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25mm f/0.95 Voigtländer Nokton
  • 308 Replies sorted by
  • chauncychauncy
    I've had one for several months. While it does well with most shots, it is unparalled for closeups and portrait shots.
    I won't shoot closeup picture or video without it. Not only do you get a great low light video lens, you get a photo portrait lens that makes people look amazing.

    Focusing with it at 0.95-1.2 is an experience. It can be quite difficult since the focus plane is razor thin. Like one hair is in focus the next isn't. But beautiful dreamy look when ths subject is just slightly out of focus. I think this is why some people report the lens is soft. It isn't. It's just that it's easy to get part of the subject out of focus.
  • 7hau7hau
    @lenuisible pls notice the distance change btw the aperture n focus ring while focusing
  • lenuisiblelenuisible
    >The Nokton lens changes barrel length
    I can't see anything moving while focusing, where did you see that ?
  • lenuisiblelenuisible
    I don't own the Leica, but I love the Nokton. Imo Manual focusing is perfect, unless you want to rack focus from 17cm to infinity : it take 1/4 of turn to go from 30cm to infinity, but add an additional 1/2 turn to go from 17cm to 30cm, which makes going from 17cm to infinity difficult. At least it's precise.
    If you like changing aperture while recording, it's not perfect as it's not stepless, and if you want to use FF, you'd have to take care of the non circular focus ring.
  • sohussohus
    I want to know how this lens compares to the Panasonic Leica 25mm/F1.4 Micro-FourThirds. I am buying one of these two next month. The PL has auto-focus and from what I see and reas, is the best Micro-FourThirds lens ever (but that is from a photography point of view). So I would like to find out how they compare for video, and also how they compare in terms of sharpness, color rendition... from what I understand, the Voigtlander is heavier but has a more robust all-metal build quality. Manual focus operation is very important to me, so I would also like to learn how well this works on both lenses. I hope one of you owns both of these beauties and can enlighten me.
  • stoneystoney
    The Nokton lens changes barrel length. Nokton gotta produce lenses like Samyang. 1.4 primes at cheaper price. Fixed length barrel.
  • fchrisfchris
    @atticusd, If you a talking about the "red dot" used to line up lens with the one on body when changing lenses, it appears to me to be one piece construction between there and focusing ring. There seems to be a slight bit of play in all the lenses after mounting and I have always considered that normal. Perhaps a tolerance for the lumix contact points? There have been times I have gotten the warning that lens was not attached and all I did was jiggle the lens with the body and that solved the problem.
  • dkitsovdkitsov
    @jimtreats this is most likely a tolerance to account for expansion/contraction due to the temperature.
  • jimtreatsjimtreats
    @Butt, I brought the 20mm pancake at the same time as the Nokton figuring the AF and light weight would make it something good to have.

    Since the Nokton has arrived i've not put it on the camera, this initial excitement will pass and the 20mm is a fantastic lens, the camera is almost weightless with it on. Looking around and glancing at my own shots you can see that its a really sharp lens too. However the wider FOV and slower aperture really adds up to a not very pronounced depth of field effect at sort of upper body portrait framing.

    Infact even the 0.95 aperture of the Nokton requires you to have your subject of focus relatively close for you to get the blown out background we all crave. It seems with micro 4/3 quite a challenge to get something like the full frame normal lens DOF that is so appealing with say a 50mm f1.4. Still the Nokton is the closest yet, and likely the closest we'll ever get with this sensor size.
  • stoneystoney
    Neither can replace each other. Nokton can't focus faster than m43 lenses. The m43 lenses can't mimic tone/rendition of Nokton. I'm gonna get it when I get enough $$$$.
  • ButtButt
    think it needs not necessarily: the 20mm pancake and the new Leica 25mm f1.4 are better alternatives than the overrated Nokton - sorry
  • atticusdatticusd
    @jimtreats @fchris Mine does that as well. It really would have been more user friendly if it stopped at infinity. Still a great lens. By the way, I've noticed recently that sometimes when I start moving the focus ring I can feel that the piece of metal with the red point moves slightly like it has some play. It's not the mount because it also happens when the lens is not attached to the camera. Otherwise, everything seems fine, but it kind of worries me a little bit. Have you noticed something like that in yours?
  • fchrisfchris
    @jimtreats That is the way the focus is on mine too......I find it bothersome.
  • No_SuRReNDeRNo_SuRReNDeR
    @ andres ....Love the cream cheese BOKEH of the Nokton.... wish I could afford one.
  • jimtreatsjimtreats
    I just received this lens today. So far very happy with it. The only question i had was for anyone else who has one, does your copy focus past infinity?

