Are doubler's (2X) worth it

Eric said:
I also own the Sigma 150-600 contemporary and I’ve been less than impressed with it. It’s a decent lens but it has a lot of distortion when cropped. I’ve learned to work with it but if you want real quality you have to pay for it.
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To be honest I've only ever used mine for wildlife, so I don't have any reference for distortion. For the type of work that you do, I see how that is an issue.

Still, for the use case of Herdfan and his wife, I think it's a great contender. I have less than 400 images in my LR catalog with this lens (I probably took more that I deleted), so for me, the cost tradeoff is worth it for the quality. If I were shooting city landscapes like you, and/or selling images I'd definitely look into a higher end lens. But I do think it's a bargain lens for wildlife, and for a non-everyday use lens, I think this lens is quite good for the cost.

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the upload lost some sharpness. here is a better version:

 
Wow, fantastic shots! Thanks for sharing those. Obviously (especially based on this) it's a competent lens and if super fine art in low light isn't your goal it's more than adequate.
 
Clix Pix said:
Yes, I have three Voigtlander lenses, all fast manual focus which were designed for Sony. They had an arrangement with Sony in the early days when Sony was just getting started with their mirrorless e-mount lineup and didn't have many lenses of their own yet. They also provide lenses to Leica. The Voigtlanders are beautiful lenses which render colors and softness/bokeh/blur in remarkable ways.

It's been too long ago now since I had those Sigma and Tamron lenses (oops, auto-correct did the "tampon" thing to me, too! LOL! I see now that I didn't catch it when that happened in my earlier post. Should've proofread! DUH....). Anyway, I don't recall what the lenses were, except that I found the Sigmas were always heavier and bulkier than they really should've been or needed to be and the Tamrons just didn't seem to provide decent image quality.

I have been more than happy with my Sony lenses, especially the GM ones, of course, and the G, but even the "non-G" (less expensive) lenses are of excellent quality. Starting from scratch as I did two and a half years ago was a good opportunity to pull together a group of lenses which really suit my shooting style and the types of subjects I most frequently shoot. Now I've pretty much got all bases covered. Truth is, though, I use the 100-400mm and the 90mm the most -- those two are my absolute favorites and they deliver time after time after time.
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Clix, which lenses did Voigtlander make for Sony in the early days? I know Cosina manufactured the Zeiss branded lenses for them - the initial 55mm, 35mm and 24-70. Didn't know they manufactured some under the Voigtlander brand too?

I will be honest, the Apo-Lanthars that have gone from e-mount first then to m-mount are great lenses and I am a fan of the Voigtlander and Zeiss M-Mounts as alternatives to the Leica lenses. They have upped their game recently.

When Sony first released the A7 I started out shooting Voigtlander lenses like the 35mm F1.4 Nokton Classic and the 40mm too. They are M-Mount super compact from their Bessa line of cameras which were fitted with range finder coupled M-Mounts compatible with Leica.
 
mollyc said:
To be honest I've only ever used mine for wildlife, so I don't have any reference for distortion. For the type of work that you do, I see how that is an issue.

Still, for the use case of Herdfan and his wife, I think it's a great contender. I have less than 400 images in my LR catalog with this lens (I probably took more that I deleted), so for me, the cost tradeoff is worth it for the quality. If I were shooting city landscapes like you, and/or selling images I'd definitely look into a higher end lens. But I do think it's a bargain lens for wildlife, and for a non-everyday use lens, I think this lens is quite good for the cost.

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the upload lost some sharpness. here is a better version:

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Damn you take nice shots!
 
kenoh said:
Clix, which lenses did Voigtlander make for Sony in the early days? I know Cosina manufactured the Zeiss branded lenses for them - the initial 55mm, 35mm and 24-70. Didn't know they manufactured some under the Voigtlander brand too?

I will be honest, the Apo-Lanthars that have gone from e-mount first then to m-mount are great lenses and I am a fan of the Voigtlander and Zeiss M-Mounts as alternatives to the Leica lenses. They have upped their game recently.

When Sony first released the A7 I started out shooting Voigtlander lenses like the 35mm F1.4 Nokton Classic and the 40mm too. They are M-Mount super compact from their Bessa line of cameras which were fitted with range finder coupled M-Mounts compatible with Leica.
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I believe Cosina manufactures Voigtlander as well as CV lenses..... I should check that, but somewhere along the line a long time ago I got that impression. At any rate I love my three Voigtlanders, they're just lovely lenses! I have the 110mm macro, the 65mm f/2.0 Apo-Lanthar and the 35mm f/1.2.
 
