THESE TWO FAST 28’S GO HEAD TO HEAD!

Well, I am happy to say that the time has come and I finally own a 28 Summicron lens!! I was able to find a deal on a MINT in-box used one through DALE PHOTO in Florida. Even though I bought it used, I still paid about $2450 for this lens after shipping and that hurt! Again, I am not a rich guy, though many think I am as you see me writing these reviews of all of this expensive gear. Photography is my passion and I am a camera/lens nut. When I buy a lens, I usually have to sell something else to fund it. So...

To help ease the pain, I had to sell my trusty Leica 28 Elmarit (see my review of that terrific lens here), as well as a few filters, and even my Voigtlander 15 Heliar (review). :( (one day I hope to have the excellent Leica 18 for my wide needs, or the latest 15 Heliar would be nice as well)

So I gave up a few items in order to purchase this lens that has reached legendary status. Many say this is Leica’s best lens and others will tell you it is the best 28MM ever made for 35mm. Well, after shooting with it for a while, I will be able to let you know my thoughts on those statements, as well as giving you as many samples from this lens as your eyes can handle! All shooting and tests were done with a Leica M8 camera so these results are based on DIGITAL only.

FIRST UP! THE VOIGTLANDER 28 ULTRON F2 - A LOWER PRICE ALTERNATIVE TO THE CRON!

Before I placed my order for the Leica 28 Summicron, I read up online about a cheaper alternative. A small, 28mm F2 Leica M mount lens that is 1/8th the price of a new 28 Summicron! The Voigtlander Ultron 28mm F2 lens is their latest version of their fast 28 and on some forums you will hear that this lens stands toe-to-toe with the 28 Cron and a select few say its even better!

Wow, how could a $500 lens be better than a $4000 lens!?!? Is Leica just HYPE riding on their name? I wanted to know the answers and WITH MANY thanks to my wife, she allowed me to buy both on our no-interest credit card as long as I agreed to sell the one I was not going to keep.

The Voigtlander arrived before the Leica 28 Summicron, so I started to shoot as soon as it arrived. I even ordered a M-coder kit so I could code the lens as a 28 Summicron. I slapped a Leica UV/IR filter on it and away I went. For those of you who may not know, any lens you use on a Leica M8 will need an IR/UV filter on it to avoid getting a magenta cast with black fabrics (See my M8 review here to read all about it).

This first shot was taken at F2 and I was very happy with the way the lens rendered this image. Very classic without any hint of harshness.

The Voigtlander 28 Ultron F2 is small, light, and has a nice-looking black finish that looks a lot like a Leica black-paint lens. Its aperture dial rotates nicely and the overall build seems superb...much better than many Canon or Nikon lenses in the same price range. It’s a solid, but light little lens. When I attached it to the M8, it had a nice balance and looked great. I was excited because if this lens performed well, I would save quite a but of cash in comparison to the super hyped 28 Summicron!

After checking it out, I was 100% happy with the appearance, the build, and even the screw-in small metal hood. For $550, you get a nice, little, FAST F2 28 in a Leica M mount! BUT how did the lens perform out in the real world you ask? Pretty nice overall I must say. It did not have me saying WOW, but then again, it did not leave me disappointed.

One issue I saw with this lens on the M8 was its soft corners. Even when stopped down to F8 it STILL exhibited some softness in the corners. Also, before I coded it, I was getting bad cyan corners and even AFTER I coded it (as a 28 summicron), I still was getting cyan corners, but not as extreme. Later in this review I will provide detail samples at all apertures and you will see what I mean.

So, soft corners aside, let’s see how some real-world images look with this little lens. That is what photography is all about after all...the images and what you can create with a camera and a lens.

This image has been processed in Photoshop, so the soft corners do not show or matter as I blurred them anyway. Later, I will have out-of-camera examples. But, for these next few shots, I am showing what I was able to achieve by processing my images as I normally do. Click on any image for a larger version.

This next shot is pretty much a straight-from-camera JPEG, just resized and levels adjusted. Snapped it of my wife as she was driving. Wide open at F2. Here you can see the gentle, pastel-like colors giving a more classic rendering to the scene. I did not have an IR/UV on the lens here and I REALLY like the way this shot looks. Close up, this lens is sharp in the center.

This old, but cool motel sign was at F2 as well, mid-day sun. In this one, I added a vignette to emphasize the sign. I also added a glow to the sign, but I do like the look of this image and feel the lens is great for this type of shot. If you want to see the original full size image from camera, just click on the picture below to download it.

Here I was trying to see how the lens could do with some detail at F5.6. Looks pretty good as does the color here. This was shot without a UV/IR filter and it was during the evening when the sun was putting out that magical, golden glow.

Again, without the UV/IR filter mounted, you do not get the cyan corners.  Here I left it off. I shot this at F2 to see how it would render the out-of-focus areas or “Bokeh” and it looks pretty good!

Finally, a portrait of my wife in outdoor light. It was about noon, slightly cloudy. Shot at F2, ISO 160. Click for larger version.

So, my first results with the Voigtlander 28 Ultron F2 were great. The shots I took here did not need sharp corners or an ultra-sharp center. The lens rendered in a way that is more like a classic Leica lens. A bit soft, some glow, and soft colors is what you get from out of the camera, non-processed shots. At this point I was saying to myself “Man, this lens is great! Why do I need a Summicron??”

Click on to page two for more, including the arrival of the Leica 28 Summicron.

CLICK HERE FOR PAGE TWO ----->