The Online Photographer

Just Right: The Voigtlander Ultron 40mm f/2 SL II Aspherical in Canon EF Mount

Voigtländer 40mm SL next to an EF 50mm ƒ/1.4. Note absence of aperture ring.

By James Leynse

The Voigtländer Ultron 40mm ƒ/2 SL II Aspherical (a long name for a small lens) is, to quote Mike quoting Sally Mann, "just about right." While Mike and Sally were referring in general to the 40mm focal length, the quote applies equally well to this little gem of a lens.

I recently acquired the newly released Ultron to use on my Canon 5D Mark II. The lens will work equally well on a cropped sensor camera, but it is particularly well suited to full frame. The lens is part of Voigtländer’s SLII series of lenses for Nikon, Pentax, and now Canon cameras. They come in three flavors: 20mm ƒ/3.5, 58mm ƒ/1.4, and 40mm ƒ/2. The 40 is what’s called a "pancake" (a lens type that's been missing from Canon’s lineup) as it's only about an inch long. It ships with a cute, stubby lens shade to which an included close-up filter can be attached. With filter on, the lens can focus down to less than 10 inches (.25m). The lens is chipped and couples seamlessly with Canon’s metering system but—and I will talk about this more in a moment—it's a manual focus lens.

Like many who read this site, I have long sought the elusive DMD. I‘ve given up on most point-and-shoots for anything other than party snaps and, while the new Micro 4/3 cameras seem promising, I’m not really looking to buy into a new system. What I really want is something I can slip into my bag with the cameras I'm already carrying.

The little Ultron meets this need nicely. The lens mounted on the 5D Mark II takes up only a little more room than the camera body alone. Hanging around my neck, the combination doesn’t seem much heavier or bulkier than my old Leica M6. Construction is solid, with none of the play found on many autofocus lenses. The rubberized focusing ring turns smoothly and precisely with nice "focus snap" when looking through the finder. Since the aperture on my Ultron is controlled electronically via the camera, my lens lacks the physical aperture ring found on the Nikon and Pentax versions.

Having cut my teeth as a photographer on a mechanical Nikon FM2, returning to a manual focus lens seems like coming home. I had forgotten the simple joy of watching the image come into focus in the finder. For some, learning how to quickly and accurately manually focus with the Ultron will take a little time. While with practice this does become easier, take it from someone who spent countless teenage hours perfecting his focusing on a bedroom wall; you will never best the speed and accuracy of a modern "USM" or "Silent Wave" lens.

However, speed isn’t really what the Ultron is all about. For my needs, manually focusing this lens is fast enough. If I really need to shoot fast, I can always use the nicely engraved depth-of-field scale to zone focus. As they used to say: "ƒ/8 and be there" is good enough.

To improve focus accuracy, I switched to Canon’s EG-S screen in my camera. As many of you might already know, camera manufacturers assume that most people only use autofocus. They put focusing screens into their DSLRs that favor finder brightness over finder "snap." Using a screen like the EG-S returns things to the old state of affairs but with the caveat that, when using lenses with maximum apertures slower than ƒ/4, the camera’s finder goes noticeably dark. This only effects the image you are seeing through the lens and not how the final picture looks, but it is something to be aware of before running out and purchasing the new screen.

Optically, there is very little to complain about with the Ultron. I am not really one for "pixel peeping." I have seen many great pictures taken with mediocre lenses and the inverse as well. That being said, I find this lens to be very sharp, with good contrast and pleasing bokeh. It suffers from slight corner softness wide open. It has mild barrel distortion (well controlled for this type of lens) easily fixed in Photoshop or some other program. To my eyes, it has a nice way of "drawing" and has good microcontrast.

Having now used a 40mm for the first time, I have to agree with Mike and Sally that this focal length does seem about right. It hits the sweet spot (on a full frame camera) between 35mm and 50mm. In the past, I have often gone back and forth between which of those I prefer as my walk around lens: 35mm is too wide to get an undistorted head shot, but a 50mm can be too tight for types of shooting where you want to emphasize more than one element. Forty millimeter seems like a good compromise: wider than a 50mm but not too distorted to get a flattering portrait. In other words…just right.

James

James Leynse is a professional photographer living and working in "the New York area." In other words…New Jersey.

His work can be seen on his website and his blog.

ADDENDUM: Wieland Willker has a more technical test of this lens here. —MJ

Lenses by the Label

A brief story somewhat related to the previous post (and this is basically all hearsay, so don't take these facts as gospel): The Exakta 66 Model 1 was instigated, according to what I heard at the time, by a German industrialist named Heinrich Mandermann, who in the 1980s had added to his considerable portfolio of companies both Rollei and Schneider-Kreuznach. His modernized Pentacon Six, the Exakta 66, began shipping in about 1986; I believe I reviewed it in 1988. He saved Pentacon from liquidation in 1991 and owned Rollei until, I believe, 1996.

