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25mm f/0.95 Voigtländer Nokton
  • 308 Replies sorted by
  • Wow. I've been looking for one of these (Nokton 25mm) for a few days. I just realized today I could buy it from Amazon france (amazon.fr) for $726.86 USD delivered via 4 day 'lightning' shipping to the USA. That's better than the used prices on ebay! Maybe they are not selling well in France, because that is cheaper than anywhere else I've seen. ...I just hope there are no customs woes... but still, at this price it will still come in far cheaper than anywhere I could buy it in the US.

  • Hello. I bought this lens last week for my newish GH2. I had a 20mm 1.7 and a zoom but just hate the crappy plastic feel and non calibrated focus barrel on these.

    First impressions: The lens feels good, very smooth focus action, hard f stops. The lens build quality reminds me of the Pentax Takumar lenses which are also great at a fraction of the cost.

    My big problem with this lens is that the focus is slightly loose. That is when I turn it there is a slight give before the focus shifts. This is a similar feeling to using a manual lens with a poor quality adapter and it shifts slightly when turning the lens.

    For E899 I don't think this is acceptable. There are 2 other copies of this lens in the shop and they both do it. I have heard someone else on here with the same problem. I have tried the 17.5mm Nokton and it doesn't have this flaw, also none of the zeiss lenses (even the cheap ones) have this problem.

    It is exciting using this lens but I think we have to be very careful in what we accept. I will be returning this lens and I suggest if anybody else has this same problem they should return it and not 'make do' as the guy in the shop tried to convince me. They will eventually be returned to the factory and hopefully it may encourage Voigtlander to produce better lenses and have a tighter quality control.

    Why accept these little flaws just because this is a relatively new system when even the cheap russian manual focus 35mm stills lenses were getting it right from the start?

    Ok thats my rant over: don't accept bad quality and you wont be given bad quality.

  • @affy Most people seem to say the HelioPan is the best. I am not the biggest fan of the cheap Polaroid one (at least not for telephoto or wide shots). For instance, the 77mm Polaroid variable ND claims to go up to 400x ND light reduction, but it maxes out a stop or two below that, as became abundantly clear when I got a Hoya 77mm 400x ND (which I love but is too strong for most video applications).

    Personally I have had better experiences with static NDs than variable NDs.

  • I also just got mine for a great price ($800 CAD barely used) doing a local deal. I've only messed around with it for a few hours I'm pretty amazed and the images it produces straight out of the camera. I'm looking to pick up my first variable nd filter, what specifically should I be looking for? I've read great things about genus variable ND, so i'm leaning towards that.

  • For those who have this lens and use it with a follow focus, what combination of follow focus and lens gears are you using?

    I ordered the Voigtlander 25 mm earlier this week and now I can't wait for it to arrive so that I try it out. All the videos I've seen (incuding those in this thread) have a terrific look to them - I can't quite describe it but this seems like a very special lens.

  • what is the best picture profile to use for sedna a aq1 and voigtlander 25mm. i have heard standard is best giving the best option for grading. Ive also noticed that using this lens gives a slight yellow tinge to the images. maybe the lcd is set wrong? anyone else have similar problems?

  • First tests

  • I got mine at http://myworld.ebay.de/photo-video-pro/ - For 20€ shipping costs you get no tracking number and he also ignored my paypal notes. Other than that, delivery was quick and the lens arrived well packaged and undamaged. So overall I can recommend this guy. Unfortunately he doesn't seem to have Noktons in stock at the moment.

  • @thepalalias thanks for that! save your energy for tonight :D looking forward to everything! thanks for all your hard work.

    i ended up getting a 6.00 macro tube extension set from amazon. this is for some pictures for my girlfriend for our apartment. so, while i want it to look oh-so-awesome... well, the less money I spend the better! i'll report back how everything looks. i figure since you can get so close with the nokton as it is, that a tube should help blow the image up a bit. problem i figure with the nikon lens is that the focal distance is already 2', so it might not get as close as the nokton which can get so close to the object.

  • @5thwall The answer is different for the manual focus lenses (like the Nokoton) than the electronic m43 ones. Essentially, the tubes only make sense for manual focus because you can`t change the focus point for the electronic ones without an electronic connection. So while the first just requires tubes that are the right side, the second is more specialized.

    You should have an easier time finding macro tubes to fit the Nikon than for m43. I used macro tubes for the Canon 24-70mm L when I shot the eyeball macro footage in the Driftwood compilation last year. They are a good choice because the lack of optical elements in the image (glass, plastic, etc,) means that the only side-effects are some light loss and the focus distance shifting closer ( so you cannot focus to infinity with the tubes, etc.)

    Now, if you are worried about getting too close to the food and less worried about getting extra glass in the way, you could find a teleconverter (if your lens suports them, which usually means 100mm or more for the Canon combination) and use that instead of the tubes.

