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Voigtlander Color-Ultron 50mm/F1.8 in M42 (Singapore)
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 2:50 pm    Post subject: Voigtlander Color-Ultron 50mm/F1.8 in M42 (Singapore) Reply with quote
Actually it's the same lens as the Rollei Planar HFT 50mm/1.8. Only the Zeiss Variant for the Icarex (made in Germany by Voigtländer/Braunschweig) was slightly different (front element).
I have received a copy of the Voigtländer version in M42 today. Unfortunately there is no A/M switch on the lens and my M42 to Minolta/Sony AF adapter does not cover the aperture pin. So I had to order another adapter from Kipon which is obviously the only one which covers also the pin to use the lens also stopped down.
Luckily my M42 to Leica M adapter covers the pin so I could try it on the Ricoh GXR.
This is the Singapore version built between 1974 and 1977 and 100% identical to the Rollei version from Singapore with or without HFT marking. There are also identical German versions but they are extremely rare and hard to find. In terms of design and quality there is barely any difference.
The first shots showed rather impressive results. There is no visible CA whatsoever, even wide open. Sharpness and contrast also very good. Lens shade was used.

Some examples:

Fully open apprx. 50cm distance:


100% Crop:


Same as before stopped down to F5.6:


100% Crop:


Landscape infinity at F5.6:


100% Crop (extremely hot conditions, therefore possibly artifacts from the hot air):


Last edited by tb_a on Tue Jan 17, 2017 11:10 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 3:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The lens:




PostPosted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 3:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It is an very impressive lens . The only downside in my opinion is the bokeh. It is not busy but I prefer the bokeh of my Pancolar or of my SMC Takumar 55mm.


PostPosted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 3:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
memetph wrote:
It is an very impressive lens . The only downside in my opinion is the bokeh. It is not busy but I prefer the bokeh of my Pancolar or of my SMC Takumar 55mm.


Well, bokeh is a different story and only a matter of taste. My most preferred "bokeh-lens" is the Voigtländer Nokton 50mm/1.5 (LTM/M39) in this focal length, though the Minolta 58/1.2 isn't bad either. Wink


PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 3:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Still awful hot outside and Kipon adapter not arrived yet.
However, here are some test shots all fully open at F1.8 with the Sony A850 24MP FF camera.
All shot indoor. Sorry, no real flowers available this time. Wink

Each picture is followed by a 100% crop for pixel peeping purposes.








PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 6:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
That entire range of Ultrons, the Voigtlander, Rollei and Zeiss (with concave front element) are very impressive lenses. They are also becoming very expensive.

There is a later variant, tweaked by the Soviets to be optimized for their glass and coatings that, in my opinion, is just as impressive. It is the Zenitar M 1.7/50. Much less expensive and more readily available than the German/Singapore versions.


PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 6:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
newst wrote:
That entire range of Ultrons, the Voigtlander, Rollei and Zeiss (with concave front element) are very impressive lenses. They are also becoming very expensive.

There is a later variant, tweaked by the Soviets to be optimized for their glass and coatings that, in my opinion, is just as impressive. It is the Zenitar M 1.7/50. Much less expensive and more readily available than the German/Singapore versions.


Unfortunately their prices are constantly rising, particularly in M42. That's true.

I have already published a couple of sample pictures of the Zenitar 50/1.7 here: http://forum.mflenses.com/zenitar-50mm-f1-7-domestic-version-on-ricoh-gxr-m-t71542,highlight,+zenitar++50.html

However, I didn't compare it directly to the Ultron yet. I will certainly do that sometimes later this year and include at least some other selected primes which are known to be the better ones.

The first obvious difference between the Ultron and the Zenitar is the better CA correction of the Ultron when used fully open. However, the Zenitar is nevertheless an excellent performer as well.


PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I am looking forward to seeing your comparison with the Zenit. I sold my Voigtlander Ultron over a year ago. I sold the Zeiss more recently. The performance between the Zenit and Ultron were close enough for me that I couldn't justify keeping that much money tied up in the Ultron. That money went into buying a Summitar and a Summaron.

I always wanted to try some Leica lenses. The pair I got have un-scratched glass, not even cleaning marks, but the grease in both had out-gassed, causing stiff focusing and fogging on the inside of the rear element. Jmarc has them both right now and I am looking forward (fingers crossed) to having a pair of like new Lieca lenses when he is done. (He has already explained that because of the softness of the coatings he will only go so far in cleaning the haze. Nothing aggressive enough to risk the coatings.) We shall see.


PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
newst wrote:
I am looking forward to seeing your comparison with the Zenit. I sold my Voigtlander Ultron over a year ago. I sold the Zeiss more recently. The performance between the Zenit and Ultron were close enough for me that I couldn't justify keeping that much money tied up in the Ultron. That money went into buying a Summitar and a Summaron.

I always wanted to try some Leica lenses. The pair I got have un-scratched glass, not even cleaning marks, but the grease in both had out-gassed, causing stiff focusing and fogging on the inside of the rear element. Jmarc has them both right now and I am looking forward (fingers crossed) to having a pair of like new Lieca lenses when he is done. (He has already explained that because of the softness of the coatings he will only go so far in cleaning the haze. Nothing aggressive enough to risk the coatings.) We shall see.


