voigtländer 25mm 0.95 vs slr magic 25mm 0.95 vs panny leica 25mm 1.4

[Mirrorkisser]

I am curious to collect some real life experience on the lenses above. I read several tests on both lenses but would also like to hear what users say.

 

I am planning to buy one of the lenses above. The panny is certainly not on the same level, just costs half as much though. If you dont mind the plastic built and the software image correction, i guess that might be a good lens. Although perhaps a bit too clean.

 

Some said the slr would be a lot sharper wide open, while focusing would be smoother on the voigtländer.

 

Anyone? :)

[P13]

I've had without even using a follow focus, no issue at all with the SLR Magic for focussing, I wouldn't say the Voigtlander is any better, in fact the SLR Magic is better really as you don't have to mess about getting a third party focus gear.  I'm sure it's sharper too.  It does flare more which I don't mind but obviously it's a matter of personal taste.

[andy lee]

save your money and buy the Pentax/Cosmicar 25mm f1.4 c mount lens
it is stunningly sharp and under $100 on ebay
works great on gh2 in low light at night
a must have lens for everyones kit bag

http://vimeo.com/29814909

also Wesley 24mm f1.4 is very very good

[CoolColJ]

I recently got the Fujian 25, F1.4 C mount lens which is similar to the above, you do get vignetting at f2.0 and above
$38 or so from Ebay with micro 4/3 adapter and 3 macro rings - from Mxcamera. he also sells Wesley, but he just sold out a batch.

Has swirly bokeh and is very bloom/flare prone - even light from a monitor will cause it to flare! :)
And specular highlights will flare - so it does get a dreamy look
Only the centre of the lens is sharp, but in a way it isolates subjects well because of this.
 
It's a true f1.4, a bit brighter than the Wesley f1.4, which is closer to a real f1.8

Wesley does not have the swirly bokeh effect though
 
It can get pretty clean wide open with manual ISO 500-640 for a normal lit room at night. Gets noisey with auto ISO for some reason, even during the day.
 
see my demo test of it here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B-ORWR_pio

 

night room lighting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQes0xG5oK0&feature=youtu.be

What I said about it
 

 

bad GH2 banding problems towards the end of the video :(

Just got this Fujian 25mm F1.4 CCTV lens. Using it on the GH2 with an adapter.
The focus and aperture rings are smooth and solid. Pretty good quality and build for the price actually!

The lens will not focus properly on anything closer than 1.5 feet, so you need to use the macro rings to get closer -- you get 3 which stack, depending on how close you want to focus.

With all macro rings on, it will focus at around 1-2 inches, and everything else outside of that will be blurred -- extremely shallow DOF :)
2 rings = 3 inches
1 ring = 5 inches

The focus ring will go past infinity focus, so it will go out of focus at the extreme end.
The range of motion requires quite a few turns, but it's quite easy to focus on the GH2 even without using the 1:1 magnify mode.
Aperture will also close to zero!

Vignetting is noticable past F2.0, especially when underexposed.
ETC mode will crop it off and turn it into a 100mm lens :)

When stopped to F1.7 or so it's fairly sharp.
Lovely round bokeh on light sources when defocused. Swirly bokeh on other things.
I can't believe how bright this lens is indoors at F1.4!
ISO at 640 at F1.4 was overexposing today indoor -- fairly dim cloudy day and room

Flares pretty easily when the lens is wide open -- needs a hood

[andy lee]

the Wesley is very good as it does not barrel distort and with no swirly bokeh it acts like a 'normal lens '

it is very sharp and great in lo light it says f1.4 but is really more like an f2 lens

if you can find one I would highly recomend it.

The Pentax 25mm is more readily available and is a stunning arty lens

[Mirrorkisser]

Thanks for all your replies.

 

Andy, what do i need besides the lens? an adapter cmount to m43? Any rings or other stuff in between? Thank you, i will keep that lens in mind and look for it.

[andy lee]

you just need a c mount to micro 4/3 adaptor thats all

[Mirrorkisser]

Thanks. Just read a review that the lens has quite some vignetting. I dont mind soft corners, but what is your experience on the vignetting? Thanks m8!

[andy lee]

its minimal does not bother me at all

watch this

http://vimeo.com/29814909#

[CoolColJ]

You can turn on ETC mode on the Gh2, and make it a smaller chip camera, so no more vignetting and funky bokeh in the corners. Also much less jello as well :)
And no aliasing/moire since no scaling is being used in this mode

I shot some outdoor ETC tests with the Fujian 25mm, I'll post it up later, looks very good!
Although the lens becomes a 110mm in full frame terms.
Putting the Gh2 in Aperture priority mode worked well, even if the Fujian is a manual lens.
So that the GH2 adjusted shutter speeds as I opened/closed the aperture to keep constant exposure. Allowed me to increase/decrease the depth of field as an effect

Vignetting on these lens are more solid at smaller F stops

[CoolColJ]

Here is the Fujian 25mm, full sensor vs ETC crop mode vs the 14-42mm kit lens set at 25mm in ETC mode as well

You get rid of all the funny stuff on the edges and swirly bokeh

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk-XF3c9fuQ
 

[CoolColJ]

A little comparison between the SLR magic and Voigtlander

 

My eyes like the SLR magic better B)

 

http://vimeo.com/60901587