The hummingbird is super cool (and an amazing animal). We've had them buzz up to the lilies in the backyard, I run around like a goofball trying to get the camera together, right lens, check, check, but even when I have it hand, they're tricky to catch.
 
Clix Pix said:
I believe Cosina manufactures Voigtlander as well as CV lenses..... I should check that, but somewhere along the line a long time ago I got that impression. At any rate I love my three Voigtlanders, they're just lovely lenses! I have the 110mm macro, the 65mm f/2.0 Apo-Lanthar and the 35mm f/1.2.
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CV is Cosina Voigtlander

Which 35mm F1.2 have you got? I have the version 1 which is wonderful and doubles as a defensive aid if attacked. The 110mm and 65 are reputed to be phenomenal. Nice choice. I added the new 50mm f2 APO-lanthar and the 50mm f1.0 to the family recently.
 
kenoh said:
CV is Cosina Voigtlander

Which 35mm F1.2 have you got? I have the version 1 which is wonderful and doubles as a defensive aid if attacked. The 110mm and 65 are reputed to be phenomenal. Nice choice. I added the new 50mm f2 APO-lanthar and the 50mm f1.0 to the family recently.
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I also have version 1 of the f1.2. Focus ring always vaguely reminds me of the big nut that holds the p-trap together under my sink. I find that I don’t use it so much anymore, but for awhile it was something I used anytime I knew I was going to be in low light.
 
kenoh said:
CV is Cosina Voigtlander

Which 35mm F1.2 have you got? I have the version 1 which is wonderful and doubles as a defensive aid if attacked. The 110mm and 65 are reputed to be phenomenal. Nice choice. I added the new 50mm f2 APO-lanthar and the 50mm f1.0 to the family recently.
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Ah, I was correct, then! Thanks! If I hadn't already been making plans to purchase (which I did do eventually) Sony's fabulous 50mm f/1.2 I would've gone for the Voigtlander options available at that time. As for the 35mm f/1.2 Nokton Aspherical SE, I bought it at B&H about a year or so ago so I would assume that it is version II? Gorgeous little lens! I do love these fast, fast fast lenses -- they produce beautiful results and rendering -- the way they handle color, subtly and yet distinctively, can be astonishing.
 
Cmaier said:
I also have version 1 of the f1.2. Focus ring always vaguely reminds me of the big nut that holds the p-trap together under my sink. I find that I don’t use it so much anymore, but for awhile it was something I used anytime I knew I was going to be in low light.
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Yes the focus ring is like the sink trap nut… lol… lovely lens - i love it for its imperfections.
 
Ah, Kenoh, you bad boy, trying to tempt me!!!! I just took a brief cruise over to B&H to learn more about that 50mm f/1.0 lens -- and whew, my bank account is issuing a huge sigh of relief since that lens (at least so far) is only available in Leica's M- mount, not in Sony's E-mount..... Waiting to see what fantastic images you can get with that beauty!

Back in my DSLR days I really had issues trying to use manual-focus lenses; with Sony and I assume other mirrorless bodies as well, it is so, so much easier an experience and regardless of one's eyesight one can hope to achieve decent results, getting at least something in focus, thanks to the help of Focus Peaking along with Magnification....
 
Clix Pix said:
Ah, Kenoh, you bad boy, trying to tempt me!!!! I just took a brief cruise over to B&H to learn more about that 50mm f/1.0 lens -- and whew, my bank account is issuing a huge sigh of relief since that lens (at least so far) is only available in Leica's M- mount, not in Sony's E-mount..... Waiting to see what fantastic images you can get with that beauty!
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You can autofocus m lenses on Sony E using adaptors. I do that. Works pretty well as long as the subject isn’t moving too fast.
 
Since I use my Voigtlanders primarily for macro or closeup work anyway, manual focusing is fine. I wouldn't buy a Voigtlander for anything which required fast focusing and response time on my part....just wouldn't work. That is why I went with the Sony 50mm f/1.2 because I thought about the different kinds of situations in which I would use that lens and realized that I'd rather have an autofocus lens for that kind of shooting, have the options of going AF or MF. I have occasionally used the 50mm f/1.2 for near-closeups, as it has a good minimum focusing distance, and at times I've switched from AF to MF to get whatever it was I was intent on capturing when AF just wasn't quite cutting the mustard. Most of the time, though, I do use that lens in AF.

The Sony 35mm f/1.4 GM does nicely when I know I'm going to want AF all the way and when I want to experiment with something and want just a bit faster, that's when I reach for the MF Voigtlander 35mm f/1.2.
 

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