Voigtländer LBA - post your pics, notes and thoughts.

jsherman999 · 02-18-2008, 06:26 PM

Originally posted by David07

Hello,

I have a Tamron 90mm macro 1:1 but I'd like to get a higher focal lenght for macro pics of insects. The Voigtlander 180mm seems interesting, but its macro ratio is 1:4.

I was wondering if anybody has tried the Voigtlander 180mm with extension tubes. Should I expect equally good performance of the lens by adding extension tubes ??

Thanks,

David

I'll be able to answer that in about a week

.

m8o · 02-18-2008, 07:50 PM

Actually, while we're on the subject of extension tubes can anyone help me out? I was wondering what say 125mm worth of extension tube + 2x TC would do to :
a) the DOF ?
b) and magnification ?
...while using the 125mm lens.

Would that make the the 1x magnification something like 4x magnification? (and that's with 4 stops loss of light too?)

I have no idea what that would do to depth of focus tho to guess.

Abbazz · 02-19-2008, 12:58 AM

Originally posted by David07

I was wondering if anybody has tried the Voigtlander 180mm with extension tubes. Should I expect equally good performance of the lens by adding extension tubes ??

I have tried the Voigtländer 180mm with extension tubes. This combo provided good performance but it was cumbersome to use. Focusing was rather difficult because the lens is not very fast at f/4 and the extension tubes make the image appear even dimmer in the viewfinder.

Cheers!

Abbazz

CJSpangler · 02-21-2008, 07:52 PM

figured I'd ad some updates:

I still have been using the 180mm more than the 125mm. Since many have questioned about the quality of the 180 - I figured I'd add some shots. A duck from the local lake - church (also on the same lake) and finally the moon from last night (with 1.7x AF I think). All shots were taking sometime this month, and with the vogithlander 180. I think I played with the church roof in lightroom a bit, to get it bring out the clouds a little bit. The moon shot was taken with a crappy tripod, the rest were hand held.

Enjoy - I'll be sure to post some macros and more shots as the months get warmer. I really like the 180 - starting to get the hang of the autofocus. I tend to miss from time to time on moving objects when they are coming toward me. Currently I am really relying on the green dot/beep to tell me its in focus.

m8o · 02-21-2008, 08:28 PM

That shot of the church dome and clouds behind it is exceptional.

btw, for any interested, there's a Pentax mount 125mm f/2.5 on eBay presently. Starting at I think $560; bin of $999; location is Taiwan.

jsherman999 · 02-22-2008, 09:45 PM

.

My Voigtlaner 180mm arrived today, and I ran some sharpness tests indoors on a tripod. It's probably my first or second sharpest lens, maybe tied with my Viv series 1 105mm macro, and at f8, I can't see any sharpness degradation at the edges. Truly incredible.

However, the focusing ring is *extremely tight - it definitely does not have the silky smooth, easy focus of my SMC 200mm f/4.

My question - is this normal for the Voigtlander? Does it normally have a very tight/damped focusing action, or is my copy too tight?

.

mr.voigtlander · 02-23-2008, 03:44 AM

Try warming the lens up in your hands if it is very cold. DON'T heat it or do anything silly. I've heard of people doing that with other, older lenses and it gets the movement back. worth a try.

**baldeagle21b** · 02-23-2008, 11:26 AM

Originally posted by jsherman999

.
However, the focusing ring is *extremely tight - it definitely does not have the silky smooth, easy focus of my SMC 200mm f/4.

My question - is this normal for the Voigtlander? Does it normally have a very tight/damped focusing action, or is my copy too tight?
.

I checked my own which arrived last week, and it is as you described, so I think your copy is OK. You won't find many manual focus lenses which match the Takumar for smoothness of the focus action.

thePiRaTE!! · 02-24-2008, 01:52 AM - **1 Like**

Ditto. 180 focus is firm - but with use it seems to have relaxed... a little. I had a shoot out in Banff this past week. Weather and light were phenomenal so the shots came out nice, thought I'd share a shot from each the 58, 180 and 125.

The Lanthar 180mm

The Nokton 58mm

The Lanthar 125mm

Notes - I've grown to appreciate the 58 as being closer to the Lanthars for image quality than I had originally stated. I think the fact I can see CAs @ f1.4 in my pixel peeping was something I wasn't used to from the Lanthars, but the amounts really still aren't field relevant.

- The mountain shots were stopped down to around f8 and post edited in Lightroom and CS3. Editing aside, the details wouldn't be there to edit unless the lens was sharp enough to produce them to begin with, so its fair to say you're still seeing the sort of resolutions they can produce.

- Some may recall previously that (especially) the 125mm needs to be turned back in a touch from full retraction to focus properly at infinity. The 180 and 58 less so, but I found that a fly's breath worth of turning back in helps the sharpness with them too.

