I've had the Voightlander 27mm f/2 for about 2 months and have thousands of images made with it to judge its quality. I love this lens. This was a redundant purchase since I have the Fujifilm XF 27mm, but I get two advantages from the Voightlander. Obviously the extra stop is nice for selective focus. But the true difference that makes the Voightlander nice is the tighter close focus over the Fuji lens. I was always bumping up against the minimum focus distance with the XF, and the Voightlander allows me to come in closer. After 3 or 4 outings, I had my manual focus technique down (turned off the red peaking and use manual assist with high magnification), and my finger hits the tab without even thinking now. Its also nice compared to the cheap TT Artisans lenses, the hard stop at infinity is true infinity making fast long shots easy. Also nice, the viewfinder distance scale exactly matched the distance scale on the lens barrel, so seeing the zone of focus at a moderate aperture is fast and accurate. I haven't taken the 27mm off my X-T3 since I mounted it and won't anytime soon.
Thanks Peter - I am enjoying your channel. We share very a similar philosophy. I have the 23mm and really like it. I also have 4 M Mount lenses that I adapt to Fuji including the Leica Elmerit 28mm and Voigtlander 40mm 1.4. I use all the manual lenses on my Xpro 2 and Xpro 3, using the OVF and the small screen (don’t know name) with focus peaking. It is a bit like a focus patch. My XT5 is reserved for the autofocus lenses. I am interested in the 18 and 50 Voigtlander. Looking forward to your video when they come in. I completely agree with you - these are fun lenses for us amateurs. I want enjoyment and fun from photography. It is my escape from a busy professional career. Thanks for the hard work and I look forward to more videos.
Thanks a lot for sharing your experience with these lenses,very helpful. I also like the sort of clean look of your video while sprinkling in different backgrounds for a more interesting viewing experience.
Thanks for that Peter, glad you enjoy the 3 lenses so much. I have a copy of the 27mm, it produces some lovely images and you're right, it's a street lens at heart. The lack of a 5 meter marking on the focus ring is problematic. The focus tab is very nice to use. But most of all I love how the lens looks and feels on the XT3.
Same! I find 35mm and everything longer a bit too tricky to focus, but maybe it is just me. Would love 27mm, but I tend to shoot in the dark quite a lot, so I do have a benefit of 1.2 from 23mm. Love the 23mm on my old X-T2.
@@eZaY47 have you used the 35 1.2? How is it? The 23 is such a perfect lens in terms of looks, size, weight, light transmission, bokeh that I don’t think I’d get a lot more out of 18 or 27. But they sure are beautiful!
@@SiddhantParkar I just had a few minutes with 35, as the guy selling the 23 was also selling 35. It was a tiny bit smaller physically, and, yes, subject seperation was better, but still, I couldn't handle the focusing. I already had, at the time, 7artisans 35 0.95, so I knew that focusing 35mm is harder, but still, wanted to try the Voigtlander hoping it would be easier. But if you have a chance, try it as well, you might have no issues with focusing! For me 23mm is holy grail, well balanced in everything. Of course 27mm size is tempting, but I guess you can't have it all.
@@eZaY47 ah okay. I actually have the M Mount 40mm Nokton. It has a beautiful bubble bokeh, and honestly easy to focus peaking, even more so than the 23 1.2 I am interested in the 50 1.2 Nokton of which there are not many reviews.
I have the 23, 35 macro, and now the 50 Voigtlanders in x mounted on an XT-5. It started with the 23, nothing to compare it too but just loved it’s small form factor, rendering of colors, and build quality. Now my recently purchased 50/1.2 was extensively compared with the Fuji 50 f2 Prime (considered one of their best f2’s). Perhaps at 400% crop factor the Fuji has a slight edge at f2-certainly in the corners it does, but it is so close and “your call” at 5.6. (The Vgtl may be better at higher F stops)? Anyway, the colors, characters, fun factor are in Voigtlanders favor. Again, The Fuji 50 f2 is a terrific lens, just to be clear, but I seem to be gravitating to the Voigtlander.
Got their 35mm Nokton and would love to try more from Voigtländer, but as you said: they are expensive. I also have a 23mm, an 18mm and the Fuji 56mm. I can't fully justify buying the same focal range again just for fun manual focus. I have been debating selling some of my Fuji lenses and then to buy the Voigtländer and stick to manual focus :) would be a very fun experiment.
