Voigtländer 23/1.2 (Z mount)

[Airy]

Well, I ordered the Viltrox 23/1.4 but made a fatal mistake today: visiting PhotoCineHouse in Brussels, where they have the near-complete Voigts on display. Guess what?...

After some tests I decided to buy it. My first Voigt lens was the 58/1.4, good optics but even better handling and flare resistance. Then came the 40/2 (F mount too), then the 50/1.0 (Z mount).

This 23/1.2 however got few reviews, and not always positive, hence my precautions. Manufacturing quality and handling are up to the Voigt standards. Especially the focussing action is a joy to use. There is an aperture ring with smooth clicks, also nice. The size is minimal (feels like Leica M).

Optical qualities are better than what the reviews suggested. Wide open  or nearly (f/1.2-f/1.6) the contrast is relatively mild but sharpness is decent and there is no "haze"or "glow" or "bleeding", nor any artifact howling "fast lens! fast lens!". Also, and quite unlike most Zeiss lenses for instance,the vignetting is moderate. See for instance these test shots (all f/1.2):

[Airy]

There may be some veiling flare under certain strong light incidences from the sides, but in general the contrast is OK. See following two, shot at f/7.1 or /8:
Black remains black.

[Airy]

Close-up performance is good, see here at f/4.0:

[Airy]

And at f/2.0

[Airy]

Bottom line: I am more than pleased.
Next: Viltrox vs. Voigtländer.

[richardHaw]

many people who write reviews don't know what they are talking about
such as the one that starts with phob.....
it's obviously a sony/fuji shill shit

i am on the lookout for one of these...i want to open it up

[Airy]

Quick brickwall shooting test (short distance) :
@1.2 center sharpness and contrast = average, corners somewhat blurry - on the horizontal axis, about 4/5 delivers usable sharpness. As stated previously, the image is not exactly "punchy", but does not show any nasty artefacts.
@1.4 center sharpness increases. No big improvement in corners
@1.6 center contrast improves, good result. No big improvement in corners
@1.8 center contrast and sharpness quite good. Corner vignetting much less conspicuous
@ >2.0-5.6 center contrast and sharpness remains about the same (pixel peeping may tell you otherwise). Vignetting still there at @2.0, but decent. Sharpness is more homogeneous but for the extreme corners, which will require 4.0.

Focus shift is not of concern.

Bottom line, the results seem in line with that you would expect from a modern but super-compact lens (which, alas, is anti-modern).

Only noticeable flaw found so far is coma. The last time I met a "modern" lens with good coma characteristics was the Tamron 45/1.8 VC, the true "Noct" of modern times.