Originally posted by les3547 Few wide angles can compete with longer focal lengths. You own one of them, the Zeiss 21 . . . that shot above shows its stuff. I do think the shot with the DA 15mm looks slightly over exposed, and possibly suffering from a little movement. Was it on a tripod? Still, the VL continues to impress me, better color and resolution than the DAs, relatively sharp (for the 20mm range) on the corners. I think it is a great little lens.
I second this opinion les. My VL20/3.5 definitely gives me better color rendition than the DA21/3.2 ltd. It is also sharper edge to edge (in 1.5x cropped sensor, that is) than my DA21ltd. I have come to a conclusion that DA lenses have as more "plasticky" color rendition which is less to my liking. From now on, if I were to invest in limited lenses, it would have to be the FA ltds.
The only drawback of the VL20/3.5 is when I need critical focusing for shots below infinity and with an f stop of a shallower dof (f3.5-4.5). Since I rely on the focus assist lamp, I noticed that at these aperture stops, the fa lamp covers a wider range and is not as accurate. That is the only drawback I have experienced with the VL20, and where I miss the AF of the DA21ltd.