Voigtlander 40 SLII vs 58 SLII?

[TechIV]

Hey Get DPI wizards:

I was wondering what you all thought of the two Voigtlander lenses (40 and 58 SLII)--I've read some other posts about the 58 including the reviews on photozone, but haven't heard anything comparing the two. Despite the obvious focal length differences, what do you all think of color rendition, bokeh, sharpness at various aperatures, etc?

Samples of course are appreciated, and the reason we use lenses in the first place.

Note: I'm looking to purchase one (presently for d200 and hopefully for FF one day). P.S. I'm somewhat concerned with how many 58's you find on sale on this forum, Miranda, and others.

Thanks in advance!

 

[etrigan63]

I kept my 58mm for my D700. Spectacular lens. On a DX body it is very good for portraits. I sold my 40mm Ultron due to overlap with my Nikkor 35mm AF-D. I have placed a pre-order for the new CV 20mm Color Skopar SL II.

Samples from the 58mm (shot with D700)

Samples from the 40mm (shot with D300)

 

[Cindy Flood]

I sold my Nikon kit and the 58mm, but kept the 40mm and 180mm for the future (and use on my Panasonic G1). You might be interested to read diglloyds blog. He is very high on the 40mm. You can find it here: http://diglloyd.com/diglloyd/2009-02-blog.html#_20090203DxO.

 

[TimF]

Indeed. He likes both lenses, but the 40mm seems to shade it having read his review comments.

 

[Terry]

I may have been under a rock but this is the first I've seen of a 20mm SL II lens. Do you have a link of where to get more info and/or preorder.

Thanks!
Terry

 

[Hacker]

I may have been under a rock but this is the first I've seen of a 20mm SL II lens. Do you have a link of where to get more info and/or preorder.

Thanks!
Terry

http://www.mapcamera.com/sho/search.php?MODE=M_VIEW&ACT=A_DETAIL&map_code=reserve0009172&class=01

 

[etrigan63]

Actually the info is on my blog. http://www.echenique.com along with pre-order info.

 

[etrigan63]

Here is a shot from today with the Nokton wide open showing the razor-thin plane of focus and bokeh:

 

[rchisholm]

I own both. While I do not have a pic to post here, if anyone wants to wade through a slideshow, the following link and photo number shows both (Shot on D300), shot last year in Hawaii. Be warned, family type pics. I really like both lenses and have them for my now D700. I use them in very different situations. On the D300, the 40mm was a great walk around lens, and the 58 nokton an excellent portrait lens.

For the 58 Nokton on D300
http://www.clan-chisholm.com/hawaii/hawaii.html go to photo #6 (lady), #39 (litle girl in the grass)

For the 40 Ultron
http://www.clan-chisholm.com/hawaii/hawaii.html got to photos #51 (mom and 2 kids), 37 (mom and daughter walking away), 31 (little girl with a band in the background). --Rob

 

[deepdiver]

I own both lenses too, I like them.
Nokton 58/1.4 is razor sharp at F1.4. Much better than Zeiss 50/1.4..!!
I often use ultron for traveling. The small size fit really well on my D60.
A pic from D60 + Ultron this morning

the lens

 

[TechIV]

Thank you very much for all the helpful replies. It seems I will be getting the 58 f.4--I always liked the 85 focal length... I think it will work well... I can always get the new 35 dx if I need a normal on the cheap.

- Eric