I'm afraid I don't know Herr Mandermann, don't know if he's still with us, or still unretired; don't know if he still owns Schneider, although I think not—if I recall it was sold in 2000 to an American Company (and I don't know if that arrangement still holds, either). So I can't really tell you much about the connection between the East German Pentacon and the Exakta 66. Did the Pentacon factory in Dresden make the Exakta 66, or parts of it? Did Herr Mandermann buy Pentacon in part to preserve Exakta 66 production? That seems unlikely. It also seems unlikely the Exakta 66 was made to use up old parts, because the Model III was still being sold new as late as 1996. The last new products were cleared out, again if memory serves, by Baier Fototechnik. [This is wrong; it was Foto Walser. Thanks to Ralf for the correction.]

Here's the story that impressed me at the time, though. What I heard was that Herr Mandermann, on purchasing Rollei, sought to improve the marque by commissioning Schneider-Kreuznach to create a whole new line of state-of-the-art lenses for the Rollei 6000 series (the original 6006, budget 6002 lacking the interchangeable back, and überdrüberkamera 6008 "Integral"). These lenses were better in pretty much every way than some of the Zeiss lenses that had served the Rolleis up until that point: they were newer designs, sharper, performed better, and were smaller and lighter, as well as being consistently designed across the range—and handsomer, with their chrome filter bayonets. There were a couple of showoff lenses in the line, too, like the superfast 80mm ƒ/2 normal and the 90mm ƒ/4 macro, which one magazine proclaimed as the sharpest lens it had ever tested. I believe they were less expensive, even, although I couldn't swear to that.

Yet here's the thing: consumers snubbed them. Nobody bought 'em. Schneider might have had the better performing lenses, but Zeiss had the better performing name: Hasselblads used Zeisses, aficionados took it as an article of faith at the time that Zeiss Planars and Tessars were superior to Schneider Xenotars and Xenars on Rolleiflex TLRs, and by Joseph (or, more accurately, "by Carl"), people wanted Zeisses on their Rollei 6000s—even if they weren't actually quite as good! (Not that there's anything wrong with a Zeiss.) The smart, slick new Schneiders went begging.

It was an early object lesson about the camera market for me: people buy lenses by the name, like buying wine by the label. (Not that there's anything wrong with the Schneider name.)

Anyway, I agree with robert e that the larger negative size of medium format takes the heat off the lenses somewhat (even poorish lenses can look very nice in front of a large enough piece of film), but if you want a sleeper lens for 2 1/4 square, one of those rare lenses that seems to do everything right, keep half an eye out for a normal Schneider Xenotar PQ HFT 80mm ƒ/2.8 for the Rollei 6000 series. (The later AF—pictured here—note that it lacks the chromed filter bayonet—is reputedly the same design.) Killer. Here's another. (Linked pics by Oleg Moiseyenko.)

Mike

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Featured Comment by Aizan: "That may have been the case when they were initially made, but not any more! The Schneider lenses for the 6000 series cameras are now more expensive and harder to find; they're much more desirable than the plain-Jane Zeisses."

Featured Comment by fotoralf: "A few short remarks on the topic: The Exakta 66 was first marketed by Mandermann's original company, Beroflex of Berlin. Early product packing states 'Beroflex, Nurnberg' as the manufacturer. That was still well before the demise of the GDR.

"Apparently, they bought Pentacon Six cameras as parts or as complete bodies and 'refined' them in West Germany.

"After the fall of the Berlin wall, Mandermann acquired a large part of Pentacon, but for reasons only known to the Treuhand—the state organisation founded for transferring the East German industry into the capitalist system—they didn't let him have the name Pentacon until years later. So, the former Pentacon operated under the name  'Josef Schneider Feinwerktechnik' (Joseph Schneider Fine Mechanics) for a few years making mostly plastic moldings of all kinds for other industries—and a few cameras on the side. From this time on, the Exakta 66 cameras were made and serviced by Schneider/Pentacon in Dresden.

"Contrary to all claims, the Exakta 66 was just as unreliable as the original Pentacon Six and it suffered from exactly the same problems: transport, shutter, film counter. I've had two of them and they've spent more time at the Dresden customer service than in my camera bag. More often than not, I got them back either unrepaired or with a new problem freshly built-in. During the same period, I had a Kiev 60 which, by comparison, was a model of reliability as it worked for years without the slightest hitch.

