Peter T wrote:
Or, given the current exchange rate, consider buying from the Voigtlander importer to the UK. Not sure what the tax implications are but this is a good place to start.
I have no connection to the firm but I do have a soft spot for them given some history which I will explain one day soon when I can get over to Dorchester and take a photograph!?
I have bought several lenses from them and have had them shipped to the USA. Great shop, friendly service. They ship via UPS, which employs a bunch of funtionaries that do not understand the tariff laws. Accordingly, if you are in the USA, expect to pay tariffs if the lens is over $800, despite that this is not the only statutory exception to the DHS tariff laws. The tariff amount is 2.3% (around $30 USD for this lens). If you fight for your right to not be mischarged by UPS, expect to run into a lot of dolts along the way.
scrappydog wrote:
I have bought several lenses from them and have had them shipped to the USA. Great shop, friendly service. They ship via UPS, which employs a bunch of funtionaries that do not understand the tariff laws. Accordingly, if you are in the USA, expect to pay tariffs if the lens is over $800, despite that this is not the only statutory exception to the DHS tariff laws. The tariff amount is 2.3% (around $30 USD for this lens). If you fight for your right to not be mischarged by UPS, expect to run into a lot of dolts along the way. ...Show more →
UPS is the worst. Especially shipping cross border...
UPS is a PITA. Sometimes, you have no choice. I have ordered from Robert White (a fine retailer in my experience) but they use UPS. Last time I paid the duty online and got an email confirmation. UPS driver still tried to charge me but gave up when I told him I had paid it.
Gunzorro wrote:
John -- Did you replace the Nikon 300/4.5 IF ED AI?
Yes, I sold the 300/4.5 ED-IF a long time ago as it was no better than my lowly 70-300/4-5.6 AFS Nikkor at 300mm. About 2 years ago I located an excellent condition 300/4.5 ED AI (non-IF) that I've been very very happy with.
Both the non-IF versions of the 400/5.6 ED and 300/4.5 ED are excellent lenses and are very happy to make 42.5MP images on my A7RII.
Driftwood wrote:
I spent the past week reading every post in this 55 page thread, getting more and more excited about this lens. Decided this was the right lens for me, so I went to B&H to place the order and..
"Due to certain restrictions, this item cannot be shipped to CANADA."
Amazon.ca doesn't sell it but Amazon.com does, but will need an extra $164 for shipping and import fees. I wanted to buy from B&H for the free shipping and because I trust the company. eBay has them, but will be shipped from Hong Kong or Japan. Arghh
Robert White in the UK is a good dealer with good pricing.
A Canadian source is Downtown Camera in Toronto, I'm in the market for one as well and they do have in stock and quoted $1,350 over the phone. I have also bought from Robert White in the UK and can vouch they provide excellent service and would be a cheaper source, even with shipping charges.
flashbulb wrote:
A Canadian source is Downtown Camera in Toronto, I'm in the market for one as well and they do have in stock and quoted $1,350 over the phone. I have also bought from Robert White in the UK and can vouch they provide excellent service and would be a cheaper source, even with shipping charges.
Thanks flashbulb, I came across Broadway Camera in Vancouver, and purchased it from them (should arrive quicker since they're just one province over ). Robert White indeed would be a cheaper source though, you're absolutely right.
New looking at the old or is it the old looking at the new?
My daughter sporting the Kodak Retina IIa and some ISO 400 color negative film.
Off course she (and I) were using an exposure meter app on our smart phones - now there's a clash of time - 1948 camera using a 2017 thing called and "app" to get the correct exposure.
Has anyone done an A/B comparison between this Voigtlaender and a Zeiss 2/50 Makro-Planar with manual WB? I'm interested to see if this Voigtlaender has Zeiss colours. Not interested in subjective descriptions, only in pictures of the same scene on the same body with identical settings and manual WB.
I was recommended this lens on a different thread. Can I ask a few questions please?
The use of the lens will be for reproduction photography only. Digitizing ancient documents and manuscripts. Bolted 24/7 onto an A7rIII on a copy stand and specifically used with the new multishot capability of that camera. Our country does not have a reliable Voigtlander dealer (all they have is a FB page and they want $1400 for the lens ) so in all probability we would be ordering the lens untested from the US.
1) Our working aperture on the systems is f8. A DOF requirement. I am aware that this is slightly less than optimal but still necessary. How would this lens compare to the Sony 55mm 1.8 at that aperture? We have the multishot sample image from DPReview (specifically the text panels in the centre) shot with the 55mm as our only reference point at present and have no idea if that is pretty much what we would be achieving or if we could better it. I have seen Fred's exceptional comparison images from near the beginning of this thread but they were shot wide open.
2) Has there been any reports of copy variation? We would have to buy from abroad sight unseen and returning lenses would be a royal pain in the neck.
3) Has anyone noted the effect of using extension tubes on sharpness (centre/corner)? As you can imagine, having part of the writing on a page unsharp compared to the centre is a serious issue for our work. Edge to edge sharpness is crucial.
4) Perhaps a somewhat obscure question, a mark of a good macro lens is the ability to point 90 degree downwards without shifting or slipping focus regardless of heavy front elements. Our Nikkor lenses will not shift even when left alone for a week. Our Phase One lenses would shift over just half an hour. Has anyone perhaps noticed the characteristics of this lens in such a fashion?
