Voigtlander Nokton 50mm F1, Test Photos, Comparisons, and Discussion.

Sonnar Brian

Sonnar Brian

Product of the Fifties
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The Sun came out, very cold and windy, but got some test shots this morning with the new lens. When the 50mm F1.1 Nokton was just a rumor, I speculated that it would have multiple aspherical surfaces. It did not, was all spherical optics. One of the biggest complaints of that lens is focus shift. Not a problem for me, I'm used to compensating with Sonnars.

The new Voigtlander Nokton 50mm F1.0 uses aspherical optics, floating element, and special glass. Focus is spot-on throughout the entire range with my M9, and accurate at the tested apertures of F1, F1.4, F2, F2.8, and F4.

FULL RESOLUTION SHOTS:
https://ibb.co/album/4gLQmx

Test Shots, have to put up my fence post first.

F1.0,



F1.4,



F2.0,



F2.8,



F4.0,



I did not use a tripod, all hand held in the cold, cold, wind.
 
Great test, Brian! Thank you very much, very useful.

What strikes me is that the background blur in the corners of the image decreases, in other words: the depth of field increases in the corners of the image. I don't remember seeing that with other light giants, but I could be wrong about that. Image surface curvature? Or simply more depth of field because the opening of the lens in the corners is smaller than in the center?

Erik.

L1023670.jpg
 
Erik van Straten said:
Great test, Brian! Thank you very much, very useful.

What strikes me is that the background blur in the corners of the image decreases, in other words: the depth of field increases in the corners of the image. I don't remember seeing that with other light giants, but I could be wrong about that. Image surface curvature? Or simply more depth of field because the opening of the lens in the corners is smaller than in the center?

Erik.
Click to expand...

You are very welcome. As I use this lens, will look for some test of this. The full-res JPegs are uploaded to imgbb. The best image to look at for this is the one of the backyard with the tree in the middle distance in focus. There may be some field curvature towards the far edge towards infinity- it is slight. This lens is incredibly well corrected for a "Objective of Extreme Rapidity", to use the 1930s Zeiss Catalog description of the F1.4 Biotar.

Full-Image... The new software lets you click on it for full-resolution. These are on my M9, using a Nikon L37c filter with glass moved to a Tiffen 62mm Frame
DO NOT USE SLIMLINE FILTERS WITHOUT TESTING! I put a drop of lens cleaning fluid on the center of the filter to test. Stop screwing in when the fluid hits the lens. Tiffen frame- good, Nikon frame- bad.

L1023701.jpg
 
I love "Lenses of Extreme Rapidity".
When the weather improves, and I get a break from work - I'll do an outing with the 50/1.0, 50/1.1, and 50/1.2 Noktons. I still believe the 50/1.1 Nokton is the most under-rated lens ever.
 
I have just received my lens. I took a few shots with it at home. Focusing is smooth as Danish butter. I placed it on the M9. The M10 got a 50/3.5 Argus Cintar in Contax mount.
 
Thank you for posting these, Brian. It's nice and sharp throughout, but I'm just not into the bokeh. I'd sure like to see a direct comparison with the CV 50mm f/1.2. And how much more DOF do you get with the extra ~1/3 stop?

This makes me appreciate (and regret selling) my Noctilux f/1 v.4 all the more!
 
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