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25mm f/0.95 Voigtländer Nokton
  • 308 Replies sorted by
  • tetakpataktetakpatak

    Kazuo is right about f/2.8. But Nokton is great lens for certain kind of footage. Its image just has charme and character, I love this lens. It is seriously usable at f/1.4 and by f/2.8 it is not so difficult anymore to focus it. Actually, also f/1.4 worked fine with me @kazuo which kind of motives did you have problems with?

  • tinyrobottinyrobot

    The Zeiss are nice, but MTF lenses are sharper at the open end more so than the Zeiss. At this moment in sensor development, I'd pick a Voight 25mm over a Zeiss 25mm if I had a choice, especially if you are shooting on the current Pannys. But, if I had deep pockets, I'd be picking off a few Leicas myself to add to the mix.

  • nomadnomad

    Well, 21mm is ridiculously expensive in Leica-R or Zeiss Contax. The Zeiss 25mm is not their greatest lens of all, I like the Voigt better, but from 28mm onwards I'm all into Zeiss.

  • kazuokazuo

    @nomad is absolutely spot on about Zeiss lenses. 25mm is not their the best, and if you need a 25mm, the Nokton is infinitely much better. Even the Panasonic Leica 25mm f1,4 is better by a country mile. Zeiss 28mm is the Hollywood lens, and it is a great. 50mm f1,4 is nice, but some say f1,7 is sharper, to each his own.

    Leica lenses are very sharp even on mtf sensors. The only issue I have with using Leica and Zeiss glass on the same shoot is the disparity in color rendition. Leica tends to be less contrasty. If you are looking to shoot "flat" so you can grade better in post, Leica R lenses are the way to go.

    @tetakpatak Not sure if I understand your use of the word "motive". But I will tell you what convinced me to sell the Nokton. There was this shoot where my monitor batteries died, and I was left with just the small screen on GH2 to check focus. But because we were running out of time, I had to push on. The result: quite alot of the footage was soft and unuseable. I haven't had such an experience with other lenses so far. I am not going to say the Nokton is a bad lens based on this isolated incident. It was as much my fault for not checking. But I am quite clear the Nokton is a luxury lens: you need time to set it up before you get to enjoy its glory.

  • tetakpataktetakpatak

    @kazuo
    +1, we agree, Nokton indeed needs setup before the shooting for best results. I meant "subject"....and thanks for Zeiss info to you and to @nomad

  • stoneystoney

    @kazuo Nokton is tack sharp at 2.8. That's my default.

    0.95 is dreamy. 1.4 and 2.0 are not bad.

    Most of all the color rendition is awesome.

  • nomadnomad

    Some more info on Zeiss C/Y:

    There is also a 28mm 2.8, which is far cheaper than the so-called "Hollywood" 2.0 and it's tack sharp, while the 2.0 wide open is a bit soft in the corners. Same goes for the 1.4 vs. 1.7, you can get the 1.7 for a tad more than peanuts and it's sharper even at 2.0 than the faster one.

    Anyway, if going for Zeiss C/Y make sure that you buy MM versions (the ones with the highest aperture value in green) not AE (all stops in white). The latter ones have the infamous 'Ninja' bokeh when stopped down one or two steps.

  • christianhubbardchristianhubbard

    @nomad same principle apply for the nikkors?

  • goannagoanna

    image

    The 25mm Nokton would be in the running as a candidate for the MF3's best-choice "normal" focal length lens. This means a lens you'd choose to shoot an entire film with, looking for the extraordinary intimacy with characters sought by cinéastes like Yasujiro Ozu, who even invented special, eye-level tripods to bring the audience right into the scene.

    That's what I'd like to do with mine. If anyone besides Phillip Bloom [read it] has had any experience with precisely this application, I'd be very interested in hearing about technique particular to the Nokton 25.

  • JasminJasmin

    @goanna: I think there is a confusion about "normal focal length" of still photography vs cinematography.

    In Still photography, a focal length about equal to the diagonal size of the film or sensor is considered Normal focal length. Therefore, 23mm is the Normal focal length for m43 for Still Photography.

    But for cinematography, the focal length roughly double the film or sensor diagonal is considered 'normal'. As per wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_lens
    So the Normal focal length is around 45-50mm for m43 (for Cinematography).

    Also, if we want to recreate the 50mm look of the Super35mm film, we will need to use a 35mm lens on a m43 sensor (1.5x crop).

    Please correct me if I am wrong.

    Thanks

  • goannagoanna

    @Jasmin

    I have known about the "normal lens" debate and, to quote Ozu, "I have decided I want nothing to do with it."

