I went from the Ultron asph v1 35mm to a Summarit and it's similar, the Voigtlander has a strong vignette at f2 but it's sharper. They're killing it with their new Ultron lenses, I'd love to pick up the 28mm sometime.
Man, that new Ultron is heaps better than the first version. Very impressed. It holds up well against the summicron and for such a small package (and price? can we say that?), that would make it an easy purchase decision.
Focus accuracy also depends on the lens calibration. If The lens cam is profiled slightly differently it will result in a mis-focus. The 7 artisans lenses have been reported in the past to need calibration in the camera that they are used in.
Thanks for the well done review. I think you may be right that the Leica isn't focused exactly at the same place as the Voigtländer. There seems to be ever so slightly green fringing in the front of the camera and more on the focus tab, while the Ultron II has a bit of magenta fringing in the front and less green on the focus tab. (I do think the Ultron II may be sharper, even if the Summicron was focused correctly nonetheless.) I have now ordered the Ultron II for its price and sharpness corner to corner, but the extra vignetting in the sides and corners means its depth of field and blur will be less than the Summicron Asph II. I wouldn't recommend buying the Summicron Asph II now that we have the Ultron II available, but I bought it almost a year ago, so will compare the two for my self and decide which to keep. Regarding the 7A @ f/2: Could you check the shutter speed and compare it to those shot with the Ultron and Summicron? When looking at the background blur, I think we are seeing a faster than f/2 aperture from the 7Artisans lens (even in the center of the image) when it is set to f/2. This also may explain why there isn't _ that_ much difference in blur between f/1.4 and f/2. For those who consider the 7A, I'd like to add that, while it is quite sharp near the minimum focus distance, it is plain awful at medium to long distances until f/2.8 _outside_the_center_. At f/5.6 it is impressively sharp from corner to corner, though.
The big surprise for me is the 7Artisans. I'm reviewing on a 32" 4K monitor, and I'm seeing equivalent sharpness on the zoomed shots (first set, closer). Less CA. The image seems brighter (more light transmission and less vignetting, though I like vignetting). Perhaps this is a tradeoff due to the physical size difference? In any event, that 7Artisans seems surprisingly good in this comparison. Background out of focus seems better as well. Would have been interesting to see the Leica compared to it. Thanks for the comparisons.
Voigtlander being the newer design, it seems to have superior quality in terms of sharpness, although the swirly bokeh is little concerning. I am tempted to get a lighter 28mm lens, and was looking to get an Elmarit 28mm, but the CV is pulling me away from the Elmarit. Shorter focus distance of 5m of the CV is also a big plus.
Great video Benj! CV is really knocking their new lenses out of the park. Curious if anyone's done any comparison (or if you've used?) the CV 28mm f/3.5 Color-Skopar lens? It's rare and easily the smallest 28mm lens but it's damn sharp and a great performer! Though not great on digital (colour) unfortunately due to colour shifts on the edge.
Thanks for the comparison.I would like to purchase the Voigtlander at some time in the future and this is a very pleasing result .I would love to see more images including landscape etc if you have the time.Either way thanks again.
In your future 28mm Voigt review, could you please also give it a go on an aps-c body? I love the 40mm FF equivalence and would like to see if it loses some of its character on a crop body!
I’m so glad you said that, because I have a liking for the swirl. I also have to admit that I like it in a slight moderate amount on the edges. The perfect example for me would be the Pentax Takumar 55mm f1.8. Sorry, I didn’t mean to compare apples and oranges..!!
Since the Ultron doesn’t have 6-bit coding, was the lens profile selected manually in the lens detection menu? Or was lens detection turned off for everything?
Hey Alex just curious have you ever compared the 35mm summicron against the 35 ultron? I have the 28 ultron V2 and love it....curious to know how the 35 is.
@@reyrey5250 Hi Rey Rey. I was looking for a new 35mm f/2 recently and shot the Zeiss, Ultron, and Summicron alongside each other and in the shop, I found the Ultron outperformed even the Summicron.
Had the elmarit v4 which was great, but I up’d to the summicron v1. Hood is stupid, but the lesser contrast isn’t a bad thing. I’d like to up to the v2, but I was carrying a Q at the time and that Lux was my ace.
