rvh23 wrote:
If the vignetting is more prominent than the Loxia 21 when stopped down, that would be reason enough for me to stick with the Loxia, as would reduced flare resistance. Sharpness seems not be a delineating factor from what I see in Fred's shots.
At f/2.8, the Loxia shows stronger vignetting (expected)
At f/4, they are pretty equal. (Voigtlander does slightly better)
At f/5.6, they are pretty equal. (Loxia does slightly better)
At f/8, they are equal
As I wrote before, the Loxia's biggest downfall is its moderate inwards field curvature. The Voigtlander is flat-field in comparison.
Here is the same example above focused on center. They are equally sharp at center but the edges look softer for the Loxia due to field curvature. (Even at f/5.6, it does not get completely masked...really needs f/8)
If I would focus on the corners, they would look very similar towards the edges.
1:1 crop from the image above at f/5.6 showing the center area
1:1 crop from the image above at f/5.6 showing the edge
Fred Miranda wrote:
At f/2.8, the Loxia shows stronger vignetting (expected)
At f/4, they are pretty equal. (Voigtlander does slightly better)
At f/5.6, they are pretty equal. (Loxia does slightly better)
At f/8, they are equal
Fred, any chance to do a flare/suntstar comparison vs the Loxia?
So, in my opinion the Loxia performed slightly better here. The Voigtlander is able to maintain great contrast but there is "usually" more ghosting present.
Notice that the Loxia renders a 10-point sunstar, Voigtlander 12-point and the GM 22-point.
I will repeat this with more scenes to be sure this holds true.
The Voigtlander 21/1.4's distortion is very similar to the Loxia with a simple and easy to correct barrel distortion. The Loxia has slightly more distortion,
To test, I used Lightroom's vignetting correction from the Loxia on the Voigtlander and the latter got a bit over-corrected.
Here's a sample:
Original (Voigtlander top)
Corrected (Voigtlander top and perhaps a bit overcorrected)...The Loxia 21/2.8's Lightroom vignetting correction used for both lenses
The Voigtlander's choice of metal and finishes simply feels like a special, higher quality product. The Loxias are a bit muted, a bit ordinary, by comparison.
I have to disagree.
I appreciate and like the build quality of modern CV lenses, but I don't share your feeling about Loxias being muted or ordinary by comparison. At all.
Maximilian wrote:
I have to disagree.
I appreciate and like the build quality of modern CV lenses, but I don't share your feeling about Loxias being muted or ordinary by comparison. At all.
I assume it’s all a matter of personal taste, after all. Let’s all enjoy what suits us best
Fred Miranda wrote:
The Loxia seems to have better flare performance (ghosting).
Here is a sequence comparing the CV 21/1.4, Loxia 21/2.8 and 24/1.4 GM:
(All at f/8)
Thanks Fred! Hmmm... I was ready to put the Loxia on the B&S board but this comparison may have changed my mind. I saw a bit of ring flare from both the CV and the GM in the second set too.
nhsonyshooter wrote:
Not sure what your definition of "moderately sized" is but the Lawoa 15mm F2 is an excellent lens.
The Laowa's size is fine with me .However, I have evaluated it quite extensively (4 copies) and I find at 42mp it doesn't reach the corner IQ I want (both sharpness at wider apertures and coma) . So for now at least I carry the Sigma 14/1.8 despite its size, but would love to see something smaller in the future if it can get close to the Sigma's performance. I'm not sure we can ever expect a Loxia 15 at 2.8, but maybe CV is the alternative.
Fred Miranda wrote:
At f/2.8, the Loxia shows stronger vignetting (expected)
At f/4, they are pretty equal. (Voigtlander does slightly better)
At f/5.6, they are pretty equal. (Loxia does slightly better)
At f/8, they are equal
Thanks Fred. This looks good. As with sharpness (excluding FC) not enough difference to delineate. between the two.
Fred Miranda wrote:
The Loxia seems to have better flare performance (ghosting).
Here is a sequence comparing the CV 21/1.4, Loxia 21/2.8 and 24/1.4 GM:
(All at f/8)
Thanks again Fred. Definitely agreed. This looks clearly in favor of the Loxia, as I was probably expecting from that lens' amazing flare resistance.
So the decision to make in terms of IQ (for landscape at least) appears to be mainly whether you want flatter field curvature, or better flare resistance. Since photographing against the light is a common occurrence and high priority for me, I will be sticking with the Loxia.
I'm still looking forward to your coma results, but astro for me is usually a matter of 18mm or wider so won't factor into my decision between Loxia and CV 21.
p.s. The much lauded GM does quite poorly in this comparison, and has a poorly defined sunstar too. For landscapes at least, the Loxia 25 which is also sharper remains a much better choice imo.
