Looking for Voightlander 125mm f/2 for Nikon.

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arnsteins
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Looking for Voightlander 125mm f/2 for Nikon.

Post by arnsteins »

Anyone got this one for sale?

ChrisLilley
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Post by ChrisLilley »

Anyone who has it is unlikely to be selling it. Expect to pay around 1800 usd for one, nowadays; around 3x the cost when new.

lothman
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Post by lothman »

I think there was no f2,0 version "only" f2,5.

http://cgi.ebay.de/Voigtlander-APO-Lant ... 4cf1d858ed

a rather expencive piece of equipment, not shure if it's worth this price compared to other macros in this range.
Last edited by lothman on Thu Oct 07, 2010 7:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

ChrisLilley
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Post by ChrisLilley »

Yes, its f/2.5.

Which other apochromatic, well-built macro is it competing with? I can think of the Leica APO-Macro-ELMARIT-R 100 mm f/2.8, but that is typically more like 4000 USD and, from comparisons I have seen, is not necessarily better.

The Zeiss Makro-Planar 100mm f/2, at around 2000 USD, is not apo and suffers from significant axial chromatic aberration.

lothman
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Post by lothman »

ChrisLilley wrote:Which other apochromatic, well-built macro is it competing with?
I don't think that something like the Sigma AF 150mm f/2.8 APO EX HSM is so much worse that it limits your work.

ChrisLilley
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Post by ChrisLilley »

Sure, if it gives good enough results and if you find the build quality acceptable.

Note that Sigma is (one of the) manufacturers who misuse the term 'apo'. Their lenses are not apochromatic. They merely contain ED/SD glass (like good lenses from Canon, Nikon, etc).

Chris S.
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Post by Chris S. »

I thought this lens was overpriced when it went for $1200. Seems obscene, now that it has risen to 150 percent of that. Is it really better than, say, a Zeiss? Bjorn Rorslett certainly praises it--likely the reason the price has skyrocketed. But while I read and respect what Bjorn writes, he is human and therefore fallible. is it really better than the Zeiss offering in a similar price range?

I don't know, but I'd love to see side-by-side tests. There are a lot of claims, but I'd like to see demonstration images. Gun to my head, at current prices, I'd purchase a Zeiss. (Though am quite happy with my current Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 AF-D micro and ED-IF 200mm micro.)

Cheers,

--Chris

ChrisLilley
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Post by ChrisLilley »

The Zeiss is good as long as you don't mind the very strong axial CA. The CV125 is much better there.

Oddly, both the CV125 and the Zeiss Makro-Planar 100 are better as short telephotos than at macro ranges.

ChrisLilley
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Post by ChrisLilley »

Chris S. wrote:But while I read and respect what Bjorn writes, he is human and therefore fallible. is it really better than the Zeiss offering in a similar price range?

I don't know, but I'd love to see side-by-side tests.
Compare Zeiss and CV125 by Klaus Schmitt (kds315).

Chris S.
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Post by Chris S. »

Chris, thanks for those comparison links and commentary. Interesting indeed.

I personally don't use macro lenses that way--wide open or nearly so, purposfully working to limit DOF. Seems foreign to me, as I've nearly always been on a quest for more and more DOF in macro. And handheld macro? Fie! (For me, that is.) Nor do I use macro lenses as telephotos--I have other lenses for that. An example is the Nikkon 200mm ED-IF micro--prodigious in the macro range, absolute disaster if used as a tele.

So I begin to see the coolness factor for a certain style of photography. Not my style, but one that some others would find important. Will likely stick with my Nikkors for now. But I begin to understand why the demand for the lens exists, for photographers whose vision is very different from mine.

Cheers,

--Chris

kds315*
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Post by kds315* »

The CV125mm is a wonderful lens and even wide open offers the most creamy bokeh I ever saw yet razor sharp center performance without a trace of CA in the OOF areas (as Chris Lilley had already mentioned) - and not in my wildest dreams would I think about selling it... ;) ;)
Klaus

http://www.macrolenses.de for macro and special lens info
http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos for UV Images and lens/filter info
http://photographyoftheinvisibleworld.blogspot.com/ my UV diary

PaulFurman
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Post by PaulFurman »

I got one with a pentax screw mount which adapts somewhat usably to Nikon for focus up to about 15 feet away I think. The price for Nikon mount version is disproportional. The aperture control pin needs to be glued in and the square lens shade doesn't align (if anyone wants that shade, I've got one). I think it is rather susceptible to flare, hence the need for a special lens shade.

Here's some tests I did for the bokeh in extreme conditions where... I don't know, I mean no lens is magic really... The V/C 125 can also get some purple fringing and bokeh is so hard to judge, I'm not sure this is really the best as it is designed for sharpness like Nikkors and Zeiss which tends to make sharp OOF circles too! And the APO's can cause some purple fringing and other odd effects. This isn't a scientist's APO like the Coastal Optics 60mm, it's more like what Sigma calls APO, which just means they paid a little more attention to CA and tried a little different approach.

I really like the lens, just trying to temper the hype some...

PaulFurman
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Post by PaulFurman »


kds315*
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Post by kds315* »

ChrisLilley wrote:Anyone who has it is unlikely to be selling it. Expect to pay around 1800 usd for one, nowadays; around 3x the cost when new.
That would be more like >$2200 today...
Klaus

http://www.macrolenses.de for macro and special lens info
http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos for UV Images and lens/filter info
http://photographyoftheinvisibleworld.blogspot.com/ my UV diary

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