How good are Voiglandar lenses?

[Sunriser]

Voiglandar lenses are well-known and offer good value comparing with Leica and Zeiss lenses. But how good are they?

 

[Ian Grant]

Welcome to APUG.

Depends what Voightlander lenses you mean, genuine made in Germany or the modern Cosina variety. The original Heliars have a cult following, the Skopars are just Tessar clones.

If you mean the modern ones then they have a good reputation for performance and value for money, although build quality isn't as high as Leitz lenses.

Ian

 

[CGW]

Welcome to the TO/GTA group.

Have you looked around here?

http://www.cameraquest.com/

 

[IloveTLRs]

They can be very good. I have the Color-Skopar 35/2.5, 28/3.5 and 21/4. The 35 I like the best because it is the non-pancake version - which I think is single-coated - and takes great pictures. The 28 & 21 are modern multi-coated. Sharp and contrasty.

The 21mm I have has had some build quality issues: the black paint has worn off in places and some screws came loose a few years ago while I was on vacation (I tightened them and the lens has been okay since.) Also, the frame lines in the external viewfinder started "rotating" - so I took it apart and straightened them.

Over all I'm happy with the lenses. They are much cheaper here in Japan than overseas, for some reason.

 

[ntenny]

"How good" is at least partly subjective, but a lot of people like them. (I'm assuming the question refers to the modern CV lenses in Leica mounts.) Some of their lenses have been put through objective tests for resolution and so on, and done well.

The superwides, of course, are pretty much unique---if you want a 12mm lens for a Leica, CV are effectively the only game in town.

-NT

 

[Sunriser]

Hi, good to know that Voigtlander lenses are cheaper in Japan (than in Canada?) Can they be used directly on Leica M or need an adaptor ring? I have booked a tour to Tokyo soon, staying in the suburb. Can you recommend any big photographic/electronic store names for photo gears? Or can you tell me some web sites that I can check out the prices in Japan - it has to be in English, I can't read Japenese. Thanks a lot.