Interesting review, I'm interested in a Fujifilm camera and I do use manual focus a fair amount. How is the manual focus assist with your cameras? The X-Pros remind me of my old Yashica 35mm rangefinder camera. I hope they update the line.
I wonder if the pixel peepers (admitting myself) would be more satisfied with the Voigtlander 35mm f/2 Macro, as it is supposed to be apochromatically corrected, so might be quite sharp, but I have yet to see anybody properly put it though its paces to confirm or deny that supposition.
They don't go past infinity, rather there are small lines at the ♾ symbol that indicates where the stop actually is. It looks like they go past ♾, but they don't.
@@photographybypetercharles9939 Thank you for your response! I actually got the lens some time ago, and if I point to the infinity symbol, everything is in focus, but if I go past it, to the focus stop, thing get out of focus. I would probably recommend that you do some tests regarding this, maybe it's something you haven't noticed before.
On checking again, you're right. I never simply rack a lens out to the infinity stop to shoot, so I never noticed this. I checked my three Nokton lenses and they're all the same, so it's a design choice, not a sample variation issue. The Noktons apparently have a deliberate 'past infinity' distance scale, while the Ultron 27mm f2 and the Color-Skopar 18mm f2.8 focus to infinity at the infinity stop. When we look at the ∞ mark on my Noktons, there's a small line at ∞, while my other two lenses do not have one. I wondered why the line was there and now it is obvious. It's to indicate that infinity is somewhere on that line. The other two lenses stop at the midpoint of the ∞ symbol. I've had MF telephoto and zoom lenses in the past with the same line at ∞ and never wondered why it was there. The distance scale is accurate however, indicating that this is not a flange distance problem. My TTartisans 25mm f2 focuses past infinity, but that lens is off all across the distance scale, indicating a flange distance problem. In years past I have run across 'past infinity' discussions with some other German designed lenses. On checking out this issue today, I ran across comments that some Zeiss and Leica lenses do the same. The consensus was that this feature is for precise focusing when wide open, allowing for temperature variations. BTW, all auto focus lenses go past infinity to allow for focus motor movement. Will this make a difference to my photography? Nope.
@@photographybypetercharles9939 Wonderful analysis, glad you thought the same I did! It's a matter of keeping that in mind and understanding that it's just something I have to deal with when focusing. It still slightly annoys me, but, thanks to the current focus aid tools, I can clearly see when I am going past the symbol. Thank you once again.
I look at the 27mm for its potential, thanks to its perspective and small size. It's probably a tad sharper than the 23mm, but they're all good lenses.
I prefer Voigtlander than Fuji 35mm f2 too: comparing sterile and boring pictures.I very recomend Voigtlannder Lanthar Apo 35mm f2 on Fuji camera. Very beautifull colors and textures. And l'd like to buy 23mm Voigtlander for X mount...
Going back to 1960, the camera and lens brands that I've owned (those that I can remember): 7Artisans, Agfa, Bronica, Canon, Fujifilm, Fujinon, GoPro, Hanimax, Image, Kodak, Konica, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Panasonic, Polaroid, Ricoh, Rodenstock, Safari, Sanyo, Schneider-Kruzenach, Shimano, Sigma, Sony, Tamron, Tokina, Topcon, Toyo, TTArtisans, Vivitar, Voigtländer, Yashica This list includes APS-C (both digital and film), 35mm film, 120 film in 645 6x6 6x7 and 6x9 formats, plus 4X5 film
no hyping up camera gear to maximize clicks. just a dude talking about the tools he likes for his hobby. that is really refreshing!
I've had the Voightlander 27mm f/2 for about 2 months and have thousands of images made with it to judge its quality. I love this lens.
This was a redundant purchase since I have the Fujifilm XF 27mm, but I get two advantages from the Voightlander. Obviously the extra stop is nice for selective focus. But the true difference that makes the Voightlander nice is the tighter close focus over the Fuji lens. I was always bumping up against the minimum focus distance with the XF, and the Voightlander allows me to come in closer.
