Lens Review, Camera ReviewMorten ByskovJuly 21, 2022Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs Adapted to the Fujifilm GFX 50R, Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs, Fujifilm GFX 50R, Fujifilm GFX 50R Sample Photos, Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs Sample Images, Steelsring Nikon F/GFX Adapter5 Comments

Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs Review - Adapted to Fujifilm GFX

The Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs adapted to the Fujifilm GFX 50R with a Steelsring Nikon F/GFX Adapter

Adapting the Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs to the Fujifilm GFX 50R With a Steelsring Adapter

I met up with fellow photographer, Julian Fok, yesterday on the most pristine summer day here in Vancouver. Julian and I have had gear-related conversations on Instagram and briefly met at the Fujifilm X-H2S product introduction at Beau Photo.

We share a common interest in Fujifilm X Series and GFX Series cameras and decided we would do a photo walk.

Julian, an X-Pro3 photographer, was interested in checking out my older Fujifilm X-Pro1 and X-Pro2 cameras while I was curious to see how my Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs (Nikon F mount) would perform on Julian’s Fujifilm GFX 50R.

The Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs adapted to the Fujifilm GFX 50R with a K&F Concept Nikon F to GFX Adapter — The Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs adapted to the Fujifilm GFX 50R with a K&F Concept Nikon to GFX Adapter

Handling

Arguably the GFX 50R and Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 combination do not make for the most attractive package in the looks department but have surprisingly good weight balance and feel great in the hand.

The Steelsring adapter pushes the lens out from the camera body with the focusing ring in a perfect spot and focusing is super smooth on the Ultron 40mm.

I used standard focus peaking on the Fujifilm GFX 50R and manual focusing was a breeze with the larger viewfinder on the GFX camera. I did not bother to punch in to check focusing as shooting with a wide-angle lens does not demand the same amount of accuracy when shooting around f/5.6 which I did for the most part.

A man is having a vape break in a back alley in Vancouver. Sample image from a Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs adapted to a Fujifilm GFX 50R using a Steelsring Nikon F to GFX adapter — Vancouver, Fujifilm GFX 50R, Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs, Steelsring NK-F/GFX adapter

Vignetting

I was expecting to see a fair amount of vignetting from the Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs on the GFX 44 x 33mm sensor. Natively it is a Nikon F mount lens made for full-frame 36 x 24mm sensors or 35mm film cameras.

The question when adapting lenses to GFX cameras is always how well they will cover the sensor.

This was my first time giving this a try on a GFX camera and hope to do more such tests down the line but I was very impressed with how the Ultron 40mm handled the GFX sensor. There was indeed vignetting but it was not severe and was easily fixed in post-processing.

In the before and after photos below you will see the original file with vignetting at f/5.6 and a corrected image to the right. Depending on your topic you may not notice the vignetting as much as in this sample.

I made a one-stop vignetting correction in Capture One and used a combination of dodge and spot healing brush in Photoshop to remove the vignetting.

The Vancouver Lookout. Sample image from a Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs adapted to a Fujifilm GFX 50R using a Steelsring Nikon F to GFX adapter — The Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs adapted to the Fujifilm GFX 50R. Vignetting at f/5.6

Vancouver Tower - Sample image from a Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs adapted to a Fujifilm GFX 50R using a Steelsring Nikon F to GFX adapter — The Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs adapted to the Fujifilm GFX 50R. Photo corrected for vignetting

Vignetting should not be avoided at all costs and may even aid in putting emphasis on a focal point in your image. It is only when vignetting becomes painstakingly obvious that you may have to rule a lens unusable. Or in the case of the Voigtländer Ultron 40mm, it is a problem you can fix.

You can, of course, also crop the photo to a 4 x 5 ratio or 35mm 2 x 3 format which would alleviate the issue.

The full-frame focal length of 40mm equates to a 31mm field of view on the GFX 50R and I found this very useful for street photography.

Obviously having to focus manually slowed me down somewhat but with more confidence and practice I would probably use zone focusing which would speed things up and make this a viable option for street photography.

Image Quality

I find it rather intriguing that I can use my lenses on different platforms. I have now tested and tried the Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs on my Nikon F3 HP, on my Fujifilm X-Pro3, and now on the Fujifilm GFX 50R.

While I have tried better lenses the Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs performs admirably on all three cameras and I think it held up to the 50-megapixel sensor on the GFX 50R and I would not hesitate to use it on this larger-than-full-frame sensor.

The sample images in this article can be viewed up to 2500 pixels wide depending on your monitor size. Please click to view larger images.

A man exits the Waterfront Station in Vancouver. Sample image from a Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs adapted to a Fujifilm GFX 50R using a Steelsring Nikon F to GFX adapter — Waterfront Station, Vancouver, Fujifilm GFX 50R, Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs, Steelsring NK-F/GFX adapter

Conclusion

I am absolutely encouraged to try this out again with other lenses on Fujifilm GFX cameras. Julian mentioned he has had luck adapting several Nikon F lenses to his GFX camera with excellent results. This inevitably opens the platform to a myriad of lenses. The trick is to find out which lenses work great and which will fail.

In the case of the Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs there are trade-offs in the form of vignetting but it is not a deal breaker.

Again, thanks to Julian Fok. You can check out Julian’s work here:

www.julianfok.com

You can catch my full review of the GFX 50R here:

Fujifilm GFX 50R - Review

And I have an article here on acquiring the GFX 50R for myself in 2022:

Fujifilm GFX 50R in 2022

Please see more sample images below.

Price / Availability

Thank you for reading my review. I hope you found it helpful. If you are planning a purchase and would like to support our site you can do so, at no additional cost, by using the affiliate link below.

Check availability and current price at B&H Photo

Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs - B&H Phot o

Thank you for your support.

Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL IIs Adapted to the Fujifilm GFX 50R - Sample Images

Please see the sample images below. Editing was done in Capture One and I used Fujifilm film simulations for some of the photos. Some of the images are cropped slightly.

Please click to view larger images.