Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 v1 vs v2: which one glows more wide open?

[Besprosvet]

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Hi everyone!

I own a Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 v2 SC, I love it on my M 246 Monochrom and I love its glow wide open. I was just wondering if the v1 would be more "summilux pre asph", like showing more glow compared to the v2. Does anyone have any experience with both? The v1 would give me more glow or I just should bite the bullet with an old pre asph/steel rim reissue (which to me, as an extra plus, seems to be even a bit more "3D" than the Voigtlander)?

Beside the price tag (and the stiff/uneven focus ring, wobbly aperture ring etc...) what pisses me off of the steel rim reissue is the 1m closest focus distance. I use a lot the 0.7 of the Voigt to portray my daughter...

Attached here, there is an image example of what I mean for "glow".

Thanks!

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[hmzimelka]

Fred has posted some comparisons between the lenses... it's the best side-by-side I've found so far. 

It starts here... https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1779165/3&year=2022#16091647

EDIT: at the end of the thread, there is an infinity comparison between the two lenses. You'll also see a link to some of my infinity M11 DNG files on that page.

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1779165/23

 

To me, the Voigtlander has more field curvature, but the point of focus is sharper throughout the frame. The Leica has little less field curvature but the mid field is less sharp. I can eventually send you some M11 DNG files from the Steel Rim remake I've tried. 

For me, the decision is hard to choose between the two. If the Voigtlander had a little less barrel distortion then that would tip me over to choose the Voigtlander. But I'm otherwise hard pressed to choose the Leica. I've been trying to make this decision since the beginning of this year, and I'm beginning to annoy myself with this problem 😆

 

Edited December 2, 2023 by hmzimelka

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[spydrxx]

Besprovsvet - that is a wonderful example. IMHO additional "glow" as you describe it in your example would not enhance its integrity nor appeal. I think your CV V2 SC is the right tool for the job, and a switch would be a waste of $. That's just my opinion, though. I owned a 50 Lux, but never appreciated its rendition wide open in my shooting style.

[hdmesa]

16 hours ago, Besprosvet said:

Hi everyone!

I own a Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 v2 SC, I love it on my M 246 Monochrom and I love its glow wide open. I was just wondering if the v1 would be more "summilux pre asph", like showing more glow compared to the v2. Does anyone have any experience with both? The v1 would give me more glow or I just should bite the bullet with an old pre asph/steel rim reissue (which to me, as an extra plus, seems to be even a bit more "3D" than the Voigtlander)?

Beside the price tag (and the stiff/uneven focus ring, wobbly aperture ring etc...) what pisses me off of the steel rim reissue is the 1m closest focus distance. I use a lot the 0.7 of the Voigt to portray my daughter...

Attached here, there is an image example of what I mean for "glow".

Thanks!

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 don't see any glow in this photo except for glow induced from out of focus highlight areas. That happens on even some ASPH lenses like the 50 Lux when you're wide open and miss focus slightly. Glow isn't "Leica glow" until it happens on the in-focus subject, and for that the pre-ASPH Leicas are in a class by themselves, IMO. I had the MC version of the Voigtlander 35 Nokton II, and if there was glow, it wasn't visible unless at 100% magnification – similar to what little glow there is from the Leica 35 8-element.

[venom]

On 12/2/2023 at 7:17 PM, Besprosvet said:

Hi everyone!

I own a Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 v2 SC, I love it on my M 246 Monochrom and I love its glow wide open. I was just wondering if the v1 would be more "summilux pre asph", like showing more glow compared to the v2. Does anyone have any experience with both? The v1 would give me more glow or I just should bite the bullet with an old pre asph/steel rim reissue (which to me, as an extra plus, seems to be even a bit more "3D" than the Voigtlander)?

Beside the price tag (and the stiff/uneven focus ring, wobbly aperture ring etc...) what pisses me off of the steel rim reissue is the 1m closest focus distance. I use a lot the 0.7 of the Voigt to portray my daughter...

