25mm f/0.95 Voigtländer Nokton

kholi

@Butt -- Have you ever actually used an Optimo? I couldn't imagine anyone that has saying that, then again most people can't tell the difference between cameras in the first place so it is what it is.

ANd yeah, I've got 15K Glass on a GH2 for commercial work. That's part of the fun for us, being able to walk around with pristine glass to get interesting shots not possible otherwise with a large camera.

Butt

I would not hire Angenieux Optimo - the differences are not the world - a good old Nikon Nikkor glass is good enough in 95% for filming

goanna

@Butt

Yep some folks don't get what makes personal-view.com tick. The NK25 is a lens some of us might buy for our own GH. Higher end lenses and cameras are stuff we rent.

Butt

@kazuo - why should I screw in Angenieux Optimo for about 15,000 euros a MFT or a DSLR? "Pearls before swine" ;)

kazuo

@RatLabProductions

Pompous? Just calling a spade a spade. I have already said it, a piece of glass does not determine your career as a filmmaker. And one's ability to achieve a "cinematic look" definitely doesn't make you a storyteller. What is a "cinematic look" anyway? There are tons of videos on Vimeo and Youtube with a cinematic look, but they are at best doggerel and juvenelia, "test videos" or pixel peeping exercises. Remember this, your audience is not going to gawk at your finished product and go, "WOW! That scene was so brilliant because it was shot with the fucking awesome Nokton 25mm f0,95!!"

RatLabProductions

@kazuo what a pompous response. Of course the voit isn't in the same league as a lense 20x its price. In other news from the department of the obvious, the GH2/3 isn't an Alexa. This has nothing to do with being able to shoot cinematic content. The craft has more to do with something appearing cinematic than a single piece of hardware. There are many ways to achieve a cinematic look using stills glass. At this point in tech it's not the gear holding people back but their own creativity and skill.

The idea that you can only shoot cinematic images with expensive gear has long been shot down by the many talented people out there doing more with less.

kazuo

@vicharris

have you tried an Angenieux Optimo? Probably haven't, based on yr comments. That is a REAL cine lens. The Nokton is not even a video lens, turn it every which way, it's a still lens a still lens a still lens. Know that in this industry, cine and still lenses are different things. Only DSLR users pretend that they are shooting cinematic stuff with still glass all the time. Pl don't compare F stop with T stops

nomad

The two Voigts are the best extension down in focal length from the Zeiss Contax family. Period. The 25mm in the C/Y line is not that great and the 21 has an insane price. OK, not quite the same colors, but Bokeh and low breathing are close and I consider these and a few C/Y lenses the best row of primes you can get south of 5 K. Add a 12mm an you are very well equipped.

stoney

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.

vicharris

If someone considers that bad breathing, well, they are in the wrong area of business then! Are you kidding me? That's just insane. What are they comparing it too? An $80,000 cine lens?

tetakpatak

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...

sammy

Has anyone tested the 25mm 0.95 with the iscorama 36 (1.5x) to see if it covers the full sensor on the gh1/gh2? do we get vignetting ?have the isco36, thinking about getting the 25mm

stoney

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.

gameb

I would love to see someones test with an ISO scale using ETC modus with the NK25 to understand up to which ISO level the footage is acceptable...?

stoney

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.

gameb

Found this video, mostly shot in ETC mode on NK25 at F/0.95, the noise looks good, at ISO 160. With a slower lens you would have had to push up to higher ISO, hence much more noise in ETC mode.

gameb

@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?

stoney

One caveat though. ISO gotta stay below 400. Not really good alternative to low lighting situation.

stoney

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.

gameb

@stonebat On the GH2 I think NK25 is 50mm x 2.6 (ETC) = 130 in low ISO. Thats why I asked how NK25 looks in ETC. The ETC looks actually quite nice (thanks for the tests @goanna). Means you can really use the crop pretty well with the NK2 and have a 130mm tele lens for nice close ups / portrait shots in low light situations.

stoney

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

goanna

Just a simple test, @gameb

f/2.4 auto ISO. See below for actual ISO. Ignore frame sizes. Setting was for multiple-crop sizes (4 images per shot) and I chose those which the subject was the closest in size.

ETC:

Normal:

gameb

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.

goanna

@kazuo

No sarcasm here - trust me. Just genuine bafflement. I mean, I read all the reviews and tests, bought the 25 0.95, tested it myself. Don't see your problem. When I say

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

Take it that I'm genuinely happy and relieved to test my lens and find no extraneous breathing.

it's not the piece of glass that determines how good a filmmaker you are.

Well, you're steering a little close to the wind on this one. Choosing the right glass is part of every good filmmaker's job, isn't it?

I really don't know what you're trying to achieve here. Driving the price down? The Voigtlander is still $1200 at B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=getItemDetail&Q=&sku=754598&is=REG&si=rev#costumerReview

I can sympathise with anybody's efforts to try to dissuade newcomers from unnecessarily buying an over-priced lens. I do think the Noktons fetch a premium price at the very least.

Hey, why don't you start your "25 reasons not to get a Nk25" thread? Really. We could use the space.

kazuo

@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.

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