"Well into the new millenium, Exakta 66 cameras and service suffered from the old-style socialist nonchalance that had brought down their whole economy.

"After the end of Exakta 66 production, the remaining stocks were not taken over  by Foto Baier (the suppliers of the well-known anti-glare kits) as you suggest, but by Foto Walser of Burgheim."

Zeiss ZE 21mm for Canon

Zeiss has introduced its fourth premium manual-focus lens in the ZE series, the Zeiss Distagon T* 21mm ƒ/2.8 ZE, fully compatible with Canon EF mount. (The 18mm ƒ/3.5 was introduced two weeks ago. The other two are the 50mm and 85mm ƒ/1.4's.) The new lens covers 24x36mm "full frame." The street price has not yet been determined, but the Nikon and Pentax versions each sell for $1,490.

Zeiss USA's Rich Schleuning has posted a flickr page of sample pictures taken with the new lens.

Mike

UPDATE: In response to a reader's question, I asked Rich about upcoming ZE Zeiss lenses for Canon EF mount. He tells me that although the four listed above are the only ones officially announced so far, "additional lenses will be announced over the next two months, including the 2/28, 2/35 and the 2/50 and 2/100 macros." —Mike

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More on the 20mm f/1.7 Lumix G

PhotographyBlog has posted a generous number of samples from the Panasonic Lumix GF1 and the Lumix G 20mm ƒ/1.7, including a full ISO set with raw files, taken at the European launch in Berlin. The picture above was shot on the "Elegant" My Color custom JPEG preset.

I must say it looks like a particularly fine lens. One wonders if the Wizards of Solms* had a hand in its design.

Also, the 20mm ƒ/1.7 will be sold separately for those who might wish to use it on their Olympus E-P1 or Panasonic G1 or GH1 cameras.

Mike

*Leica, although this locution doesn't have the nice alliteration of "Wizards of Wetzlar." So ist das Leben.

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Featured Comment by JonA: "I suggest 'Sorcerers of Solms' to keep the alliteration alive."

Sweet Prime for Canon DSLRs

By Sabrina Weniger

In the just-released current (July, 2009) issue of Zeiss Camera Lens News there's a short article by Sabrina Weniger about working with the new Zeiss ZE Planar T* 50mm ƒ/1.4 for Canon EF mount.

The Zeiss Planar 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZE is probably only "better" than its Canon equivalent at ƒ/1.4 and perhaps ƒ/2—but it "draws" differently (as Sean Reid might say), and its beautiful build and handling make it a very satisfying long-normal lens on full-frame DSLRs as well as a superb portrait-type optic for any of the better Canon APS-C cameras. (And thus, as I probably don't need to point out, a sweet lens to have both now and later if you're planning a future move from a reduced-sensor Canon to a full-frame one). There's a good review (of the Nikon equivalent, which I assume is optically identical) here.

Mike

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Weddings with a Telephoto

By Jeff Ascough

I'd never seen Jeff Ascough's wedding photography blog before. It's worthwhile—well-written and thoughtful, and Jeff obviously knows what he's doing. Here's a nice piece about shooting weddings with a telephoto lens. You might not agree with it, or all of it (I hope I don't just post links to things I agree with...), but it highlights the fact that a lot about shooting technique has nothing to do with the photo-technical aspect:

Being unobtrusive is largely about behaviour, rather than dressing in black and trying to blend into the shadows.

What people do find uncomfortable, is the idea that they are being 'spied on.' Standing away from a group of people at a drinks reception, and pointing a large telephoto at them is far more suspicious in terms of behaviour, than being in and around them taking pictures. Guests can't see the photographer's face, and non-verbal communication is missing. This can lead to a degree of discomfort and a change in behaviour patterns, which I believe leads to poorer pictures.

If I were a wedding photographer I think I'd bookmark that blog. Sometimes I think that the highest compliment I can pay another photographer is to say he's a good shooter. (Or she.) And good wedding photographers are good shooters, for sure.

Mike
(Thanks to Geoff McCann)

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Featured Comment by hlinton: "I'm kind of on the fence about this. Having shot events and weddings (and other assignments) all over the world I don't think one can limit themselves to just this or that approach. At times it works but as times change so do the processes. I use three zooms ranging from 16 to 200mm. Can't go anywhere without them. I was beginning to think that I never shoot anything wider than 28mm only to discover while shooting a party recently that I would have been in big trouble without the wider zoom. By the end of the night everything was shot on a 70–200. I really think it comes down to personalities. Jeff attracts the type of client that he shoots best allowing him to utilize his skills in a way that's appropriate for him. That's not to say that I don't agree with him. I just think that we all get to where we're going in our own way and his way may be (and most likely is) different than your way."

