kaioyang wrote:
Quite so. I noted that at the top of the Piazzle, no matter where you stand, there is someone else putting their selfie sticks in front of you to take a shot. That's why I went for the location I had, a little far away from the crowd. I also tried to shoot from Boboli Gardens but the view is not as good. will try Via San Miniato next trip, whenever it is.
That is the church at the top of the hill. Great old cemetery behind it too b
I've used the lens a bit more now. I mostly shoot products and people, not landscape. Some observations.
1. It has cats eye bokeh even near the center of the frame. This is a first for me. There is also very strong vignetting. Both are probably caused by lens elements of limited diameter.
2. The T-value is poor. Compared to other lenses, it lets in less light for the same aperture value.
3. At closer range, say 1 to 2 meters, it has greater resolution and contrast than my Sigma 50 Art when both are set to f2.
4. It has a magenta color bias.
5. There was discussion about it not needing the supplied hood. Duh! The hood is there to shield a filter when one is used. A naked filter -- one without a hood to protect it---is susceptible to contact with fingers and objects.
6. It really is apochromatic. This is not true for all Voigtlander APOs. For instance, the V 125 APO isn't really that apo.
7. It is sharp as hell regardless of distance. Sharper than my Sigma 50 Art.
8. For a Voigtlander, it has very high colour saturation.
Kotmj, Otus lenses are f:1.4, and the CV 65 is f:2.0. Fact is, it is a whole lot easier to make a lens perform at very high level at slightly smaller apertures than at very large ones. Just look at the compromises made by CV for the (also excellent, but in a different way) 40mm f:1.2, or by Leica with their Noctilux. Also consider why the über expesnive Leica 50mm APO is Summicron (f:2.0) rather than Summilux (f:1.4)
Also your own description (cat's eye bokeh near the center, poor T-value, lens elements of limited diameter) does not fit Otus performance. This is not a criticism of CV 65, a really excellent lens offering great value, and a welcome addition to the range of FE-mount lenses.
philber wrote:
Fact is, it is a whole lot easier to make a lens perform at very high level at slightly smaller apertures than at very large ones. [...]
Also your own description (cat's eye bokeh near the center, poor T-value, lens elements of limited diameter) does not fit Otus performance. This is not a criticism of CV 65, a really excellent lens offering great value, and a welcome addition to the range of FE-mount lenses.
Sure it is easier to correct a f/2 lens but none the less almost any other normal lens shows a lot more axial CA than the CV65 so I think is fair to say they show comparable performance.
Going by Zeiss' official data the Otus at f/1.4 shows very similar vignetting to the CV @ f/2 so cat-eyes wide open will be very similar for both of them, probably a little stronger for the Otus which has less natural vignetting. At f/2 the Otus will have much less vignetting but it isn't fair to say that it is free from cat-eyes.
I did a few comparisons with the FE55 and I see no significant difference in T-vaue between the two.
Phillip Reeve wrote:
Nokton sounds pretty Noctilux inspired to me and Nocton would have been too obious. I think Noktilux would sound much more German by the way
For what it is worth, the original German Voigtlander company had a leaf shutter rangefinder called the Prominent in the 50's that had a 50/1.5 Nokton lens - a really nice lens for the day in terms of sharpness, kind of wacky bokeh though.
The Leica Noctilux didn't arrive on the scene until about 20 years later, so arguably it was Leica who derived the Noctilux name from the original Nokton lens. But by the time Cosina acquired the brand and the lens names, it would definitely seem derived from the noctilux.
Probably only a matter of time before a Chinese company lens acquires a German marque and starts labelling their lenses with Germanic names
sychan wrote:
Probably only a matter of time before a Chinese company lens acquires a German marque and starts labelling their lenses with Germanic names
Sort of happened. DJI bought Hassey. Let's see if anyone is going to buy Zeiss or Leica.
sychan wrote:
For what it is worth, the original German Voigtlander company had a leaf shutter rangefinder called the Prominent in the 50's that had a 50/1.5 Nokton lens - a really nice lens for the day in terms of sharpness, kind of wacky bokeh though.
The Leica Noctilux didn't arrive on the scene until about 20 years later, so arguably it was Leica who derived the Noctilux name from the original Nokton lens. But by the time Cosina acquired the brand and the lens names, it would definitely seem derived from the noctilux.
Probably only a matter of time before a Chinese company lens acquires a German marque and starts labelling their lenses with Germanic names...Show more →
You don't have to look as far as China. Some time ago a nearly broke German marketing company registered the no longer protected Trioplan and later Biotar brand and they bought the Meyer Optik Görlitz brand and started to sell really expensive lenses under that label and promised great "made in Germany" quality. If you have a look at the kickstarter feedback in fact their quality control was worse than that of any Chinese lens manufacturer.
Phillip Reeve wrote:
You don't have to look as far as China. Some time ago a nearly broke German marketing company registered the no longer protected Trioplan and later Biotar brand and they bought the Meyer Optik Görlitz brand and started to sell really expensive lenses under that label and promised great "made in Germany" quality. If you have a look at the kickstarter feedback in fact their quality control was worse than that of any Chinese lens manufacturer.
Can't be worse than Zhongyi. Mine arrived with a lens group that wasn't screwed in tight, causing it to rattle. As I disassembled the lens to diagnose the problem, I find that the rearmost element is part of an assembly with the lens mount, which means it cannot have been centered optically as its alignment is determined by the three screws securing the mount to the barrel chassis.
Here are the 1:1 screenshot showing the corners from the image above.
jpeg compressed 9 with regular Lightroom sharpening. It's hard to beat this lens for landscapes when the focal length is right.
Honestly it was the one lens I knew to sell for added money to the new kit that if I buy it used, new or whatever . I did not have to worry about copy variance. I hated selling it but it was the smart move in the end. I’m done with copy variance been through way to many lenses. Lol
I’m more a 35mm kind of shooter so the 40 . But both together are great. I go 15,21,28,40,65,135 for more landscape type stuff. I may leave the 135 in the trunk for when I need it
There kind of diffrent as well. The 65 is just a perfect technical lens. The 40is more funky in look
