colonel Posted January 28, 2018 Share #1 Posted January 28, 2018 (edited) Advertisement (gone after registration) As usual, I make the mistake of wondering into one of my favourite Leica dealers, on the prowl for a fast 50mm .... Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! I find that after many years of shooting - quality is easy. An odd statement ? I'll probably be flamed to death for this, but frankly if you want astonishing detail, dynamic range, colour depth, transparency, etc. just buy an A7Riii and be done with it. Pair it with virtually any Sony lens, an 50mm f1.4 say (of which Amateur Photography said, "... to be honest its so good any negative comment would be nit picking. Our advice is to just go and shoot and enjoy the pictures ....") and your done So why don't I use that system ? Well the M + 1.4 lens is still smaller .... but mainly, its the beautiful construction, the rangefinder workflow, the Kodachrome colours ... I just love it. I love manual focus, and the RF system is the best ever. Of course Leica glass is amongst the best, so you do get the best quality if you want it, but as I go onwards in my hobby, its character I want. Its character that does it every time, and its character that keeps me in the system I can't explain everything about what this means, but film shooters know what it means. Film is the easiest way to obtain character impossible from digital, even after heavy processing. The same picture in film and digital can have a totally different atmosphere and message. So anyway, I had a look at the 50mm Nokton. Firstly is blooming beautiful. Yes, its costs under £1000 but its made like a million dollars. It sits beautifully in the hand. The focus ring is perfect. Yes that's right. I also have the f1.5. The focus ring is a bit stiff but ok. This one is smooth. Not silky smooth but smooth enough. Its smooth enough to focus beautifully. Voigtlander have also found the perfect balance between long and short throw. Difficult to explain .. just worth trying out. Its fat and shortish for the weight. I think lenses look cool if they are shorter and wide, rather then longer and thin. Note its pretty stupid to like a lens based on what it looks like right ? Well, part of the whole Leica experience is aesthetics for me. I shot the best 35mm ever, the Zeiss 35mm f1.4 ZM and I loved the flat field sharpness from 1.4, but it just looked a bit long on the camera and I never got used to it. I prefer the Voigtlander 35mm f1.2 II, an astonishing lens. Ok sharp in the middle wide open and really sharp closed down. The edges never catch up with the centre due to field curvature, but boy is that a lens with character. One of the best people lenses I have used. Ok, so what about the 50mm f1.1 ? So firstly sorry about this but I can only post at 1024 on this site (yes Io know you can do 1280, but flickr jumps from 1024 to 1600 and its the easiest way for me to post) and these photos really benefit from being looked at 2560 or higher. Look at my photo link it you want to see any. So is it easy to use f1.1, even with children ?. Much easier then I thought but still takes a lot of practice: Lets talk abit about bokeh. As you can see, it jumps from super creamy to nervous, depending on the background. Probably not the best lens to use for foliage! Whilst I remember, I wanted to quickly mention apertures above f2. Well its sharp, constrasty and "pops" like a typical modern lens: I was getting too cocky and forgot that f1.1 doesn't save you from not having a fast enough shutter, doh! Gentle DOF falloff is very pleasant: Black and white is as beautiful and sharp as you would expect: Its interesting how glowy the out of focus areas go @f1.1. This is a lovely effect if it appeals. Here I focused on the lipstick table in the middle: At the end of the day, this is a lovely walk about lens, sharp when you need it, and super for low light generally: So I am really impressed. Yes, its heavy for a RF lens (although not for a DSLR lens) but balances nicely on my 240. Can it be a walk about lens ? Yes, absolutely. Ideally suited to low light/night. During the day a 50mm 1.5 or other lighter lens can be used. Although the focusing is really excellent on the 50mm f1.1, and now I feel a bit spoilt. Is it right for every purpose ? No. Probably wouldn't take a picture of a model lying in leaves in the forest, unless I wanted that 1800s petzval type look! Can it be sharp and modern ? Yes, when you open it out Is there focus shift ? Apparently lots, or so I have read. I used it at close range only at 1.1 or >=5.6. At other FLs there was quite a distance. I presume at f2.8 to f5.6 there is focus shift at close range, but I haven't done this and haven't noticed. At the end of the day, this is not the lens I thought it was. I was lead to believe it was a bit of a unfocused classic look. Not at all. Its more like a smorgasbord, and is very sensitive to how you shoot it. A nice learning curve but its seems to be worth it in the end! Time to go home ... Edited January 28, 2018 by colonel 18 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! I find that after many years of shooting - quality is easy. An odd statement ? I'll probably be flamed to death for this, but frankly if you want astonishing detail, dynamic range, colour depth, transparency, etc. just buy an A7Riii and be done with it. Pair it with virtually any Sony lens, an 50mm f1.4 say (of which Amateur Photography said, "... to be honest its so good any negative comment would be nit picking. Our advice is to just go and shoot and enjoy the pictures ....") and your done So why don't I use that system ? Well the M + 1.4 lens is still smaller .... but mainly, its the beautiful construction, the rangefinder workflow, the Kodachrome colours ... I just love it. I love manual focus, and the RF system is the best ever. Of course Leica glass is amongst the best, so you do get the best quality if you want it, but as I go onwards in my hobby, its character I want. Its character that does it every time, and its character that keeps me in the system I can't explain everything about what this means, but film shooters know what it means. Film is the easiest way to obtain character impossible from digital, even after heavy processing. The same picture in film and digital can have a totally different atmosphere and message. So anyway, I had a look at the 50mm Nokton. Firstly is blooming beautiful. Yes, its costs under £1000 but its made like a million dollars. It sits beautifully in the hand. The focus ring is perfect. Yes that's right. I also have the f1.5. The focus ring is a bit stiff but ok. This one is smooth. Not silky smooth but smooth enough. Its smooth enough to focus