Philip Whiteman
Well-known
I bought one of the new M-mount Voigtlander 25s the moment it came in stock at Robert White.
For what it's worth, I'd say this lens is a nice little job. It is well finished and the focussing – rather stiffer than my similarly-sized 35mm Summicron – is smooth. The aperture click stops appear on first examination to be over light, but I've had no problem with accidently moving the iris, and I think the early Summilux-style tabs are actually nicer that the almost full ring you find on later Leica lenses like the Summicron.
I am sure those who do these things professionally will have their own views on image quality, but from my quick tests over the last 48 hours I find the thing is pretty sharp across the whole field at f4. I don't see any distortion or chromatic fringing – which is more than I can say for my Nikon 18-70 f3.5-4.5G at its wide end – and vignetting is less marked that it is with the 15mm Voigtlander.
The R-D1's built-in 28mm framelines are of course too tight – but not wildly out. I thought my existing Voigtander 35mm finder might do and actually it's almost spot on (very useful for 6 mb digital work where you need every pixel!) Even so, you can leave the finder behind and use the 28mm framelines as a good approximation of the actual sensor image.
I wanted a nice lightweight lens that I could use on long walks etc, and sunny day medium-wide work. So far, I'd say the little 25 (it really is minute) fits the bill very well indeed I may buy the 28mm f1.9 Voigtlander too – but there's always my 35 Summicron for low-light stuff, albeit not wide-angle low light stuff…
Also, a couple of hundred quid doesn't hurt that much!
For what it's worth, I'd say this lens is a nice little job. It is well finished and the focussing – rather stiffer than my similarly-sized 35mm Summicron – is smooth. The aperture click stops appear on first examination to be over light, but I've had no problem with accidently moving the iris, and I think the early Summilux-style tabs are actually nicer that the almost full ring you find on later Leica lenses like the Summicron.
I am sure those who do these things professionally will have their own views on image quality, but from my quick tests over the last 48 hours I find the thing is pretty sharp across the whole field at f4. I don't see any distortion or chromatic fringing – which is more than I can say for my Nikon 18-70 f3.5-4.5G at its wide end – and vignetting is less marked that it is with the 15mm Voigtlander.
The R-D1's built-in 28mm framelines are of course too tight – but not wildly out. I thought my existing Voigtander 35mm finder might do and actually it's almost spot on (very useful for 6 mb digital work where you need every pixel!) Even so, you can leave the finder behind and use the 28mm framelines as a good approximation of the actual sensor image.
I wanted a nice lightweight lens that I could use on long walks etc, and sunny day medium-wide work. So far, I'd say the little 25 (it really is minute) fits the bill very well indeed I may buy the 28mm f1.9 Voigtlander too – but there's always my 35 Summicron for low-light stuff, albeit not wide-angle low light stuff…
Also, a couple of hundred quid doesn't hurt that much!
M4streetshooter
Tourist Thru Life
Cool lens, I was thinking about it too but settled on the 21 Color Skopar. The guys here were right...the 28/35 mini finder is wonderful with this lens....
The 28mm Ultron is a real winner...without going into any comparisions with or against other lens makers. The Ultron holds it's own against anything I have ever had on my M cameras...bar none!
enjoy your new lens.......later don
The 28mm Ultron is a real winner...without going into any comparisions with or against other lens makers. The Ultron holds it's own against anything I have ever had on my M cameras...bar none!
enjoy your new lens.......later don
jvr
Well-known
Hi!
I've been thinking of buying one of those and maybe (just maybe!
) sell my 21/2.8 Biogon, as I've become more and more addicted to the 12 and 15 on the R-D1s and the 21 has seen less and less camera time...
How's the coverage regarding the WHOLE of the Epson viewfinder? I was used, in the past, to frame my 35s on the M3 using the whole of the VF.
Does it correlate approximately? It should, as the 28 is just a bit wider than the framelines but a bit far from the whole VF, so...
I've been looking for the widest lens to use with a small flash (so the f4 aperture is not an issue) and still be able to frame through the VF (flash => no space for an extenal VF...) and this could fit the bill...
I've been thinking of buying one of those and maybe (just maybe!
) sell my 21/2.8 Biogon, as I've become more and more addicted to the 12 and 15 on the R-D1s and the 21 has seen less and less camera time... How's the coverage regarding the WHOLE of the Epson viewfinder? I was used, in the past, to frame my 35s on the M3 using the whole of the VF.
Does it correlate approximately? It should, as the 28 is just a bit wider than the framelines but a bit far from the whole VF, so...
I've been looking for the widest lens to use with a small flash (so the f4 aperture is not an issue) and still be able to frame through the VF (flash => no space for an extenal VF...
) and this could fit the bill...
jvr
Well-known
M4streetshooter said:
Well, after repalcing the 21/2.8 Biogon with the VM 25, I could always buy a 21 Skopar, if I missed the focal too much...
Philip Whiteman
Well-known
Sorry, jvr – I missed your question about using the whole finder as a frame for the 25mm lens: I'm probably not the best person to ask, as I wear specs. However, I do find that the 28mm frame lines do the job – I just make an allowance for the stuff that's just outside the framelines but still within the (not quite visible to me) limits of the finder.
This lens is nice and sharp, it feels Leica-ish and it seems to focus very accurately – let me see if I can post an image, shot at f5.6, unsharpened and not corrected for vignetting (so far, much less of in issue than the reviews of the earlier 'Snapshot' Color Skopar led me to imagine).
It's a real pleasure to be using such a compact and light lens. Sans finder, the R-D1/CV 25 will hang over the shoulder and under one's jacket just like an M with a collapsible 50mm Summicron…
This lens is nice and sharp, it feels Leica-ish and it seems to focus very accurately – let me see if I can post an image, shot at f5.6, unsharpened and not corrected for vignetting (so far, much less of in issue than the reviews of the earlier 'Snapshot' Color Skopar led me to imagine).
It's a real pleasure to be using such a compact and light lens. Sans finder, the R-D1/CV 25 will hang over the shoulder and under one's jacket just like an M with a collapsible 50mm Summicron…
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jvr
Well-known
No problem with the late reply, I've been having a tough week, so I only read it now...