minimum focus distance of just under 12 inches; much better than its M-mount counterpart in case this matters to you.

 

Flare: Not much to say other than yes it exist in cases with the sun directly behind the subject. Its flare is just like the 35mm Nokton M-mount would flare and can be used artistically. See image on right>>>

More image samples below. Again the aperture detail is on the bottom left of the image for reference.

When comparing the Voigtlander to the Fujifilm XF35 f1.4 as well as the 7Artisans 35mm f.95 its clear the Voigtlander is meant to have distinct character for a very unique look. If you have any experience with the 35mm f1.4 Nokton M-mount lens, you will recognize this look right-away. All files can be downloaded for closer examination here. Below, a gallery of results. What we found was that unsurprisingly the 213gram, Xf35 is the sharpest wide open with most contrast. The 7Artisans next in the order of being sharper wide-open (most distortion tho) than the Voigtlander and with more contrast but missing the glowy look designed into the Voigtlander. The Voigtlander was just a tad less sharp wide-open than the 7Artisans but trading that in for a glowy look reminiscent of legacy glass from the 1970’ and 1980’s; a look very cool for the right occasion. Simply dialing the aperture down to F2 to 2.8 really adds contrast and sharpness when needed. When examining the images below, look for the way the background text looks in comparison to each other as the image was focused at the center of the Spyder LensCal.

Here the target was placed further from the lens and not at the minimum focus distance. Examine the images for “pop” as you compare at wide-open and then stopped down aperture to f4. Downloadable files can be found here.

Conclusion: pass on the Voigtlander 35mm f1.2 if you need autofocus or a clinical photo IQ in which case the Fujifilm xf35 f1.4 would be our choice. The 7Artisans 35mm f.95 stands somewhere as an outlier. Theres’ no autofocus either and thought its also fully mechanical, the lens is less well built, 50% heavier and lacks clicked aperture ring; it does however out-bokeh them all while maintaining crazy sharpness wide-open. However do get the Voigtlander 35mm f1.2 for its character rich bokeh, fully mechanical buttery focus throws, EXIF transfer, auto-magnification features and the sexiest look between all three tested.

//TTArtisan Battles Noctilux!\\ /  by juan martinez

But who will win? Apparently all of us, because there is a lens that is right for everyone depending on budget. The winner for value has to be the TTArtisan 50mm .95 lens (Year of the OX 2021 Edition) as it comes in way under $1k, or 6 to 7 times cheaper than the cheapest Leica lens we had on hand, the Leica Noctilux f1 v4. The Award for sharpest wide-open goes to the Leica 50mm f.95 Noctilux but its just barely more sharp than the TTArtisan lens. Its clearly the most “modern” and sharp of the group and the most expensive brand new, though the 50mm f1.2 may cost more on the second hand market than it. The least “bokeh” came from the slower Leica 50mm f1.2 Noctilux reissue. Its a slower lens, f1.2 , so that made a lot of sense, the bokeh balls seem smaller but the blur in the further background of the image isn’t necessarily more in focus the the other lenses. It also looks to be sharper than the Leica f1. The most character and cleanest bokeh ball award goes to the Leica 50mm f1 v4 Noctilux lens which shows no “onion-ringing” like all other lenses exhibited in highlights and less aberration. BUT the classic f1 seems to be the softest of all 4 lenses wide-open, and provided the most “Leica Glow” a term often used to describe the soft ghostly/soft-bokeh haze characteristic often a Mandler Era designed lens. The Leica glow can be a beautiful thing if used appropriately however, BUT we reckon most normal Leica enthusiasts will prefer a snappier wide-open image over its classical rendering.

DOWNLOAD ALL FILES HERE

New 75mm Lens Comparison; Voigtlander, 7Artisans and Leica R /  by juan martinez

I know, I know, 75mm is not a very common lens choice for most rangefinder shooters, or really most anything shooters in general. BUT if you are an APS-C/crop sensor shooter, and ever shoot with a 50mm lens then you Sir or Mam’ have shot a 75mm equivalent lens. So it really is more practical and useable focal length than most realize, and is especially useful for tunneling through crowds of people for documentary, event shooting and of course shallow DOF portraits.

We recently got our hands on the newest of Voigtlander’s offerings, the 75mm f1.5 Nokton Vintage Line from Camera Quest and picked-up 7Artisan’s fresh 75mm drop the 75mm f1.25. We of course decided to pit them both against our only other short-tele photo lens; the Leica Summilux 80mm f1.4 in R-Mount. Here is how they did…

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To start, there are definitely differences in build quality across these 3 bodies. The Summilux 80 retaining the crown of best built, with its large heavy glass, supremely tight fit tolerances, smooth long throw focus ring and snappy aperture ring. The built-in hood is also a welcome feature one that neither of the other two lenses offer, though the Nokton does come with a hood as part of any purchase. The second best built would have to be the Voigtlander 75mm. It’s much, much lighter than the Summilux 80mm, with a more tinny build, feeling less dense but maintaining a sense of quality that the 7Artisans cannot quite match even though it is much heavier. The 7Artisans 75mm, though feeling quite heavy, is still nicely put-together with a feel that is 75% in similarity to what the Summilux feels like and after seeing the photos, the glass is about 75% quality as well.

