Ultron 35mm f2 vs Nikkor Z 35mm f1.8 comparison

[gavinlg]

Righto - Having been locked down at my parents place in between moving from NZ back to my hometown of Melbourne Australia, I decided (out of a combination of curiosity and boredom) to do some rudimentary comparisons between my two main 35mm lenses - a native Nikkor Z 35mm f1.8 S and a Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f2 M mount lens on a photodiox adapter.

All were shot in RAW on a Nikon Z6, manual WB, on a tripod, at equivalent apertures however there were minor adjustments needed between photos as being winter here in the southern hemisphere the light wasn't entirely consistent.

First up, a size comparison -

The Z nikkor is a thoroughly huge, modern, complex design with 11 elements in 9 groups, of which 3 elements are aspherical and 2 ED type.
The Ultron is a slightly more conservative (though still fairly complex for its size) 8 elements in 5 groups, with 1 aspherical element included in the optical design.

 

[gavinlg]

Nikkor 35mm Z @ f1.8

Ultron 35mm @ f2

As can be seen here, the nikkor lens is significantly wider than the ultron. If i was forced to guess, I would say the ultron is very slightly long for a 35mm lens, and the nikkor is fairly wide in terms of true FL - closer to 32 or 33mm. The nikkor is very very slightly sharper at 100% however I find the ultron has a higher microcontrast overall.

Nikkor 35mm Z @ f1.8

Ultron 35mm @ f2

Here again we see a slight sharpness advantage and a warmer rendition to the nikkor, however I still feel the microcontrast on the ultron is superior with more of a 'pop' in its rendition.

 

[gavinlg]

Nikkor 35mm Z @ f1.8

Ulton 35mm @ f2

Nikkor Z 35mm @ f1.8

Ultron 35mm @ f2

 

[Mooshoepork]

Nice comparison. I think I prefer the Nikon but it’s also much bigger and isn’t m mount. Surprised how well the Ultron performs for the size

 

[chasdfg]

Thanks for this! I prefer the Nikkor's OOF areas but the pop of the Ultron. I think the Ultron's OOF add character but this makes it more divisive.

I own the Ultron and have been thinking of a Nikon Z for M glass. Do you find that you have to make corrections for the Ultron in terms of colour casts? Corner sharpness is not a huge deal for me especially if it improves stopped down.

 

[gavinlg]

Thanks for this! I prefer the Nikkor's OOF areas but the pop of the Ultron. I think the Ultron's OOF add character but this makes it more divisive.

I own the Ultron and have been thinking of a Nikon Z for M glass. Do you find that you have to make corrections for the Ultron in terms of colour casts? Corner sharpness is not a huge deal for me especially if it improves stopped down.

I'm with you, I somewhat prefer the Ultrons rendering however the nikkor is a little smoother. It's amazing how closely matched they are.

In terms of adapting the Ultron to Z mount, Yes I find the Ultron tends to have some color casts compared to native Z glass, especially stopped down. It's not a big deal though. Corner sharpness is appreciably better with the nikkor at infinity with wider apertures, though becomes similar stopped down. At close to mid distances, both have pretty similar corner sharpness.

 

[helen.HH]

agreed, The nikkor a hint creamier and the ultron a tad more pop
Thanks for the comparison ~

 

[Peter Jennings]

Given the difference in physical size, it's amazing that the images from both lenses are so similar. I think this clearly shows that each is very well designed - optically.

 

[KenR]

I think that this shows that modern era lenses designed and manufactured with computers are all really, really good. While there are some minor differences wide open, if you stop down to f5.6, they are all pretty much the same. I know it is heresy to say this here, but under most real world shooting conditions, there is no practical reason to spend thousands for a lens other than snob appeal.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Nice comparison.

Personally I give a slight edge to the Nikkor, but generally speaking they're pretty close to each other. I do, however, prefer the Nikon's out of focus area (sorry I try not to use the 'b' word) in the wide open shots to the Voigtlander's. Looks a bit smoother and easier on the eyes.