    For those who want to peruse the numerous debates, see http://ww.google.com/m?q=35mm%20equivalent%20lens.%20site:personal-view.com&client=ms-opera-mobile&channel=new

    Using a Nokton 25, we should be able to work within confines and use available light, show characters' body movements comfortably from 1.5-3 meters yet move in close for a CU without their facial features being distorted; bring our viewers to inhabit that space so that it begins to feel real - even if we sometimes have to show only part of something or someone from just the knees down (like a wood-cut) . We also need occasionally to move with the camera, to choose locations matching the lens's constraints and take a back seat to the actors.

    All this single prime technique places demands on lens and operator and there must be people like P Bloom who've developed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Nokton 25's adaptability, what works for them and what doesn't.

  • kazuokazuo

    Noktons color rendition is great, it's bokeh is even better but it's unusable at f0,95. Let's face it who would shoot at 0.95 everyday? Also if you are using pro equipment like matte boxes, follow focus et al you would soon realize the nokton is not customized for that kind of workflow. I hate to say this but the voigtlanders are pretenders to the Leica throne. It is an alternative to leica m for the budget conscious. Just as you won't quite use Leica m glass on set because of ergonomics issues the noktons design similarly makes it an oddity.

  • stoneystoney

    One man's trash is another man's treasure. 25mm 0.95 is my treasure.

  • goannagoanna

    @Kazuo

    I'm standing here with my GH2/Nokton 25 and trying to work out what ergonomics problems you're running into. It seems nice & accessible to me. Aperture has clicks but focusing behaves pretty much like any lens.

    Before I sell my Nk25 I'll try to learn what I can about it.

    Seems like we already have enough suggestions for NK25 alternatives. Maybe we could start another thread for that.

  • stoneystoney

    25mm focal length on M43 captures z-axis distortion close to what we see.

  • tinyrobottinyrobot

    Anyone recommend working focus gears for the Nokton that are snug and tight?

  • gamebgameb

    @kazuo I thought in the same way. I am waiting for my new lens set up arriving next week. I just decided to give a try to the 2 - 2.8 world and see how I can live with it: Elmarit 90, Summicron 50, Minolta MD 24 2.8 and Minolta MC 16mm 2.8 (not very sure about this one?) and a Minolta MD 35-70 3.5 Zoom in the wider I keep the Panny 14mm + DMW-GWC1 wide angle adapter. This is after I took the decision to leave the Nokton 25mm for my next testing period. These lenses are all very affordable and have excellent reputation - obviously not as fast as the NK25 - but fast can be difficult.

  • nomadnomad

    The Minolta 16mm is a fish-eye. Apart from that: you name a great line of lenses!

  • stoneystoney

    I forgot to mention that the Nokton has .39x magnification ratio. Prolly that's the highest among non-macro lenses on m43.

  • nomadnomad

    Absolutely, you can shoot some stunning macro with it.

  • tetakpataktetakpatak

    @stonebat +1, I also love Nokton and agree with you about that, but also @kazuo likes it, he just has different needs, I belive. He never denied this:

    Nokton is tack sharp at 2.8. That's my default.

    It was only for him difficult to focus it once batteries of his monitor died as much as I understood.... I also didn't check at first what he meant.

  • nomadnomad

    Maybe he was not happy with the precision of witness marks?

  • tetakpataktetakpatak

    Well, anybody of us who will need reading spectacles (me, soon) might get troubles with focusing Nokton on the GH1 or GH2, as the LCDs are really soooo small, and Leica f/1.4 has AF

  • oscillianoscillian

    @goanna The Nokton 25 almost works as a do it all lens for me. Only trouble I've had in narrative shooting is confined spaces, like cars where I need to mount it outside the window, or if the action is too fast and I can't whip around to catch it. In both cases my 12 mm does a good job without too much goofyness to the image. But if I could only have one lens it would be the 17.5mm f0.95 :)

  • goannagoanna

    @tetakpatak

    For spectacle-wearers, this should become an automated process: whip off your glasses and let them swing by their string while snuggle your better eye up tight to your custom-tuned EVF; hold everything still and squeeze the shutter.

    (Breathe again)

    At a Xmas get-together last light I took a few candid shots by candle-light just at twilight. Some of the portraits isolate the individual from the crowd and seem to capture some sort of inner self or timelessness or something. Gives ya goose pimples.

    Anyway, here's a non-goose pimple-producing flower. Quite happy with my first try. f/0.95 of course...

    BTW, all my extended family is suddenly rushing out to "Buy a Lumix!"

    flower.JPG
    1632 x 1224 - 154K
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