An interesting Voigtländer VM duo — what more could you wish for when travelling away? A rangefinder camera, a wide-angle lens, and a telephoto lens. And if both lenses are fast and promise high image quality, the kit should be just right. With this in mind, I took Voigtländer’s newest telephoto lens, the APO-Ultron 90/2.0, and their fastest 28, the Nokton 28/1.5 through their paces and to Greece. Here comes my review of this Voigtländer VM duo.
A Voigtländer VM duo has already been in the focus of previous M Files episodes — just think of the 28/2.8 and 75/1.9 in episode 23, or the superfast 21 and 75 Noktons in episode 20. In both cases, travelling was a great opportunity to thoroughly test the lenses. The same goes for the next Voigtländer VM duo. 28 and 90 millimetres mark the shortest and the longest focal length you can easily handle on a standard rangefinder camera.
Why did I pick these two particular lenses? The 90/2.0 is brand new, the 28/1.5 promises to be very versatile in terms of low-light abilities and defined depth of field (anyone who has ever used a Leica Q with its 28/1.7 lens will agree).
A Voigtländer VM duo goes places
I took this Voigtländer VM duo to Greece and to places around my home in South Germany. However, it’s not the places and their beauty that matter here but the lenses. For this reason, I did not select the “nicest” images, but the ones that tell the most about the characteristics of a lens.
The images shown are heavily shrunk JPG exports from my RAW files. I used my Leica M10 and applied moderate exposure adjustments in post-production. No additional sharpness, no crops unless stated.
And one more general remark on this Voigtländer VM duo: The use of 28mm lenses on Leica rangefinder cameras is relatively controversial, I know. You can hardly see the frame lines, and not all photographers are really in love with this focal length. Indeed, it is a tricky one because you “have a lot in your picture”, and the photos often look cluttered.
A 35mm lens is easier to handle in this respect because it forces you to concentrate on something. But I like the challenge of a 28. On the other side, fast 90mm lenses are demanding to work on a rangefinder camera because it can be difficult to hit focus at full aperture. Of course, an electronic viewfinder can help here.
All that said, the task is set. Two lenses, one camera. Let’s go and see how this Voigtländer VM duo performs.
Voigtländer VM duo, short end: Nokton 28/1.5
Technical data, scope of delivery, price and availability
The Voigtländer Nokton 1:1.5/28 (as engraved in the front ring) was introduced in December 2023 and is now available in no fewer than four different versions: Type I has a more modern look, and the barrel is made of aluminium. Hence, the weight of only 250g as stated by Voigtländer. Type II has a more classic look (Berg und Tal-Riffelung, a knurled focusing ring alluding to Leica’s 1960s lenses), sports a brass barrel, and is heavier at 330g.
Both types are available in black and silver at €1,049 (Type 1) or €1,149 (Type II). Type II comes with a screw-in focusing rod. You can attach it to the familiar focusing tab. I used a Type II lens for this review but didn’t try this small accessory. The lens comes without any further accessories.
The lens hood (Voigtländer LH-6) has to be bought separately (€79). But if you have other Voigtländer lenses, you might possess this one already, as it fits a high number of lenses. A pouch is missing, but an OP/Tech neoprene pouch with its fold-over top cover is a good and affordable choice.
The Nokton 28 is fairly compact and, especially in Type I version, remarkably light for its wide aperture. My Version II copy is 45 mm long when mounted and 59 mm including the parts that protrude into the camera.
For the brass version, I have measured a weight of 367g “as in my bag” (that is, with hood, back and front cover, the lens alone is 328g). The overall diameter is 54 mm, and filter size is 43mm for both versions. This is widespread among Voigtländer VM (and Zeiss ZM) lenses.
Optics and rendering
Lens design
The Voigtländer Nokton 28/1.5 has a fairly conventional design. It is essentially a symmetrical Biogon type comprising 10 lenses in 8 groups. While it lacks a floating element to improve performance at close focus, it features two lenses with atypical partial dispersion and two aspherical lenses.
