The new Voigtlander 28mm f/2.8

[kev8d]

A few weeks ago I ordered a manual focus Voigtlander Color Skopar SL II 28mm f/2.8 lens. The lens debuted in October 2012, and there has been very little press coverage on it now that it's out.

Now that it arrived, I've started to try it out. The lens vignettes pretty strongly at f/2.8, but that disappears by f/4. The centre image quality is excellent, even at f/2.8. The corners are soft until stopped down to about f/8, so it's probably not an ideal landscape photography lens. That being said, it's light weight makes it a great lens to pack when you're going for a long walk and don't feel like lugging a heavier lens. The tiny profile also prevents you from attracting too much attention. Even a 5D mkIII looks somewhat unassuming when equipped with this lens.

Another great feature is the accurate hyperfocal distance markings on the lens.

Here is a photo taken from a quick walk with the dog today. I wanted to take more, but he kept pulling the leash as I was trying to hold still! LOL

The vignetting in this shot was added in POST. 

The hood in the picture is a 3rd party ebay hood. It protects the lens without adding to the vignetting.

[verysimplejason]

For it's price, I'd rather have Canon 28mm F1.8.  @F1.8, it's tack sharp in the center though a little bit soft in the corner.  By F2.8, everything is sharp, as sharp or sharper than my 50mm F1.8.  Only my 100mm macro is sharper.  Vignetting is also negligible.  Focusing is also super fast.

[kev8d]

I considered the Canon 28mm f/1.8 because it has a pretty good reputation online, but the build quality of the Voigtlander won me over. As a videographer, I really appreciate having a solidly built lens with a buttery smooth manual focus ring.

How does your lens perform on a full frame body? Shooting on a crop body will not reveal the corners' true sharpness or softness since they're cropped out by the camera.

Cheers

[verysimplejason]

I haven't tried on an FF yet but on APS-C I'm quite satisfied.  As for the build, the Voigtlander is much better though Canon's not that bad.  It's on par at least with a 50mm F1.4.  For the focus ring, my copy at least is decent.  It's silent when focusing.  If you look in the web, most of the gripe for the 28mm F1.8 is that it's soft wide-open but @ F4, I did not read any complaints.  The AF is also outstanding for a lens this old.  True, for video purposes I think your voigtlander suits your purposes more since it's very good manual focus ring.

[kev8d]

I haven't tried the Canon 28mm's focus ring (the store was out at the time). I really like the focus ring on the 50 f/1.4. Good to hear the 28mm's feels nice too. I'll try to look at one in person next chance I get.

[wickidwombat]

I have the 20mm and I love it, hard stop infinity is so nice and the electronic aperture control with very snappy AF confirm for manual focus to. Build quality is awesome.

[verysimplejason]

I have the 20mm and I love it, hard stop infinity is so nice and the electronic aperture control with very snappy AF confirm for manual focus to. Build quality is awesome.

Sorry, off-topic.  I'm interested in the 20mm.  Is its IQ better than Canon 17-40?  I need an UWA for FF because I'm moving to FF next year.

[wickidwombat]

I have the 20mm and I love it, hard stop infinity is so nice and the electronic aperture control with very snappy AF confirm for manual focus to. Build quality is awesome.

Sorry, off-topic.  I'm interested in the 20mm.  Is its IQ better than Canon 17-40?  I need an UWA for FF because I'm moving to FF next year.

yes IMO it is better still a little soft wide open but sharpens up nicely when stopped down, colour and contrast are fantastic
and its only 52mm filter thread, you know how cheap high end filters are in 52mm? not to mention how much smaller and easier they are to carry around i think my B+W 10 stop ND was about $50 and the hoya pro 1D CPL as $40 or something.
the lens is about the same size as the 40mm pancake
for landscapes its really great it also has a unique starburst style i've not seen on other lenses at narrow apertures

it makes a great street photograpy lens on a 5Dmk3 because its small and unobtrusive
you can set it to f8 and infinity focus and know everything from a couple of meters away to infinity will be in focus
so lack of AF is not a big deal IMO and for landscapes you can be more critical using live view anyway

I think image quality wise the ziess 21mm is unbeatable however its much much bigger and much more expensive too
Since i have a 16-35 II i knew around 20mm was my favourite wide angle and the size made it something that i could easily just keep with me all the time

[verysimplejason]

Thanks for the advice.  I'll certainly take that into consideration.  What impress me so much is its size and weight.  This will be great since I'm carrying mainly prime lenses whenever I go hiking, I know, it's not advisable but I really enjoy prime lenses more than zoom lenses.  With UWA, I don't mind getting MF lenses.

[MrFotoFool]

Either this lens or the 20mm seem taylor made for the newly announced Rebel SL1.  If I can afford it, that will be my new point and shoot setup.

[wickidwombat]

I have the 20mm and I love it, hard stop infinity is so nice and the electronic aperture control with very snappy AF confirm for manual focus to. Build quality is awesome.

Sorry, off-topic.  I'm interested in the 20mm.  Is its IQ better than Canon 17-40?  I need an UWA for FF because I'm moving to FF next year.

yes I think its better than the 17-40
here are a couple of pics from it
they are at f22 though as i was using a cpl and iso 50 to get the longer exposure
f8 to f11 is sharper

Its a nice partener to the 40mm they both use 52mm filters so they can share and 52mm filters of high quality are cheap even B&W 10 stop ND and cpl adding a filter does not increase vignetting