First outing with the Voigtlander 75mm f1.9 MC lens. Looks pretty good to me...

I wanted a longer lens for my Leica M240 camera. The longest lens I owned for those cameras before this was the 50mm Voigtlander APO f2.0. That one was amazing enough to pull me into the Voigtlander camp as a source of lenses for what is basically a personal, hobbyist camera system. I did consider the 90mm Voigtlander APO Skopar f2.8 for the extra reach but having owned Leica M cameras in the "film" past I remembered how tough it is to compose in the very small rectangle in the viewfinder that comes up when using that focal length. The 75mm focal length is a good compromise between the ability to isolate subjects but also to operate with confidence. Really, if your work always depends on a lens longer than 75mm I think you'll better off sticking with a "traditional" mirrorless camera like a Leica SL2. I often find myself using the long end of the 24-90mm Leica zoom with them but most of the time I get greater enjoyment from the diminutive Sigma 90mm f2.8 Contemporary lens. It's small, light and razor sharp. Even wide open. But doesn't work on the M cameras.

There is a range of 75mm lenses made for M mount cameras. Leica makes a very pricey 75mm f1.25 Noctilux M ASPH lens for the "reasonable" price of $14,000 USD, a much cheaper 75mm f2.0 APO Summicron for a paltry $4795, and I'm sure there are some used, older Leica 75mm f1.4 lenses floating around out in the wild. Voightlander makes a 75mm f1.5 Nokton Aspheric lens (in black or chrome) for a cool $1,000 --- brand spanking new. And, the lens I ended up buying, the Ultron, is available in both a multi-coated version and a single coated version. 

I read some reviews of the VM f1.9 lens including one by Phillip Reeve and thought I'd take a chance on it. 75mm f1.9 Ultron is small and light, has a twelve bladed aperture for great bokeh, three non-standard lens elements. An optical design of seven lens elements in five groups and the ability to focus down to half a meter. Most M lenses are limited to (.)75 meters so this is one of the few that focus closer. 

I bought mine in a "used, like new" condition from B&H for about $525. When it arrived I was surprised at how small and light it actually is. The lens came in the original box and also included a metal lens hood with a lens hood cap as well as a more traditional lens cap for the 49mm filter ring. 

On my first day out with the lens I decided I'd test it with a Leica SL camera. It's a camera with a sensor configuration that is much better optimized for M mount cameras than those in some competing camera brands and it's a good match for the flange distance and sensor configuration of a traditional M camera. But being able to fine tune focus via a high definition EVF and the focus magnification feature meant that I would not end up blaming the lens for any focusing errors that might come from using the rangefinder camera. It's slower to stop and check focus at a higher magnifications from shot to shot but these are mostly static test photos so that wasn't really an issue in this instance. 

 

Here are the "pros" of the lens: It focuses closer than most M series lenses. At f1.9 it's relatively fast and, since it is sharp even at f1.9 (at distances from one meter and beyond) that wide open aperture is highly usable for serious work. It's small enough so that without the lens hood the lens does not protrude into the image frame lines when used on an M camera. Being small and lightweight also makes it pretty damn charming when used on a bigger camera like the SL. Which means you can carry the combined package longer without wearing yourself out. 

There are two "cons." One is that the throw of the focusing ring is very short and you have to pay attention when you focus so you don't overshoot your "in focus" mark. It goes in and out of focus with the barest of focus ring movement. Secondly, at wide open and at apertures up to f2.8 the bokeh balls of lights out of focus in the background show what is sometimes referred to as "ninja" patterns where the edge of the light circle shows the repeating edges of the aperture blades. Certainly not an issue for me but worth noting. 

Would I buy it again? In a heartbeat. It's exactly what I wanted in order to complete my M series Leica system. And it's a magnificent portrait lens for the M240 cameras.

Images above and below. Text written back in pre-Christmas December. That's why you are seeing holiday shots in this post. Ah well. We can't always be timely. 

Hilarious tree topper at Austin Motel. 

The motel's motto, being a stone's throw from downtown and the Capitol Building is: "So Close yet so far out. I thought the above adaptation was great. 

Near the close focus limit and wide open.

the lens does mannequin photography quite well and the camera and lens together do a very nice job with red fabric. 

Sign for an old tree in the courtyard at Guerro's Mexican food restaurant right there in the middle of South Congress Ave. Just down the street from the Austin Motel.

far away and....

close up.

using my custom profile for Leica SL raw files converted to Jpegs. 

 

Thanks to (redacted commenter) for convincing me to take a few weeks off. Otherwise I would have been posting fun photographic content every single day between the 13th of December and the New Year. And moderating comments about photography at the speed of light... I am sure as readers you appreciated the time off...