Opinions about the Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 VM Nokton?

[rashumon]

Was thinking of getting it to replace my cron ASPH it being smaller and cheaper and faster (& can't afford the Lux ASPH 😡) . but I don't want to loose IQ. I mainly shoot E6 Velvia 100 & 50, often in low light, so I really need the speed. I will probably get an M9 soon :bang: so hoping it would work well on both my M6 and M9.
Does anyone have experience of this lens and especially how it compares to the Cron 35 ASPH?
Can you direct me to some decent samples at wide apertures?
Cheers

 

[starvingjack]

I'm quite the opposite..haha
I can't afford a cron and went for the 35mm nokton instead.
It's really small and compact but sometimes i wish it's just abit bigger, and easier to focus instead of using the tiny focus tab.

FWIW, here's an image taken at f/2.

 

[JRG]

The archives here have lots of threads on this subject. Here are just a few:



http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57477

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52984

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55043

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76490

 

[rashumon]

Thanks guys that really useful info - one thing I found very scarce info about is the difference between the SC and MC versions. I will mainly use this lens for E6 chromes and maybe a little B&W. which one would you get?

 

[johnny.moped]

Thanks guys that really useful info - one thing I found very scarce info about is the difference between the SC and MC versions. I will mainly use this lens for E6 chromes and maybe a little B&W. which one would you get?

SC Version. Many E6 chromes are very contrasty, so nothing wrong to have a less contrasty lens.
and that way the lens stays something special when you might add a summicron or summilux one day.

 

[Tom A]

The difference between the SC/MC is subtle. With black and white you have a bit more detail in the shadows - but pay the price of some flare in bright highlights. With the MC the contrast jumps up a bit - but not excessively so (color and bl/w).
It also depends on what you are looking for in your E6 chromes - punchy colors - go MC. More subtle, pastel like colors go SC.
There are 1000's of shots on the Flickr "Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.4 Classic" - it is not the ideal way of judging a lens - but it does give you an idea what to expect.
Personally, the 35f1.4 nokton is my standard travel kit lens. Either on a 0.58 M6/MP or on a M2 - never had a problem that I could blame the lens for!

 

[kshapero]

The difference between the SC/MC is subtle. With black and white you have a bit more detail in the shadows - but pay the price of some flare in bright highlights. With the MC the contrast jumps up a bit - but not excessively so (color and bl/w).
It also depends on what you are looking for in your E6 chromes - punchy colors - go MC. More subtle, pastel like colors go SC.
There are 1000's of shots on the Flickr "Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.4 Classic" - it is not the ideal way of judging a lens - but it does give you an idea what to expect.
Personally, the 35f1.4 nokton is my standard travel kit lens. Either on a 0.58 M6/MP or on a M2 - never had a problem that I could blame the lens for!

Tom, how would it work on an M7 0.85? I now use the CV 35/1.2 which I love but it is a bit big.

 

[Tom A]

You are obviously already used to the "far corner" 35 frames of the 0.85 - so in that respect it would work fine. It is also considerably smaller than the 35f1.2 - and that can be a bonus in shooting - at least with decent light.
They are two different lenses, the f1.2 is "cutting edge" for 35's and really comes into its own in the dark. Modern look to the image, sharp etc.
The Nokton 35f1.4 is an improved version of the old Leica 35f1.4 pre-Asph. It gives a similar look as with that lens - but with less of the optical "bad habits" of it -coma, flare etc. In Japan the 35f1.4 pre-Asph reached almost mythical status (and price) and the Nokton 35f1.4 was a way for Cosina to supply a similar lens at about 1/3 of the price!
In your case, also give the 40f1,4 a thought. I find it a bit sharper @ f1.4 than the 35 and in my opinion it is the perfect "walk-about" lens too. Can substitute for a 35 (lean back a bit) or a 50 (lean forward). With the 0.85 and the lens "modified" to give you 35 frame (in standard guise it shows the 50mm frame) - you just have to use the inside of the 35 frame lines and you are pretty close to the coverage.

 

[johnny.moped]

one thing more to mention:
barrel-distortion can become an issue if you are planing to shoot some architectural stuff with it.
that's the only thing that really bothers me.

 

[rxmd]

one thing more to mention:
barrel-distortion can become an issue if you are planing to shoot some architectural stuff with it.
that's the only thing that really bothers me.

Architecture isn't best shot with rangefinder cameras anyway, so I wouldn't bother too much.

 

[johnny.moped]

Architecture isn't best shot with rangefinder cameras anyway, so I wouldn't bother too much.

Depends... I do a lot of cityscapes and inner-city-stuff. so distortion pretty fast becomes an issue.
just have a look at the images in the CV35/1.4 flickr-pool:
e.g. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nadaudi/3980930232/in/pool-nokton35f14

i'm not saying it's not good, but one should take this into account before buying one. if you're only doing people-stuff it won't be a problem.

 

[rxmd]

Depends... I do a lot of cityscapes and inner-city-stuff. so distortion pretty fast becomes an issue.
just have a look at the images in the CV35/1.4 flickr-pool:
e.g. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nadaudi/3980930232/in/pool-nokton35f14

Well that image you linked to...

...pretty much proves my point. You do notice some barrel distortion, but the first thing that jumps at you geometry-wise is that the framing isn't straight. When he took the shot, he aligned his left frameline with the columns, but because he tilted the camera upwards all his horizontals are tilted now. You don't have to care about straight lines - in most street and portrait photography this wouldn't matter. However, once you don't care about straight lines, distortion isn't much of an issue either.

I do a lot of cityscapes, too...



...and the difficulty to get good framing with a rangefinder really bugs me at times (more obviously with an external viewfinder, as in this case). Much more than any distortion.

 

[johnny.moped]

I get your point, though I don't have many framing-problems (except in cases when tilt&shift would be needed).
I'm just suggesting to get another lens when straight lens are really wanted and f1.4 is not needed all the time.
The CV 35/2.5 ColorSkopar would be one option. Wonderful lens with almost no distortion and very sharp (even in the corners).

P.S. Nice photo by the way.

 

[rashumon]

yup I know about the barrel distortion, I guess I'll just keep my Cron ASPH for when less distortion is required. for the stuff I want the 1.4 and the 'old school' look I hope the distortion would not be an issue... I did some tests with the CV 1.4 at the shop over the weekend - cant wait to see how they come out... I'll post them here once i process and scan those.