I remember reading a post from Tom A (if I've remembered correct) about a magnum photog friend of his, who would spend all day with a 35mm summicron then at 6pm switch to a 35mm summilux. That made a whole lot of sense to me, so after having the f1.2 nokton for a couple of years, a few months ago I also picked up the 35mm summicron asph (felt odd to spend more than twice as much on the "backup" summicron than my "primary" nokton!)
They're both great lenses, you're a winner with either but if I could only have one it would be the f1.2 nokton - the extra speed is worth it's (not unsubstantial
🙂 ) weight in gold once the light goes dim!
In fact, since tragically leaving my much loved M6 TTL 0.58x + 35mm summicron asph in a cab a week or so ago - and the pair subsequently disappearing from the face of the earth - I do only have the f1.2 nokton! It's back doing duty on my zeiss ikon, where it was a year ago..
I definitely miss the summicron asph - the size was great for me, I liked the square hood, and the image quality was extremely good. But the nokton can do everything it can, plus a whole lot more in dim light.
Here's a quick breakdown of what I thought of the two (by category and winner):
Image Quality (at same apertures): Tie, I'd say. Both terrific, summicron bit contrastier, nokton slightly less so (either can be an asset, depending on the shot). Nokton a bit smoother, summicron asph a bit sharper (esp. in regards to bokeh). Nokton has better flare control. But (maybe flare aside) all of these points are splitting hairs really, as far as the average viewer of photos would be concerned - myself probably included. If someone had borrowed my camera and both lenses to shoot a roll, and left it no wider than f2, I'd probably be unable to tell which lens was used for which shot - might be able to hazard a guess based on bokeh or presence of flare... if there were harsh examples of either, I'd suspect the summicron
🙂
Handling: Nokton. Both handle very well, it's mostly a matter of preference. Big and steady vs compact and easy to move quickly; focus ring vs focus tab; slightly slower (but more precise) buttery focus vs quick fast focus. The smoothness of the nokton is a delight, I find myself absent mindedly turning the apperture ring just because it's so damn smooth
🙂
Size: Summicron. Although the heft of the big nokton is actually something of an asset when it comes to holding it steady, if I could magically shrink the nokton a bit I probably would, say by 20 - 30%. The summicron is about as small as a lens can get for me without being uncomfortable for me (I find my voigt 35mm f2.5 pancake II to too small for comfort).
"People friendly-ness": Summicron. It's no more "invisible" than the nokton, but it is a bit less intimidating. I did feel a little bit more at ease being intrusive with the summicron than the nokton, but I'm sure that was mostly in my own head. I think when I do have the money again I'll probably get another compact 35mm f2 lens (biogon/summicron) - for this reason, even if I don't really think it actually enabled me to get shots I otherwise couldn't.
Aperture range/versatility: Nokton nokton nokton. It has more to give at both ends - f1.2 vs f2, f22 vs f16. It's fairly often at night I'm in a situation where I'm down to say 1/8 sec at f1.2, so any loss in speed (even to f1.4) could ruin it. At the other end, it's only rarely I need f22 but it does happen - since I basically only ever shoot 1600 speed film, if out on the harbour in middle of the day even f22 and 1/1000 can still blow out at 1600.
Price: Nokton nokton nokton. It's a total bargain. It would be a total bargain if it cost twice as much as it does, but I sincerely thank Cosina/Mr Kobyashi it doesn't! If they had stuck a leica badge on it and charged triple, I bet people would think it was an amazing deal.. and in a way they're right, as it would still cost less than a new 35mm summilux too, if I recall the price correct.
See below for wide open f1.2 nokton shot I took (on provia 400x +2 stops), just a quick scan (still haven't learnt how to fully use the 5000 ED, I've only had it a week). For me, this demonstrates the qualities I like so much about the f1.2 nokton.
