Voigtländer Nokton 35/1.4 focusing issues - question

[atlcruiser]

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I am very frustrated with my 35/1.4.It is great B+W on the M6 but I have way too many issues with the M8.I kept thinking it was me not the M8 or the lens.

 

I have had a few issues with the CV 21/4 as well.

 

I am at the point now that I want only leica lenses....piece of mind if nothing else.My favorite lens, spot on all the time, fast, feels "right" etc....40/2 C 'cron.

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[wentbackward]

Here's my 2p worth... One would buy this lens for it's classic characteristics. The cropped sensor of the M8 will increase the problem, assuming your enlargement factor is greater than film. I don't believe Voigtlander has done anyone a disservice as the lens is marked as classic, even providing a single coated version and many comments on it's performance are available. Having tested a Nokton 1.1 as well as owning a CV 50/2 heliar classic, I would have to say that each lens behaves in a similar way as those two lenses. I didn't like the 1.1 but love the heliar.

 

The corners are soft, even at f5.6, I think this is more of a problem than the focus issue as it makes the lens far less versatile.

 

Given that this lens must experience focus shift, the choices are probably reasonable. At f1.4, 0.7m the lens will be out of focus unless compensated as the focus shift seems to be about 0.68m, with an acceptable short in-focus area of 0.697m if you wanted to print at 40inches. I would say the softness of the lens would probably not be good enough for a sharp print at this size (at f1.4), you'd print for the look of the lens. With a subject at 1.6m the DoF is sufficient to counter the forward focus as f1.4. The focus seems to be bang on at f2 for a portrait with in focus pupils and out of focus nose tip, sharpness improves a lot too. However by f2.8 the focus has shifted back far enough that eyes may be out of focus in a portrait (at a distance of 0.7m). With the subject at 1.1m The back focus should give very nice results for a portrait with sharp eyes.

 

As far as I can tell the only focus issues with this lens are < 1.5m at f1.4 and < 1.1m at f2.8. Anything else must either be a defective lens (easy to test), operator error, or wrong expectations of the lens.

 

I think you'll find similar problems with other 35mm Leica spherical designs. I haven't tested rigorously but can attest that in normal usage a Spherical Summilux 50 1.4 has less pronounced but similar behaviour. Probably the best non-Asph lens that you can use today is the Summarit-M, which according to Leica is as good as a spherical lens design can get. I have this lens in 35mm too and it is stunning. I bought the CV 35/1.4 primarily for it's classic rendering on portraits, especially on the M8, it's ability start getting swirlies and for low light work, where it's a toss up between more grain, faster shutter and softer rendering anyway (an I may be a bit drunk and less heartache than if I ding my Leica lens!).

 

I think this lens is a really interesting, creative tool.