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Voigtlander 180mm Close up.
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PostPosted: Sat May 07, 2011 6:36 am    Post subject: Voigtlander 180mm Close up. Reply with quote

This lens is so versatile, even it is not a macro lens it works very well close up.


PostPosted: Sat May 07, 2011 10:03 pm    Post subject: Re: Voigtlander 180mm Close up. Reply with quote

bendle wrote:
This lens is so versatile, even it is not a macro lens it works very well close up.


I expect so. I was waiting for it to be released in Pentax K mount, but Cosina are idiots: they released lenses that were competing with Pentax high end AF models (20-DA21, 40-DA40, 58-DA*55) and then they pulled out because of disappointing sales before bringing out their special models, the 125 macro and this 180, which had no competition from Pentax lenses.


PostPosted: Sat May 07, 2011 10:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great shot bendle! Any idea what species it is?

Laurentiu: Cosina signed the contract for manufacturing all Zeiss SLR lenses, and at the same time terminated production of the Voigtländer SL lenses which were rivalling Zeiss Z* lenses. I wouldn't call them idiots, securing the company's future as Carl Zeiss' subcontractor was probably a smarter move than barely surviving with low-volume lens range (although I do not like that it meant terminating the 180/4 and 125/2.5)


PostPosted: Sun May 08, 2011 5:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Esox lucius wrote:
Laurentiu: Cosina signed the contract for manufacturing all Zeiss SLR lenses, and at the same time terminated production of the Voigtländer SL lenses which were rivalling Zeiss Z* lenses. I wouldn't call them idiots, securing the company's future as Carl Zeiss' subcontractor was probably a smarter move than barely surviving with low-volume lens range (although I do not like that it meant terminating the 180/4 and 125/2.5)


On K mount they terminated the Zeiss at well, so that's not the reason they terminated the Voigtlander. The reason they gave in the press release was poor sales. I never actually heard about them terminating the Voigtlander line for good - do you have a link to a press release?


PostPosted: Sun May 08, 2011 7:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Laurentiu Cristofor wrote:
I never actually heard about them terminating the Voigtlander line for good - do you have a link to a press release?


I never said they terminated the whole lens line:

Esox lucius wrote:
Cosina signed the contract for manufacturing all Zeiss SLR lenses, and at the same time terminated production of the Voigtländer SL lenses which were rivalling Zeiss Z* lenses.


Given that the Zeiss Planar Z* 100/2 price is about 150,000 yen (vs. the 125/2.5 Macro APO Lanthar which sold for 95,000), it is impossible that Carl Zeiss would approve that simultaneously Cosina would manufacture a lens cannibalizing the Macro Planar 100/2 sales, with the 125/2.5 delivering better performance at lower price (125/2.5 gives 1:1 vs 1:2 Planar 100/2, and has no axial CA like the Planar).

The 180/4 was the last of the SL to be announced, and likely manufactured in fewer mounts because Cosina already knew they would take on the Zeiss deal. Cosina was losing money and they needed a financially secure deal to avoid bankruptcy.

Dispersing the production of the Voigtländer SL lenses on multiple mounts was producing loss for the company: For some mounts, they exist only in hundreds, see history of announcements and volumes here:
http://forum.mflenses.com/voigtlaender-sl-apo-lanthar-serials-and-production-volumes-t24547.html

Signing the Carl Zeiss subcontractor deal must be financially speaking much better deal.


PostPosted: Sun May 08, 2011 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cosina has been dancing around it's old line with the 40, 58, 75 and 90 lenses that don't really present a challenge to existing Z* lenses. Even the CV 20, a real disappointing lens compared to the others in the SLII line, seemed almost as if they released it to make an ironic point of difference between their line and the Zeiss (21). The 125 clearly presents an issue but unless Zeiss is ready to reintroduce the long-moribund Sonnars (I recall reading rumors of this somewhre), a CV II 180 may be the next logical place they go.

