 Zeiss User Forums |
|
|
|
|
Voigtlander 35mm f1.2 Aspherical Nokton (M mount)
|
|
|
|
Reviews
|
Views
|
Date of last review
|
|
1
|
1671
|
Mon April 26, 2010
|
|
 |
|
Recommended By
|
Average Price
|
Average Rating
|
|
100% of reviewers
|
None indicated
|
9.0
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Administrator
|
|
Posts: 257
Registered: November 2008
Location: Ellicott City, MD (US)
|
|
|
|
|
Author
|
|
Exile
Member
Registered: April 2010
Posts: 7
|
|
Review Date: Mon April 26, 2010
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 9
|
|
Pros:
|
control of DOF, bokeh, made to be shot between 1.2 and 2.8
|
|
Cons:
|
size, but especially weight
|
|
This is a fantastic lens  . Really, really nice control of depth of field, and amazing ability to shoot in low light. The main talking point should be the gorgeous creamy bokeh – world class. The only drawback is that it is a very big and heavy lens by rangefinder standards. It’s not the kind of normal/wide you want hanging around your neck all day. More like the kind of lens you have in a bag and pull out for a specific look/situation. Viewfinder coverage is obstructed by such a big lens, but the flare resistance is just so good that I use mine without the supplied hood. The lens is acceptably sharp wide open (not razor sharp – don’t be stupid it’s f/1.2!), but is very nicely sharp by f/2. The combination of wide angle coverage and extremely shallow depth of field gives an impression of sharpness wide open that is deceptive if you compare it to the lens stopped down at high magnification (pixel-peep). Colour saturation is quite natural, but needs a little boost in PP for my taste. Likewise, contrast is quite normal really, and does not have the deep blacks and high micro contrast of the Zeiss T* coatings. Results with black and white are just gorgeous in my opinion. See my gallery of 35/1.2 shots for samples without post processing. http://www.ziforums.com/album.php?albumid=250
The only 35mm I can compare this to is the 35mm summicron aspheric, which I had for a couple of years. The ‘cron is much smaller, has a much lighter focus throw, and is faultlessly sharp and contrasty. However, it is one and a half stops slower. The 35 ‘cron “used” costs about the same as the CV Nokton brand new. The ‘cron is the better optic at all common apertures, but if you need shallow depth of field or low light ability on a budget, then I have no reservations in recommending the 35/1.2. The CV 35/1.4 has a great specification on paper, but I find the bokeh wide open to be too distracting. I had a good long think about the ZM 35/2 biogon because it seems to have a similar look to the Leica 35 ‘cron but is quite a bit larger physically. Certainly worth considering the ZM, but I decided f/2 was just not fast enough in a 21/35/75mm three lens set. Of course, if you have the money, get the new 35 summilux ASPH which will not have any focus shift issues like the first version. The true quality budget option is a CV 35/2.5. Looks to give really nice results at an unbelievably low price.
|
|
|
|
|
Powered by: ReviewPost PHP vB3 Enhanced
Copyright 2006 All Enthusiast, Inc.
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 02:58 AM.
;)
