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02-23-2011, 10:49 AM   #31
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QuoteOriginally posted by paperbag846 Quote
Yeah I don't think that it's worth doing the test over again - it's good work overall, but slightly misleading.

I think when it comes down to it, the strength of the DA 40 lies in it's snappy autofocus. That's what I love about it. If you don't care for AF and prefer manual focus the ultron is overall a superior lens.
The sharpness in both lenses is superb for my uses. We are talking about serious pixel peeping here.

02-23-2011, 11:28 AM   #32
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how is the movie? did anyone see it?
02-23-2011, 11:34 AM   #33
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Walnut Test

Decided to shoot a walnut, since they're flatter than oranges.

Not much difference that I can see. Both lenses seem pretty darn sharp from wide open.

Comparison taken down because it has come to my attention that the test was not precise enough. Having done the comparison several times, using different scenes, I stand by my statement that both lenses are excellent at min. focus distance from wide open to f/8.

Last edited by dasuhu; 03-29-2011 at 09:52 PM. Reason: photos taken down due to the criticisms of Tanner. thanks
03-09-2011, 06:28 AM   #34
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I was in the market for the DA40 after reading this, it now seems my other Voigtlander will get a sibling....

Thanks for the detailed analysis and test.

Manuel

03-09-2011, 01:03 PM   #35
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Based on the flash illuminated newspaper images, the Ultron looks better at the center and the DA40 looks better at the corner.
03-29-2011, 06:24 PM   #36
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Dan,
Thanks a lot for carrying out this test. But can you advise on whether the shot from this post (seashore) was made with VL or DA?


I'm not that keen on sharpness and in this term both VL and DA appear to be on the same level, but I do care about the way a lens renders the shot:
- contrast (VL appears to be a tad better)
- bokeh (I do not like the front blur in that seashore shot): both 'front' and 'rear'
- they way it works with light (not yet covered in this test for any of these lens: flare, oblique light resistance, etc)

Looking fwd to seeing this test going on,
Zig
03-29-2011, 06:46 PM   #37
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QuoteOriginally posted by dasuhu Quote
Decided to shoot a walnut, since they're flatter than oranges.

Not much difference that I can see. Both lenses seem pretty darn sharp from wide open.

Ultron @ F/2


Ultron @ F/2.8


DA40 LTD @ F/2.8


Ultron @ F/4.0


DA40 LTD @ F/4.0


Ultron @ F/5.6


DA40 LTD @ F/5.6


Ultron @ F/8


DA40 LTD @ F/8
some pretty obvious focusing differences here.....

03-29-2011, 06:58 PM   #38
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QuoteOriginally posted by Siegfried Quote
Dan,
Thanks a lot for carrying out this test. But can you advise on whether the shot from this post (seashore) was made with VL or DA?


I'm not that keen on sharpness and in this term both VL and DA appear to be on the same level, but I do care about the way a lens renders the shot:
- contrast (VL appears to be a tad better)
- bokeh (I do not like the front blur in that seashore shot): both 'front' and 'rear'
- they way it works with light (not yet covered in this test for any of these lens: flare, oblique light resistance, etc)

Looking fwd to seeing this test going on,
Zig
The shot is from the DA40 wide open...it's not meant to exhibit the optical potential of the lens, merely to provide perspective on how close Platform Holly is to shore.

I have since sold the DA40 since I prefer the Voigtlander. I did an impromptu test for flare, but decided not to post it since I thought it might be ripped to shreds by some overcritical forummates. I got some heavy flare by the VL when pointing straight at the sun through some leaves, definitely more so than the Limited lens, but I'm not sure how scientific that is. You can probably get many lenses to flare up badly if you shoot them at a certain angle at the sun (someone else said the Ultron was very flare resistant...so go figure ).

Last edited by dasuhu; 03-29-2011 at 07:11 PM.
03-29-2011, 07:06 PM   #39
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QuoteOriginally posted by yeatzee Quote
some pretty obvious focusing differences here.....
As discussed earlier in the thread, any differences in focus are to due the imprecision on manually focusing the DA limited. After redoing the test several times, I decided it was the best I could do...however I'm not entirely sure how many people want to do 100% crop "macro" shots with 40mm non-macro lenses anyways. Neither of the lenses are objectionably soft at minimum focus distance.

Last edited by dasuhu; 03-29-2011 at 08:18 PM.
03-29-2011, 07:34 PM   #40
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QuoteOriginally posted by dasuhu Quote
As discussed earlier in the thread, any differences in focus are to due the imprecision on manually focusing the DA limited. After redoing the test several times, I decided it was the best I could do...however I'm not entirely sure how many people want to do 100% crop "macro" shots with 40mm non-macro lenses anyways. Neither of the lenses are objectionably soft at minimum focus distance.
look at the wood on the F/4 shots...

etc.