- The area presented in the 180 shot is the top right hand corner of the area shot with the 58.

Abbazz · 02-24-2008, 03:08 AM

Originally posted by thePiRaTE!!

Weather and light were phenomenal so the shots came out nice, thought I'd share a shot from each the 58, 180 and 125.

Superb shots. My preferred is the third. BTW, what's on the picture?

Cheers!

Abbazz

thePiRaTE!! · 02-24-2008, 04:45 AM

Originally posted by Abbazz

Superb shots. My preferred is the third. BTW, what's on the picture?

Cheers!

Abbazz

Thanks Abbazz, much credit to the glass! The third image is a fairly close-up image of chunks of ice scattered on the surface of frozen Lake Minnewanka here in Alberta. It was very warm so the surface of the ice was glistening with moisture and sunlight. I filtered and underexposed most of my shots to capture as much of the highlighting as possible, hence the darker overall exposure.

K.

creampuff · 02-24-2008, 04:55 AM

Looks like a hot pixel on Pic 3.

Abbazz · 02-24-2008, 05:50 AM

Originally posted by thePiRaTE!!

The third image is a fairly close-up image of chunks of ice scattered on the surface of frozen Lake Minnewanka here in Alberta. It was very warm so the surface of the ice was glistening with moisture and sunlight. I filtered and underexposed most of my shots to capture as much of the highlighting as possible, hence the darker overall exposure.

It gives an interesting metallic look to the picture, like a Sci-Fi movie. The other two landscape shots are also gorgeous. Did you use a polarizer?

Cheers!

Abbazz

CJSpangler · 02-24-2008, 08:28 AM

thanks for the tip on the 125mm, i was wondering why i was having trobles getting it to focus at infinity lol.

did you use a polarizer on the 180 for that mountain shot? The ice looks pretty fantastic.

jsherman999 · 02-24-2008, 09:50 AM

.

K! Incredible, exiting shots.

After a half day playing with my 180, I've grown used to the stiff focus, and can get really precise with it now. I also think it's loosened up just a bit with use, as you mentioned.

What PP was done in the 180 shot, unsharp mask?

.

02-21-2008, 07:52 PM	#109
CJSpangler Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: New Jersey, US Posts: 154	my reply figured I'd ad some updates: I still have been using the 180mm more than the 125mm. Since many have questioned about the quality of the 180 - I figured I'd add some shots. A duck from the local lake - church (also on the same lake) and finally the moon from last night (with 1.7x AF I think). All shots were taking sometime this month, and with the vogithlander 180. I think I played with the church roof in lightroom a bit, to get it bring out the clouds a little bit. The moon shot was taken with a crappy tripod, the rest were hand held. Enjoy - I'll be sure to post some macros and more shots as the months get warmer. I really like the 180 - starting to get the hang of the autofocus. I tend to miss from time to time on moving objects when they are coming toward me. Currently I am really relying on the green dot/beep to tell me its in focus.

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02-18-2008, 06:26 PM	#106
jsherman999 Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,237	Originally posted by David07 Hello, I have a Tamron 90mm macro 1:1 but I'd like to get a higher focal lenght for macro pics of insects. The Voigtlander 180mm seems interesting, but its macro ratio is 1:4. I was wondering if anybody has tried the Voigtlander 180mm with extension tubes. Should I expect equally good performance of the lens by adding extension tubes ?? Thanks, David I'll be able to answer that in about a week .

02-18-2008, 07:50 PM	#107
m8o Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: 40°-55'-44" N / 73°-24'-07" W [on LI] Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,092	Actually, while we're on the subject of extension tubes can anyone help me out? I was wondering what say 125mm worth of extension tube + 2x TC would do to : a) the DOF ? b) and magnification ? ...while using the 125mm lens. Would that make the the 1x magnification something like 4x magnification? (and that's with 4 stops loss of light too?) I have no idea what that would do to depth of focus tho to guess.

02-19-2008, 12:58 AM	#108
Abbazz Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Jakarta Posts: 667	Originally posted by David07 I was wondering if anybody has tried the Voigtlander 180mm with extension tubes. Should I expect equally good performance of the lens by adding extension tubes ?? I have tried the Voigtländer 180mm with extension tubes. This combo provided good performance but it was cumbersome to use. Focusing was rather difficult because the lens is not very fast at f/4 and the extension tubes make the image appear even dimmer in the viewfinder. Cheers! Abbazz

02-21-2008, 08:28 PM	#110
m8o Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: 40°-55'-44" N / 73°-24'-07" W [on LI] Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,092	That shot of the church dome and clouds behind it is exceptional. btw, for any interested, there's a Pentax mount 125mm f/2.5 on eBay presently. Starting at I think $560; bin of $999; location is Taiwan.