Overall, it is a moderately modern lens, and further proof that capable wide-angle lens designs are easier to devise for mirrorless cameras. But rangefinder camera users have known that for decades, haven’t they?
Colour drift and vignetting
Wide-angle lenses tend to carry a risk of colour drift. This effect happens if rays of light reach the sensor at a very oblique angle. While not problematic on film because of its granular nature, the pixel wells of a sensor catch only a part of the spectrum, resulting in green or red colour cast (“Italian flag” effect, difficult to get rid of in post-production). The Nokton 28/1.5 is very well-behaved here, absolutely no problems to report.
Vignetting, though, is heavy. It improves only with substantial stopping down. For portraits, architecture, and landscape photography it is no issue. You would usually stop down the lens at least to f/4 for such subjects.
However, for interiors — think of a church — light falloff can be a problem. And if you are working at the limits of your camera’s high ISO performance, brightening up the off-axis areas can cause a nasty rendering. Remember, I did not use any in-camera correction. Maybe a suitable Leica M lens profile could help. I did not yet get around to testing which one this might be.
Chromatic aberration
Some purple fringing of contrast rich, off-focus details is the biggest shortcoming of this lens, at least in my eyes. Stopping down helps, but you might need to go to f/4 and beyond. And that’s not what you buy a fast lens for, is it?
At any rate, CA can be corrected by software, so the Nokton’s performance in this respect is a compromise in favour of compactness and reasonable price. There must be a reason why Voigtländer has just released an APO Lanthar 28/2, even though they already have a 28/2 in their line-up.
Furthermore, that f/2 is less than one f-stop slower than the Nokton’s f/1.5 – another proof that very high aperture and apochromatic correction are difficult to bring together. In any event, it is telling that Voigtländer felt the need to bring a second 28/2.
Sharpness
The Nokton 28/1.5 is reasonably sharp wide open and quickly improves when stopped down. It resolves even fine details with some falloff outside the centre of the image. Again, stopping down brings further improvement.
All in all, the performance is impressive, and all the more so given the Nokton’s compact size. But truth to be said, it can’t match the Leica Q’s 28mm Summilux (widest aperture f/1.7). But then again, this comparison is not entirely fair because the Q is a closed system in which all parts can be designed to match perfectly.
Bokeh and flare
Flare is well corrected, and all the more for such a wide angle of view. At 74.5 degrees (stated by Voigtländer), there is always a high risk of having a problematic light source in your composition. However, a review by Bastian on philipreeve.com shows that there are some issues, probably also caused by the annoyingly shining front ring.
It is the bayonet mount for the lens hood — attach one, and the issue is solved. Bokeh is normally not so important in most 28mm lenses for obvious reasons, but such a fast design allows working with selective sharpness. For me, the out-of-focus areas look quite nice. But this is a matter of taste.
My verdict, optics
The Nokton 28/1.5 VM offers excellent rendering wide open and stopped down. It is more than reasonably sharp at f/1.5 and further improves until it gets simply excellent from f/2.8 onwards. However, you buy such a lens for wide-open use, and there are no reasons for not taking advantage of the remarkable speed of the lens.
Vignetting, if considered annoying, is heavy, but you can correct it. All in all, a remarkable achievement despite the presence of some chromatic aberration.
Mechanics and handling
Overall appearance
The Voigtländer Nokton 28/1.5 is a compact lens and easy to use. Both aperture and distance rings travel with exactly the right amount of ease. The half-aperture stops between f/1.5 and f/16 click smoothly into place, and the different milling of the rings prevent any risk of confusion. The lettering follows the current Voigtländer standards, with imperial units in dark red, which is challenging to read.
The slightly shiny black finish of the Type II version might appeal to many users. I would rather go for the lighter Type I with a fully matte finish. Unfortunately, all versions have the shiny chrome bayonet for the lens hood. It draws a lot of attention and could also induce unwanted flare.
While I understand that hard chrome is an excellent material for such a bayonet, I hope Voigtländer finds a better solution throughout its lens line-up (see the 90/2.0 in the second half of this review with a matte black lens hood mount).