Now That's An Adapter

A couple of weeks ago, in response to a post about an apochromat enlarging lens, Tyler Monson linked to a picture of an apochromat of his own—a 4-inch Göerz Red-Dot Artar, c. 1960.

In passing, he threatened to find a way to mount it to a DSLR and actually take a picture with it.

As you can see, and as he documents in a recent blog post of his own, he succeeded—shown above is his steampunk lensmount, allowing focusing of the Göerz process lens all the way from infinity down to one foot.

And here's one of the pictures taken with the Artar, stopped down to ƒ/45. And you thought a 50mm Summicron on a G1 was out there?

Nice, eh?

Mike
(Thanks to Tyler)

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Panasonic Gets In On Adapter Action

This morning Panasonic has released official versions of Leica lens adapters for its Lumix G cameras (G1 and GH1). The M Mount Adaptor (DMW-MA2M, left) and R Mount Adaptor (DMW-MA3R, right) for Leica manual-focus rangefinder (M) and manual-focus SLR (R) lenses were developed with the full c0-operation  of Leica Camera AG. Various third-party providers have previously marketed M adapters for the Micro 4/3 system. The rundown on compatibilities of specific lenses will eventually be found on this page, although nothing's been posted yet. No word yet on pricing or availability.

Mike
(Thanks to Vlatko)

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Voigtlaender Nokton 50mm f/1.1 in Leica M Mount

 
The word out of Japan today is that Voigtländer is introducing a premium, superfast 50mm ƒ/1.1 lens with ultra-high refractive index glass to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Cosina's Bessa series of rangefinder cameras (sorry I don't have a bigger picture of the lens). The 7-element lens in Leica M mount is 69.6mm long by 57.2mm diameter (2.74 x 2.25 in.), takes 58mm filters, and and weighs 428g (15 oz.). (The Google English translation of the Japanese page is a little rough...it says the lens weighs 15 oz. "food included." It should be "hood not included." Also note the charming translation of "bokeh" as "mild dementia"!) Significantly, the announced Japanese price of ¥125,000 is 1/5th the (Japanese) price of the Leica Noctilux ƒ/0.95, and 1/10th that of the "Last 100" Leica Noctilux ƒ/1. (¥125,000 is equivalent to $1,300, £840, and €954 at current exchange rates, although that does not mean those will be the lens's eventual export prices.) The focal length would be 65mm-e on the Leica M8.2. No word yet on whether the lens will be for export or Japan only.

Mike
(Thanks to Thien Onn Ming)

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ADDENDUM:

The great photo enthusiast Tom Abrahamsson. Photo by Kobayashi-san, President of Cosina and the mastermind behind the Voigtländer Bessa line of cameras, lenses and accessories, taken with the new lens.

A set of test pictures taken by Tom and Tuulikki Abrahamsson with the new lens. (Thanks to Simon Mitternacht for this.)

ADDENDUM II:

(Thanks to Amin and chanpei for this.)

Just to be clear, the camera apparently comes with the solid, screw-in hood pictured above; a clip on, ventilated hood is an optional accessory that costs ¥12,000 in Japan.

Featured Comment by Tom Abrahamsson: "I have heard a tentative price in the U.S. of $1149 with the stock hood. The LH7 hood is slightly larger, clamp type.

"I did have a chance to shoot half a dozen rolls with this lens in Japan in March. I am impressed! Not only is it good at ƒ/1.1—but it is also very sharp and has nice contrast at mid- apertures. It is slightly smaller than the Noctilux (58mm filter size) and combined with the performance wide open and at mid apertures, it will make a really attractive all-'round 50mm lens. I don't know what it is like fully stopped down—didn't shoot at ƒ/16—but I suspect it is just as good there."

Zeiss 35mm f/2 ZF Distagon T*

Sean Reid has just published his review of the Zeiss 35mm ƒ/2 lens for Nikon SLRs over at Reid Reviews (note: RR is a pay site). Interestingly, his review seems to confirm that the lens is upcoming in Canon EF mount as well. I'll see if I can dig up any further information on that.

The Zeiss 35mm ƒ/2 (it's also available in Pentax mount, although on Pentax DSLRs it's always 52mm-e) is probably my favorite 35mm lens of all the dozens of 35mms I've used over the years, although naturally I have some lingering sentimental affection for certain others, including the much older Mandler-designed Leica R lens. I've used the Zeiss only on a Nikon film camera so far, with B&W film. That might be a tad contrarian, since one of the major attractions of Zeiss lens designs is their splendid color transmission characteristics (a trait shared by the really quite special Pentax 15mm DA Limited lens I've been using recently).

Mike

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