Imagine it would make sense to code the ultron as a summicrom asph in the camera menu? wondering if you did that on the test? One thing for certain is that the voigtlander is sharper than the summicrom and possibly the sharpest 28mm lens available for m mount cameras.
@@benjhaisch thanks ben,must admit i am very keen on the ultron 2 ,reviews on the fred miranda forum and others make a good case for an outstanding lens,especially as its so tiny.
Hi Ben, perfect timing.. I have been struggling to decide between Ultron 2 and cron. The main thing I don't like is crazy bokeh that I found with 35 Ultron. Would you be able to do some head/shoulder portrait comparison? Thank you.. I want to see how much that distorts the face and the bokeh...I think cron is very good in that aspect.
Great comparison I’ve seen comparisons where Voigtlander edges out Leica and vise versa…..and in this comparison we’re splitting hairs. Overall taking all things into consideration they’re about equal as a brand….and so price is the deciding factor not quality.
in stress test 1... the Leica had more of the 3d pop by far, than the Voigtlander. Wish it were not so, but for me, that is the main reason for shooting Leica glass. It has something to do with the way focus and contrast are related and they way they fall off in inverse proportion. That is my poor translation of an interview with the Leica lens master.
How much is the improvement on the Voightlander between the version 1 amd 2 ? Considering to buy one soon. Surprisingly, the Voightlander is selling very well and is out of stock most of the time.
They’re fairly different from my recollection. Q-series is about a 26mm while this feels like a true 28mm in comparison or maybe even 29mm. f/1.7 vs f/2 isn’t huge, but is helpful if needed.
Weirdly specific question: Does the new Voigtlander 28mm have firmer aperture detents than the older version? I'm constantly accidentally changing my aperture on my version 1 and it drives me bananas
Nice review. I do think that Voigtlander are not only great lenses, but they’re also authentic in doing their own thing and offering a different, sometimes smaller option to Leica glass. In comparison, 7 Artisans are basically bad clones and worse than that, in legal terms they are “passing off” with their rip-off Leica styling. This is a shame. Other Chinese brands are finding their own authentic way in the market and are making some truly great products. As a friendly voice, I would advise 7 Artisans to find their own functional design language, this will serve them better in the long term.
I get that this is a technical comparison, and much respect for the depth of knowledge on the matter. But I find this modern photography obsession with sharpness detrimental. I think every 5th word was sharp in this video. Would have loved to see more actual photos in different real scenarios to help lean away from the technical aspects.
I went from the Ultron asph v1 35mm to a Summarit and it's similar, the Voigtlander has a strong vignette at f2 but it's sharper. They're killing it with their new Ultron lenses, I'd love to pick up the 28mm sometime.
Man, that new Ultron is heaps better than the first version. Very impressed. It holds up well against the summicron and for such a small package (and price? can we say that?), that would make it an easy purchase decision.
I’d love the speed, but I can’t complain about the results I get from my Zeiss 28mm 2.8 biogon.
Thanks for the video. It would be nice to see a comparative in between the Voigtlander 28mm Ultron and the ZEISS Biogon T* 28mm.
And the Zeiss zm 28mm 2.8 Biogon?
Just noticed while watching this again, the first set of pictures, there is definitely more pop with the cron irrespective of sharpness etc.
Focus accuracy also depends on the lens calibration. If The lens cam is profiled slightly differently it will result in a mis-focus. The 7 artisans lenses have been reported in the past to need calibration in the camera that they are used in.
Thanks for the well done review.
I think you may be right that the Leica isn't focused exactly at the same place as the Voigtländer. There seems to be ever so slightly green fringing in the front of the camera and more on the focus tab, while the Ultron II has a bit of magenta fringing in the front and less green on the focus tab. (I do think the Ultron II may be sharper, even if the Summicron was focused correctly nonetheless.)
I have now ordered the Ultron II for its price and sharpness corner to corner, but the extra vignetting in the sides and corners means its depth of field and blur will be less than the Summicron Asph II. I wouldn't recommend buying the Summicron Asph II now that we have the Ultron II available, but I bought it almost a year ago, so will compare the two for my self and decide which to keep.