After 3 or 4 outings, I had my manual focus technique down (turned off the red peaking and use manual assist with high magnification), and my finger hits the tab without even thinking now. Its also nice compared to the cheap TT Artisans lenses, the hard stop at infinity is true infinity making fast long shots easy. Also nice, the viewfinder distance scale exactly matched the distance scale on the lens barrel, so seeing the zone of focus at a moderate aperture is fast and accurate.
I haven't taken the 27mm off my X-T3 since I mounted it and won't anytime soon.
Great impressions! Thanks for sharing them. That 27 looks incredible.
Thanks Peter - I am enjoying your channel. We share very a similar philosophy. I have the 23mm and really like it. I also have 4 M Mount lenses that I adapt to Fuji including the Leica Elmerit 28mm and Voigtlander 40mm 1.4. I use all the manual lenses on my Xpro 2 and Xpro 3, using the OVF and the small screen (don’t know name) with focus peaking. It is a bit like a focus patch. My XT5 is reserved for the autofocus lenses. I am interested in the 18 and 50 Voigtlander. Looking forward to your video when they come in. I completely agree with you - these are fun lenses for us amateurs. I want enjoyment and fun from photography. It is my escape from a busy professional career. Thanks for the hard work and I look forward to more videos.
I had the 40mm f1.4 for a few years along with the 21mm & 25mm f4 lenses. I regret selling them, especially the 40mm.
Thanks a lot for sharing your experience with these lenses,very helpful. I also like the sort of clean look of your video while sprinkling in different backgrounds for a more interesting viewing experience.
I love your emphasis on fun! Power to your elbow.
Thanks for that Peter, glad you enjoy the 3 lenses so much. I have a copy of the 27mm, it produces some lovely images and you're right, it's a street lens at heart. The lack of a 5 meter marking on the focus ring is problematic. The focus tab is very nice to use. But most of all I love how the lens looks and feels on the XT3.
I absolutely love the 23 1.2
Same! I find 35mm and everything longer a bit too tricky to focus, but maybe it is just me. Would love 27mm, but I tend to shoot in the dark quite a lot, so I do have a benefit of 1.2 from 23mm. Love the 23mm on my old X-T2.
@@eZaY47 have you used the 35 1.2? How is it? The 23 is such a perfect lens in terms of looks, size, weight, light transmission, bokeh that I don’t think I’d get a lot more out of 18 or 27. But they sure are beautiful!
@@SiddhantParkar I just had a few minutes with 35, as the guy selling the 23 was also selling 35. It was a tiny bit smaller physically, and, yes, subject seperation was better, but still, I couldn't handle the focusing. I already had, at the time, 7artisans 35 0.95, so I knew that focusing 35mm is harder, but still, wanted to try the Voigtlander hoping it would be easier. But if you have a chance, try it as well, you might have no issues with focusing! For me 23mm is holy grail, well balanced in everything. Of course 27mm size is tempting, but I guess you can't have it all.
@@eZaY47 ah okay. I actually have the M Mount 40mm Nokton. It has a beautiful bubble bokeh, and honestly easy to focus peaking, even more so than the 23 1.2
I am interested in the 50 1.2 Nokton of which there are not many reviews.
I have the 23, 35 macro, and now the 50 Voigtlanders in x mounted on an XT-5. It started with the 23, nothing to compare it too but just loved it’s small form factor, rendering of colors, and build quality. Now my recently purchased 50/1.2 was extensively compared with the Fuji 50 f2 Prime (considered one of their best f2’s). Perhaps at 400% crop factor the Fuji has a slight edge at f2-certainly in the corners it does, but it is so close and “your call” at 5.6. (The Vgtl may be better at higher F stops)? Anyway, the colors, characters, fun factor are in Voigtlanders favor. Again, The Fuji 50 f2 is a terrific lens, just to be clear, but I seem to be gravitating to the Voigtlander.
Got their 35mm Nokton and would love to try more from Voigtländer, but as you said: they are expensive. I also have a 23mm, an 18mm and the Fuji 56mm. I can't fully justify buying the same focal range again just for fun manual focus. I have been debating selling some of my Fuji lenses and then to buy the Voigtländer and stick to manual focus :) would be a very fun experiment.
Interesting review, I'm interested in a Fujifilm camera and I do use manual focus a fair amount. How is the manual focus assist with your cameras? The X-Pros remind me of my old Yashica 35mm rangefinder camera. I hope they update the line.
