After owning the 28 f2.8 Z, the Thypoch 28 Simera, and testing a slew of vintage Nikkors, I think Voigtlander’s 28mm f1.5 is the BEST 28 you can buy for the Zf.

Full electronic communication between this manual lens and the best focus assist tools on the market, but the best can still get better? Compared to my jerry-rigged two adapter setup for vintage glass, this Voigtlander 28’s still missing one focus assist feature. Along comes firmware 2.0, which improved the Zf’s class-leading manual focus experience in 4 new ways.

Did the best 28mm for the Zf just get better?

This Voigtlander lens is on loan from Mainline Photographics, an independent Australian stockist. I don’t get to keep this lens - it’s being shipped back as I finish writing this post.
But I am tempted to pick one up because I’ve sold *all but one of my 28mm lenses*.

The combination of handling, image quality and ease of use with electronic contacts make this Voigtlander the best 28 I’ve tried to date on the Zf…but the 28mm f2.8 Z is smaller, lighter, and has autofocus, so why did I sell it?

The Nikon 28mm f2.8 Z is sharp and contrasty wide open from mid distances on, but both optics traits drop off at minimum focus distance. The Voigtlander retains more detail up close wide open at f1.5, but this isn’t a fair comparison. One’s f2.8, one’s f1.5, the Nikon 28 can focus to 0.19 metres, the Voigtlander only to 0.28 metres. BUT I think Voigtlander has the harder optical task to retain sharpness up close at f1.5?

*Voigtlander 28mm f1.5 Z, wide open at f1.5*

*Voigtlander 28mm f1.5, wide open at f1.5*

Neither of these are macro lenses, so does performance up close really matter?

To fill the frame in family shots or environmental portraits, you’ll need to get closer than you like on a 28mm, and when you couple that with the limited subject separation at f2.8? It’s the reason I ended up selling it, I need the extra funds for my studio rebuild after Cyclone Alfred flooded it.

If I do pick this Voigtlander up, I’d be willing to trade autofocus for the better close-up performance and the brighter f1.5 aperture, especially for night-time photowalks.

**My favourite 28mm lenses + accessories:**
*Voigtlander 28mm f1.5 Z:* *https://geni.us/bcFIlN* *Thypoch 28mm f1.4 Z:* *https://geni.us/zjPaLdn* *Nikon 28mm f2.8 Z:* *https://geni.us/tyZX2A* *Nikon 28mm f1.8 G:* *https://geni.us/I6waxBt*
*Neewer EtoZ adapter:* *https://geni.us/WFg8Yvz*

Another trade-off I’ve been willing to make is how Nikon handles non-CPU lenses on the Zf, which has been greatly improved in the First Manual Focus upgrade in Zf firmware 2.0:

1. Non-CPU Lenses

If you go into the wrench, down to “Non-CPU lenses”, focal length, aperture, a custom name can now all be saved, easily accessible via the i menu as well. If you want aperture recording in the EXIF data you can set it once on the vintage lens and once into the camera.

Fantastic for all my vintage AIS lenses, but these features don’t impact the Voigtlander Z experience at all, because these lenses are CPU lenses with electronic contacts. The aperture ring is linked to not only to the aperture window, but also metering and exposure in-camera - fantastic. You don’t need to interact with the Non-CPU lens menu at all to get the right focal length and EXIF data - up to 3 stops of IBIS works right out of the box, and on 28mm I can hand hold down to a tenth of a second, a fifth of a second shutter speed no problem.

You also get manual focus subject detection on the Zf - boxes appearing around the eyes and faces of subjects, that turn green when you nail focus. Electronic rangefinder focus confirmation - a single box that turns green once you nail focus - is there natively as well. These green boxes plus the built in EXIF data and IBIS make life so much easier for manual focus - I never had to zoom in to 100%, 200% to confirm focus, which saves up to a second of reaction time for every frame.

When I do zoom in however, I noticed not only the focus assist feature that’s missing on the Voigtlander (but present on my two adapter setup) - but also Voigtlander’s biggest optical flaw:

Wide open at f1.5, there’s clear evidence of longitudinal chromatic aberration.

Green and purple fringing either side of the focal plane, although it’s mostly gone by f2, f2.8. If you’re worried you could shoot this lens stopped down to f2, still a stop faster than the Nikon 28mm f2.8, OR you can turn on highlight weighted metering and/or set exposure compensation to -0.7, -1. The fringing is most obvious in the overexposed highlights, much less obvious in controlled lighting.

What’s the point of lugging around a fast lens just to shoot it stopped down?

The weight of a lens is a surprisingly deceptive spec, the center of gravity of a lens and how it balances has way more to do with its perceived weight, and the 360 grams of this lens feels much lighter. It’s mostly to do with how little it sticks out of the camera body, only about 2 inches, less than 6 centimetres, and the form factor feels very similar to the Nikon 28mm f2.8 Z - it just stays out of the way.

