Voigtlander: Are they as good as Zeiss & Leica?

andyw · Joined: 15 Aug 2009 Posts: 624 Location: Surrey. UK

I have come to the conclusion that in order to get the best image quality I'm going to have to invest in a couple of high end lenses. As i have a Canon 500D and a Sony NX 5 i would like to have MF lenses. I am really impressed with the new(ish) range of Zeiss glass for modern digital cameras so was looking to save up and buy a couple of them. Leica are way way out my price range but Voigtlander seem to have a high reputation for quality glass but are nearly half the price of Zeiss glass.

Is the quality as good or near as good as Zeiss generally speaking? Voigtlander could make saving a lot less painful!!

Keysersoze27 · Expire: 2012-12-24

The APO-Lanthar 3.5/90 SLII is just amazing !!!

Do a search for it in the site ....

Esox lucius · Expire: 2011-11-18

Joosep · Joined: 25 Jan 2010 Posts: 305 Location: Estonia, Tallinn

Yes and no.

The latest Zeiss SLR Z series are made by Cosina and so are the latest Voigtländer products.
The Voigtländer 58 1.4 (the Nikon one is still in production) is thought to be superior to the latest Zeiss ZF 50 1.4.

Right now, the name Voigtländer brings the best "bang for the buck" in the world of rangefinders.
I strongly suggest to read this.

I have not yet seen a person saying theyr Voigtländer product is bad.
There are people who say theyr Zeiss products are bad, even in this forum, or do not live up to theyr expectations.

aleksanderpolo · Joined: 24 Jan 2010 Posts: 684

Joosep · Joined: 25 Jan 2010 Posts: 305 Location: Estonia, Tallinn

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

I have the 3.5/90 in both versions, for SLR (I type) and for rangefinder.
They are both astounding performers. Insanely sharp from f/5.6 onwards.
Well balanced colours. Nearly zero CA. The only weak point is, they are sensible to flare when used exposed, but a lens hood takes care of this problem in all cases except of course when you have sun in the frame.

I also used to have the 35mm 1.7 Ultron in Leica threadmount, for rangefinder, and it was a great lens too, also insanely sharp, and with a great "3D rendering" effect. A bit "harsh" rendering however, although this is just a personal impression and may not be shared by others.

I think that Voigtlaender lenses offer, in most cases, the best price/performance ratio of the lenses currently sold new on the market. And some of them are actually able to challenge the "big names" even for image quality alone. The Apo lenses being the most obvious examples.

IAZA · Joined: 16 Apr 2010 Posts: 2587 Location: Indonesia

Is there big different between Voigtlander APO LANTHAR 90mm f/3.5 SL & Voigtlander APO LANTHAR 90mm f/3.5 SLII?
And how about Leica elmarit R 90/2,8 compared to Voigtlander APO LANTHAR 90mm f/3.5 SL?

BRunner · Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Posts: 705 Location: Czech Republic

Some top Leicas you can get at reasonable prices:
APO-TELYT 3.4/180 ~500€ cheaper than current prices of APO Lanthar 4/180.
APO-Macro-Elmarit 2.8/100 ~900€ which is almost half the price of APO Lanthar 2.5/125 or Macro-Planar 2/100. And the Elmarit is still benchmark on its own.

Otherwise I agree that most older (non APO or ASPH) Leica-R lenses are overpriced. Optically they are well balanced, but not so special as they prices may suggest.
On the other side, what counts is sturdy mechanical build. All mine Leicas (some are already older than 40 years and clearly used) have still tighter tolerances and smoother operation than my almost mint APO Lanthars 90 and 180.
And another important thing is Leica quality control. I didn't get any lens with decentering of some optical element or other defect, nor aperture defect.

Esox lucius · Expire: 2011-11-18

The best indicator of "going rate" is eBay advanced search for completed items. People are often asking even 100% more than the actual going rate, but an offer for Buy it Now does not qualify as going rate. Look at seller anjushp, who's bought a large factory surplus and in the past years slowly sold it out for 100% overprice.

In the past 4 months 4/180 APO Lanthar in Nikon mount on eBay, actual completed sales, lens sold for EUR 550-700 (some in Europe), other mounts less.

Macro APO Lanthar 2.5/125 in Nikon mount sells for EUR 1400-1600, other mounts for less than half of that (often they don't sell at all)

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

hey andy

i have an m4/3 camera also, an olymous ep2, similar to sony nex. if like me price is some kind of consideration, i would strongly consider the voigtlander color heliar 75/2.5 in m39 mount. i have tried many many lenses of all manner of systems (m42, m39, dkl, c mount, m mount etc) and this lens is one of my favorites in terms of iq, and its much less expensive rhan the lanthar and a slightly more usuable, i think, FL at 150mm vs 180mm.

i would rule out, as orio and others have said, the noktons--they just dont perform well on these cameras, and i cannot vouch how they perform on film. i am awaiting a tevidon, which is.a line of zeiss lenses in c mount that are supposed to be outstanding on this format and are much less expensive than the new line of zeiss lenses.

i also have not had good luck with leica lenses on the m4/3--not bad, just disappointing. i am also awaiting a zeiss opton 135mmfor contax rf/nikon s rf
and am thinking about trying the contax g system lenses, which are supposed to be fabulous on this system according to many on this forum, and which are also multiples less expensive than the new zeiss. having done this, my advice would be to start off with something high quality but less expensive as a baseline beofre you go spending thousands on a couple of lenses whose iq might be had for a lot less!

bogolisk · Expire: 2011-11-18

aleksanderpolo · Joined: 24 Jan 2010 Posts: 684

Probably the high pixel density of a micro 4/3 sensor put more demands on the resolution of the glass.