Regarding the 7A @ f/2: Could you check the shutter speed and compare it to those shot with the Ultron and Summicron? When looking at the background blur, I think we are seeing a faster than f/2 aperture from the 7Artisans lens (even in the center of the image) when it is set to f/2. This also may explain why there isn't _ that_ much difference in blur between f/1.4 and f/2.
For those who consider the 7A, I'd like to add that, while it is quite sharp near the minimum focus distance, it is plain awful at medium to long distances until f/2.8 _outside_the_center_. At f/5.6 it is impressively sharp from corner to corner, though.
The big surprise for me is the 7Artisans. I'm reviewing on a 32" 4K monitor, and I'm seeing equivalent sharpness on the zoomed shots (first set, closer). Less CA. The image seems brighter (more light transmission and less vignetting, though I like vignetting). Perhaps this is a tradeoff due to the physical size difference? In any event, that 7Artisans seems surprisingly good in this comparison. Background out of focus seems better as well. Would have been interesting to see the Leica compared to it. Thanks for the comparisons.
yeah seemed like the 7a was much brighter compared to the other two
Nice comparison - would love to hear more depth on the Ultron II!
Voigtlander being the newer design, it seems to have superior quality in terms of sharpness, although the swirly bokeh is little concerning. I am tempted to get a lighter 28mm lens, and was looking to get an Elmarit 28mm, but the CV is pulling me away from the Elmarit. Shorter focus distance of 5m of the CV is also a big plus.
Great video Benj! CV is really knocking their new lenses out of the park. Curious if anyone's done any comparison (or if you've used?) the CV 28mm f/3.5 Color-Skopar lens? It's rare and easily the smallest 28mm lens but it's damn sharp and a great performer! Though not great on digital (colour) unfortunately due to colour shifts on the edge.
How is the handling of Voigtlander? I have a v1 summicron, love it…but, the voigtlander is tempting :D
Full review coming soon :)
Hey Dude,
I heard you on the Brooklyn Pod Cast great job! looking at MP'S now
Thanks for the comparison.I would like to purchase the Voigtlander at some time in the future and this is a very pleasing result .I would love to see more images including landscape etc if you have the time.Either way thanks again.
full review with samples coming :)
In your future 28mm Voigt review, could you please also give it a go on an aps-c body? I love the 40mm FF equivalence and would like to see if it loses some of its character on a crop body!
Great comparison, but maybe comparing closeup portraits will help decide the lens we prefer.
I may be in the 000000.0000001 percentile, but I dig the swirl.
I like it too. In times when every iphone can do boring background smear, lenses with character bokeh have a whole new value
I’m so glad you said that, because I have a liking for the swirl. I also have to admit that I like it in a slight moderate amount on the edges. The perfect example for me would be the Pentax Takumar 55mm f1.8. Sorry, I didn’t mean to compare apples and oranges..!!
Where is ttartisan 50mm f0.95 review
Since the Ultron doesn’t have 6-bit coding, was the lens profile selected manually in the lens detection menu? Or was lens detection turned off for everything?
I have the new Voigtlander 35f2 Ultron v2 and its been a winner. Might pick up the 28 too at this point. Just that good tbh.
Hey Alex just curious have you ever compared the 35mm summicron against the 35 ultron? I have the 28 ultron V2 and love it....curious to know how the 35 is.
@@reyrey5250 Hi Rey Rey. I was looking for a new 35mm f/2 recently and shot the Zeiss, Ultron, and Summicron alongside each other and in the shop, I found the Ultron outperformed even the Summicron.
@@LifeByStills wow that’s good to hear!
@@LifeByStills was this on film or digital?
They just have very different renderings but the Ultron really is very very good.
I’m really interested, comparing the Crons v1 vs v2 on an M10R or monochrome.
Nice video. Would love to see one on the Chinacron.
Had the elmarit v4 which was great, but I up’d to the summicron v1. Hood is stupid, but the lesser contrast isn’t a bad thing. I’d like to up to the v2, but I was carrying a Q at the time and that Lux was my ace.
Hey Ben, you know if there is a difference in performance in between the Voigt 28mm VII to the older version? Thx a lot!
the version II was significantly better, at least in my testing
Imagine it would make sense to code the ultron as a summicrom asph in the camera menu? wondering if you did that on the test?
