First review of the newly announced Voigtlander 35mm f/1.2 SE lens

The Japanese site Fujiablog posted the first review of the new Voigtlander NOKTON 35mm f/1.2 Aspherical SE Sony E lens. On their website you can find many image samples. Here is their google translated conclusion:

Voigtlander NOKTON 35mm F1.2 Aspherical SE Sony E was a very fun lens to use with its unique and wide range of expressions. The unique bokeh, combined with the extremely bright f-value of f1.2, was very attractive.
When I used the same M-mount lens, I had the impression that it had a slight purple fringe, but this time it didn’t happen because of the optimization for the Sony mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera.
The characteristic of the image changes when the lens is fully opened and when the aperture is stopped down, and I think that the joy of taking the lens according to the image can be enjoyed and the joy of using it doubled.

There lens is not available for preorder on BHphoto.

Tamron 70-180mm review by CameraLabs: “compelling alternative to the Sony”

CameraLabs tested the new Tamron 70-180mm lens and concluded:

It produces very good image quality including a soft Bokeh and very usable close-up performance in a package that is much smaller, lighter, and cheaper than Sony’s FE 70-200mm f2.8 GM. It may not have all the bells and whistles of Sony’s professional zoom lens and its biggest disadvantage is the incompatibility with teleconverters. But it still is a compelling alternative to the Sony and clearly earns a recommendation!

Also Photographyblog published the full lens review:

Overall, unless you really, really need the extra 20mm reach of a “true” 70-200m zoom, the new Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VXD is a truly unique lens that performs exceptionally well in almost every regard, and is therefore a deserved winner of our coveted Essential award.

Tamron 70-180mm FE lens is in Stock and/or shipping here:

In USA at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama and FocusCamera
In Germany at FotoKoch DE, Amazon DE, Calumet DE.
In UK at Amazon UK, WexUK, ParkCameras.
In Amazon EU stores at Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES, Amazon NL.

The new Tamron zoom specs are damn close to the one of the Sony 24-240mm FE!

Two reliable sources told me this:

The new Tamron FE zoom lens is damn close (in terms of specs) to the current Sony 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS FE lens.

This is my speculation (I repeat speculation and not rumor):
1) The Tamron specs might be something like 28-240mm f/3.5-5.6 and has no optical stabilization (the Sony has it).  Having 4mm less at the wide end and no OSS would allow Tamron to make the lens more compact and a bit faster at the tele end. I think my speculation is probably veeery close to the real deal :)
2) Or 28-280mm f/3.5-6.3 with 40mm more at the tele ens.

Just a small update on the upcoming new Tamron FE lens:

  • specs might be something like 28-240mm f/3.5-5.6 (more or less)
  • Has a focus locking switch
  • more or less same size as the current 28-75mm lens.

Sigma 24-70mm review by Lenstip: “well-put-together lens”

Lenstip tested the new Sigma 24-70mm FE lens and unlike all other reviewer they were a bit less impressed by it’s performance:

The Sigma A 24–70 mm f/2.8 DG DN is a well-put-together lens, sharp practically across the whole focal lenghts and aperture range. Its tests results, however, leave us a bit dissatisfied. Even the mere pros-to-cons ratio is higher than in the case of other Sigma instruments, tested by us lately. Still, the number of flaws is not as jarring as their intensity – you deal here with really nasty distortion and vignetting levels. The explanation that these two aberrations can be easily corrected with the help of software I don’t find especially convincing. I’d rather optics specialists tried harder and corrected at least some of them with optical system, not leaving all the work to software. Additionally, the presence of longitudinal chromatic aberration, with so many low dispersion elements inside, was rather a nasty surprise.

Still, compared to the reflex camera version, this lens has some assets too. It is physically lighter, a bit slimmer and, what’s interesting, cheaper, because its suggested price is almost $1100. The reflex camera version of this lens, present on the market for almost two years now, is $20 cheaper.

The tested lens has a serious rival in the shape of the Tamron 28-75 mm f/2.8 Di III RXD, an instrument $220 cheaper. Of course the Sigma still offers you the 24 mm focal length, an important feature, and a significantly better performance on the edge of the frame – for many prospective customers these will be two big selling points. By the way we, customers, should enjoy the fact that, apart from expensive brand name products (after all the Sony FE 24-70 mm f/2.8 GM costs almost $2200!) we have an opportunity to buy quite good products of thrid-party producers in this segment.

Sigma 24-70mm FE lens at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Calumet DE, FocusCamera. WexUK