5) From obscurity to "you're really pushing your luck!". I don't suppose anyone knows of a comparison to the Coastal Optics 60mm Macro? We were looking into this lens anyway for use on a UV/IR stripped sensor D810 which we are playing with buying for use with badly damaged or faded documents. That project is still budget limited (the lighting costs a fortune) so I cannot count on the budget for that lens based on the off chance that we might need it's multi spectrum abilities later on. Unless I can prove that it's significantly better and catch the boss on a good day.
Beni wrote:
I was recommended this lens on a different thread. Can I ask a few questions please?
The use of the lens will be for reproduction photography only. Digitizing ancient documents and manuscripts. Bolted 24/7 onto an A7rIII on a copy stand and specifically used with the new multishot capability of that camera. Our country does not have a reliable Voigtlander dealer (all they have is a FB page and they want $1400 for the lens ) so in all probability we would be ordering the lens untested from the US.
1) Our working aperture on the systems is f8. A DOF requirement. I am aware that this is slightly less than optimal but still necessary. How would this lens compare to the Sony 55mm 1.8 at that aperture? We have the multishot sample image from DPReview (specifically the text panels in the centre) shot with the 55mm as our only reference point at present and have no idea if that is pretty much what we would be achieving or if we could better it. I have seen Fred's exceptional comparison images from near the beginning of this thread but they were shot wide open.
2) Has there been any reports of copy variation? We would have to buy from abroad sight unseen and returning lenses would be a royal pain in the neck.
3) Has anyone noted the effect of using extension tubes on sharpness (centre/corner)? As you can imagine, having part of the writing on a page unsharp compared to the centre is a serious issue for our work. Edge to edge sharpness is crucial.
4) Perhaps a somewhat obscure question, a mark of a good macro lens is the ability to point 90 degree downwards without shifting or slipping focus regardless of heavy front elements. Our Nikkor lenses will not shift even when left alone for a week. Our Phase One lenses would shift over just half an hour. Has anyone perhaps noticed the characteristics of this lens in such a fashion?
5) From obscurity to "you're really pushing your luck!". I don't suppose anyone knows of a comparison to the Coastal Optics 60mm Macro? We were looking into this lens anyway for use on a UV/IR stripped sensor D810 which we are playing with buying for use with badly damaged or faded documents. That project is still budget limited (the lighting costs a fortune) so I cannot count on the budget for that lens based on the off chance that we might need it's multi spectrum abilities later on. Unless I can prove that it's significantly better and catch the boss on a good day. ...Show more →
Hi Beni,
I received my copy a few days ago. I don't have a whole lot of experience with it, but as I had done extensive research on this lens purchase, perhaps I can answer a few questions for you. I was in a similar situation as you, where I had to purchase the lens untested and where returning it would be a pain.
1) I cannot compare the CV 65/2 with the Sony 55/1.8 as I ended up choosing the CV over it, but here's a sample photo at f/8, taken from the sample photo gallery at PhotographyBlog.com:
Zoomed in to 100%, you will see edge to edge sharpness (please click on the photo to go to original page where you can zoom in). You can easily find a sample photo at f/8 for the Sony 55/1.8.
Also check out this Flickr Gallery of shots taken with the CV 65/2.
2) I did read this entire thread before making my purchase, and from what I remember, copy to copy variation is exceptionally low. You need to turn the focus ring a little bit back from infinity to get sharp landscape shots, which I think isn't what you're looking to do, but another member did report the same thing.
Sorry I can't help you with 3, 4, and 5. I can perhaps help you with 4 if I understood how to test for shifting/slipping focus, but I don't have experience with testing for that.
Additionally, will you be relying on AF if you had the Sony 55/1.8 or would you still prefer to use MF? Another difference between the two would be that the Sony is focus by wire. The focus ring on the CV is superb.
I received my copy a few days ago. I don't have a whole lot of experience with it, but as I had done extensive research on this lens purchase, perhaps I can answer a few questions for you. I was in a similar situation as you, where I had to purchase the lens untested and where returning it would be a pain.
Zoomed in to 100%, you will see edge to edge sharpness (please click on the photo to go to original page where you can zoom in). You can easily find a sample photo at f/8 for the Sony 55/1.8.
Also check out this Flickr Gallery of shots taken with the CV 65/2.
2[/url]) I did read this entire thread before making my purchase, and from what I remember, copy to copy variation is exceptionally low. You need to turn the focus ring a little bit back from infinity to get sharp landscape shots, which I think isn't what you're looking to do, but another member did report the same thing.
Sorry I can't help you with 3, 4, and 5. I can perhaps help you with 4 if I understood how to test for shifting/slipping focus, but I don't have experience with testing for that.
Additionally, will you be relying on AF if you had the Sony 55/1.8 or would you still prefer to use MF? Another difference between the two would be that the Sony is focus by wire. The focus ring on the CV is superb. ...Show more →
Hi,
Thank you for your reply!
We are not interested in the 55mm at all, the macro capabilities are essential for our work. We are wondering whether the sample image on DPReview (their test studio setup) taken with the 55mm lens (at f5.6) is representative of what we will see with the 65mm stopped down the same amount or whether the results will be better. I have to sell the idea of multishot to the bean counters and I will be using that image to do so. I need to know what to tell them. If I can say 'and the results will be even better than this!' that will help my argument. Only if it is true though.
I realise the correct solution is to wait and test the camera/lens combination but the first cameras will only reach the country at the end of December and it will be months until there are rental bodies available. The lens will be impossible to trial here at all. The importer is a one man band and wouldn't begin to consider the suggestion. I spent a while on the phone last week checking this stuff up.
). Robert White indeed would be a cheaper source though, you're absolutely right.
) so in all probability we would be ordering the lens untested from the US.