Well, my situation is a little bit different. Such Ultron and Zeiss lenses can still be found for little money with a little bit of luck outside the evilbay on this side of the ocean and I am still operating two-way, i.e. RF lenses mainly for my Ricoh APS-C camera and SLR lenses suitable for my FF SLR camera are rather limited to M42 in MF. So I try to have for both formats some extraordinary, i.e. excellent lenses if affordable.

Luckily I already started to collect RF lenses long before the A7 was released. Therefore I could get some lenses before the prices exploded. Even my Summicron 50/2 (collapsible version) which is still in an excellent (like new) condition was available for only 300 Euros some years ago (even from an official Leica dealer with guarantee and invoice). That's really cheap if you compare it to the present prices. Unfortunately I can't use it on FF, except for macro photography.

However, it's getting tougher in terms of budget needed for our passion. That's obvious. Wink


PostPosted: Mon Aug 17, 2015 5:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I can't help but wonder if a new Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 Planar lens in M42 would be a better purchase than the Ultron - it's quite a bit cheaper, brand new, and will have current coatings and decent glass in. My understanding is that they have a similar look and feel...


PostPosted: Mon Aug 17, 2015 5:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
This Ultron or Planar 1.8 50 costs less than 100 euros. I paid mine around 50 euros. Currently I don't find a second heand modern Planar 1.4 . The lowest price is more about 500 euros for a Canon mount. I have no idea if the modern is better than the old one.


PostPosted: Mon Aug 17, 2015 5:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Snodge wrote:
I can't help but wonder if a new Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 Planar lens in M42 would be a better purchase than the Ultron - it's quite a bit cheaper, brand new, and will have current coatings and decent glass in. My understanding is that they have a similar look and feel...


A brand new Zeiss Planar 50/1.4 sells for apprx. 650 Euro (Amazon) and is a little bit faster than the Ultron which sells for apprx. 100 Euro if you are lucky. I don't think that the pictures from the 650 Euro lens would be that much better.
In a test report from the 80's from a German photo magazine the Ultron/Rollei version (F1.8 ) was even slightly better than the Zeiss Contax version (F1.7) with it's holy T* coating. Wink
The coatings from the 70's lenses are not worse than present ones.
I prefer by far the Ultron and would never spend 650 Euro for a new Zeiss copy just to have a F1.4 version which would be hardly any better but only a little bit faster.


PostPosted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 12:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I on the other hand have the 1.8 HFT and am looking for a reasonable price on a good example of the 1.4. I figure it allows some options I would not have with the former plus it is likely to only go up in value.


PostPosted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 1:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
jamaeolus wrote:
I on the other hand have the 1.8 HFT and am looking for a reasonable price on a good example of the 1.4. I figure it allows some options I would not have with the former plus it is likely to only go up in value.


Mainly a matter of taste. When I really need a faster lens, then I take one of my F1.2 lenses. However, I doubt that you will find any sharper lens than the F1.8 version. You have to stop down to F5.6 anyway to get the best quality. In other words: The faster F1.4 version is just faster but by no means better, but certainly far more expensive. However, if you don't have any faster lens yet it may be a reason to change or you tweak the ISO setting when needed. That's cheaper. Wink


PostPosted: Wed Aug 19, 2015 10:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Finally I have received the new Kipon adapter M42 to Minolta/Sony AF and it turned out that this adapter doesn't cover the aperture pin as well, although it was shown on the picture at Amazon. Crying or Very sad

However, in order to make the lens fully usable on my A850 I used Loctite superglue to fix the pin in the pushed position. That works fine and turned the lens into a manual aperture one.

Here is one of my first test shots FF/24MP at F5.6 to test the sharpness for landscapes. Distance was set to infinity. Shot hand held. RAW developed in LR6 with minor adjustments but without sharpening.

Overall picture resized:


100% crop corner left:


100% crop center:


100% crop corner right:


I would say that the lens outperforms the sensor by far, i.e. the limiting factor is the sensor and not the lens.
It turned out to be a very good investment, especially for the price I paid for it. It seems to be one of my best lenses at all. It really seems that the "Color Foto"-test from the early 80's was totally right to rate this lens as the best out of 17 lenses tested from that time. In other words: There in no comparable 50mm SLR lens in existence from that period of time which would beat this one. Not even the Zeiss Planar or the Leitz Summicron R. Now I know why.
Would be worth to try it on a combination of Fujifilm Velvia 50/Minolta Dimage Scan 5400 to test the real capabilities of the lens. Will see.....


PostPosted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 5:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Ultron 50mm/F1.8 on Ricoh GXR-M (clickable for larger view):



PostPosted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 2:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
For those of you who are interested I can show now the optical 7/6 design of the Zeiss/Rollei Planar aka Voigtlander Color-Ultron 50mm/F1.8 lens.

Design by Albrecht Wilhelm Tronnier for Voigtlander (Zeiss):




BTW, the Contax Zeiss Planar 50mm/F1.7 is a totally different 7/6 design from another Designer.
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