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25mm f/0.95 Voigtländer Nokton
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  • 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.

  • @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

  • @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.

  • @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!!"

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

  • @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.

  • 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

  • @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.

  • Geez. This is getting ugly. I will summarize the whole thing.

    @kazuo had bought Nokton 25mm 0.95. Then he sold it. Then he bought something professional and cinematic... whatever that means.

    Yeah thanks for letting us know. But who cares? I suggest @kazuo to create a new thread about his beloved new lenses he collected.

  • LMFAO!! I knew you were going to compare it to a $20,000 lens. You're way too easy to read @kazuo You really made my night. You are in the wrong forum buddy. Go back to Sony or Paramount if you're so above things here.

  • @kazuo

    The Nokton is not even a video lens, turn it every which way, it's a still lens a still lens a still lens.

    Thanks for shedding enlightenment. Just in case you don't know... GH2 is a still camera a still camera a still camera.

  • Just for fun, I decided to capture a few minutes of a Boston evening using FM 2.02. Lens is the Voigtlander f0.95 25mm, ISO1600, 24p 1/50s shutter. No grading, barely any editing at all. I was interested in seeing how it copes with low light. There's one clip at the 2 minute mark that seemed to lose sound, which is odd. Anyone else seen FM 2.02 drop the sound?

  • can this lens work on Canon 5d mark 3 ( 25mm f/0.95 Voigtländer Nokton )

  • @Tifose Unfortunately no, for two reasons: distance between lens mount and sensor is on the micro4/3 cameras much shorter, and even if this wasn't the case, you would get only ca 50% coverage.

    Some people on this forum decided to sell their Canon 5D's for to buy Nokton with GH2 or GH3 for about the same price. Indeed Nokton 25mm works pretty well with Sony NEX 3,5,7 and covers almost whole the sensor, only utterly in the corners it's black.

  • I use the Nokton 25mm f.95 [with an Isco 54/AF102orGH2/Samurai] on paid commercial shoots constantly. The results are amazing - and it's all about the taking lens.

  • @Zmu

    The Isco 54 with Nk25 sounds like it could be a practical combination. Could you post some stills, maybe with close up objects..?

  • Guys,

    The film Upstream Color, scheduled for Sundance 2013, was reportedly shot with the Nokton 25mm. Check it out and see if the lens works for you. Watch in particular how the Nokton behaves in the wider shots. Then compare it with another GH2 film, Musgo, which was shot on the Tokina, and Nikon lenses

  • When I tried an ISCO 54, it vignetted at 28, on both 28/2.8 and 28/2 FD. So I'm surprised to hear it works well. Really would love to see some samples.

  • Hey all, is there an effective, cheap, follow focus or follow focus tool that is compatible with the Voigtlander 25mm? Thx!

  • I have the same question as jfilmmaker - particularly focus gears that will work with the Nokton. Lot's of talk about lens characteristics, but nothing about gears to make it work.

  • I have just purchased a 2nd hand Nokton 25mm. I am happy with it so far and love the low light option for personal documentation. However I have found that it is a bit of a struggle mounting the lens onto the GH2, the m4/3rd mount seems a very tight fit for the GH2. Does anyone else have this issue?

  • I m not struggling but it's indeed a pretty thight fit on the cam mount. A good thing for a manual lens that you manipulate during takes (better than manual lens on some cheap & loosy m43 adapter).

  • For sure, I'll post some stuff asap - I have to get clearance on most of my footage other wise I'll shoot a couple tests... @ itimjim yep the 54/Nk25mm [& my Nikon 28mm] vignettes on the GH2 but not the AF102 - but I have to use 112mm diopters, anything smaller crops[the 54 front thread being 95mm] I've also had the 54 on the Pana 14-140mm [for OIS] on a hand held run 'n gun gig but the pics weren't as good as the Nk25mm - it was like the Pana glass sucked the life out of the 54

  • @ astraban Yes good point. Was interested to see if the tight fit was normal for the lens. Sounds like it is. Thanks

  • @astraban Prolly the mount would get loosen over the time. That's why I store Gh2 body without a lens on it.