beautifully. Voigtlander have also found the perfect balance between long and short throw. Difficult to explain .. just worth trying out. Its fat and shortish for the weight. I think lenses look cool if they are shorter and wide, rather then longer and thin. Note its pretty stupid to like a lens based on what it looks like right ? Well, part of the whole Leica experience is aesthetics for me. I shot the best 35mm ever, the Zeiss 35mm f1.4 ZM and I loved the flat field sharpness from 1.4, but it just looked a bit long on the camera and I never got used to it. I prefer the Voigtlander 35mm f1.2 II, an astonishing lens. Ok sharp in the middle wide open and really sharp closed down. The edges never catch up with the centre due to field curvature, but boy is that a lens with character. One of the best people lenses I have used. Ok, so what about the 50mm f1.1 ? So firstly sorry about this but I can only post at 1024 on this site (yes Io know you can do 1280, but flickr jumps from 1024 to 1600 and its the easiest way for me to post) and these photos really benefit from being looked at 2560 or higher. Look at my photo link it you want to see any. So is it easy to use f1.1, even with children ?. Much easier then I thought but still takes a lot of practice: Lets talk abit about bokeh. As you can see, it jumps from super creamy to nervous, depending on the background. Probably not the best lens to use for foliage! Whilst I remember, I wanted to quickly mention apertures above f2. Well its sharp, constrasty and "pops" like a typical modern lens: I was getting too cocky and forgot that f1.1 doesn't save you from not having a fast enough shutter, doh! Gentle DOF falloff is very pleasant: Black and white is as beautiful and sharp as you would expect: Its interesting how glowy the out of focus areas go @f1.1. This is a lovely effect if it appeals. Here I focused on the lipstick table in the middle: At the end of the day, this is a lovely walk about lens, sharp when you need it, and super for low light generally: So I am really impressed. Yes, its heavy for a RF lens (although not for a DSLR lens) but balances nicely on my 240. Can it be a walk about lens ? Yes, absolutely. Ideally suited to low light/night. During the day a 50mm 1.5 or other lighter lens can be used. Although the focusing is really excellent on the 50mm f1.1, and now I feel a bit spoilt. Is it right for every purpose ? No. Probably wouldn't take a picture of a model lying in leaves in the forest, unless I wanted that 1800s petzval type look! Can it be sharp and modern ? Yes, when you open it out Is there focus shift ? Apparently lots, or so I have read. I used it at close range only at 1.1 or >=5.6. At other FLs there was quite a distance. I presume at f2.8 to f5.6 there is focus shift at close range, but I haven't done this and haven't noticed. At the end of the day, this is not the lens I thought it was. I was lead to believe it was a bit of a unfocused classic look. Not at all. Its more like a smorgasbord, and is very sensitive to how you shoot it. A nice learning curve but its seems to be worth it in the end! Time to go home ... ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/281286-an-amateur-is-surprised-is-this-the-voigtlander-50mm-f11-i-expected/?do=findComment&comment=3450016'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 28, 2018 Posted January 28, 2018 Hi colonel, Take a look here An amateur is surprised, is this the Voigtlander 50mm f1.1 I expected ?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
rpittal Posted January 28, 2018 Share #2 Posted January 28, 2018 Great review Colonel. I have both the 50/1.1 and 35/1.2 CVs also and you have inspired me to give them a workout.... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kilmister Posted January 28, 2018 Share #3 Posted January 28, 2018 English is such a wonderful language. You said you were wondering rather than wandering and yet the message still came through. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonel Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share #4 Posted January 29, 2018 (edited) English is such a wonderful language. You said you were wondering rather than wandering and yet the message still came through. Embarrassing, and now the edit is locked ... Edited January 29, 2018 by colonel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raid Amin Posted January 29, 2018 Share #5 Posted January 29, 2018 Peter: Just claim that you meant to write "wondering" from the start! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
epand56 Posted January 29, 2018 Share #6 Posted January 29, 2018 Not bad for a 1.1 lens under 1000 pounds, but the only picture I can see with a satisfying sharp focus is the one of the guy close to the underground. The others are too creamy in my opinion. Being a lucky owner of a Lux 50/1.4 Asph. and a Summicron 50/2 I don't think I'm interested in other 50mm lenses on the market. Though I'm a big fan of Voigtlander lenses, I prefer their wide lenses, such like the old 28/1.9 and the new 21/1.8, both aspherical. A note apart for a small marvel, the 75/2.5 screw mount that, in spite of being incredibly cheap (hard to find one) is extremely sharp. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonel Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share #7 Posted January 29, 2018 Advertisement (gone after registration) Not bad for a 1.1 lens under 1000 pounds, but the only picture I can see with a satisfying sharp focus is the one of the guy close to the underground. . Probably need to look closer at 1,2,4,6 and 7 Sharpness is not an issue with this lens Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
epand56 Posted January 30, 2018 Share #8 Posted January 30, 2018 Probably need to look closer at 1,2,4,6 and 7 Sharpness is not an issue with this lens Didn't intend to offend, if I did, I apologize. What I meant is that the focus of this lens is quite creamy, in my opinion. I followed the posts on this CV 50/1.1 for quite a long time, since it was on the market, but is not the kind of rendering I like in a wide aperture lens. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonescapes Posted January 30, 2018 Share #9 Posted January 30, 2018 Have used it a few times. In my experience, very sharp at center wide open, very sharp in general stopped down. A little big, bokeh not suitable for some types of subjects, color rendition more desirable in some situations than others. The CV lenses are almost uniformly good at something. They go a long way toward making a digital M system affordable to photographers who want to try it. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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