That 35mm/1.2 Beast

S

Stu :)

Guest
Hiya all,

Sorry I haven't been on the forum in more recent times, one year on the other side of graduation I've found myself with that dirty 'C' word, career...
...However with the dirty "C' word comes the magic 'M' word ;) and I'm not married :D

I've heard good things about the CV 35/1.2 ASPH Nokton, especially when it comes to black & white (haven't shot a roll of colour film since May 2005).

Any current or previous owners care to share their experiences and/or knowledge.
My other option is to go with a used 35mm/2 Summicron or 35mm/2 Biogon, but that extra stop and half is tempting...

Stu :)
 
I've been dribbling over the keyboard looking at other people's work.
I know this isn't be all and end all of choosing a lens, but when you live on the bottom of the world...

The Jan'05 issue of Black&White Photography had a good write up on the lens.

Stu :)
 
Stu,

The 35/1.2 is a full stop and a half faster than a 35/2! If you want fast and not a lot more size, look at the 40/1.4 CV. IMHO, great price for great glass. I was lusting after the 35/1.2 for a while. Great filter size (52mm), sharp, very fast, everything I wanted in a lens. But when the 40/1.4 came out, I jumped on one and never regrated it yet. It's a lot smaller and not too much slower.

The new ZI lenses are reported to be the best, but they, like Leica are in the high end of the price range. Not making money with cameras any more, I am hard pressed to justify it.

B2 (;->
 
BillBingham2 said:
Stu,

The 35/1.2 is a full stop and a half faster than a 35/2! If you want fast and not a lot more size, look at the 40/1.4 CV. IMHO, great price for great glass. I was lusting after the 35/1.2 for a while. Great filter size (52mm), sharp, very fast, everything I wanted in a lens. But when the 40/1.4 came out, I jumped on one and never regrated it yet. It's a lot smaller and not too much slower.

The new ZI lenses are reported to be the best, but they, like Leica are in the high end of the price range. Not making money with cameras any more, I am hard pressed to justify it.

B2 (;->
Click to expand...

No one of significant opinion has said the new ZI lenses are 'the best'......as far as I know....
 
I have the "beast" and it's big and heavy but worth it's weight if you need the speed, makes my M6 groan when I put it on :).

It's a sweet lens, great bokeh and very sharp, the thing I like the most is it focuses from near to far in about a 1/4 turn of the ring.

a couple samples:

tay_nokton.jpg


scooter1.jpg


BBQ.jpg


manequin_reflections.jpg
 
Sorry for my useless post earlier......I have it and it is just as good as the Leica 35/1.4asph I used to own. The only thing the Leica has on it is build quality, size and contrast from f/1.4 to f/2. Sharpness, bokeh, distortion and flare control are equal if not better, honestly. Buying this enabled me to buy/own the 28/2asph.

cheers
 
FWIW i would also have a look at the 35/1,4 pre ASPH
i use it almost all the time and never have found it soft at 1.4 or suffering from flare but maybe i've been lucky where i've been using it. It's the same size as the 35/2.
 
I agree with the previous posters that it is a great lens in terms of sharpness, bokeh, and build quality. But I urge you to try it in your hands first, for it is indeed gigantic (think Noctilux), which may or may not be within your shooting style.

Todd:

great shots, as usual !
 
Flyfisher Tom said:
..But I urge you to try it in your hands first, for it is indeed gigantic (think Noctilux), which may or may not be within your shooting style.
Click to expand...
How true,

collegue walked into the office the other day. Knows I occasionally like to snap a picture, and shows me his latest acquisition. It's a Canon 24-70/2.8L. Now, I've never before held such a heavy lens (approx. 1 kilo) in any format (MF included). Granted, it's impressive in the low light-zoom department, but I don't see myself walking around all day with such a monster ever. My craving for a constant 2.8 aperture zoom has been completely cured, once and for all..
 
pvdhaar said:
How true,

collegue walked into the office the other day. Knows I occasionally like to snap a picture, and shows me his latest acquisition. It's a Canon 24-70/2.8L. Now, I've never before held such a heavy lens (approx. 1 kilo) in any format (MF included). Granted, it's impressive in the low light-zoom department, but I don't see myself walking around all day with such a monster ever. My craving for a constant 2.8 aperture zoom has been completely cured, once and for all..
Click to expand...

Pfffffft.. the 24-70 2.8 L is a lightweight :D Try using the 70-200 2.8 L IS - THAT sucker is one that you can use to build your biceps :D

These lenses have their place in an EOS lineup but unless you're shooting weddings or pj and NEED that sort of lens lineup then you're wasting money and hurting your back :D

I think I may try the 35mm 1.2 myself; especially after seeing Todd's photos in this thread... looks like a nice (but ya.. big) lens :)

Dave
 
Does anyone in Southern California have one? I'd really like to try one of these so that I can see how large it really is. It would be terrible to spend so much money only to receive it and HATE it because of the size.
 
The 35mm f1.2 is a great lens, but big....for a rangefinder lens. Will significantly make your "M" mount camera heavier.
 
Kyle,

It is roughly the size of a Nikkor 50/1.2 AIS (if that helps).

In other words, nothing out of the ordinary for the SLR world. But certainly much larger in the RF world.
 
I have some Nokton 35/1.2 shots in my gallery. The one of the foot and the one of the dr pepper can are wide open. I like the lens, but... its my only lens and I only shoot with expired film that was given to me for free because I'm poor and in college. my R2a and nokton made all my money disappear.

I might be scanning some more negatives at school in the next few days so some more shots will probably show up in my gallery.
 
Whoa.. ok.. I think I gotta at least TRY this lens out - that looks like nice bokeh Chris.. even if the lens is big and such :)

Dave
 
Thanks for posting some more samples Todd. If your M6 complains, then my M2s shouldn't, one of them had some monster of 300mm M42 on it two weeks ago.

I already know it's going to be a 'beast' of lens, using the details on Mr.Gandy's website I made a cardboard mock up first. Like I said before, I live at the bottom of the world and camera stores have limited stock, come to think of it I wouldn't be surprised if the CV distro down hasn't even seen one before.

Stu :)
 
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