Which wide angle?

[peripatetic]

I half-composed a long thread but the gist is:

I think I'll go 28mm even though there are lots of nice options from 21-28.

Elmarit? Biogon? Ultron f2?

Mixed usage, landscape and people/interiors. Mostly BW, though I have a fondness for cheap Kodak colour film too.

Elmarit will last forever, but I don't have enough cash for it yet. Optics stunning. (£1230)

Biogon - almost as good optically but a bit softer in the corners and build quality not as good. Will this be a lens for life? (£700)

Ultron - fast, but a little worried about decentering and focus shift after reading Reid's review. (£390)

Has anyone had any experience of the focus shift with the new Ultron? Usually these things are only really noticable up to a certain distance. If it was fine beyond 3m say, then it probably wouldn't worry me much, I don't imagine I will be using it very much in people's faces, and I could always go f2 or f2.8 under those conditions.

The Biogon isn't that much more expensive than the CV and I do love the draw of the Zeiss. Nice high-contrast BW images and lovely colour rendition.

If money were no object I'd get the Leica, and I guess I can just about afford it, but then my 5DMk2 will have to wait another 6 months! 🙂

I shall see if I can negotiate a good bargain....

 

[yanidel]

I use the CV28 Ultron M and like it a lot. Yet, I only shoot F2-2.8 and F8. Either I want a out of focus background or the sharpest image. Therefore the focus shift problem does not impact me in my style. The build quality is great, I would say better than the 35mm Summicron I have.

 

[Dan States]

Based on your comments I predict that if you buy either the Zeiss or Voigtlander you will use them for a period of time, and then eventually sell them at a loss and buy the Leica. Save yourself the guessing and get the Leica right off!

 

[astroman]

I just purchased the Zeiss 28/2.8 the build quality is excellent and I expect many years shooting with this fine lens.

 

[ferider]

Ask yourself the following:

At 3m focus distance, wide open, on 35mm film, a 28/2 lens has 1.4m DOF. Do you really think you will notice any focus shift problem (measured and reported with M8 and test targets) ?

If you are worried about the QA of the Ultron, buy two at a good store, test, and send one back.

The Biogon is made in the same factory as the Ultron. Google "Biogon Wobble".

Roland.

 

[noimmunity]

I've had a quiver of ZM lenses and the only one that had a slight wobble was a black Biogon 35/2 ... I've found the silver lenses have a better smoother build than the black ones; just my experience, if it helps.

If you need f/2, then your choice is clear. But if you want the Elmarit, you should buy it today, right now, immediately, pronto, and get the 15% discount that is good through Jan. 31.

I love the way the Zeiss lenses render. And the 28 is fairly small and easy to handle. I think you'd be really happy with it.

 

[peripatetic]

Well, I ended up doing something unexpected.

I was ready to be persuaded to purchase the Elmarit, but the owner obviously took one look at me and decided I couldn't afford it! I had a good look at the Zeiss, which did seem nice, they only had the black and I would have preferred silver, but no big deal.

The store didn't have an Ultron, but they did have a mint condition VC Skopar f3.5 in its box. The store owner said he sold it to an "old fogey" about a year ago who sold it back to him a couple of weeks ago and he's convinced it probably wasn't used more than once. Certainly they could have sold it as new - I could not have told. The lens plus converter was only £199.

I was getting ready to buy the Biogon but thought I'd just try the Skopar, and I was entranced by its tiny size and excellent solid feel. As to quality - well I expect good things, but shall have to wait and see. I managed a few shots with it this afternoon and may head off to Soho tomorrow and shoot a couple of rolls at the Chinese New Year celebrations.

I did try a 25mm + viewfinder and I reckon I would not easily get used to focussing in one window and composing in another. I suppose one mostly zone focuses. *shrug*

At any rate - 50mm is my favoured focal length, and I kept thinking that I may not really get all that much use from a 28. So I figured that if I only use it occasionally the Skopar will likely be sufficient, and if it's not I'll be able to sell it back without losing much if anything on what I paid for it and upgrade sometime down the line.

This all has the added benefit that £200 isn't going to make much of a dent in my 5D2 fund, whereas £1250 for the Leica or £700 for the Zeiss would have delayed things by a considerable time.

I shall post some links when I get some pics developed. 🙂

 

[peripatetic]

The weird thing is that if they had had the Ultron I probably would have ended up convincing myself to buy the Biogon.

 

[back alley]

the skopar is well built, brass and very sharp.

and 3.5 is slower than many but very usable none the less.

 

[noimmunity]

That sounds like quite a score!
It's a fantastic lens in its output. It also attracts people for its excellent build and tiny size. I found it so tiny in fact that it was kind of hard for me to use (my fingers would always slip from the focus to the aperture and vice versa), but if you mostly shoot hyperfocal or have slender nimble fingers that wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Bob Michaels]

I was waiting for a great deal on a Zeiss 28mm Biogon when one of those killer deals came up here on a CV 28mm Color Skopar. So I bought the Voigtlander thinking I would use it only until a Biogon deal came along.

After shooting with the 28mm Skopar for nine months, I am not looking for anything to replace it with.

Are times when I wish it were faster than f3.5? Very rarely. But every time I use it I appreciate the compact size and image quality. And I bought a 21mm Skopar with the money I saved.

I would buy a more expensive 28mm if I thought it would make my photos better. But I just can not see that being the case.

 

[peripatetic]

I just got a couple of rolls back, and I used the Skopar for some of them.

Chilly London.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peripatetic/sets/72157613416859891/show/

I think I'm going to be very happy with this lens.