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Does one need a 75mm lens, I would argue yes. And though I’ve been a 50mm guy for as long as I can remember, after shooting extensively with several 40mm lenses, especially the new Voigtlander 40mm f1.2 Nokton (which is crazy good), I would argue you are better off with a 40mm and a 75mm then a 35mm and a 50mm in your kit. You can 100% quote me on this. Right now my go to prime lens set-up is a fast 24mm or 28mm (Olympus Zuiko 24mm f2.8 or the 28mm f1.4 from 7Artisans), a 40mm f1.2 Nokton and a short tele-photo which was where our Summilux 80mm spent most of its time.

Which lens will be that one I grab to complete this trifecta? Lets find-out.

So looking at these photos one can observe several things. First, they all render nicely for their price-point. With the Nokton 75mm being sharpest and most modern rendering of them all. Then one notices the 7Artisans keeping-up and looking very similar to the Summilux 80mm from 1980’s. Thats both a testament to the high quality achieved back in the early 1980’s for the Summilux and shows how even inexpensive modern lenses can easily keep pace with older legacy glass. If you ever wanted a Summilux 75/80mm.. you may want to just pick-up the 7Artisans; super close. If you are an R-Mount shooter then the 80mm is your only option, perhaps the 90 Summicron but I have zero experience with that particular lens.

In use, the Nokton feels the most like any Voigtlander of late. It is well made, glass is stellar being sharp wide-open with smooth beautiful bokeh. It’s the easiest lens to recommend from casual to professional work and its purchase includes a vented hood which Voigtlander usually likes to charge a premium for. A definite bonus. Find some Nokton shots below.

The new 7Artisans 75mm, its a actually pretty damn good! If you are looking for a lens with character reminiscent of older legacy glass, one that is probably most flattering for portraits due to being softer wide-open, and a bit of that ‘Madler Glow” then this could be a great option. At half the price of the Nokton 75mm, its a great way to have a short tele-photo in your arsenal if you don’t want to invest a ton of money. Or, if you don’t care for clinical sharpness and are looking for a short DOF with little sacrifice on build quality and buff arms (thing is heavy). Also, its very close to the performance and IQ of the much more expensive ($1,700-2,400) Summilux 80mm bokeh while retaining some similarities to the Nokton 75 ASPH design. Sorta an in-between lens if you will.

Chromatic aberration is quite well controlled on all lenses as well as flaring as all do a fine job and really shouldn’t be a problem with most scenarios. The Summilux probably doing best and the least expensive 7Artisans doing worst overall (all three lenses had B+W UV filters on them).

Some 7Artisans 75mm f1.25 shots below…

The Summilux is such a rad lens to use. Its like taking a trip back to 1985 when Leica built beasts, the digital revolution was 20 years away and film reigned supreme. As the crown jewel of the Leica R-Mount line (Thorsten Von Overgaard’s words not mine), the Summilux is perfectly suited for our Leica R9. And stopped down to f2, is more than sharp enough while still maintaining the super smooth bokeh its well known for. The Mandler Glow is in full-effect wide-open. And that’s a feature many look for. A glow to our images that flatter most all portrait subjects. Is it worth keeping now that these new lenses have been released…. only of you are a Leica R-Mount shooter. For use on mirrorless setups, its hard to argue that one can purchase both the Nokton 75mm and 7Artisans 75mm and save a few hundred over the purchase of one Summilux 80mm. Indeed you could grab the Nokton 75mm for commercial and product photography and pack the 7Artisans 75mm for family portraits and weekend adventures.

7Artisan 75mm f1.25 sample images below…



//NEW: Voigtlander 35mm Ultron v2 Versus 35mm APO Lanthar\\ /  by juan martinez

First off huge thanks to Camera Quest for lending us the brand new Voigtlander 35mm f2 APO Lanthar as well as the Voigtlander 35mm F2 Ultron v2; without their support we couldn’t have gotten our hands on these two spectacular lenses.

The first thing to note is that the Ultron v2, as we will refer to if from now-on, is exactly the same optically as the previously tested and impressive Ultron v1. That test can be reviewed here. So, because we already have a very sound and understood baseline as to the performance of the Ultron V1, we didn’t get into the weeds with the Ultron V2 in that respect.

The size differences are big, but depending on use, its not a concern. The 35mm APO Lanthar is definitely a larger lens, heavier and with hood, protrudes a bit through a rangefinder OVF. The Ultron v1/v2 are much smaller and arguably better suited when packing for a small form factor. Thats not to say the 35mm APO Lanthar is large, it isn’t when compared to many other lenses, but as far as 35mm’s go yes, its rather big.

