Voigtländer Nokton 35mm 1.5 oder Leica Summilux FLE für Analoge Fotografie

[Neongrain]

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Liebe Community,

ich überlege mir für meine analoge Leica eines der beiden o.g. Objektive zu kaufen.  Entweder ein gebrauchtes Summilux 35 FLE oder das Voigtländer Nokton 35mm 1.5, welches ja ca. vor einem Jahr auf den Markt kam.  Da ich sehr viel in available light Szenarien fotografierend auch bereits ein 35mm f2 besitze, geht es mir vor allem um die lichtstarke Blende. 

Da ich ausschließlich Film nutze, wollte ich mal fragen ob jemand hier beide Objektive schon mal auf Film verglichen/benutzt hat oder Erfahrung zum Nokton auf Film hat.

Vielen Dank schon mal!

LG

Vinz

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[hansvons]

@Neongrain Du weißt, dass Du in der intern. Abteilung gelandet bist?

Asking questions in the international section of these forums makes tons of sense, though, as the wealth of knowledge is naturally larger. I don't know much about the lenses you refer to. However, I can say that lenses used on film and digital, even on the M-lenses optimised M sensors, render differently to film's advantage. The budget-friendly 35mm Nokton  f1.4 SC VS2 (basically a Leica 35mm Summilux V1 copy), for instance, is a dud on a regular digital sensor with smeary corners at all f stops, strong vignetting, rendering astonishing cool with an unacceptable gradient towards the edges. On film, however, the lens turns into a rare marvel. Yes, it still vignettes a tad and glows until f 4, but colour reproduction is nice (still on the cooler side), and corner sharpness improves vastly when stopped down. 

The 35mm FLE is from the digital era, and so is its Voigtländer counterpart. Both were designed with digital Ms in mind. I assume they will work fine on film, but you won't have much of an advantage, if any, compared to its earlier sibling, the Summilux 35mm ASPH. So, if I were in your shoes, I'd get the ASPH version and not the FLE, saving considerable money and, more importantly, size and weight. 

Side note: My experience with Voigtländer is good. The lenses are well made, dare I say comparable with Leica, but can be had for a fraction of the price. The only issue I have with the Voigtländer lenses I tested is their bias towards cooler colours, especially the reds and yellows. Much of that can be adjusted later in post, but a difference will remain. I cannot say that for all Voigtländer lenses, so do your testing. Perhaps their colour rendering is precisely what you are looking for.

[Neongrain]

2 hours ago, hansvons said:

@Neongrain Du weißt, dass Du in der intern. Abteilung gelandet bist?

Asking questions in the international section of these forums makes tons of sense, though, as the wealth of knowledge is naturally larger. I don't know much about the lenses you refer to. However, I can say that lenses used on film and digital, even on the M-lenses optimised M sensors, render differently to film's advantage. The budget-friendly 35mm Nokton  f1.4 SC VS2 (basically a Leica 35mm Summilux V1 copy), for instance, is a dud on a regular digital sensor with smeary corners at all f stops, strong vignetting, rendering astonishing cool with an unacceptable gradient towards the edges. On film, however, the lens turns into a rare marvel. Yes, it still vignettes a tad and glows until f 4, but colour reproduction is nice (still on the cooler side), and corner sharpness improves vastly when stopped down. 

The 35mm FLE is from the digital era, and so is its Voigtländer counterpart. Both were designed with digital Ms in mind. I assume they will work fine on film, but you won't have much of an advantage, if any, compared to its earlier sibling, the Summilux 35mm ASPH. So, if I were in your shoes, I'd get the ASPH version and not the FLE, saving considerable money and, more importantly, size and weight. 

Side note: My experience with Voigtländer is good. The lenses are well made, dare I say comparable with Leica, but can be had for a fraction of the price. The only issue I have with the Voigtländer lenses I tested is their bias towards cooler colours, especially the reds and yellows. Much of that can be adjusted later in post, but a difference will remain. I cannot say that for all Voigtländer lenses, so do your testing. Perhaps their colour rendering is precisely what you are looking for.

Hey! Oh no I am so sorry did not be aware of this actually! Thank you for your detailed reply. I have the voigtländer 15mm (ealiest) version and I love this lens. I also love my cron v4 which render, in my opinion much nicer than the asph cron on film. I think its even sharper in the middle the the modern version, at least on film. And your reply actually confirmed my thoughts. Already in the  digital reviews  I could not see much of a difference  and actually like the smaller lenses more on the Leica, I even would go as far as this camera is designed for smaller glass.  I am al little bit worried about the so called middle loss of sharpness experienced with the Voigtländer but wonder if you can see this on film. The Nokton 1.4 is not really what I am looking for, since I would love to shoot more wide open but I am definitely on your side, that lenses designed for film, like most non-aspherical, look also much better on film. 

[ianforber]

It may not be helpful but I have the latest CV 35mm f1.5 Nokton and I find it plenty sharp in the middle and it’s a very compact size.  I’ve never used it on film though. Matt Osborne (aka “MrLeica”) has several reviews on you tube for 35mm lenses and he shoots a fair amount of film. I recall watching his review of the Nokton before I bought it but I can’t now remember if he commented on its behaviour with film.