Sonnar or Nokton

Sonnar or Nokton

  • Zeiss 50mm Sonnar 1.5

    Votes: 261 76.1%

  • Voigtlander 50mm Nokton 1.1

    Votes: 82 23.9%
  • Total voters
    343
My M8 usually has a J-3 on it. I am lucky that I took up collecting cameras and lenses when it was "cheap". $95 Nikkor 5cm F1.4, $200 Canon 50/0.95, and many similar bargains. The two cameras were paid for by selling gear. Wife has no complaints.

The M9 is very useful for setting the shims in J-3's for the Leica standard...



But most of the time the M9 has a 1935 or 1939 Sonnar on it.

1935 5cm F1.5 Sonnar, converted to LTM, wide-open on the M9:



The modern Sonnar has higher contrast, and is sharper. It captures the Sonnar "Look" for sure.
 
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Brian Sweeney said:
My M8 usually has a J-3 on it. I am lucky that I took up collecting cameras and lenses when it was "cheap". $95 Nikkor 5cm F1.4, $200 Canon 50/0.95, and many similar bargains. The two cameras were paid for by selling gear. Wife has no complaints.

The M9 is very useful for setting the shims in J-3's for the Leica standard...



But most of the time the M9 has a 1935 or 1939 Sonnar on it.

1935 5cm F1.5 Sonnar, converted to LTM, wide-open on the M9:



The modern Sonnar has higher contrast, and is sharper. It captures the Sonnar "Look" for sure.
Click to expand...

Completely agree about the comments on the lenses. It's just that I found it a bit hard to read something along the lines of: "forgot about the poll, get both!" when I am wondering if I'll offer myself this c-sonnar that I have looking at for some time when I'll get my first salary now that I've finished my PhD
 
Congratulations on finishing the PhD- I would go for the C-Sonnar.

A comparison of the c-Sonnar, KMZ Jupiter-3, and Uncoated 1936 Sonnar:

http://www.ziforums.com/album.php?albumid=285

Jupiter-3 and pre-war Sonnars fascinate me, just amazing optics for their time. Taught myself how to convert the Sonnars to LTM and how to CLA the Jupiters.

with that stated, the prices of both the Nokton and c-Sonnar will climb if they are discontinued. I've seen the prices of the Canon 50/0.95 go up by more than 10x in the last 6 years. Crazy!
 
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I'm with Brian on this - I chose the Sonnar in the poll because I am a fan of the image character it produces, and because it is more of an all-around lens. In real life I did not choose - I have both, as well as a number of older Sonnar designs I enjoy using.

On film I use 75-90mm for portraits. I was not so fortunate as Brian in my gear trades over the years so I am content using the GF1 and RD-1 digitals. On these bodies 50mm is fine for portraits, and I generally use a Sonnar.
 
Just piling on a few more Sonnar shots. The first two were probably taken at 2.8. I like the effect I'm getting here, but usually I do not like the results I get when I'm using a wide aperture with a heavily detailed background (vegetation for instance). I don't know if it's the Sonnar or not, but the oof areas are not to my liking. when the oof areas are simple like here, I'm usually happy with the results.

ZI with Portra160:


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This one is HP5 and was either wide open or 2.8. Don't like the far trees all that much:

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zozio32 said:
Well, I guess the poll is intended for people that "have" to choose. Not that they want to, but for some people owning an M8, an M9 and 2 50mm lens is maybe out of reach. Mind you, there is even people using old j8 lenses with an adaptor because £760 for a new sonnar is quite a bit ;-)
Click to expand...

Well, I had both the Nokton and the Sonnar, but almost never used the Nokton after I got the Sonnar, so when someone else REALLY wanted it... I don't miss it.

All these discussions are intensely personal, but revolve around two things.

First, you see the 'magic' of one lens or the other, or you don't. If you don't, and you can afford it, and you can spare the time piddling around with two 50/1,5 lenses, buy/keep both.

Second, if you begin to suspect that the quality of your pictures depends more on your talent than on which of two excellent lenses you choose, why worry about using one or the other? Consider the time you'd otherwise waste on choosing between the two, and spend it on trying to become a better photographer with whatever lens you chose.

Cheers,

R.
 
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Voted Sonnar.

I had both and liked the Nokton well enough. I don't like how 50mm looks, but like the fun and challenge of shooting with them. Just not enough to have more than one. So when the time came, size won.

Not that it was all about size 😉
 
After using it now for some month I have absolutely no problems with focus shift on my Zeiss Ikon with film. With my M8 I have sometimes problems at f2 or f1.5. I think this is because of the crop factor, but I'm not really sure.
 
Ok, here is my little word for Nokton (since every body seems to like the c-sonnar):
1. I have never used a c-sonnar but I do have Jupiter-3 and love it. My J-3 example:

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2. Have no doubt C-sonnar is also a great lens.

3. Do love my Nokton 1.1 - it is fun to shoot with and delivers the results I like. I can recomend it - yes - a great lens!

Some pics from my Nokton at f1.1:

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And it is sharp wide open every time I don't fail focusing. Love the Nokton.

And just one more pic to show how it renders background focused close at 1.1:

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Our neighbors on the top deck of the building we live in. Nice sunny evening too.
Nokton 50mm f1.1.
I kind of like the shadow self portrait on Matt's T-shirt.
The 50f1.1 Nokton is in many ways a better lens than the Noctilux. It might not have the "character" of the Leica lens - but it is technically better. Very sharp center, slightly weaker edges than a 0.95 Noctilux. Remember that the current Noctilux cult extols the "flaws" of the Nocti - and only 10 or 15 years ago these were the same flaws that had us swearing at it!
 
The sonnar. It has a very beautiful rendering and sharper wide open than the Nokton. And it's MUCH lighter too anyway.
 
Well just when you think you have the nokton pidegon holed, it surprises you:

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a couple stops down it is a very vivid lens

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as to the sonnars, the old ones are so friggin good and varied in character, the ZM seems almost superfluous. 🙂

nikkor 5cm f/1.4:
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I just bought a new ZM f1.5, 1560.. serial, shop mention its's new, seems like new stock are back on .. at least in singapore 🙂
tried focus on 1.5 and 2.8 seems dead sharp on , no back focus issue..
 
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