Cosina Voigtlander 40mm f2 opinion wanted

[espressogeek]

I purchased a CV 75/2.5 for my Nikon D200 a month or so ago and I LOVE it. I am now using it with my " new " old Nikon FE. When i mount the lovely Nikon 50/1.4 on it I cant help but think of the CV 40/2 and how it would compliment the FE's svelte figure. Any comments about it's performance ? Bokeh etc? Any galleries that anyone knows of featuring this lens?

 

[firecracker]

I purchased a CV 75/2.5 for my Nikon D200 a month or so ago and I LOVE it. I am now using it with my " new " old Nikon FE. When i mount the lovely Nikon 50/1.4 on it I cant help but think of the CV 40/2 and how it would compliment the FE's svelte figure. Any comments about it's performance ? Bokeh etc? Any galleries that anyone knows of featuring this lens?

You mean, Ultron 40mm F2? I never shot with it but had a chance to mount on my FM, which is identical to your FE. I liked the weight and the balance better than having a Nikkor Auto 50mm F2 on it, but that's about it.

I've heard the bokeh is harsh and not pretty. I've seen those photos and kind of agree. And for the price of a used one, you could still get a better Nikkor lens. I think the best match for the FM or FE body is a 50mm pancake lens.

 

[espressogeek]

That is interesting and I always heard their 40/1.4 was harsh but the 40/2 was much better. I assumed the optical formula was pretty similar to the 45/2.8 that Nikon uses but perhaps I am incorrect in that assumption.

 

[firecracker]

That is interesting and I always heard their 40/1.4 was harsh but the 40/2 was much better. I assumed the optical formula was pretty similar to the 45/2.8 that Nikon uses but perhaps I am incorrect in that assumption.

There was a thread on photo.net about the Ultron lens. Someone did a liitle testing with the comarison to Nikkor 45mm F2.8 pancake lens, which has more of the older Nikkor bokeh taste. But you know photo.net has been down...

Also there are a few Japanese personal blogs that show the results from the Ultron lens, and the comments on the harshness of the bokeh were very similar with each other: Its wide-opening/F2, it's not as soft as other lenses. They say it's due to the aspherical design of the lens, etc.

But you know that's not the best way to hear other people's opinions based on what's on someone else's computer screen. So the best bet for your search is to find the lens somewhere, testshoot with your camera so you can feel it, process the neg, and see the result whether you like it or not.

 

[espressogeek]

My japanese is not so good. In fact its pratically non existant. I did suspect that it would be sharper at f2 that the Nikon due to the aspherical element. Can you post those blog links if you have them handy? The lens is 350 dollars from the one vendor I can find it at, Yikes!
Perhaps I should just get a nice used Nikon. But I was thinking the extra sharpness wide open and the extra stop would be a nice bonus.

In fact this is the only picture i have been able to locate from that lens. One user sighted the bokeh as not great but not objectionable.
http://www.focusu.com/gallery/showpic.php?uuid=299&aid=1099&pid=15135

 

[firecracker]

My japanese is not so good. In fact its pratically non existant. I did suspect that it would be sharper at f2 that the Nikon due to the aspherical element. Can you post those blog links if you have them handy? The lens is 350 dollars from the one vendor I can find it at, Yikes!
Perhaps I should just get a nice used Nikon. But I was thinking the extra sharpness wide open and the extra stop would be a nice bonus.

In fact this is the only picture i have been able to locate from that lens. One user sighted the bokeh as not great but not objectionable.
http://www.focusu.com/gallery/showpic.php?uuid=299&aid=1099&pid=15135

Here's, first of all, the cashe link for the page from photo.net that I mentioned earlier, which might be helpful to add to your knowledge:

http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache...&hl=ja&gl=jp&ct=clnk&cd=27&ie=UTF-8&inlang=ja

The followings are Japanese websites, webpages, blogs etc in Japanese shot with film cameras I belive:

Dead Link Removed

http://www.ishizuka-takao.net/materials/minolta-mf/v040mm_f2sl_ultoron/index.htm

Dead Link Removed

http://miyukirod.blog12.fc2.com/blog-date-200511.html


And more but shot with digital cameras:

http://plusalfa.exblog.jp/tags/Voigtlander+ULTRON+40mm+F2/

Dead Link Removed

The street price on this lens (brand new) was about 250 USD at one or two stores in Tokyo at some point, but I'm not sure if they still carry it at that price. But usually it's about 350 USD in general, and the used ones from the auctions are between 250 to 300 or so.

 

[espressogeek]

Wow thanks for the excellent wealth of resources. There were plenty of shots to look at. I dont find the bokeh objectionable in any of the shots show here so I suppose that unless the bokeh is really bad its a fairly personal thing. I try not to get to hung up on it. I do like the tonal quality of a lot of the shots. I suppose I will try the Nikkor 45 pancake first since I just won an auction on what appears to be a very nice example of one. I really do appreciate this info as it is just what I wanted!
Thanks!