Attached here, there is an image example of what I mean for "glow".

Thanks!

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 think the glow from both is the same. Just the focus shift was fixed with v2. 

Your photo doesn’t really show what the glow does. Here is my SC v2 35f1.4 Nokton. See those points of light? Those are candles at f1.4

 

 

Actually anything that is shiny being hit by light is glowing if you look around the photo. Up in the ceiling is very obvious also where there are lights.

 

in my experience it isn’t very obvious unless I zoom into those points of light and you can see that smearing. Here’s my keyboard at f1.4. 
 

Edited December 3, 2023 by venom

[Harpomatic]

On 12/2/2023 at 12:17 PM, Besprosvet said:

Hi everyone!

I own a Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 v2 SC, I love it on my M 246 Monochrom and I love its glow wide open. I was just wondering if the v1 would be more "summilux pre asph", like showing more glow compared to the v2. Does anyone have any experience with both? The v1 would give me more glow or I just should bite the bullet with an old pre asph/steel rim reissue (which to me, as an extra plus, seems to be even a bit more "3D" than the Voigtlander)?

Beside the price tag (and the stiff/uneven focus ring, wobbly aperture ring etc...) what pisses me off of the steel rim reissue is the 1m closest focus distance. I use a lot the 0.7 of the Voigt to portray my daughter...

Attached here, there is an image example of what I mean for "glow".

Thanks!

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 have made a direct comparison if you’re interested: 

https://www.47-degree.com/focus-shift/nokton-classic-35mm-14-comparison
 

I hope that might help.

On 12/3/2023 at 4:44 AM, hdmesa said:

I don't see any glow in this photo except for glow induced from out of focus highlight areas. That happens on even some ASPH lenses like the 50 Lux when you're wide open and miss focus slightly. Glow isn't "Leica glow" until it happens on the in-focus subject, and for that the pre-ASPH Leicas are in a class by themselves, IMO. I had the MC version of the Voigtlander 35 Nokton II, and if there was glow, it wasn't visible unless at 100% magnification – similar to what little glow there is from the Leica 35 8-element.

i have seen glow from this lens without zooming 100%, right around the point of focus, look here:

https://www.47-degree.com/focus-shift/nokton-35mm-1-4-classic-ii-review

I am giving the link so you can see the images more clearly there, but look at this one:

and this one:

[pippy]

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I do believe that the biggest change between the v1 and v2 35 Noktons was the reduction of the amount of focus-shift at wider apertures and near-distance; nothing else.

Philip.

EDIT : They changed the shape - or more accurately the cross-section - of the aperture-ring 'wings'! Personally I much preferred the older form...

Edited December 5, 2023 by pippy

[Harpomatic]

10 minutes ago, pippy said:

I do believe that the biggest change between the v1 and v2 35 Noktons was to reduce focus-shift; nothing else.

Philip.

Overall I agree, although there are other small differences, inevitable when the lens design changes, even that little. The version II has slightly more contrast and centre sharpness and quite a bit less purple fringing, while the version I has slightly better corners and slightly softer bokeh. Having said that, these differences are so small that I (and everybody else) would never be able to tell them apart in a blind test.

[Al Brown]

Having only shot V2 S.C and MC I would just like to add - this lens in both iterations and both versions is made to resemble the Steel Rim as closely as possible. Your random, ordinary seventies pre-asph 35 lux might be quite more glowy wide open.

Edited December 5, 2023 by Al Brown

[pippy]

13 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

...Your random, ordinary seventies pre-asph 35 lux might be quite more glowy wide open...

It's possible your random, ordinary seventies pre-asph 35 lux might also deliver a tad more Coma at f1.4 than one would expect / desire. This is from my '74 the other day;

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"To the Bat-Lens, Robin!!!"..............

Philip.

