Voigtlander ULTRON VM 28mm F2

Review of the Voigtlander Ultron 28mm f/2 used with a Leica M digital camera.

Gallery

Photo with LEICA M9

Review

The Ultron 28mm F2 is a VM mount wide-angle lens released by Cosina Voigtlander in 2008.

The second-generation Ultron did not use the aspherical lens used in the first generation, but instead adopted a spherical lens + anomalous dispersion glass, and the lens configuration was completely changed. The maximum aperture value has been increased to F2, and it uses a more compact lens barrel compared to the first generation.
The third generation uses aspherical lenses again, and this 28mm Ultron series is an interesting lens with many experimental elements. The first generation was released in 2001, this lens was released in 2008, and the latest model was released in 2021.

The compact lens barrel was easy to handle with the M-type Leica, but I personally bought it at a time when my 28mm lenses were saturated, so I ended up getting rid of them without using them much. When taking close-up shots with the aperture wide open, the front and back blurs may become noisy, and the impression may have been different with the LEICA M8 or EPSON R-D1, which do not use the periphery, but it is a poor lens for use with the M9. It left an impression. Of course, if I stopped down, it was a normal lens.

There is a lens manual on the Cosina website, but as of 2023, there are no lens introduction pages such as lens configuration diagrams. The Internet Archive also contains past pages of Voigtlander, where you can view official product information.

Specification

Items	First Ultron	2nd Ultron	3rd Ultron	Summicron 28mm ASPH.
Aspherical lens	Use	No use	Use	Use
Focal length(mm)	28	28	28	28
Max aperture	1.9	2	←	2
Min aperture	22	←	←	16
Leaf blade	10	←	←	10
Lens Construction	7elements 5groups	10elements 8groups	10elements 7groups	9elements 6groups
Min distance(m) (distance meter linked)	0.7	←	←	0.7
Lens length(mm)	63.1(Hood included/L39)	51.2(without hood/M-mount)	36	40.8(M-mount)
Max diameter(mm)	55.8	55	51.4	53
Filter Size(mm)	46	46	39	46
Weight(g)	265	244	190/230	270
Release date	2001.4	2008.8.5	2021.6	2000.
Price(Yen/No-tax)	75,000(Silver) / 78,000(Black)	75,000(Black)	100,000 (common to all 3 types)	–