A couple of days ago I wrote a post about how I'd never used my Voigtlander 20mm Nikon fit lens on my OM-D. Well yesterday I tried it for the first time, and it won't be the last.
I managed 10 minutes shooting on my way to the dentist in one of the coldest winds I've ever encountered. But it was worth it. These are the sharpest pictures I've ever shot on a m4/3 camera. A bold statement? Well, yes, but that is what they are. My NEX cameras like this lens but my OM-D absolutely loves it. Even at these small sizes, you can see how crisp the images are, and also how smooth the sky area is. Remarkable.
I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that I should be basing what gear I use around these Voigtlander SLR lenses. I can use them on all my mirrorless cameras, and of course my Nikons. They really produce stunning quality images.
It should be remembered however that the Voigtländer 20mm f/3.5 SL-II Aspherical AI-P, to give it its "snappy" full name, isn't particularly fast and at its widest aperture not that good. But stop it down down to f/8, which is what I used for these tests, and its stunning. The combination of a "sweet" aperture and using the "sweet spot" at the centre of the lens, has produced some amazing images, that I wasn't prepared for.
To make things even better, it would be nice if the rumours about the latest OM-D firmware adding focus peaking later this month were true. The lens isn't easy to focus using the magnification in the Olympus, unlike my NEX cameras which make it much easier.
However, with results like this I'm prepared to put up with it.
I did use the lens on a m4/3 camera just once before, with my GX1, but the light was somewhat dismal and I wasn't using optimum apertures. The results were sharp, but I had problems focusing accurately, so I kind of gave up on it for m4/3 and kept it for my NEX and Nikon cameras. However I'll be using it a lot more from now on.
Nice to find this previously untried combination lurking around on my gear shelf!!
N.B. to see more on the cameras and lenses featured in this post click on the relevant labels (tags and keywords) below.
All original material on this blog is © Soundimageplus
All original material on this blog is © Soundimageplus
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