Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.0 Aspherical VM images thread

[Al Brown]

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Best in "M mount lenses up fo f/1" class for wide open performance. This well-corrected night owl in M mount which delivers superior performance - higher than any 50 Noctilux by Leica - is surprisingly easy to focus and to nail the subject wide open due to its generous focus throw. The lens' form factor strongly resembles Canon 50mm f/0.95 "Dream Lens", but is a "new age new me, perfected and improved" version of this unrelated classic - a completely newly developed standard lens of only 484g and equipped with double-sided aspherical element and a newly perfected  grinding aspherical front element, according to Cosina. A joy to use wide open, the Nokton 50/1.0 sets its own standard in ultra fast M mount lenses.
Unfortunately, there are heavy sample variations of the Nokton 50/1.0. A perfect copy should be intensely sharp, well centered and beautiful even wide open, with some price to pay in the CA department under certain conditions (not even the much more expensive Noctiluxes are immune to that).

THIS IS A THREAD FOR YOUR VOIGTLANDER NOKTON 50/1.0 PHOTOS. Preferrably wide open, but any f-stop will do. Write the aperture and camera used.
Thank you for your contributions.

 

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[Al Brown]

Nokton wide open, Leica M10-R BP

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[Al Brown]

I did a quick and dirty comparison of 5 motives (presenting just one) to another popular lens, Nokton 50 mm F1.2 Aspherical VM. Both were used at SAME f-stop f/1.2.

All results were consistent: whereas the Nokton 50/1.2 is more "rounded" and slightly more corrected, perhaps even 10% sharper up close (but really negligible in practical use), the Nokton 50/1.0 does have more character due to faster depth of sharpness fall off and definitely more background blur at the same f-stop of 1.2.
My results are on par with Freds.

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[Robert Blanko]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb Al Brown:

I did a quick and dirty comparison of 5 motives (presenting just one) to another popular lens, Nokton 50 mm F1.2 Aspherical VM. Both were used at SAME f-stop f/1.2.

All results were consistent: whereas the Nokton 50/1.2 is more "rounded" and slightly more corrected, perhaps even 10% sharper up close (but really negligible in practical use), the Nokton 50/1.0 does have more character due to faster depth of sharpness fall off and definitely more background blur at the same f-stop of 1.2.
My results are on par with Freds.

 

Thanks for setting up this thread. I'm looking forward to seeing further sample photos, as the Nokton 1.0 is a lens on my list of future candidates.

Regarding the comparison with the Norton 1.2 (that I own), Fred Miranda and also Matt Osborne seem to conclude that at f 1.2 the Nokton 1.0 is sharper and more contrasty, contrary to your opinion. Do you think this is due to sample variation?

From my Nokton 1.2 I know that at f/1.2 the photos are not as crisp as for example the photos taken with my Summilux ASPH wide open.

[RexGig0]

Thanks for the reminder! I had been forgetting to use my f/1.0 Nokton. Seeing this discussion topic, and images, prompted me to take this lens from its storage niche, and put it into my truck, for a planned shoot, this morning, with at least one other 50mm lens.

I do appreciate the comparison images, and your thoughts, regarding the Nokton 50 f/1.2 lens, which was another “fast fifty” I had considered, at the time, and have not yet completely suspended from consideration.

I bought my f/1.0 Nokton in about May of 2022, after I had decided to add a few more lenses, rather than buy an M10 Monochrom*. Early test shots looked promising, but, the Nokton 21mm f/1.4, bought at the same time, and a pre-owned Elmar-M 24mm ASPH, bought somewhat earlier in 2022, got most of my attention. 

Any Nokton 50 must compete, for my attention, with the Summilux-M 50mm ASPH, with which I started M system shooting, and which remains my undisputed favorite M lens, of any focal length.

*I still use the M Type 246 Monochrom.

Edited August 4, 2024 by RexGig0

[Viv]

Too specialised a lens for a nubbin like me.

[mdg1371]

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M11, f1.0

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[Stuart Richardson]

2 hours ago, Al Brown said:

I did a quick and dirty comparison of 5 motives (presenting just one) to another popular lens, Nokton 50 mm F1.2 Aspherical VM. Both were used at SAME f-stop f/1.2.

All results were consistent: whereas the Nokton 50/1.2 is more "rounded" and slightly more corrected, perhaps even 10% sharper up close (but really negligible in practical use), the Nokton 50/1.0 does have more character due to faster depth of sharpness fall off and definitely more background blur at the same f-stop of 1.2.
My results are on par with Freds.