Comparing the Ultron v2 tho the previous V1 you will notice 3 main differences. First, the finish on the v2 is black paint over brass material. This makes the V2 weigh 212 grams when the v1 weighs only 185. Thats a 15% increase in weight for the v2, so its not like gonna go from light to potentially shattering your wrists. They both use the same exact hood to, and the hood weighs 19grams, not bad.

Second, the v2 comes with a more typical lens tab as soon on many Leica lenses before. This design change does come at a cost however. You loose the ribbing found on the v1 as well as its polarizing lens focus “stick” instead of a tab. For some the inclusion of a tab is all the reason they need to sell their beloved v1’s to get the v2, however we aren’t too sure. The ribbing on the v1 is actually pretty damn nice and the focus “stick” simply unscrews if its not your thing.

Third, the feel. Our copy of the Ultron v2 has a level of stiction that we aren’t used to feeling on modern lenses from Voigtlander or any manufacture at all actually. If one is to flip the lens over its very apparent the amount of grease used on the v2 has been lessened compared to the complete surplus found on the v1; but at what cost? The feel of the v1 is muuuuch smoother allowing for precise adjustments of the focus throw when compared to the v2. Is it copy variance? We were assured by Camera Quest that this is a rare occurrence and not on their other copies; we surely hope so. Mainly because this focus feel alone would completely make the v2 a “do not buy” lens for us. Oh and it focuses under .58 meters, we think thats great for mirrorless application less so for rangefinders with .7 minimum focus abilities.

Now onto the 35mm APO Lanthar! What a lens! On casual observation the center sharpness of the 35mm APO is the same-ish as the Ultron v1/v2. BUT under closer inspection they are not at all. The amount of micro-contrast and detail captured while shooting with the 35mm APO is draw dropping. The feel of the lens is much like shooting with the similarly sized Voigtlander 50mm f2 APO Lanthar which still betters the 35 APO in IQ. The 35mm APO is amazing, simply the only lens one needs when it comes to a 35mm M-mount you could use as easily on a film rangefinder as a mirrorless digital camera and know you are getting the BEST IQ your camera and skills can muster.

We decided to compare some fairly popular 35mm focal length lenses to each other, ranging from $370 to the priciest being the 35mm APO at $1,149. The list of lenses is as follow:

Some direct samples of the rendering you will get between the Ultron v1, Ultron v2 and the 35mm APO Lanthar:

The images from the Ultron are identical to each other. There is zero difference between the two, which supports the fact they are the same optical formula and design. The 35mm APO Lanthar however doesn’t seem necessarily wider, BUT the background seems more “pushed back” something that will likely attribute to more apparent bokeh blur. We think? Not sure how to describe this condition, maybe its less distortion we are seeing? The bokeh on tiger 35mm APO Lanthar is smoother, and more “modern” though the Ultron’s do a pleasant job of providing character and modern bokeh rendering… how, we don’t know.

Between flare performance, both the cheaper Ultron V1 and v2 perform the same as the more expensive 35mm APO Lanthar; thats good news! That means you don’t sacrifice flare performance when it comes between choosing between these beautiful lenses. If we were to nit-pick we’d actually same the Ultron’s perform a little better not having a larger purple flare aberration you can clearly see below. BUT generally they perform “the same.”

Voigtlander 35mm Ultron v2 at f2

Voigtlander 35mm APO at f2

Voigtlander 35mm Ultron v2 at f2

Voigtlander 35mm APO at f2

Wide open comparison between the Leica 35mm Elmar, Voigtlander 40mm f1.2, TTArtisan 35mm f1.4, 7Artisans 35mm f1.4 WEN and of course the Voigtlander 35mm f2 Ultron v1 and V2 as well as the Voigtlander 35mm f2 APO Lanthar shot on the Leica SL (Type601) below.

DOWNLOAD ALL FILES HERE!


Two sample “portrait” images next:

Voigtlander 35mm Ultron v2 at f2

Voigtlander 35mm APO at f2

We literally have hundreds of sample images we could post here and we will post quite a few, if you would like to see more please just reach out and we will share our mega sample link.

The 35mm APO Lanthar excels at: ultimate micro-contrast, sharpness and pleasing bokeh. The Ultron 35mm v1/v2 excels with its small size, 80% performance of the APO Lanthar, 30% less expensive, similar flare performance as the 35mm APO Lanthar. So to conclude, the 35mm APO Lanthar performs “better” than the Ultron inline with its 30% premium. With that in mind we think that if you can live with the larger size, the 35mm APO Lanthar would be our choice especially if there is a price drop of you are actually on the hunt for Leica’s new 35mm APO Summicron; the Voigtlander would surely be a worthy contender at 1/8th the cost! Plus, you can rest assured you’d never need to upgrade your 35mm lens and it can become a lifelong lens to own!

Sample Voigtlander 35mm f2 APO Lanthar images (various cameras):

Sample Voigtlander 35mm f2 Ultron v2 images from Pocholo Francisco below! Also HERE from our previous Ultron v1 review.