One thing for certain is that the voigtlander is sharper than the summicrom and possibly the sharpest 28mm lens available for m mount cameras.
sure, I didn't do that and didn't add any profile corrections, but the Leica might be doing some in camera lifting there, so a good point!
@@benjhaisch thanks ben,must admit i am very keen on the ultron 2 ,reviews on the fred miranda forum and others make a good case for an outstanding lens,especially as its so tiny.
@@benjhaisch Would be great to know if the images with the Leica are "helped" by lens profile - particularly regarding vignetting.
Hi Ben, perfect timing.. I have been struggling to decide between Ultron 2 and cron. The main thing I don't like is crazy bokeh that I found with 35 Ultron. Would you be able to do some head/shoulder portrait comparison? Thank you.. I want to see how much that distorts the face and the bokeh...I think cron is very good in that aspect.
Great comparison I’ve seen comparisons where Voigtlander edges out Leica and vise versa…..and in this comparison we’re splitting hairs. Overall taking all things into consideration they’re about equal as a brand….and so price is the deciding factor not quality.
in stress test 1... the Leica had more of the 3d pop by far, than the Voigtlander. Wish it were not so, but for me, that is the main reason for shooting Leica glass. It has something to do with the way focus and contrast are related and they way they fall off in inverse proportion. That is my poor translation of an interview with the Leica lens master.
I wouldn't say "by far" but yes I did clearly notice this as well.
the further away you focus, the smaller the difference in focal lenght gets… focusbreathing!
How much is the improvement on the Voightlander between the version 1 amd 2 ? Considering to buy one soon. Surprisingly, the Voightlander is selling very well and is out of stock most of the time.
I’d get the version II, no question if you’re shooting digital at all
the 7artisans was substantially larger than the other 2 which could explain why it seems "more wide", could just be closer
Hey Ben,
How do you think the summicron compares to the the 28 on the Q2?
They’re fairly different from my recollection. Q-series is about a 26mm while this feels like a true 28mm in comparison or maybe even 29mm. f/1.7 vs f/2 isn’t huge, but is helpful if needed.
good to know man. Wondering if I pair down my Q2 and my SL2S and just go to an m with a 28 & 50@@benjhaisch
thanks again! great vids
Not even a Lanthar and still kickin' ass
Yeah I was just thinking that most Leica owners probably over value their lenses
Leica feels nice in the hand and has certain color look to it thats hard to describe. I used to think it was overvalued at one point
no matter how good the 3rd party brand lenses are, the prices will go down, unlike the native leicas
So what... you spend 400 instead of 4000 USD. How much could you lose with the 7A, 50 bucks? And people buy lenses to use them, not as investments.
@@villagranvicent some don’t. But yeah I tend to keep my lenses and shoot the hell out of it
Weirdly specific question: Does the new Voigtlander 28mm have firmer aperture detents than the older version? I'm constantly accidentally changing my aperture on my version 1 and it drives me bananas
I don’t have both to compare, but the version II isn’t loose at all. Very firm in a good way.
I get the Leica :)
Seems the ultron knocked out of the park against the cron. Difficult to justify the leica...
&artisan has much better bookeh than leica, if not corners and size its best lens of all.
Nice review. I do think that Voigtlander are not only great lenses, but they’re also authentic in doing their own thing and offering a different, sometimes smaller option to Leica glass. In comparison, 7 Artisans are basically bad clones and worse than that, in legal terms they are “passing off” with their rip-off Leica styling. This is a shame. Other Chinese brands are finding their own authentic way in the market and are making some truly great products. As a friendly voice, I would advise 7 Artisans to find their own functional design language, this will serve them better in the long term.
Oooof! Thanks for poo-pooing on my version one Voigtlander 28.
good
Gotta turn down on the „definitely“ :-) thank you!
I’ll send you the raw video and then you can convert it into something else that you can put on the teleprompter you can send to me ;)
I get that this is a technical comparison, and much respect for the depth of knowledge on the matter. But I find this modern photography obsession with sharpness detrimental. I think every 5th word was sharp in this video. Would have loved to see more actual photos in different real scenarios to help lean away from the technical aspects.
I have specific videos on each lens here as well :)
The
I suspect that had you used focus peaking rather than rangefinder focus your results may have been different.
I did use focus peaking and 100% zoom :)
First
leica size is NOT perfect.
All depends on your wants/needs