    Now, the very best image quality is actually achieved by using a dedicated macro lens (but you want to ensure with those that they can get the magnification you need without additional tubes, etc. or there is not much point to them. Canon makes some really stunning ones like the uniqe1-5 (that goes beyond 1:1).

    Okay, all of that said: the Nokton does a pretty decent macro on its own. My memory is that you can focus close enough with it to get higher maximum magnification than the Panasonic 20mm, you can check the minimum focusing distance vs the focal length for each, though.

    Edit: We can walk through it more at the shoot tonight. You have no idea how long I was up last night dealing with manpower changes at the last minute in terms of dividing lenses. :)

  • Hi all. Does anyone know what type of macro attachment I'd need for the Voigtlander? I'm going to be doing some extreme closeup still photos of food coming up soon. Also, I know very little about macro lenses, so if you have any other recommendations for lenses, I'd love to know. I also have the 14-140, a nikon 50mm, and the Panny 20mm. Thanks in advance!

    Edit: After doing some research - is the answer just to get a macro tube set? And, if so, I figure it will work with all my m43 lenses? I like cheap solutions :)

  • @Pechente Okay, I understand. I overlooked Cosina but I am glad you found a good deal and please share your experience with it as well, as I live in Europe my self it would be good to know about good and cheap shops that can ship me the products for a significantly smaller price than what it is here.

  • @thepalalias No, it's fine. Interesting to read! Thank you.

  • I live in the city where Voigtländer was located. It has been closed down long ago, but they co-operated with Cosina (just like Leica and Minolta) and Cosina is not only using their brand name, but optical formulas.

  • @efonius The Nokton is a lens that's produced under the Voigtländer brand by Cosina in Japan! Apparently the brand's name really works for Marketing purposes… Even if it was built in germany, that would in no way mean that you can get the best deals over here. Just think of german cars, they're most expensive here.

    The lens on the link you posted is way too expensive as astraban already mentioned.

    Anyway, I ordered it at a french shop for 699€ (+20€ shipping). I'll let you know if the shop is any good once I receive the lens.

  • not a good deal at all : 250-300€ more than the price you can find in France. PS : Voigtlander is owned by Cosina : this lens is made in Japan.

  • @Pechente

    I can't believe you are having a hard time finding a deal for the Voigtlander lens in Germany! Voigtlander is a German company and is produced in Germany. Anyways, my recent experience buying stuff from Germany goes to fotomayr, which was a pleasent experience where I could buy via Paypal if I remember correctly. http://www.fotomayr.de/webkat98/homepage.php?/html/006142.HTM Here's the product page for it.

  • @Alexauwa You did fine with the nosie in my view. I never thought about it while watching.

    As far as the shot I mentioned, between dealing with the veiling from the light and the extremely shallow depth of field, I would likely have stopped down a stop. The result would still have been sufficiently shallow depth of field for the shot but parts of his face coming in and out of focus would have been less distracting. Some of the stubble felt too out of focus at various points, etc.

    Still, it really is a matter of stylistic preference and we are talking about my nitpicking a single shot in an effective sequence, so don't take it too seriously. :)

  • Thanks a lot for your feedback! Much appreciated.

    @RRRR by "...edited down slighty" u mean shortend?

    @thepalalias "shot 1.16" Why do you see it slight off? In terms of qualityP How could I improve?

    And yes, due to the light conditions it took me a white to set the proper white balance and settings, specially because of the electronic lighting. Once that done I kept iso between 200-400. Apature mainly fully opened, shutter at 50. Good lighting will enhanced quality a lot. I did some corrections in post with red giant softwares - denoiser as some parts in the back still turned out to be a bit noisy. Is there a trick to get rid of it while filming?

  • @alexauwa great to hear it was useful! Funny stuff..! :) I'm not really a deep sea fisherman, but the point is crystal clear. Did you edit according to their request re: duration or did you go by your own choices? IMO it could have been edited down slightly, without loosing the plot / suspense - but it's no biggie.

  • @alexauwa Looking forward to checking it out later today, and in response to your thanks on the other thread, you are quite welcome. I am glad it was useful to you. :)

    Update: The facial expressions in that are great and the editing helps to hold interest. I thought the DOF went well with the narrative and it was essentially never distracting. The only shot that felt very slightly off was the one at 01:16, but that is a hard shot under the best of circumstances. Nice job! I really enjoyed it. :)

  • I'd be happy to share our newest commercial with you. Mainly shot on the fantastic voigtlander 25 mm f0.95. Looking forward to your feedback.

  • Anyone found a nice deal for the Voigtländer if you live in germany? Pixmania.com unfortunately only delivers to either belgium or the netherlands. I can't choose an adress in a different country.

    Edit: Oh sorry, I shouldn't have tried to use their .nl domain then. The problem is they only accept credit card payments, so I can't buy it there.

  • @artardi

    try contacting one of the uk sellers on ebay or a store ask if they can post it as low value gift

    get someone to buy and post... marked as low value gift it would clear customs import tax free

    it probably be a quicker solution

    or you could find anyone you know that could do it