There are very few super compact 35mm lens in Leica M mount that can be adapted on Fuji X camera. The newest Vintage line Voigtlander 35mm F2 Ultron lens is one of them, and it’s very interesting option to fit retro look of Fujifilm X-E2s.
First of all – Voigtländer Vintage line includes so far three Leica M mount lens made in black and chrome body finish: 21mm F3.5, 35mm F2, 50mm F3.5. All three lens are very small and look awesome. I’ve chosen 35mm lens because it’s my favorite focal length on Fuji APS-C camera, and it also can be used with Sony A7s. Both Leica M adapters can be found very inexpensive, so for me it’s lens for two systems.
Lens design and fit for Fujifilm
Voigtlander 35mm F2 Ultron is jut a little longer than it’s closest vintage looking competitor for Fuji X system – 7Artisans 35mm F1.2 lens. It takes 39mm filters, and B+W slim line XS-PRO Nano filter fits perfectly and keeps lens size small even when it’s attached to Leica M – Fuji X adapter ring.
I like shooting with 7Artisans 35mm F1.2 for its unique picture look and for it’s retro look perfectly fitting Fujifilm rangefinder styled bodies.
Surprisingly, Voigtlander 35mm F2 Ultron fits Fujifilm cameras even better. It’s like the lens is made for Fuji : )
Mechanically Voigtlander 35mm F2 Ultron is superb. It has very smooth focusing with minimal distance of 0.58m and convenient aperture click-stops. Traditionally aperture consists of 10 blades.
Few older generation Voigtlander lens have focusing pin due to super compact size and absence of focusing ring. Voigtlander 35mm F2 Ultron also has focusing pin, but fortunately it also has quite convenient and nicely textured focusing ring. So I decided to remove pin and replace it with black bolt.
Pictures with Fujifilm X-E2s camera
Voigtlander 35mm F2 Ultron optical formula is designed for Leica sensor, so it’s expected to see good sharpness in the center of frame with Fujifilm APS-C sensor. Though borders and corners rendering will be affected by thick Fuji sensor filter glass.
All pictures below are taken @ F2 aperture.
It’s super easy to focus with Voigtlander 35mm – focus ring is wide enough to find it quick. Mechanics is excellent and I don’t notice any focus rotation lag when switching direction.
More pictures with better Sun light:
Landscape shots wide open always have blurred frame borders and corners, it’s better stopping down to F2.8 or even F4 on Fujifilm APS-C sensor.
@F2
@F4
Shot against direct sun light. Greenish flare color most likely comes from protective filter.
After shooting with Voigtlander 35mm F2 Ultron for few days I got used to stopping down aperture when necessary for better look.
Conclusions
Cosina made this 35mm F2 Ultron very well balanced for daily shooting. Aperture is fast enough to create interesting blurred background when shooting close objects, and focusing ring is precise and comfortable even without using of focusing pin. It’s a bit tricky to locate aperture ring tabs when shooting in a portrait mode, but for horizontal pictures fingers are changing aperture quick. Fujifilm camera nicely pairs with this 35mm lens even for landscape pictures, when aperture is stopped down a bit, and I like level of details. It’s always sharp in the center even wide open and works excellent for objects in central frame area.
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