Voigtländer lenses for Z-mount

[MEPER]

Has anybody tried the new Voigtländer Z-lenses?

These (3 for DX and 4 for FX). I link to German version as fewer are shown in English version in the overview of the Z-mount lenses:
https://www.voigtlaender.de/z-anschluss/

The 50/2 APO-Lanthar shows good results in this test. Better than Nikkor 50/1.8 Z which I thought was a near perfect lens.
https://www.cameralabs.com/voigtlander-50mm-f2-apo-lanthar-review/

As a Z50 user the 35/1.2 could be tempting (if Nikon will continue this line of DX bodies). I already have the 25/4 snap-shot Skopar which is a very good lens.
The new Z-versions has contacts which makes focusing easier.

[MEPER]

The Cosina homepage has better information (here the lens cross section of the lens is correct). There are some errors (copy & paste I think) at the Voigtländer page.

https://www.cosina.co.jp/voigtlander/en/

The 65/2 APO is interesting as it is a "true APO". Many times the "APO" is a bit "so so".....

From this test:
https://www.closeuphotography.com/voigtlander-apo-lanthar-65-mm-f2-macro-lens-test

I quote this from Closeupphotography:

"When I visited the Cosina factory last month I specifically asked how well this lens is corrected and the rep explained confidently that the APO-Lanthar 65 was designed to perform at the very highest level compared to any lens on consumer market today, even better than the excellent APO-Lanthar 125mm lens. I was a little skeptical because the only other fast f/2 macro lenses that I know of, the  Zeiss ZF 100mm f/2 and the Olympus OM 90mm f/2 and both are well known for having issues with LoCAs."

With contacts for Z-mount it could be quite nice even I know that the Z-105/2.8 Micro is very good.

[Birna Rørslett]

The Voigtländer 35mm f/1.2 is excellent with my Z fc. A very neat package that merges "old fashion" and modern system interface very well.

[MEPER]

I can see it is in stock in a shop close to where I live. I might take a walk during the following days. Then I can see if I can resist the temptation.
I can check if they give me a nice sample that is super-sharp at 1.2.
I considered the 35/2.5 Color-Skopar "pancake" in Leica-M mount (I have adapter).
This lens gets very good reviews but mis the contacts and also nice with the large focus ring on 35/1.2 lens.
35/2.5 covers FX and is cheaper than 35/1.2 so it also depends on how much I need 1.2 and how it performs at 1.2.

[Birna Rørslett]

Perhaps not in the Noct league at f/1.2, but the 35/1.2 has nothing to be ashamed off ....

It will however *not* cover the entire FX frame. Not surprising as it is designed for DX.

[Kenneth Rich]

Merry Christmas, Birna. Can you show us how much it does cover?

[Birna Rørslett]

It covers 1:1 (24x24) format on the newer cameras.

[MEPER]

How can we push Nikon to produce a 24 x 24 DX square format camera?
It will have about 50% more pixels than the usual 24 x 16 sensor?
A 24MP becomes a 36MP sensor using same small lenses. If all DX-lenses have 24 x 24 "image circle"?      <-- if you only need 16mm in one direction you could make the image circle a tiny bit smaller?

[Birna Rørslett]

Any FX camera will do. If the size option of 1:1 (24x24) isn't in the menu, one can always crop later.

24x24 for a DX camera has no meaning as the sensor would need to be "full size" or nearly so. So would make the camera bigger as well.

[MEPER]

Ok, so if a FX camera is used and DX lens has contacts and communicates "DX" to the camera then there will be a need to force FX-mode?    <-- is this possible (I have never owned a FX-camera)?    but nice if 24 x 24 can be selected from menu.
For some images if DX-lens is used at 1.2 then probably most of the image will be blurred anyway and maybe the natural vignetting could be used as a feature in "full" FX-mode :-)

[Birna Rørslett]

Nah. The edges of the imaging circle are not *that* blurred. The image is quite sharp within the designated format.

Some DX lenses, like the Viltrox line, force the camera into DX mode. Others like the Voigtländer do not and one can either shoot to get severely vignetted frames, or manually put the camera to DX.

[Birna Rørslett]

This is the Voigtländer 35mm f/1.2 set wide open on my Z6 in FX mode. The image circle will be soft-edged at f/1.2 and will be very sharp at f/16.

Straigfht through Photo Ninja, no correction of geometry or vignetting. The lens has quite evident barrel distortion up close which can easily be corrected is desired. The chromatic aberration is kept quite low. There is some flare that contributes to the softening of the image unless one increases contrast later in the work flow.

I did this hand-held and focusing any f/1.2 lens at close range is a challenge so no guarantee sharpness is optimal for the scene. Depth of field is wafer thin. However, the outcome does look good in my eyes.

[MEPER]

It is quite interesting to see how much of the image circle that can be used.
It is usable at 1.2.

This review of it is not so positive. But some of the sample images at 1.2 looks ok. The X should be the same as the Z version.
https://www.lenstip.com/638.1-Lens_review-Voigtlander_Nokton_35_mm_f_1.2_X___Z_review.html

In the review he mention that even stopped down the lens never gets really sharp in the corners (DX)?

[Kenneth Rich]

Thank you, Birna.  This talk of 24X24  format comes full circle, pardon my pun, as I am reminded that in 1960 I bought my first 35mm camera, a little, well used motorized Robot 24X24 format camera.

[Birna Rørslett]

The Fuji X version apparently is a different design from the new Z lens. Voigtländer (Cosina) might have traded low geometric distortion for better handling of coma, for example. There are a lot of discrepancies from the linked report (X model)  to my own experiences with the Z version.