Edited December 5, 2023 by pippy

[Harpomatic]

7 minutes ago, pippy said:

It's possible your random, ordinary seventies pre-asph 35 lux might also deliver a tad more Coma wide open than one would expect / desire. This is from my '74 the other day;

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"To the Bat-Lens, Robin!!!"..............

Philip.

Wow, that is quite a lot of…wings! I’d love to shoot that same scene with the Nokton I or II to see which one wins the wingspan contest! 

[pippy]

16 hours ago, Harpomatic said:

Wow, that is quite a lot of…wings! I’d love to shoot that same scene with the Nokton I or II to see which one wins the wingspan contest! 

I'd like to shoot a further three frames of the same scene.

Once with the Summilux stopped-down to, say, f5.6 and two frames with my LLL '8-Element' clone; one wide-open and the other - to comapre directly with the v2 - also at f5.6.

The above image, taken on the M Monochrom, was snapped at 1/45 at f1.4 @ ISO320 and I would be looking at changes of 1-stop and 4-stops. After a 4-stop change (assuming I simply cranked-up the ISO and didn't use a tripod) there would be quite a lot of 'noise' but it would be interesting to see whether the 'bats' would have flown away by f5.6 if not quite by f2.0.

Philip.

[hdmesa]

On 12/5/2023 at 1:26 PM, Harpomatic said:

I have made a direct comparison if you’re interested: 

https://www.47-degree.com/focus-shift/nokton-classic-35mm-14-comparison
 

I hope that might help.

i have seen glow from this lens without zooming 100%, right around the point of focus, look here:

https://www.47-degree.com/focus-shift/nokton-35mm-1-4-classic-ii-review

I am giving the link so you can see the images more clearly there, but look at this one:

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!

and this one:

Really like that first shot. Glow "right around the point of focus" looks to me in that shot like glow from just outside the point of focus, but yeah this is what I saw with the LLL version of the 8-element – just a tiny bit of glow (which is nice) but IMO not enough to make it as dominant to the image like we get from the Lux pre-ASPH lenses. In other words, if someone is specifically looking for "glow", this wouldn't be my first choice, the Lux pre-ASPH v2 would. The v2 can glow from moderate (CLA-ed good copy of the lens) to very heavy (hazy version as most are without a CLA). The glow from the Steel Rim reissue was heavier than my v2, though I've heard the opposite from others – probably comes down to the condition of the various v2 copies.

Edited December 7, 2023 by hdmesa

[pippy]

17 hours ago, hdmesa said:

...this is what I saw with the LLL version of the 8-element – just a tiny bit of glow...but IMO not enough to make it as dominant to the image like we get from the Lux pre-ASPH lenses. ...The v2 can glow from moderate (CLA-ed good copy of the lens) to very heavy (hazy version as most are without a CLA)...

Just a little bit more regarding my experience with the v2 which might be of interest to someone considering this lens.

Around half-an-hour before I took the b'n'w pic shown above (post #10) I had taken a similar snap (although not quite from the exact same spot) when the v2 was on the 'colour body'. It was still dusk - night 'proper' was still to fall - so there was a bit more daylight than in the above photo and some of the lights were still to come on. Although the exposure-value was similar in both cases (1/45 f1.4 @ ISO320 for the above snap; 1/90 f2.8 @ ISO200 for the one shown below) for the second image the lens was stopped-down two stops.

I was surprised to see how great was the difference between the two photographs. In this earlier image the 'Bat-wings' are clearly notable by their absence;

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Incidentally the v2 was bought just about two years ago from one of London's most respected dealers and had just been given a CLA prior to sale.

Philip.

Edited December 8, 2023 by pippy

[lct]

If glow means halos around highlights, the Summilux 35/1.4 v2 (no experience with v1) has more of it, below the Nokton 35/1.4 SC v1 and below the Nokton 35/1.4 SC v2. Here Nokton SC v2 on digital CL (crop).

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Edited March 15 by lct