I sold my nokton very reluctantly to be honest. I went all the way to Japan to pick it up and I paid quite an exorbitant price for it: 95 000 yen. So I do have an affinity for it still do. But I had to sell it out of necessity to fund other lenses.

I agree the Nk 25 is amazing for macro. But I hv since bought a zeiss 60mm f2.8 makro that does 1:1 ratio so I hv no complaints. I guess we all go through different phases and learning curves. Nk was a necessary phase to help me sort out how I want to develop as a filmmaker and I am sure it will be the same for everyone else writing here :-)

For any of us who've forgotten, a lot of our film language arose out of the need to cut together shots from prime lenses - and quite often a single prime.

Such shots as a POV of an actor needed to be set up with the camera shooting from the same distance and angle as actor No.2; then likewise doing the reverse shots, 2-shots, close-ups of hands - everything with the same lens, corresponding distances and angles. The wide shots, establishing shots, MCUs etc, all waltz in and out as usual, changing angle and shot-size so as they'll cut-in - but always with the same trustworthy focal length.

This will subtly lead the viewer into a complicity of trust and triangulation with that focal-length; in short, the eerie sensation in the viewer of being able to judge distances to a point of tactile judgement; of sensing one could reach out and touch a character or navigate the room blindfold; of being there.

At that point, any tracking shots will be in the time of one of the characters - or of the viewer himself; perhaps dollying twice alongside two walking characters, often from two different distances just to keep them in frame. Or else you might see tracking around the outside of that cramped car trying to get a better view of the inside.

With a single lens faithfully guiding the way, the viewer's awareness of a camera being present can disappear completely.

There are many ways to make a single narrative film. This is just one discipline you might like to stick to for a while. I'd like, as I say, to try it with the Nokton 25.

You can achieve that kind of shot with any lens to be honest. It really boils down to you having an aesthetic eye and understanding the rules of photography. The lens may lend itself in a way that is unique to its character but in the hands of someone who doesn't understand even how light behaves you will get compromised quality.

One thing that no one has pointed out here about the nk25 is that it has terrible breathing. Try to rack focus with it: you get anything but cinematic

@kazuo

Sorry, I must have a faulty Nokton; unable to reproduce your breathing fault :-)

@goanna, @stonebat

No need for sarcasm here. I stand by what I say. In the end, it's not the piece of glass that determines how good a filmmaker you are.

How does NK25 looks like in ETC mode? The fact that with a 0.95 aperture in low light, you can stay at lower ISOs than 640 to avoid noise using the ETC, should be quiet good. Many people say ETC mode is lossless. I haven't tried the NK25 personally, but my experience is even with a sharp lens like Pancake 20 the picture looks a tiny bit softer in ETC. Even the bokeh and the general look is not the same as using a comparable tele lens in the same focal length.

Very nice. I never thought about it. 25mm * 2.6 = 65mm in low ISO.

Also if there's not enough room for long shot, the ETC can be useful. The fact that Nk25 has excellent center sharpness is nice in this case.

Then Nk17.5 and Nk25 can cover 45.5mm and 65mm.

@stonebat "Then Nk17.5 and Nk25 can cover 45.5mm and 65mm." I don't understand what you mean. NK17.5 is 35mm (on gh2) x 2.6 (ETC) = 91mm and not 45.5mm. Am I missing something?

17.5mm * 2.6 = 45.5mm. Yes you are right about the 35mm equivalent.

The ETC video looks good. I just did a test. Sharp enough. Deeper DOF. The same color rendition. It inherits the same chromatic aberration at f/0.95 though. Yes 1:1 macro possible :) I'd stop down to 4.0 or more for extreme close up.

Usually ETC has practical threshold about ISO 400. That's not enough for low lighting. I'm interested in using ETC in good lighting. f/0.95 + ETC portrait can blur the background. Or f/2.0 can give more sharpness.

Inspired by the debate between @kazuo, @goanna, @nomad and @stonebat two days ago, I did instantly few shots for this short video with my GH1 and Nokton 25mm f/0,95.

I tried to put into 2 minutes words you guys were using like macro, breathing, sharpness, bokeh etc.

In my opinion macro is great, breathing is negligible and definitely not an issue, lens tack sharp from f/1.4 onwards, but also sharp enough at f/0.95 and then... it's bokeh king by fully open iris: (look by 2:05-2:10)

p.s. sorry for bit shaky daylight scenes, hand held camera....it was done very quickly...

Plus one more good thing. Step down a bit. Get a long exposure shot. You'd get very nice flare. It starts at f/2.8. f/11 looked best. It's one of the best lenses for the night photography on a tripod.