Purchased a voigtlander 40mm f1.4 nokton

[Guest]

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It came on at london camera exchange used at a fair price and i went and bought it!!

Bad mistake i got the SC version by mistake!!

Anyway i tried it out and i was amazed at its rendition and performance.

Wide open  = Very beautiful slightly soft but not right at the focus point.

Other apertures = sharp and clear .

Focus shift = i cannot seem to find any such thing on my copy?? not sure why but getting sharp at every aperture even at close distances.

Flare = hard to make it flare even with back light portraits.

I feel like i am high on some silly drug because its such a wonderful lens and i love reading that its based on an early summilux.

The other thing i noticed straight away is that i love the 40mm focal length despite the lack of native frame lines on my m262,i seem to prefer it already to 35 or 50 mm ? 

Thanks to "pippy" and other fans of this lens and its close relative the 35mm nokton for leading me to this modern/vintage wonder.

 

 

[Al Brown]

The entire Voigtlander Nokton series is really good, including the 21/1.4 and 75/1.5, and with a special emphasis on the 1.2 line of Noktons (35, 40, 50 at the moment). The charm of the latter is "character" rendering wide open, yet very modern rendering stopped down.

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[Cobram]

8 hours ago, Al Brown said:

The entire Voigtlander Nokton series is really good, including the 21/1.4 and 75/1.5, and with a special emphasis on the 1.2 line of Noktons (35, 40, 50 at the moment). The charm of the latter is "character" rendering wide open, yet very modern rendering stopped down.

Yes, many Leica fans will not admit it but Voigtlander is making really great lenses in last years. In the past as a former "Leica snob" I was also understimating them. Not any more.

I'm really sure they offer what is beneficial also for Leica: lenses that also ordinary people can afford thus widening M mount audience.

IMHO they lack proper M mount camera for ~ 2500 EUR.

@steve 1959 @pippy Philip is really objective and one of the most helpful and polite forum members. He helped me realise Voigtlander's extraordinary quality.

Edited March 31, 2021 by Cobram

[250swb]

If you can make it work it's a very good lens. Unfortunately mine (the MC version) has focus shift, but not a problem when using an EVF. I've also got it's cousin the 35mm version, this time SC, and the difference is pretty radical. While the MC behaves much like any other modern lens shooting into the light the SC version has lots of flare, and shooting away from the light it has lots of glow especially wide open. I think it's something you have to exploit and not back away from and between the two I prefer the SC for the unique look (by modern standards).

[Guest]

I must admit i feel slightly stupid.

I own a 50mm summicrom v5 and a zeiss 35mm f1.4 distagon which are both very expensive and high quality lenses but i already know that for my main project the voigtlander 40mm will simply stay on my m262 while the other lenses stay in my plastic storage container.

Its so small and renders beautifully at all apertures to my eyes.

My main project is recording the lives of my grand children when they are with me,which is frequent.

Not sure about my landscape stuff yet but already know this little SC nokton is my best lens.

It only cost £300 for gods sake!! why didnt i buy it first?