Last edited by yeatzee; 03-29-2011 at 09:07 PM.
03-29-2011, 10:10 PM   #41
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QuoteOriginally posted by yeatzee Quote
look at the wood on the F/4 shots...

etc.
Ahh good point my man. Too bad I sold the Ltd lens so I cannot redo the min focus Walnut test. I took down the comparison so as to prevent a false impression on the optical quality of the lenses, since this was an attempted comparison after all. Looks like my closeup MF skills still need some serious work considering I failed both the walnut and the orange test

Last edited by dasuhu; 03-29-2011 at 10:17 PM.
03-29-2011, 10:26 PM   #42
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QuoteOriginally posted by dasuhu Quote
Ahh good point my man. Too bad I sold the Ltd lens so I cannot redo the min focus Walnut test. I took down the comparison so as to prevent a false impression on the optical quality of the lenses, since this was an attempted comparison after all. Looks like my closeup MF skills still need some serious work considering I failed both the walnut and the orange test
Im not sure what camera you have, but I find live view VERY useful for comparisons. I usually tripod the camera and zoom in to the max setting on my K-7 and pick an easy and notable place to focus on. When comparing my lenses @ F/1.4 and F/1.2, this is invaluable
It was useful to see sharpness individually, but no comparison could be made. I still want to try that ultron some day though thats for sure. It looked plenty sharp for me @ F/2 (which I wish the DA was...... F/2 that is)
03-29-2011, 10:33 PM   #43
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QuoteOriginally posted by yeatzee Quote
Im not sure what camera you have, but I find live view VERY useful for comparisons. I usually tripod the camera and zoom in to the max setting on my K-7 and pick an easy and notable place to focus on. When comparing my lenses @ F/1.4 and F/1.2, this is invaluable
It was useful to see sharpness individually, but no comparison could be made. I still want to try that ultron some day though thats for sure. It looked plenty sharp for me @ F/2 (which I wish the DA was...... F/2 that is)
Yeah I tried LV with my K7 at 10x...I didn't notice the background (table) like you pointed out which have helped ground me. I shot with the ultron first, which focuses very easily. I then tried focusing the DA Ltd and it was tough. Every time I touched the focus barrel it really changed the focal plane. I stopped focusing when I thought the middle of the walnut/orange/broccoli/apple (I tried this test many times ) showed the most detail, and thereby in best focus.

I think my roommate thought I was weird..."why is Daniel taking so many pictures of his groceries"
03-30-2011, 07:47 AM   #44
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Dan,
I'd like to hear your own opinion on both of these lenses. Please correct me if I'm wrong:

manual focus (mostly depends on focus ring travel): VL >> DA
sharpness: VL ~ DA
contrast: VL > DA
bokeh: VL ? DA
oblique light resistance: VL ? DA
flare (whether it happens and if it does then what's the pattern): VL ? DA
the feel (do you enjoy working with a lens? how it feels in your hands, how it looks?) VL ? DA

>> means the left side is much better then the one on the right
> means the left side is better then the right side
~ means both sides are about the same, on a par with each other
? means "I don't know"

Zig

P.S.
I you go 'DA40 is much worse then VL40II' and some other PF boy goes 'this can't be right! pentax must be better then anything else!' - this will be two independent opinions. And I'm looking fwd to hearing yours.
03-30-2011, 12:22 PM   #45
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manual focus: VL >> DA
sharpness: VL ~ DA
contrast: VL > DA
bokeh: VL ~ DA
oblique light resistance: DA ? VL
flare DA > VL
the feel VL > DA

Manual focus hands down is better on the VL. MF/Quickshift on the DA is for show (so DA Ltd lenses can have it)

Sharpness: both are very sharp. There is a wee bit of corner softening in the VL wide open though (although of course ltd has no f/2.0)

Contrast: VL has that microcontrast that the Ltd lacks. I think the VL microcontrast is even better than the e.g. the 31mm Ltd.

Bokeh: tossup. Wasn't too thrilled with either of them. Wasn't ever horrified ever (seems like a lot more people have issues with VL bokeh though)

Oblique light resistance: I'm going to guess that the Ltd was a little better than this, but I'm not sure.

Flare: I got some bad flaring problems with the Voigtlander when shooting at the sun (almost look vintage like). DA was better for sure

The feel: I like the VL because I think it's a great size (and the MF ring is a dream). It's compact, but not too compact like the Ltd. The Ltd is so small, I was always confused on where to place my left hand (which normally supports the lens). The Ltd focus ring spins while AFing (you'll realistically never MF with the Ltd) which is annoying.

The VL looks like a solid piece of engineering and optical design. The DA has that cute charm of being so small and unobtrusive (tricked my sister into thinking I didn't even have a real lens on my camera...it's not a weird cap, but a razor sharp prime).

VL has a closeup filter I never use.

VL is more expensive than the Ltd (although I got my VL for a steal of e***, so the lens prices were exactly equal).

That's my summarized opinion on the two lenses. Solid buys either way, more a matter of taste.
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