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Full Voigtländer 21mm f/1.8 Ultron Review

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Announced at Photokina 2012 in September last year, the lens starting getting out to people in January and especially February of this year. Coming in at $1,250 USD - is it worth it? Check out this extensive and in-depth review of the lens.

Long and short of it; it's really quite good and represents an exceptional value.

Voigtländer 21mm f/1.8 Ultron Review

(This review is now fully accessible by the public - members got to preview first it over the weekend)
 

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Thanks, Ashwin!

In some cases (IQ, price) it's better than the Summilux, in others (build, speed) it's not. A very reasonable alternative indeed, with some surprisingly good performance - and obvious value.
 

ashwinrao1

Active member
So cool that CV is putting out lenses with such great capacity for IQ, which is king for me..

Great work, Michael. Any chance you can put up some close focus, wide angle shots to show off Out-of-focus properties in standard and harsh lighting?
 

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With this lens, they've really done well - the bokeh leans towards the 35 Nokton rather than the 50, and so far I haven't detected any focus shift like with the 28 Ultron (and 50 Nokton).

Thanks again, and - absolutely. I'll be adding more images exactly along those lines, as well as dark scenes shortly. I realized I didn't have anything that really illustrates the bokeh, at least that I'd show publicly. Just some crappy test shots.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
This lens interests me as an add-on to a second 3-lens kit (21/35/75) I'm planning for the Monochrom.
 

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You might just enjoy the 1,8/21 Ultron, 1,2/35 Nokton and 1,8/75 Heliar Classic combo.

If I thought I'd get along with the focal length, I'd love to check out either the f/2.5 or f/1.8 75mm lenses from CV (or Summilux and APO-Summmicron for that matter). But alas; 75mm does not excite me in the least.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
You might just enjoy the 1,8/21 Ultron, 1,2/35 Nokton and 1,8/75 Heliar Classic combo.

If I thought I'd get along with the focal length, I'd love to check out either the f/2.5 or f/1.8 75mm lenses from CV (or Summilux and APO-Summmicron for that matter). But alas; 75mm does not excite me in the least.
Yeah I'm traditionally a 24/35/50/90 guy but I started enjoying the 35/75 combo (~effective length adapting my 50 Planar to my NEX) a lot last summer where it fits. I already bought the 21 Ultron in December or January and will make some time to see how it really works for me soon I hope.
 

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Ahh, gotcha. Yeah I normally am too. When I got the M8 I pretty much centered everything around the 2,8/25; so 25/35/50/90 for me (too). Then I got the 28 Cron ASPH and I was in love. The 25 is a bit close and not all that wide, so 21 it was.

But I'm a slut for speed and bokeh, as long as it performs. :p
 

seakayaker

Active member
You might just enjoy the 1,8/21 Ultron, 1,2/35 Nokton and 1,8/75 Heliar Classic combo.

If I thought I'd get along with the focal length, I'd love to check out either the f/2.5 or f/1.8 75mm lenses from CV (or Summilux and APO-Summmicron for that matter). But alas; 75mm does not excite me in the least.
Having owned both the 75/1.8 and the 75/2.5 the one I would choose to own is the 75/2.5. It was a great lens and enjoyed shooting with it, the size works really well with the rangefinder, focusing the lens and the rendering of the photographs more appealing. Different strokes for different folks and YMMV.

I would like to try the 21/1.8 at some point in time but the favorite three lenses from Voigtlander that I have owned are the 28/1.9 Ultron Asph, the 50/1.5 Nokton, and the 75/2.5 Color Heliar, all LTM lenses. Still have the 28/1.9 and 50/1.5 and have been using the 28/1.9 quite a bit lately.

Thanks for the review. Slow responses to the review may be due to the three day holiday weekend.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
Having owned both the 75/1.8 and the 75/2.5 the one I would choose to own is the 75/2.5. It was a great lens and enjoyed shooting with it, the size works really well with the rangefinder, focusing the lens and the rendering of the photographs more appealing. Different strokes for different folks and YMMV.

I would like to try the 21/1.8 at some point in time but the favorite three lenses from Voigtlander that I have owned are the 28/1.9 Ultron Asph, the 50/1.5 Nokton, and the 75/2.5 Color Heliar, all LTM lenses. Still have the 28/1.9 and 50/1.5 and have been using the 28/1.9 quite a bit lately.

Thanks for the review. Slow responses to the review may be due to the three day holiday weekend.
Agreed. The new cv75 didn't do it for me based on pictures I've seen.
 

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I've heard nothing but good things about the 2,5/75.

It's funny; so many good lenses being mentioned here. You really have to hand it to Cosina/Voigtländer - they come up with some real winners sometimes.
 

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Working on more examples and how to stuff them into the review, but in the meantime...

The first is at .5m and the second at .7m. There is spherochromatism in the bokeh and this time, ACR didn't do a great job removing it. But it's hard to see except at full size; only some hints at this size.

 

RS

New member
:thumbup: for the review...
My guess is that everyone is selling lens to finance their new M so interest is low?
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
:thumbup: for the review...
My guess is that everyone is selling lens to finance their new M so interest is low?
Maybe but it's usually great pictures that sell lenses. Few people own the 21 Ultron but once people see what it can do then they will be open to it... if it's great.
 
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