I just checked the prices of each lens and they seem to be in the same general ballpark as one another. So I guess if you have to choose for your Z camera it would be a matter of whether you'd want AF or not (and a lens that's dedicated to that camera system and you can take advantage of all the AF focus points), and if the size difference is important. BTW how do the weights of each compare?

 

[Costo Kim]

nikkor is obviously better corrected lens (for a digital sensor) from corner to corner
I would choose ultron for my needs with no doubts (film rf + digital sometimes)
ultron is a superb lens in a 2/3 central area and this is what's important for film/rangefinder use + compactness + very nice design

 

[Larry Cloetta]

Nice comparison within the limits of compressed internet viewing, and processing variables. Thanks for doing this, it’s interesting.
Now how about adding a 35 Summilux FLE in. Inquiring minds want to know🙂

 

[aizan]

The Nikon makes smooth bokeh wide open! Impressive and not that common for a 35/2. Of course we’ve seen how the Ultron is harsh at f/2 but smoothes out at f/4.

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

First up, a size comparison -

The Z nikkor is a thoroughly huge, modern, complex design with 11 elements in 9 groups, of which 3 elements are aspherical and 2 ED type.
The Ultron is a slightly more conservative (though still fairly complex for its size) 8 elements in 5 groups, with 1 aspherical element included in the optical design.

Very interesting, thanks for sharing this.

I have the 35/f2 Ultron and 50/f1.8 Z (I don't have the 35/f1.8 Z yet), and your results are more or less what I would expect (although I'm surprised the Ultron is so close for sharpness).

The Z certainly has technically 'better' bokeh, as you would expect from a gigantic, hyper-corrected, medium speed 35mm. Personally I don't mind some out-of-focus character if it means you can have 35/f2 as compact as the Ultron 🙂

If anyone is interested I might do a similar comparison with the 50/f1.8 Z and VM 50/f1.5 Nokton v1.

 

[gavinlg]

If anyone is interested I might do a similar comparison with the 50/f1.8 Z and VM 50/f1.5 Nokton v1.

I for one would love to see this. I've had a nokton and it was pretty excellent.

And yeah, I think the size and character of the ultron outweigh the technical perfection of the nikkor too - what an amazing little lens.

 

[gavinlg]

Another scene, this one is more relevant to me personally. Definitely a bit of a stress test for any lens with the dappled foliage in the mid distance background. IMO this is where the Nikkor absolutely shines, but the Ultron is still great - just different.
Something I do really like about the Ultron is its tendency to render greens more on the blue-ish side

Nikkor 35mm @ f1.8

Ultron 35mm @ f2

 

[Archiver]

Very interesting results. I'm in the midst of doing similar tests between Voigtlander, Zeiss and Minolta lenses on my S5 (yeah, I got a S5, baby!).

In terms of rendering, I prefer the Nikkor. It's smoother, particularly in the OOF areas, although not so smooth as to be sterile. The Ultron's bokeh is a bit to jaggly for me. When more native primes emerge for the S5, I'll be able to test them as well, with what I assume will be similar results to yours.

 

[gavinlg]

Very interesting results. I'm in the midst of doing similar tests between Voigtlander, Zeiss and Minolta lenses on my S5 (yeah, I got a S5, baby!).

In terms of rendering, I prefer the Nikkor. It's smoother, particularly in the OOF areas, although not so smooth as to be sterile. The Ultron's bokeh is a bit to jaggly for me. When more native primes emerge for the S5, I'll be able to test them as well, with what I assume will be similar results to yours.

Congrats! Looks like a really nice camera. You know those little sigma i-series primes come in L mount and look really nice...

And yeah the nikkor is really nice. In the above portrait comparison to my eyes the nikkor looks almost medium format-ish due to its lack of aberrations while still being quite gentle. It'll be interesting to see how the ultron performs on your Panny!

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

I for one would love to see this. I've had a nokton and it was pretty excellent.

I'll see what I can do!

 

[jsrockit]

So, two great lenses for photography! I could have predicted that. 🙂