Build quality
The Nokton 28/1.5 has no electronic components and almost no plastic parts. There is no reason not to believe it can last for decades. Both rings are a joy to operate, and especially the Version II has a very solid and dense feel. I would prefer the lighter Version I all the same, but your mileage my vary. In any case, you can expect a lens which is built to tight standards and with a high-quality level. This is further proof that the gap between Leica lenses made in Germany and Voigtländer/Cosina products made in Japan is narrowing.
Focusing
The Nokton 28/1.5 focuses down to 50cm, remarkably closer than the usual limit of a rangefinder’s coupling limit of 70cm. Obviously, you need live view or an electronic viewfinder to take advantage of this extra range. Focus travel is about 100 degrees from 0.5m to infinity which allows for the precise focusing you need when working at f/1.5. Remember, even at 2m, you have only 43cm depth of field. And at 70cm, it’s just 5cm!
Viewfinder
Viewfinder blockage is a constant problem with wide-angle lenses, and it gets worse as lenses get bigger. Without the attached LH-6 hood, the Nokton 28/1.5 is fairly unproblematic, obstructing around 10 per cent of the picture area in the bottom right-hand quadrant. With the hood attached, it gets worse. The only solution is to choose a more compact lens, but this will mean sacrificing speed.
My verdict, handling
In practical use, the small and well-built Nokton 28/1.5, is a joy to work with. The small size (for an f/1.5 lens!) minimizes viewfinder obstruction, and aperture and distance rings are easy to handle. Type I, with an aluminium barrel, has the advantage of less weight and a — for my taste — cleaner look. At any rate, you will immediately feel at home with this M-Mount lens.
Alternatives
Talking of fast 28mm lenses for Leica M-Mount, the Leica Summilux comes immediately to mind. This is a remarkably compact lens and is highly esteem by users. But it comes with a hefty price tag (€7,190, about seven times pricier than the Nokton).
Another fast 28 comes or came from TTArtisan, but this lens is much bigger, which causes heavy viewfinder obstruction. The Thypoch Simera 28/1.4 has received some favourable reviews (for example, here by Mr Leica), but I have not tried it yet.
Almost one f-stop slower is the Leica Summicron 28/2. While the first version had a huge, ugly lens shade, the second iteration has the smart screw-on hood that has become a standard for the non-APO wide angles. What the brand-new Voigtländer APO 28/2.0 has to offer remains to be seen.
Finally, the Leica Q cameras have a fixed 28/1.7 lens that is so good that it needed no upgrade when the sensor resolution went up from 24 to 60 megapixels. For all committed 28mm photographers, the thought of buying a Q just for the sake of the lens is sensible.
The bottom line
In the Voigtländer VM duo in this review, the Nokton 28/1.5 convinces in all areas. It is a compact but very capable lens with the extra of very good wide open performance. I can thoroughly recommend it for reportage work and indoor photography. For architecture and landscapes, a smaller and slower lens might be equally suitable, but the additional use cases come in handy when needed. And given speed, image and build quality, it’s appropriate to say that the Nokton 28 is affordable.
Voigtländer VM duo, long end: APO-Ultron 90/2.0
Technical data, scope of delivery, price and availability
The telephoto member of this Voigtländer VM duo is rather new in the line-up. The Voigtländer APO-Ultron 90mm F2 (if only Cosina’s nomenclature were consistent) was announced in December 2024. It sells at €999 both in black and silver finish, and it benefits from with a well-made, metal lens hood.
The lens attaches via a bayonet mount, and can reverse it for transport. And the mount is finally not in shiny silver chrome but in matte back as is the rest of the lens. With the hood, rear and front cap, the APO-Ultron weighs in at 400g, the naked lens is 339g. This is not particularly lightweight, but less heavy than Leica’s APO-Summicron 90 (500g).
The lens is 63mm long (mounted, in total, it is 72mm) at a diameter of 62mm. As usual for Voigtländer, a pouch is missing, but there are many options from other suppliers. A small caveat is the 52mm filter size.
