New non-Leica fast 50mm ?

[colonel]

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this is my new project, candidates:

 

1. New reduced weight Voigtlander 50mm f1.2 ii VM (322g) - same optical formulae as previous version (GBP 829):

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2. Thypoch Simera 50mm f1.4 (GBP 695):

 

Has anyone used both (at least the v1 voigtlander) and can comment ?

I presume the Voigtlander is better built, which is slight biasing me

[Simone_DF]

There's a 25 pages thread with plenty of samples on the FM forum for the Simera, and it looks like a really solid option. I'm considering their recently released 75mm.

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1878983/

[graphlex]

The previous version of the VM f/1.2 got a glowing review in LSI’s viewfinder from Bill Rosauer.

[LarsHP]

I have owned the Nokton f/1.2 for several years. It's a superb all-round lens.

One thing to note about the Nokton is that, it doesn't have floating lens elements, so at shorter distances there will be some "glow" (spherical aberration). For some subjects it's a nice effect, but if you want the best possible contrast and technical performance at shorter distances, you'd need to stop down to f/1.7 or use a close-up lens (diopter). Bokeh is really smooth. Moderate optical vignetting and great coatings. 

At medium to long focus distances it's a great lens. Record-breaking resolution at f/4 in the center.

If your primary use is portraits, and you prefer best technical performance at around 1 meter distance, then I'd suggest the Simera, since it has floating lens element design.