New Voigtlander lenses for M mount and Micro 4/3!

New Voigtlander lenses for M mount and Micro 4/3!

Pre Order Links – $100 deposit at Cameraquest:

The new 35 1.7 in Black – and in Chrome

The 40 2.8

The 15 4.5 III

and the 10.5 0.95 for M 4/3

 

Photokina is the gift that just keeps on giving. Today Voigtlander announced the new 35 1.7 Ultron lens in VM mount (Leica). This is yet ANOTHER fast 35mm option for Leica M or Sony A7 users. HOW SWEET IT IS! The cool thing is that the Voigtlander lenses are just as well made as the Zeiss lenses and offer image quality that may not equal Zeiss or Leica but is still VERY nice. Take a look at the new 35 1.7 Ultron VM, which looks similar to the amazing 50 1.5 that I reviewed a while back.

voigtlander

There is also a new version of the 15mm Heliar that I love so much, the new VM Heliar 15 II. No pic yet but will have one soon. Finally, another new Leica M mount lens from Voigtlander will be the 40mm 2.8 Heliar pancake lens, a slim and gorgeous retro design. So three new Leica mount lenses from Voigtlander! Woohoo!

New-Voigtländer-VM-lenses-for-Leica-M-mount-announced-at-Photokina-2014

In addition, there is a new Voigtlander 10.5mm f/0.95 for Micro 4/3 which will give you a 20mm 0.95 equivalent (and yes this is a 0.95 lens and has 0.95 light gathering ability, period). This kind of puts a dent in the new SLR Magic 10mm T 2.1 by upping the ante to f/0.95.

nokton-10-5mm-0-95

You can pre-order these lenses at my Voigtlander recommended dealers, CAMERAQUEST.COM. They should have them listed today. I will be reviewing these new VM lenses for sure! Not sure of pricing just yet, but Voigtlander is always reasonable.

You can also buy Voigtlander at B&H Photo HERE.

26 Comments

  1. Good. A comparison between the 35mm lenses that are available on M mount would be interesting. There is Voigtlander with this new 35 plus the 35mm f:1.4 Nokton and f:1.2 one. Than there is also Zeiss, now with a new Distagon f:1.4 and the two Biogons (f:2.0 and f:2.8). Of course, the top of the iceberg, the Summilux and Summicron 🙂

  2. I’m glad they brought back the 35/1.7, but I like the earlier style of the LTM version better than this new M-Mount version. The original 1950s Nokton was for the Voigtlander Prominent, which had a helical built into the camera. The 50/1.5 Nokton for the Prominent is top-notch, and a version was made for the Leica. It was essentially an adapter, and had a thin focus ring and large aperture ring to accommodate the Prominent lens. It was a Kludge.

    • They have improved the lens for image quality, color shifts on M and A7 bodies and supposedly is a whole new lens. I pre-ordered one the moment it hit from Cameraquest. I love the 15 VM I have now so am happy to see they have made it even better.

  3. I’m interested in that new 15mm…there is something on the Voigtlander website that says, ‘Aspherical super-wide lens with color shift’…so hopefully they have addressed some of the issues with using the older 15mm with digital sensors.

    • Clint, this is precisely what I read about the new 15mm. Vignetting and this purple colour should be better controlled when using an a7. I have the II edition of the lens and I am very happy with it. B&W is excellent, colour can be used but needs some controlling in Lightroom. I have tested a whole bunch of VM lenses on my a7 and I love them all. You might want to read up on my experience:

      http://debartch.tumblr.com/post/72672846403/sony-a7-voigtlander-and-sony-zeiss-fe-lenses

      I should write more at some point, having used the lenses more often since my little write up ,-)

  4. Does somebody have an idea in which order of magnitude de M4/3 10mm lens pricewise could be?
    Somewhere in the $400-600 range, maybe? Than I could sell my Oly 12mm f/2 for this one.
    Would be a nice wider and brighter option for when I join Steve on the South West road trip!

    • I think it’ll be more likely around 1000-1400. So are (were) the 17.5, 25 and the 42.5. I have those three and the 10.5 would make a nice addition to them. Luckily it won’t ship too soon (in my country). So time to save up a bit ,-)

        • The M.Zuiko 12mm f/2 is actually a brilliant lens! Use it, love it, it will make you happy for many years to come. And then there’s the wonderful 17mm 1.8, 25mm 1.8 and 45mm 1.8. All together might be around 1000-1400 (buy used). Or try to get your hands on that 75mm!

          PS: those Voigtländer lenses are very big and heavy and they are manual lenses. At 0.95 wide open, they are not that easy to focus. Little movement, and you’re out of your focus zone, which is a mere couple of centimeters. Stopped down they are easier to focus and with focus peaking, they are easier to use now, as well. At the very beginning I only had the 25 and found it at times frustrating to get the shots right without focus assistance. Took quite some practise.

          I don’t know if you have any eyperience using manual lenses on mft, if not, you might start to find out using a cheap combo like a Pixco or Quenox adapter plus eg. a 50 Canon FD or 35 Nikon, Minolta, Konica.. Anything old is fine together with the appropriate adapter, actually. Remember it doubles, so 50 will be showing a picture eq 100mm. Very nice for portraits if you manage to get a 1.4 ,-)

  5. The 40mm is a cracking addition!

    Can’t see room for a depth of field scale on the lens though which would be a major omission but considering the minuscule pancake design I understand why it would not be there.

    • I understand the 40mm is just a lens head for the VM-E close-up adapter and only meant to be used on Sony mirrorless cameras, even though it features an M mount.

      • Aha, many thanks for the clarification .

        In that case I REALLY am confused. Maybe it’s an age thing? 🙂

        • True that. Don’t see why it shouldn’t be great on the M8 or adapted to Fuji X/MFT? Besides, as a 15mm, it will focus pretty sharp from close by to infinity when stopped down to 5.6-8.0 ,-)

          • Oh, sorry, the 40mm – I read the 15mm is also better for use on the a7 with the VM-E close up. Still, I’d have a look at the 40 to use with the M8 ,-)

  6. Those four Voigtländers would make a nice set. I mean, with a compact body like the GM5 it is really nice. It would set you back a couple of thousand, but they give a distinctive look and are also great for video.

  7. Sorry to burst your bubble Steve, but light gathering is measured in T-stops, not f-stops.

    And to be completely honest you need to specify that you’re talking about light gathering per unit of sensor area (which basically means you’re just shifting the problem).

    Nevertheless, a spectacular lens for MFT. I’m also really excited about the Panasonic MFT announcements.

      • There was a saying back in Belgium, where I went to school, which translated into english says “Knowledge is like jam. The less you have, the more you have to spread it around”. Bit of a motto for the interwebforums really 🙂

      • Is Voigtlander claiming the T-value is the same as the f-value (at max. aperture)? Phenomenal transmission, if so! Must admit I would not be inquiring about T-values, though, unless I was into very high end cinematography..

        I use an Ultron 28/1.9 and a Skopar 50/3.5. The build quality is absolutely first class, the ability to absorb shock punishment is outstanding and it’s good to see the range further expanding.

  8. If the 35/1.7 is similar to the discontinued screw-mount version, its optical performance should be excellent. Some people complained about mechanical issues with the screw-mount 35/1.7 (although I never had problems with mine) but nobody said anything bad about the image quality.

    I could do without the retro knurling and skinny ’50s-style focusing ring, though. Voigtlander lenses should be for photography, not for posing,

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