    Mine goes 1-2mm past the infinity sign and looking through with the focus assist enabled whilst looking at distant (>50m) streetlights you can see infinity lines up with where its inscribed on the lens and then the lens travels a little further and details blur up again slightly.

    I'm wondering if this is relatively normal and due to tolerances that are there to ensure you'll always be able to hit infinity. You just need to go by what you see and not just trust the focus stop, I'd rather it didn't do this but I wont be returning it because of it.
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    >how do I embed a picture?

    Old poor HTML, see img tag syntax :-)
  • andresandres
    Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95 Nokton Teardown and comparison by Duclos
    good review
    http://matthewduclos.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/voigtlander-25mm-f0-95-nokton-teardown/


    voiglander 25mm:
    image

    lumix 20mm:
    image

    teardown-voiglander.jpg
    300 x 199 - 23K
  • testerREDtesterRED
    Shot w/ Nokton 25mm:




    Fairground & Fireworks Düsseldorf 2011 - Kirmes from Axel Schreiter on Vimeo.

  • WinkleJonWinkleJon
    Sorry, I meant to say: "it is likely that when and IF B&H receives the Nokton, it will wholesale at a price above that by which they calculated an $819 retail price."
  • WinkleJonWinkleJon
    I bought a Nokton last May and it very quickly became my favorite lens for still photography on my GH2. I love the control over depth of field and low light situations. However the lens also has a certain character that it imparts to the images it takes. Also it is a beautifully machined piece of metal. Both the aperture and focus rings slide with a silky feel that is kind of sexy. I haven't owned a manual focus lens since the late 80's. Aside from it's other qualities that manual process makes me think more and make many more deliberate decisions while shooting. I have since bought a series of ND filters to shoot wide open in bright sunlight. If I had to describe the lens in one word it would be "elegant."

    It really isn't that heavy or large compared to longer autofocus lenses that have microchips, motors and other mechanical components. The Nokton is just glass and a metal body holding everything in place. The 14-140 kit lens is much heavier.

    My next favorite lens is my pancake Panasonic 20mm f1.7. I will grab that in situations such as live events when I need fast reliable autofocus in an instant and do not have the luxury to fiddle with manual.

    I recently joined this forum as I want to explore m4/3 video for a project I'm planning. I look forward to using the Nokton to shoot video.

    I initially had hesitations over the sticker price, $1100 in store at Photo Village in NYC. It really was out of my budget at the time. After shooting god knows how many photos with it in the past few months, I have definitely gotten my money's worth and haven't had a second thought about the price. I'm also deliberately using it at live events that I am less worried about missing a quick moment to practice quick manual focus and aperture adjustments in the field.

    If you want the lens, don't wait till it is available at B&H for $819. Photo Village NY is Cosina's East Coast distributer. Cosina is not able to meet the demand for every store and individual customer wanting to buy the Nokton from Photo Village. Many stores like B&H aren't getting their Noktons. Also the price PV listed the lens before the earthquake was less than the $1100 I paid for a lens in a shipment that was manufactured prior to the earthquake but shipped after. When and IF Noktons become available to B&H, it is very likely they might wholesale at the price by which B&H calculated $819. Also by now so many people from across the US and the world have registered with B&H to be notified when the Nokton is in stock, you might be better off buying a lottery ticket to finance your next big purchase. If you want the Nokton and see one available for $1000-1200, just snag it now instead of waiting for a deal that realistically may never come.
  • EOSHDEOSHD
    The Nokton really does vignette heavily (though obviously not to completely black like some c-mount lenses do), so the banding you are seeing might be due to the very gentle fall off toward the edges. I liked a bit of a vignette. Call me old fashioned or just plain weird :) The Nokton is quite a characterful lens. Bokeh is bizarre... like lemons... but it is nice and sharp especially at F1.4 and very well built. 25mm is a good focal length for the GH2, and the shallow DOF really benefits from having such a fast F0.95 aperture.
  • fehafeha
    @ickejohannes

    I think the GH2 hack will help with gradients as rate is increased by 42Mbit/s ...
  • ickejohannesickejohannes
    The Nokton is a beautiful lens but I've found that wide open it produces some serious banding problems with the GH2's 8bit codec. It's a lot better when you go down to 1.4 or 2 but at 0.95 it's quite bad actually. Seems as if the shallow DOF in conjunction with the vignetting produces exactly the kind of gradients that give rising to banding (especially in dimly lit interiors with white walls). Do you guys think the hack will help with this? Or has anyone some suggestions how to fix it in the post?
  • stoneystoney
    Prolly only by official firmware upgrade. But it might never happen...
  • sparedogsparedog
    its probably been asked before, but could this be added by hacking, or is it a firmware upgrade only improvement.
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