Modern lenses for Film Ms?

[raphael]

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I recently got told by a Leica dealer that the modern M lenses like the Voigtländer Nokton 35mm 1.2 V3 are not made for film Ms.

Means, they can still produce great images on film, but the focal plane might not be hit correctly.

My observation is that the Nokton 35mm 1.2 V3 shows a bit more front focussing on film than on digital. But I'm not quite sure yet.

Do you have more information regarding this topic?

[Aryel]

No issue with the Summilux-asph Blackchrome 50mm (beside me not liking the lens). Not sure if it counts as modern but no issue with the 28mm summaron-m....

I never heard of anything like this... I actually read the opposite quite a few times, that film was more forgiving for focus shift.

Edited March 9, 2021 by Aryel

[Pyrogallol]

I got rid of a Voigtlander 40mm f1.4 because of back focussing, which I was then told was common or normal for them. On digital with live viewing it wouldn’t matter as you focus on the lens image, but on film it resulted in slightly out of focus negatives.

I swopped it for a 111b.

[BradS]

5 hours ago, raphael said:

.... but the focal plane might not be hit correctly.

 

 

This sounds like a lot of rubbish.  What are the sales person's motives ? Is he trying to get you to NOT buy a modern Voigtlander lens? and instead buy something he's selling?

 

Clearly the new ASPH and APO designs contemplate the new digital camera and try to address some of the issues that this new technology presents. So, in this sense, yes, the new lenses are designed for digital and not necessarily for film...but that certainly does not imply that the new lenses will not be equally good when used with film.

[Ko.Fe.]

I had VM 50 1.5 ASPH and it was sharp, no focus shift on digital and film.

i was waiting for VM 35 1.4 II because it is much better than original 35 1.4,,  which was originated from 40 1.4. Both are known to have focus shift on film and digital. While 35 1.4 II has it less, if any.

VM 35 1.2 series are known to have less focus shift compared to VM 40/35 1.4 series.

T7artisans lenses, including 1.1 and 1.4 are known to be spot on on film.

[giannis]

15 hours ago, BradS said:

This sounds like a lot of rubbish.  What are the sales person's motives ? Is he trying to get you to NOT buy a modern Voigtlander lens? and instead buy something he's selling?

This.

If it's good on digital, it's gonna be even better of film because film has less "restrictions" that can compromise the performance of a lens like digital has (oblique angles, AA filters, microlens arrays, filter stack thickness, etc etc.). It's the other way that is problematic.

[caloosajo]

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My 50 Lux ASPH is more reliable wide open on film, hyperfocal with 35 Cron and 28 Elmarit (both ASPH v2) are laser-like on film too. From what I understand, the film emulsion has a much larger margin for error compared to the digital sensors of any vintage. Which has made it that much harder for me to justify indulging in any of the revered older lenses. Front/back focusing is more likely a nuanced issue in the marriage between a given (film M) camera and lens copy.