The aperture ring is clicked - it can’t be declicked, the focus ring has just enough resistance with a buttery smooth helicoid action. There’s no silver ring on the tip of the lens - all black, hooray - and it takes the same 52mm filters as the Nikon 28 and 40. It has white contrasty font, easy to see during the day and at night and a little marking at infinity to quickly line up for zone focusing. Which brings me to the second Manual Focus upgrade in Firmware 2.0 for the Zf:

2. Distance Markers

Previously it was a generic sliding scale pictogram, now there are actual distance markers that you can toggle between meters or feet. But the distance scales only show up for me when I’m using an autofocus lens in manual focus mode, manual lenses that are unchipped can’t communicate distance information to the camera anyway.

So how about the Voigtlander? No distance information appears on screen, maybe this will come in a Voigtlander firmware update - but right now this lens doesn’t take advantage of this new feature. Distance markings are most useful for stopping down to zone focus, but if you stop it down you’ll lose one of the appeals of this lens - bokeh - but then you may be considering its main rival:

The only other fast manual 28 that competes with this one is the Thypoch 28mm f1.4 Simera. I really like it, and it does have nicer bokeh at f1.4 than the Voigtlander at f1.5. The bokeh balls are bigger and rounder, although both catseye as you approach the corners. The Thypoch is also better controlled for CA and fringing than the Voigtlander, although both aberrations are still there on the Thypoch, but the reason I sold the Thypoch is because it lacks native Z-mount support.

Unlike Voigtlander Thypoch doesn’t pay the Z-mount licensing fee so there’s no electronic contacts. No green boxes or EXIF data, and I resorted to a terribly complex workaround. I bought the Neewer E to Z adapter - which fools the camera into thinking an autofocus lens is attached, then the green boxes appear.

I then bought the E-mount Thypoch 28mm Simera to attach to this E to Z adapter. If I wanted to use F mount or M mount lenses I just need a F to E or M to E adapter, then any manual lens can give you those green boxes.

The problem is the camera thinks a CPU lens is attached, and the only way to correct the EXIF data and for the IBIS to work is to attach the Neewer adapter via USB to the computer and correct two text files. It’s just too cumbersome, so despite its marginally better IQ and bokeh I sold the Thypoch, to free up funds for the rebuild.

Despite how cumbersome this two adapter setup is, it does have a focus assist tool that’s missing on the Voigtlander. On the bottom left hand corner, two little arrows - encouraging you to focus forwards or backwards, and when you’ve nailed focus a dot appears. When the Zf thinks an autofocus lens is attached these arrows and dots will appear when you try to manual focus - even when you zoom magnify, which is helpful because those green boxes don’t appear when you’re punched in. The neewer adapter fools the Zf into thinking it’s an autofocus lens, so these dots and arrows appear, BUT this focus assist tool is missing on the Voigtlander Z implementation. Also on Sony E-mount Voigtlander lenses there’s an option to automatically zoom magnify as soon as you turn the focus ring - but the Zf doesn’t auto zoom magnify no matter what lens you have attached.

Did firmware 2.0 fix it?

No, no auto zoom magnify, no arrows or dots, but Nikon did add a third manual focus upgrade in firmware 2.0:

3. 400% Zoom.

When you’re that zoomed in even someone like me with terrible eyesight won’t need any other focus assist tools.

But if your eyesight is worse than mine, and you wanted autofocus on a fast Nikon 28mm, what are your options? There’s the Nikon F-mount 28mm f1.4 E or D, both legendary but massive and very expensive. I know there’s a pancake Viltrox 28 f4.5, and a Viltrox 28mm f1.8 (with an aperture ring no less, even though it’s clickless) - but I opted for another 28mm f1.8 - the Nikon G, very underrated, quick autofocus even on the Nikon DF, sharp enough, not many optical compromises.

But just like the 28mm f2.8 Z and the Thypoch 28 Simera I sold that one too.

It was just too big a package on the Zf by the time you add the FTZ adapter, it lost the everyday carry appeal of a 28mm, so which 28 did I actually end up keeping?

The Nikkor AIS 28mm f2.

It’s much worse optically - not very sharp, there’s veiling, distortion, and everything is tinged with hint of purple, but I love it because of that low-contrast vintage look. It’s small enough on my Nikon Df for an everyday carry lens, but when you add it to my two adapter setup on the Zf it’s getting quite a bit bigger…

…which is why I think the Voigtlander 28mm is the best 28mm on the Zf, especially when you consider the fourth and last manual focus upgrade in firmware 2.0 which DOES affect this lens:

4. Focus Border width.

If you go to the pencil menu, a for focus, a10 - focus point display, you can change the focus point border width and make it thicker. Previously it was only set at 1, which makes looking at the green boxes for focus confirmation a little tricky in with mixed lighting. With a border width of 3, it’s now impossible to miss, which makes it that much easier to NOT have to zoom in to confirm focus.

The Voigtlander Z mount 28 is a beautiful lens when paired with the Zf, its ease of use and sharp optical performance makes manual focusing so much fun, which is why I think it’s the best 28mm for the Zf.

All of the following images were taken on the Nikon Zf + Voigtlander 28mm f1.5, either stopped down to f11 for zone focusing or wide open at f1.5:

Despite all my tiny little nitpicks, I love both what Nikon is doing with their ongoing firmware support - please add those green boxes for all non-CPU lenses next - and I love what Voigtlander is doing.

Happy shooting everyone, talk soon.

Jack.

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