While clear filters are easily available, black and white photographers should be aware that they also need a set of filters just for this lens — I know of only a few other M-Mount lens with this filter size, most notably the Voigtländer f/1.2 series (35, 40, and 50).
Optics and rendering
Lens design
The APO-Ultron is a rather complex design, with eight lenses in seven groups. Almost all of them feature abnormal partial dispersion, which ensures a high level of apochromatic correction. Compared to Leica’s APO-Summicron, the different design approach is clearly visible: The Summicron gets by with five lenses, one of which is aspherical. The Ultron has no aspheres, according Voigtländer’s technical data sheet.
Colour drift and vignetting
As you would expect from a telephoto lens, the APO-Ultron shows no colour drift: The rays of light reach the sensor more or less at a right angle, so there are no tendencies towards red or green cast toward the margin. Prominent, however, is vignetting. The comparably small entrance pupil will play a role here. There are detailed tests on philipreeve.com with plenty of sample images, another real labour of love by the author, Bastian. He concludes that the APO-Ultron offers the full f/2 aperture only in the centre of the images, and that it is otherwise a considerably slower lens. Quite true.
Chromatic aberration
I tried hard but could hardly produce the slightest of chromatic aberrations. This one is a true apochromatic lens and, in this respect, certainly one of the best lenses I ever used. Kudos to the Cosina lens designers and engineers.
Sharpness
The APO-Ultron is sharp from wide open and at all distances. Of course, stopping down further improves the image quality, but only to a small extent. The bigger challenge is perfect focusing, especially with a rangefinder. The images taken with this lens are exceptionally rich in detail and crisp at the same time. Another thing they got right!
Bokeh and flare
I have no idea if Cosina has access to Zeiss’ T* coating technology (after all, they also manufacture several Zeiss lenses) or if the company has engineered something on its own. In any case, the result is impressive, even compared to the excellent flare resistance of other newer Voigtländer lenses.
It takes a lot of talent (or bad luck) to get this APO-Ultron to flare. Bokeh is certainly a matter of taste. I generally like the Ultron’s rendering of out-of-focus areas, but contrasty backgrounds can appear a tad harsh (especially towards the corners). But all in all, still a far better than average performance in this area, too.
My verdict, optics
The APO-Ultron 90/2.0 is certainly the bigger surprise in this Voigtländer VM duo. It’s difficult to tell what they could have made better in terms of image quality. The Ultron performs flawlessly in all situations. And if you have a well-calibrated rangefinder, you can hope for perfectly sharp images with pleasing bokeh even wide open. The latter is all the more remarkably as the Ultron is corrected to such a degree.
Mechanics and handling
Overall appearance
The APO-Ultron is quite compact, and this impression is underlined by the fact that length and diameter are roughly equal. The focussing ring is wide and alludes to classic Leica lenses — while some might prefer a more modern look, the ergonomics of the Berg und Tal-Riffelung are excellent.
The same can be said about the aperture ring that smoothly clicks into half stops. The matte black colour matches well with new and old Leica cameras, while the silver version will be preferred by some owners of silver cameras. The white, metric lettering is relatively small, and the imperial scale is dark red.
Build quality
As mentioned, all moveable parts convey the feeling of excellent manufacturing. The same goes for the barrel, the lens hood and everything else in the APO-Ultron. While we know how good Leica lenses can be after decades, this Voigtländer product has yet to stand the test of the times, but there is no reason to doubt that it is built to last. The complete absence of plastic parts adds to this impression. I heard die-hard Leica fans who could not say much more than “wow” when they held the APO-Ultron in their hands for the first time.
Focusing
The focus travel from the 90cm minimal focusing distance to infinity is about 100 degrees. While focusing is not exactly fast with this rather long way, it makes sure that you can focus exactly. And that’s crucial: At 90cm and f/2, depth of field can be measured in millimetres.