Let me clarify about the Nokton, it is not a bad lens. But it has a painting style of drawing that might suits some, but not for me, and that's my point: What is superior to one can be inferior to other. Similarly, the Nokton 58/1.4 is a great lens, but the picture it draws seem to lack a presence/3Dness compare to a Zeiss, yet totally different from Nokton 35/1.4

Personally I think that Zeiss's lens of the same type have a more consistent style of drawing that I can rely on. When I buy a Planar, I know pretty much what I will be getting. On the other hand, Nokton 35/1.4 and 35/1.2 are totally different lens, and that is frustrating when buying Voigtlander IMHO.

Try it, you might like it. And if you don't like it, you can always sell it for about the same price that you get it for (assume you buy it used). Resolution charts can only tell you one part of the whole story. With that said, a Nokton 40/1.4 is usually going for $300-$350 on the bay. Wink

james · Expire: 2011-12-28

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

for a small under $400 fast really good lens i would try either the tevidon or the contax g 40/2.0. i also very much like my meoptar openar 40/1.8 c mount which van be had for less than $200. mine has beautiful color saturation which yiu might like on envirnmental shots, not infinty.

also, when i said noktons dont perform well, i meant on my m4/3, and not not well, just not up to expectation for a $5-600 lens. mine performed no better, and actually a little less appealing, than my meoptar 40/1.8 which cost $150!

fotomachi · Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 8:59 am Post subject:

I don't have any Voigtländer glass myself, but I did some reading before because I wanted to buy a few lenses. The general tendency that I've noticed is that many are tempted to buy CV glass but that the lenses never really satisfy the desires of the photographers. It seems that they alway are short of something. That said, it is especially Leica users that complain.

I checked the prices of the newer Voigtländer lenses, and while not überexpensive like the Leica lenses, they still aren't exactly cheap. Also for this argument, I decided to stop wasting my time on drooling on the CV glass and continue to save €€€ for the best lenses (and occasionally open the wallet to buy a cheap Ruski Razz

)

Joosep · Joined: 25 Jan 2010 Posts: 305 Location: Estonia, Tallinn

Depens. On how long do want to use the lenses.
These new Voigtländer lenses have quite good market value.

Rather then collecting for the most expensive ones, I would rather suggest you to step by step to more expensive ones.

This way you will get a good expierence yourself and can judge by yourself, whats best for you.

aleksanderpolo · Joined: 24 Jan 2010 Posts: 684

Found an interesting thread on another board comparing CV 50/1.5 vs ZM 50/1.5:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66129

Though technically CV is probably better in resolution, wide open "performance" etc, there are still more people preferring the 3x more expensive ZM, on a Voigtlander sub-board, based on drawing style. Check out the many pictures posted to see the difference in style. So again, "superior" is in the eyes of the beholder.

Me? I am skipping CV 50/1.5 and saving up for the C-Sonnar as we speak. Smile

ChrisLilley · Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 1767 Location: Nice, France

andyw · Joined: 15 Aug 2009 Posts: 624 Location: Surrey. UK

Thanks all. I sold my Nex5 (Yuk!) and bought a Olympus E-PL2. I'm leaning towards the 40mm f1.4 Nokton. Images from that look superb and it's a nice focal length for me on M 4/3. I have a EOS 500D also so i expect to be purchasing a fair few adapters! LOL

Joosep · Joined: 25 Jan 2010 Posts: 305 Location: Estonia, Tallinn

LucisPictor · Expire: 2013-12-03

With a bit of luck, I can get a Voigtländer SLR with a Color-Ultron 1.8/50 for a very good price.
I might offer it here, because I do not really need it. But I have always wanted to try that combo.

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

andy, the nokton has a nice rep, but i have used the 35/1.4 nokotn on my ep2 and have been disappointed at the result for the price. for much less, might i suggest the meoptar openar c mount 40/1.8, which frankly performed just as good as my nokton for less than half!

if you are intent on buying a nokton, i am selling mine, per reason above, on this forum, virtually brand new in box with everything for much less than you can buy it new on ebay. again,
i would first try less exoensive alternTive
tony

andyw · Joined: 15 Aug 2009 Posts: 624 Location: Surrey. UK

uhoh7 · Joined: 24 Nov 2010 Posts: 1300 Location: Idaho, USA

Basalt House by unoh7, on Flickr

Big Roof by unoh7, on Flickr

Red Engine by unoh7, on Flickr

Sr Engineer by unoh7, on Flickr

Wanted something light for a walk so I put my CV 35/2.5 Skopar on the M9 Smile