 

 

My eyes could be deceiving me, but it looks like the 50mm 1.2 has color vignetting of some sort with your camera...the center of the wall is quite cyan, while it shifts to magenta in the edges. Did you use any lens coding? The 1.0 lens does not seem to be suffering from it to the same degree...

[Al Brown]

23 minutes ago, Robert Blanko said:

Do you think this is due to sample variation?

I had the privilege of using two IMHO perfect copies. Wide open, the 50/1.2 was a tiny few subjective % sharper than wide open 50/1.0, but already at f/1.2 the latter picked up. I was pixel peeping at 100% on a 30” monitor though. In post #3, I was describing my experience with both lenses wide open (forgetting to disclose).

After my brief (both a year long) love affairs with Noctilux 50/1 Canada and Noctilux 50/0.95 in the past 10 years, I have finally found a perfect copy of a used Nokton 50/1.0 that beats both Noctiluxes in virtually all aspects important to me. Criteria for purchase was flawless IQ and price. Finding one that ticked both boxes was a quest lasting quite some time….This lens was also impossible to find in Japan in VM mount anywhere - Yodobashi, BiC and others had no stock whatsoever and no idea of ressuply. The guys at Leica boutique MAP told me it will not be available for a long time. However, in Europe, Jo Geier has some stock. Mine came from a different source - no box, no hood but optically and physically perfect.

[Al Brown]

15 minutes ago, mdg1371 said:

M11, f1.0

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So painful it never came in silver like the 35 MAP, right?

[Al Brown]

11 minutes ago, Stuart Richardson said:

My eyes could be deceiving me, but it looks like the 50mm 1.2 has color vignetting of some sort with your camera...the center of the wall is quite cyan, while it shifts to magenta in the edges. Did you use any lens coding? The 1.0 lens does not seem to be suffering from it to the same degree...

Lens coding was Noctilux f/1

[mdg1371]

1 hour ago, Al Brown said:

So painful it never came in silver like the 35 MAP, right?

Part of the reason I no longer own it! (I haven’t forgotten your requested test shot!)

[Al Brown]

I think the lens handles flare well - see church image at noon - but I managed to get an odd flare circle while shooting wide open contre-jour.
M10-P Reporter & Nokton wide open.

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Edited August 4, 2024 by Al Brown

[Al Brown]

OOF bokeh is swirly, just like all the Noctiluxes.

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[Jan1985]

I hope to see well crafted pictures that show the full potential of this lens in portraiture and documentary photography. Sadly in most cases we see test shots. It's a lens that affords a skilled photographer.

[3D-Kraft.com]

Yes, this lens definitely deserves a dedicated thread. Initially, I bought it because of the option to use it with AF on a Sony A1 (with Techart Pro V2 adapter), but the Sony filter stack promotes the field curvature of this lens even more.

Now, it's one of the most used lenses on my M9. The bokeh is simply lovely:

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On the M8.2 it turns into a beautiful portrait focal length:

 

Edited August 4, 2024 by 3D-Kraft.com

[Al Brown]

1 hour ago, Jan1985 said:

It's a lens that affords a skilled photographer.

I firmly believe every lens does.

[Al Brown]

While searching for more info I stumbled upon this opinionated review by a professor which is the first really informative Nokton review I have seen. One of the more interesting claims is "The front lens will have been designed with a longer focal length than the 50mm marked on the lens while the back part reduces that focal length to 50mm thereby reducing the f-number to f/1.0. This is a similar design to the 1966 Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7 famously used by Stanley Kubrick in his film Barry Lyndon".

https://amateurphotographer.com/latest/photo-news/opinion-why-the-voigtlander-50mm-f-1-0-nokton-lens-is-so-special/

Edited August 7, 2024 by Al Brown

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[BernardC]

7 hours ago, Al Brown said:

"The front lens will have been designed with a longer focal length than the 50mm marked on the lens while the back part reduces that focal length to 50mm thereby reducing the f-number to f/1.0. This is a similar design to the 1966 Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7 famously used by Stanley Kubrick in his film Barry Lyndon".

Technically true, but also true of every retrofocus lens. The general layout of the Nokton isn't all that different from many other modern fast 50s, starting with the (1998) Summilux-R.

It is cool that they use a large ground aspherical front element, "because they could." We are living in the golden age of M lens design, from Leica and from others.

[69xchange]

i do not need another lens, i do not need another lens...