Voigtlander 28mm vs. Leica 28mm

Eyal_bin

Eyal_bin

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I am thinking of buying a 28mm lens for my R-D1s, and I was looking into the voigtlander and the Leica 28mm lenses. Leica's lens is around 5 times more expensive than the voigtlander (~3,000$ vs. 600$)

Is the price for the Leica justified? does the voigtlander worth anything? will I be able to focus with these lenses? (I currently have a voigtlander 15mm that can't use the fucos mechanism on the R-D1s)
 
Eyal_bin said:
I am thinking of buying a 28mm lens for my R-D1s, and I was looking into the voigtlander and the Leica 28mm lenses. Leica's lens is around 5 times more expensive than the voigtlander (~3,000$ vs. 600$)

Is the price for the Leica justified? does the voigtlander worth anything? will I be able to focus with these lenses? (I currently have a voigtlander 15mm that can't use the fucos mechanism on the R-D1s)
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How did the 15mm work out for you? If you don't mind scale focusing, I've been using a 28mm Industar 69 lens. I got it for about $25 on ebay + $15 S/H from Russia. It's actually decently sharp and doesn't vignet much! At $40 it's less than 1/10 the price of Voigtlander 🙂
 
I also had looked into the same idea but decided to buy a CV 25/4P instead.

This lens provides a 38mm focal length equivalent and is very even across the frame [unlike the older 25/4 as tested by Sean Reid]. Photographing a white wall will immediately prove that.

I use the 28mm frame line as "subject frame" for composition. It leaves a 15% print margin all round.
 
Frankie said:
I also had looked into the same idea but decided to buy a CV 25/4P instead.

This lens provides a 38mm focal length equivalent and is very even across the frame [unlike the older 25/4 as tested by Sean Reid]. Photographing a white wall will immediately prove that.

I use the 28mm frame line as "subject frame" for composition. It leaves a 15% print margin all round.
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WOW what a great Idea, I think I will also do the same! what about focusing? can you focus with the CV25mm?
 
The Voigtlander 28/f1.9 can be had used. The f2.0 being the current model. Both have Rangefinder coupling. The f1.9 needs an LTM to M adapter, but works a treat. I have one on my R-D1 and its my favourite, or at least my most used lens. See my gallery for image examples.
 
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I used the R-D1 with the old 25/4 and wasn't a fan; although as pointed out, the new version might feature less vignetting, I thought this gave poor results, high contrast, plus vignetting, nowhere near the quality of, eg, the Summicron C. If I had an R-D1 today, I'd buy the VC 28/2 in a heartbeat, it's a terrific lens and that f/2 speed is very useful.
 
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I'm using the 28/2 ultron on my M8 and I love it. It might not be as sharp as the new summicron asph, but it's sharp enough and the bokeh (what little you get at that focal length) is pleasing 🙂

Check my blog if you want to see how it renders with the m8, I usually shoot low light so most of them are wide open.
 
Some time ago I had to face a similar problem. But then I could find a 28 rokkor with white spots for 300 euros, and I'm happy with it.
 
nrb said:
Some time ago I had to face a similar problem. But then I could find a 28 rokkor with white spots for 300 euros, and I'm happy with it.
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Yes very good lens indeed. Not as sharp as Summicron or Elmarit asph but matches very well Leica lenses of same vintage like 50/2, 50/1.4 pre-asph, 40/2, 35/2 IV or 35/1.4 pre-asph as well as CVs 21/4 P or 35/1.4 SC.
 
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I had the CV 25/4P on my M8 for a brief time and on the M4-P as well. I didn't keep it for a long time because I bought it expressly to use on the M8. I was very happy with the lens. It was very compact but still no too small to be comfortable and the IQ seemed good. Only the F4.0 made me wish that I had spent more money and gotten a faster speed lens. So this time around I got and am waiting on the Zeiss 2.8/28.
 
i run the vc 28 f2 on an m8 and it seems to perform quite well. truth be told i have never in my lifetime done a lens test and overall sharpness is not a HUGE concern. i have seen vc versus leica (28 f2's) tests and the 'cron does appear to perform better in the corners wide open.

with that being said the vc 28 does the job for me. the dough saved could finance a trip somewhere which would have a far greater impact on the images than ultimate corner sharpness wide open.

(disclaimer - only my opinion)
 
ashrafazlan said:
I'm using the 28/2 ultron on my M8 and I love it. It might not be as sharp as the new summicron asph, but it's sharp enough and the bokeh (what little you get at that focal length) is pleasing 🙂

Check my blog if you want to see how it renders with the m8, I usually shoot low light so most of them are wide open.
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Could you please tell which shots are taken with ultron?
 
LeicaFoReVer said:
Could you please tell which shots are taken with ultron?
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Pretty much every shot uses the ultron, it's the only lens I can afford for my M8 😱 It's a great lens, sharp at f/2 and razor sharp stopped down to f/2.8 (compared to my Zeiss 35/2 on D700, which is known to be a really really sharp lens)

Of course, my blog's 720px images don't do it justice.
 
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I used to have the CV25/4P on my RD1 and found it very good. Small, light and compact enough. Even the f4 aperture wasn't a problem. I sold this a few months back when I got the CV/2 Ultron. I've since added the tiny CV28/3.5 for when I don't need the speed. Have to say I've liked all the lenses. Here's some shots from each.


CV 25/4P
3497274346_ed37dbcce3.jpg



CV 28/2 Ultron
3941284360_5d36206578.jpg


CV 28/3.5
4085569881_b9343a35af.jpg
 
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