I saw that , maybe another will come up at that price. Gotta get the VC 65 this week first but this has crossed my mind . Not sure I really need the Batis 25 given I have a good 12-24. But I need two mid primes for AF and a 28/35 Sonys would work. I don't need great corners on the 28 as long as three or four folks are sharp in a group shot I'm good at f 6.3
Fred Miranda wrote:
You read my mind! I grabbed a Loxia 35 for $650 at the buy and sell board and the seller swears it's well centered.
GMPhotography wrote:
I saw that , maybe another will come up at that price. Gotta get the VC 65 this week first but this has crossed my mind . Not sure I really need the Batis 25 given I have a good 12-24. But I need two mid primes for AF and a 28/35 Sonys would work. I don't need great corners on the 28 as long as three or four folks are sharp in a group shot I'm good at f 6.3
Here is the Loxia 35/2 extreme edge at f/8. (f/6.3 does not look much different)
The very edge resolution is the weakness of this lens but as you can see it's very good stepped down. It's not as good as the ZM 35/1.4 towards the edges but it's stronger at mid-field.
Yea and for cityscape / landscape it should be fine. I had one a couple years ago and I liked the results better than the 50. Just wide open it's got some coma or veiling flare look. It can be stacked with my VC 65 in one slot in the bag, 135 on the other slot and 12-24 on camera and I can rotate the three shorter lenses nicely in that one slot. I think I'm going to do it. So Batis 25 is for sale or trade for a good Loxia 35 . I'll list it today on the board. I'll get a cheap 28 too.
GMPhotography wrote:
Yea and for cityscape / landscape it should be fine. I had one a couple years ago and I liked the results better than the 50. Just wide open it's got some coma or veiling flare look.
It does have residual spherical aberration wide open but has a nice 3D look at f/2.8 or f/3.2.
I better post those Loxia 50/2 vs CV 65/2 crops at infinity so we can get back on track!
Hey if you need any Raw 135 files to peak at let me know. Looking forward to you getting it
Oh to answer the question yes Fred and I are Italian and we consider each other to be good friends and have a lot of respect for each other. He also has a lovely wife and family.
Here are some crops comparing the Loxia 50/2 to CV 65/2 APO-Lanthar at infinity.
It's no secret that the Loxia needs some stopping down at infinity. I find it f/6.3 to be the optimal aperture for acuity across the frame. I never shot landscapes with it wide-open and from the crops below you will see why. So, wide open, the CV 65/2 pretty much dominates..
NOTE: No changes in Lightroom setting except for sharpness (same for both lenses). Both lenses were manually focused at center (best of 3). No IBIS and white balance set to Daylight. No changes done to vignetting for us to see how they perform without any post-processing correction.
Thumbs showing both lenses (see vignetting, rendering, color and contrast)
At f/5.6 they get very similar but I still give a slight advantage to the CV 65 at center and mid-zone. As you can see, they are close towards the edge.
So, the Loxia can't compete from f/2 to f/4 but it is very good starting at f/5.6. Still, the CV 65/2 is a step above even at smaller apertures. I feel that I have great copies of both lenses. (Went through 3 copies of the Loxia 50). They are perfectly centered and sharp at infinity.
My Loxia 50/2 shares the same sharpness (center/mid) when compared to the FE 55/1.8 starting at f/4 but has slight better corners starting at f/7.1 (and higher contrast), so we can only assume that the CV 65/2 will be also noticeably better than the 55/1.8 at infinity distance.
You may see some haze on all crops above. The weather here in San Clemente is not cooperating...
Fred Miranda wrote:
So, the Loxia can't compete from f/2 to f/4 but it is very good starting at f/5.6. Still, the CV 65/2 is a step above even at smaller apertures. I feel that I have great copies of both lenses. (Went through 3 copies of the Loxia 50). They are perfectly centered and sharp at infinity.
My Loxia 50/2 shares the same sharpness (center/mid) when compared to the FE 55/1.8 starting at f/4 but has slight better corners starting at f/7.1 (and higher contrast), so we can only assume that the CV 65/2 will be also noticeably better than the 55/1.8 at infinity distance.
You may see some haze on all crops above. The weather here in San Clemente is not cooperating...
Luvwine wrote:
Good comparison, Fred. My findings were similar. Did you note color or other rendering differences?
I really like color rendering from both. The Voigtlander has a typical magenta bias which I find pleasant. I don't see much difference in contrast but the Loxia has a slight edge here. Both are outstanding for landscapes at small apertures.
As a side-note, this Loxia 50/2 was noticeably superior to the FE 24-70GM @ 50mm starting at f/5.6.
Phillip Reeve wrote:
The CV65 certainly has the edge at f/5.6
How would the Lox perform against the FE55 in the edge region at f/6.3?
I tested this a lot and will see if I can find some crops. The Loxia improves towards the edges after f/5.6 and looks better than the 55/1.8 especially in regards to contrast.
Yeah, that's what I found too when I had both: The Loxia 50 starts out weaker than the Sony 55 at wider apertures pretty much across the frame, but overtakes it past f4 across the frame. Sharpness/contrast, not bokeh.
I would have kept both for different purposes if they both weren't relatively expensive lenses.
Thanks for posting your comparisons Fred! It looks like this CV does generally beat the Loxia 50 to smithereens in general. This seems like a no brainer. I guess it's time to buy and sell some lenses...