I have a video on using these lenses and X-Pro3 with manual focus. ua-cam.com/video/orFQBgxPvLk/v-deo.html
I wonder if the pixel peepers (admitting myself) would be more satisfied with the Voigtlander 35mm f/2 Macro, as it is supposed to be apochromatically corrected, so might be quite sharp, but I have yet to see anybody properly put it though its paces to confirm or deny that supposition.
Possible, but since I have no plans to ever buy one, I'll be one of the last to know . . . ;)
Bless you! I could notice in your video that the focus range in the 23 and 35mm goes beyond infinity. How problematic is that, in your opinion?
They don't go past infinity, rather there are small lines at the ♾ symbol that indicates where the stop actually is. It looks like they go past ♾, but they don't.
@@photographybypetercharles9939 Thank you for your response! I actually got the lens some time ago, and if I point to the infinity symbol, everything is in focus, but if I go past it, to the focus stop, thing get out of focus. I would probably recommend that you do some tests regarding this, maybe it's something you haven't noticed before.
On checking again, you're right. I never simply rack a lens out to the infinity stop to shoot, so I never noticed this. I checked my three Nokton lenses and they're all the same, so it's a design choice, not a sample variation issue. The Noktons apparently have a deliberate 'past infinity' distance scale, while the Ultron 27mm f2 and the Color-Skopar 18mm f2.8 focus to infinity at the infinity stop. When we look at the ∞ mark on my Noktons, there's a small line at ∞, while my other two lenses do not have one. I wondered why the line was there and now it is obvious. It's to indicate that infinity is somewhere on that line. The other two lenses stop at the midpoint of the ∞ symbol.
I've had MF telephoto and zoom lenses in the past with the same line at ∞ and never wondered why it was there.
The distance scale is accurate however, indicating that this is not a flange distance problem. My TTartisans 25mm f2 focuses past infinity, but that lens is off all across the distance scale, indicating a flange distance problem.
In years past I have run across 'past infinity' discussions with some other German designed lenses. On checking out this issue today, I ran across comments that some Zeiss and Leica lenses do the same. The consensus was that this feature is for precise focusing when wide open, allowing for temperature variations.
BTW, all auto focus lenses go past infinity to allow for focus motor movement.
Will this make a difference to my photography? Nope.
@@photographybypetercharles9939 Wonderful analysis, glad you thought the same I did! It's a matter of keeping that in mind and understanding that it's just something I have to deal with when focusing. It still slightly annoys me, but, thanks to the current focus aid tools, I can clearly see when I am going past the symbol. Thank you once again.
I own 18,23,35 1.2 and I guess if I should buy also this, if it’s rendering is different from 23, it seems sharper
I look at the 27mm for its potential, thanks to its perspective and small size. It's probably a tad sharper than the 23mm, but they're all good lenses.
I prefer Voigtlander than Fuji 35mm f2 too: comparing sterile and boring pictures.I very recomend Voigtlannder Lanthar Apo 35mm f2 on Fuji camera. Very beautifull colors and textures. And l'd like to buy 23mm Voigtlander for X mount...
Why we should look at your videos?? how many systems, cameras lenses did you used in your life?
Going back to 1960, the camera and lens brands that I've owned (those that I can remember): 7Artisans, Agfa, Bronica, Canon, Fujifilm, Fujinon, GoPro, Hanimax, Image, Kodak, Konica, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Panasonic, Polaroid, Ricoh, Rodenstock, Safari, Sanyo, Schneider-Kruzenach, Shimano, Sigma, Sony, Tamron, Tokina, Topcon, Toyo, TTArtisans, Vivitar, Voigtländer, Yashica
This list includes APS-C (both digital and film), 35mm film, 120 film in 645 6x6 6x7 and 6x9 formats, plus 4X5 film
Who pissed in your cornflakes? This guy is showing us what he enjoys and I like the low hype/everyday user like me approach.
i own 35mm f1.2,i like the experience using it but i am a little bit dissapointed about heavy purple fringing when wide open until f2.8
Ya, fringing is fairly common with very fast lenses when wide open. It's just something to be aware of in our choices of subjects when wide open.
I find this correctable in Capture One. Not a problem when shooting B&W :-)