02-22-2008, 09:45 PM	#111
jsherman999 Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,237	. My Voigtlaner 180mm arrived today, and I ran some sharpness tests indoors on a tripod. It's probably my first or second sharpest lens, maybe tied with my Viv series 1 105mm macro, and at f8, I can't see any sharpness degradation at the edges. Truly incredible. However, the focusing ring is *extremely tight - it definitely does not have the silky smooth, easy focus of my SMC 200mm f/4. My question - is this normal for the Voigtlander? Does it normally have a very tight/damped focusing action, or is my copy too tight? .

02-23-2008, 03:44 AM	#112
mr.voigtlander Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 34	Try warming the lens up in your hands if it is very cold. DON'T heat it or do anything silly. I've heard of people doing that with other, older lenses and it gets the movement back. worth a try.

02-23-2008, 11:26 AM	#113
baldeagle21b Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 223	Originally posted by jsherman999 . However, the focusing ring is *extremely tight - it definitely does not have the silky smooth, easy focus of my SMC 200mm f/4. My question - is this normal for the Voigtlander? Does it normally have a very tight/damped focusing action, or is my copy too tight? . I checked my own which arrived last week, and it is as you described, so I think your copy is OK. You won't find many manual focus lenses which match the Takumar for smoothness of the focus action.

02-24-2008, 01:52 AM - 1 Like	#114
thePiRaTE!! Inactive Account Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Calgary, AB Photos: Gallery Posts: 942 Original Poster	Ditto. 180 focus is firm - but with use it seems to have relaxed... a little. I had a shoot out in Banff this past week. Weather and light were phenomenal so the shots came out nice, thought I'd share a shot from each the 58, 180 and 125. The Lanthar 180mm The Nokton 58mm The Lanthar 125mm Notes - I've grown to appreciate the 58 as being closer to the Lanthars for image quality than I had originally stated. I think the fact I can see CAs @ f1.4 in my pixel peeping was something I wasn't used to from the Lanthars, but the amounts really still aren't field relevant. - The mountain shots were stopped down to around f8 and post edited in Lightroom and CS3. Editing aside, the details wouldn't be there to edit unless the lens was sharp enough to produce them to begin with, so its fair to say you're still seeing the sort of resolutions they can produce. - Some may recall previously that (especially) the 125mm needs to be turned back in a touch from full retraction to focus properly at infinity. The 180 and 58 less so, but I found that a fly's breath worth of turning back in helps the sharpness with them too. - The area presented in the 180 shot is the top right hand corner of the area shot with the 58.

02-24-2008, 03:08 AM	#115
Abbazz Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Jakarta Posts: 667	Originally posted by thePiRaTE!! Weather and light were phenomenal so the shots came out nice, thought I'd share a shot from each the 58, 180 and 125. Superb shots. My preferred is the third. BTW, what's on the picture? Cheers! Abbazz

02-24-2008, 04:45 AM	#116
thePiRaTE!! Inactive Account Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Calgary, AB Photos: Gallery Posts: 942 Original Poster	Originally posted by Abbazz Superb shots. My preferred is the third. BTW, what's on the picture? Cheers! Abbazz Thanks Abbazz, much credit to the glass! The third image is a fairly close-up image of chunks of ice scattered on the surface of frozen Lake Minnewanka here in Alberta. It was very warm so the surface of the ice was glistening with moisture and sunlight. I filtered and underexposed most of my shots to capture as much of the highlighting as possible, hence the darker overall exposure. K.

02-24-2008, 04:55 AM	#117
creampuff Veteran Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Singapore Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,953	Looks like a hot pixel on Pic 3.

02-24-2008, 05:50 AM	#118
Abbazz Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Jakarta Posts: 667	Originally posted by thePiRaTE!! The third image is a fairly close-up image of chunks of ice scattered on the surface of frozen Lake Minnewanka here in Alberta. It was very warm so the surface of the ice was glistening with moisture and sunlight. I filtered and underexposed most of my shots to capture as much of the highlighting as possible, hence the darker overall exposure. It gives an interesting metallic look to the picture, like a Sci-Fi movie. The other two landscape shots are also gorgeous. Did you use a polarizer? Cheers! Abbazz

02-24-2008, 08:28 AM	#119
CJSpangler Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: New Jersey, US Posts: 154	thanks for the tip on the 125mm, i was wondering why i was having trobles getting it to focus at infinity lol. did you use a polarizer on the 180 for that mountain shot? The ice looks pretty fantastic.

02-24-2008, 09:50 AM	#120
jsherman999 Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,237	. K! Incredible, exiting shots. After a half day playing with my 180, I've grown used to the stiff focus, and can get really precise with it now. I also think it's loosened up just a bit with use, as you mentioned. What PP was done in the 180 shot, unsharp mask? .