Can you really blame them about Pentax? The decline of that famous line and the absence of a FF option really makes a long-term commitment financially questionable. The introduction of the digital 645 is where Pentax is going (? taking the cue from Leica and bypassing FF DSLRS?) and Zeiss doesn't seem interested in following. Although, given the state of lenses for digital medium format, it may not be a bad idea but it would be a niche market.


PostPosted: Mon May 09, 2011 12:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Esox, I'm confused. The SL series was followed by the SL II, of which the 90/3.5 is the last release I'm aware of. Shortly after releasing the 90, last year at photokina, Cosina announced stopping production of Zeiss/Voigtlander lenses for Pentax K-mount.

I think we're talking about different stories. What I blame Cosina for is that they produced the less interesting models of their Voigtlander line first, instead of putting on the market the 125 and 180 models which would have been more interesting across any mount.


PostPosted: Mon May 09, 2011 9:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is hardly surprising that a $300 20/3.5 SL II cannot measure up to the $1600 Distagon 21/2.8, nor can a $400 SL II 90/3.5 do what the $1300 Planar 85/1.4 Z* can... The Nokton 58/1.4 however can easily better the Planar 50/1.4 despite price ($300 vs $600): the Nokton has beautiful bokeh and very little CA, both areas in which the Planar 50/1.4 Z* doesn't excel with its plentiness of purple fringing and restless bokeh.

Coming back to the SL: Whatever the reasons, I think we can all agree that it was regrettable Cosina discontinued lenses for mounts other than Nikon and Canon, and even more regrettable that they completely terminated certain lens models altogether.

It is same story: One doesn't need to have a diploma in production economy to understand why Cosina gladly changed production lines: The Zeiss SLR lens volumes must be multiple times higher than esoteric lenses spread over less popular mounts (Canon FD, Olympus OM, Minolta MD, Pentax K-A, Pentax M42, Contax/Yashica and Leica thread mount).

Just Google "Hirofumi Kobayashi" (he is the president of Cosina) and you'll find several sources/interviews, from which one can read between the lines that the Zeiss deal saved the future of Cosina. When some lenses for the Pentax mount were manufactured in as few as 750 copies limited edition production runs (confirmed by Stephen Gandy of Cameraquest), Cosina is hardly to blame for saving the future of the family business by signing the Zeiss deal.


PostPosted: Mon May 09, 2011 7:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Esox lucius wrote:
It is hardly surprising that a $300 20/3.5 SL II cannot measure up to the $1600 Distagon 21/2.8, nor can a $400 SL II 90/3.5 do what the $1300 Planar 85/1.4 Z* can...


I never expected the CV20 Asph (a $550 lens) to perform like the Zeiss 21 (now nearly $1900 as the dollar is debased) or implied that; it would be ridiculous to presume this, but neither did I expect it to perform no better than a 30 year old Nikkor 20 AIS (pick any; 2.8, 3.5, 4). As far as the CV90, no less of an authority than Erwin Puts deemed it in its Leica mount form (same optical formula as the SL) on a par with the latest 90 Elmarit (http://www.imx.nl/photo/zeiss/zeiss/zeiss/page53.html) so it is hardly a 'lesser' lens that the Z*85, just a differently-purposed one. And quite a bargain for what you get. The same could not be said of the 20.


PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2011 6:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is a Golden Orb spider, it is not venomous but it can give you a bit of a fright as their web is always spun between two trees and the female of the species can grow to the size of a mans hand. I walked into this one, the web was 2 meters wide.


PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2011 9:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

bendle wrote:
This is a Golden Orb spider, it is not venomous but it can give you a bit of a fright as their web is always spun between two trees and the female of the species can grow to the size of a mans hand. I walked into this one, the web was 2 meters wide.


Wow. The only spiders here in Scandinavia are generally much smaller, here's a common type only about 15mm in size

(from another post here on mflenses)
#6 Voigtländer SL 180mm f/4 APO-Lanthar @ f/5.6 1/100s ISO 200