In practical use, the pupil of the one eye can be perfectly sharp and the other already visibly out of focus if the face is not perfectly aligned with the sensor. A well-calibrated rangefinder is a must, and many users might prefer an electronic viewfinder. Live view has proven to be no real option; camera shake is just too prominent when holding it with an outstretched arm.
Viewfinder
In my experience, 90mm is the longest focal length you can sensibly use with the standard x0.72 viewfinder. The critical area is already tiny in the overall window, and I had the impression that the frame lines of my M10 suggest a slightly more generous angle of view than what you really get.
I have yet to test it thoroughly and at different distance settings, but the APO-Ultron seems to be a bit on the narrow side for a 90. Voigtländer publishes a 27.4-degree angle of view (Leica APO-Summicron: 27). Without the hood attached, there is little viewfinder obstruction With the hood, however, be prepared to make some guesswork what will be in the lower right part of your image, about 10 per cent of the area is not visible.
My verdict, handling
In everyday work, the Ultron 90/2.0 convinces with small size and great build quality. It is hardly larger and heavier than its f/2.8 sibling, and is intuitive to use. The only disadvantage could be the 52 mm filter size, which is relatively unusual in the M-Mount universe (Leica’s Summicron has a 55mm thread). If you are shooting black and white, you might need an extra kit of yellow and red filters for this lens alone. But this is, if at all, a very minor drawback.
Alternatives
The direct competitor to Voigtländer‘s APO-Ultron 90/2.0 is, obviously, the Leica APO-Summicron 90/2(€5,090, used a lot cheaper). It is a bit bigger but still compact, and it has a reputation for being one of the best M-Mount lenses Leica has produced so far. This is remarkable for a lens from 1998, when the requirements of a high-resolution digital camera had not even been dreamt of.
If a slightly slower lens is on the cards, think of the Leica Summarit 90/2.4 (or 2.5 in the first version, the difference is negligible to non-existent). The whole series is discontinued (read here the Macfilos article about the Summarit line), but 90s are easy to find second-hand. However, it can’t match the Summicron or the Ultron. If f/2.8 is enough for you, you can find many alternatives from Leica, but also from Konica. Not to mention Voigtländer‘s own APO-Skopar 90/2.8. This one was featured in episode 14 of the M Files, and it is almost as good as the Ultron, but one stop slower.
The bottom line
In the Voigtländer VM duo in this review, the 90/2.0 APO-Ultron is the even bigger surprise. It offers brilliant rendering from wide open, complete absence of chromatic aberration and excellent resolution. It might be the only telephoto lens you need for your M-Mount kit. Value for money is excellent and handling a joy. If you’re in the market for a 90 with M-Mount, this is a no-brainer.
Conclusion: The Voigtländer VM duo 28/1.5 and 90/2.0, the rangefinder dream couple?
You will have observed that both members of the reviewed Voigtländer VM duo perform very well. Both offer excellent rendering, great build quality and easy handling. The Nokton 28/1.5 is as versatile as I had expected, the APO-Ultron 90/2.0 is nothing else than stunning in its optical quality.
Both lenses are another proof that Voigtländer VM lenses are not cheap Leica alternatives, but serious lenses in their own right. One cannot thank Cosina/Voigtländer enough for their contribution to making rangefinder photography accessible.
While both tested lenses are magnificent in themselves, I am not sure if I would recommend this Voigtländer VM duo as the dream kit for travelling. 28mm is okay for me (as explained in the opening section of this review), and the Nokton is compact and light enough to be a go-anywhere lens.
However, if size and weight do matter, the tiny yet excellent 28/2.8 might be an alternative in a travel kit. The 90, however, makes the gap too big for my taste. I would sooner combine the 28 with a 75 that can double as a reasonably fast “standard” lens — or even take a 50 as a third lens. And a fast 90 is difficult to handle on a rangefinder as well, as much as I love this particular angle of view.
All this said, you cannot go wrong with either of the lenses in this Voigtländer VM duo. Maybe, they are all you ever need for your rangefinder photography. And together they cost significantly less than the cheapest (okay: least expensive) lens from Leica.
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