Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

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Archive 2009 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Jman13
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p.1 #1 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Got my CV 40mm f/1.4 Nokton today. This is such a tiny lens! I knew it was small, but it looks even smaller in person, even with the M adapter attached. The lens does have a nice heft to it, though. This is my first time using a rangefinder lens of any kind, so I didn't know how I'd feel about the focus tab, but I love it! So easy to operate with the left hand under the camera. Beautiful little lens. The lens is pretty good optically, though it has some quirks. Bokeh is a bit harsh (or full of character, depending on your POV), but only at f/1.4-f/1.7. It's worst at f/1.4, softens quite a bit at f/1.7 and by f/2, the bokeh is actually quite pleasing. The lens is acceptably sharp at f/1.4, and very sharp by f/2 over the middle 85% of the frame. The very edges take until about f/5.6 to get completely sharp, but it's pretty good over most of the frame. I really like the color. It's got a relatively low contrast curve, which is good for high DR situations, and it's got a nice rolloff.

Some shots of the lens on my E-P1:

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And some test shots.
This was wide open...nice and sharp, and you can see a bit of the harsher bokeh here at f/1.4:

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This is also at f/1.4, but the bokeh looks decent here...more of a test shot:

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And a 100% crop...not bad for f/1.4:

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And against a busier background at f/2...I like the rendering here. The shoe is very sharp.

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Aug 13, 2009 at 01:11 AM

RCicala
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p.1 #2 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Thanks for posting that - I've been thinking of just that combination.

Aug 13, 2009 at 01:32 AM

Jman13
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p.1 #3 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

To give a better idea to most people here about the size of the lens, here is the smallest SLR lens I have...the Olympus 28mm f/3.5. By all accounts a very tiny lens.

With the Nokton AND the M-m4/3 adapter:

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And without the adapter to see pure lens size:

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And to think, even though it's not used that way by me...this is a full frame lens! (I know, all you rangefinder buffs are thinking 'well yeah...')

Aug 13, 2009 at 02:41 AM

francishmt
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p.1 #4 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

I use the Nokton F1.4 on my Leica RF. Beautiful lens and perfect fit for dim light photography. It's not edge-to-edge sharp like most leica lens, but it's not $-for-$ expensive like Leica's lenses either. Love mine.

Aug 13, 2009 at 02:42 AM

Jman13
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p.1 #5 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Another shot from today...this was at f/5.6:

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100% crop:

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And another test type shot at f/2:

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100% crop of focus point:

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Aug 13, 2009 at 03:01 AM

ulrikft
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p.1 #6 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Looks like a superb combo!

Thanks for the review!

Aug 13, 2009 at 03:20 AM

Justin D
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p.1 #7 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

I've been looking at getting one of these, as it looks like a nice compact solution, and your photos certainly attest to that. Then jinfinance emailed me (and I assume all his other customers) announcing that he will release a Contax G adapter by the end of the month. So I got myself a G 45. Should be about the same size as the Nokton, a stop slower, but the lens is ridiculously good. If the adapter is user friendly - I imagine it will just move the whole lens, which (correct me if I'm wrong) is fine for the 45 as it doesn't use any floating elements - this will be a killer combination.

Slightly off topic, but it's another medium telephoto option for m4/3.

Edited on Aug 13, 2009 at 04:17 AM · View previous versions

Aug 13, 2009 at 04:07 AM

freaklikeme
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p.1 #8 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Beautiful, Jordan. Thanks for sharing.

Aug 13, 2009 at 04:07 AM

PhilH
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p.1 #9 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Sorry mis-post!

Aug 13, 2009 at 07:57 AM

Jman13
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p.1 #10 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Justin D wrote:
I've been looking at getting one of these, as it looks like a nice compact solution, and your photos certainly attest to that. Then jinfinance emailed me (and I assume all his other customers) announcing that he will release a Contax G adapter by the end of the month. So I got myself a G 45. Should be about the same size as the Nokton, a stop slower, but the lens is ridiculously good. If the adapter is user friendly - I imagine it will just move the whole lens, which (correct me if I'm wrong) is fine for the 45 as it doesn't use any floating elements - this will be a killer combination.

Slightly off topic, but it's another medium telephoto option for m4/3.

Sounds great...you'll have to post how you find the G 45mm...I've heard it's supposed to be one of the sharpest lenses ever made.

Aug 13, 2009 at 07:22 PM

jhapeman
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p.1 #11 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

It's definitely a nice combo. It's the most compact of the faster CV lenses, however, if you want really compact and crazy sharp, try the CV 35mm f/2.5 Color-Skopar P Type II. Works really well on the E-P1.

Aug 14, 2009 at 06:43 AM

jcolwell
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p.1 #12 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

I use the Color-Skopar 28/3.5 and 50/2.5. As Jeff says about the 35/2.5, they are very small and very sharp. With mFT adapter, they're only 27mm and 35mm long, compared to 48mm for the Nokton. Of course, the f/1.4 is a large plus for the Nokton. I'll be trying out an Oly Pen F 38/1.8 in a week or so. With adapter, it comes in at 41mm length.

Aug 14, 2009 at 12:24 PM

JBurnett
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p.1 #13 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Another option is the 40mm f/2 Summicron or Rokkor from the CL series. I have the Rokkor. With adapter, it's about 33mm in length. A lens hood adds to the length, of course.

Aug 14, 2009 at 04:34 PM

CKrueger
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p.1 #14 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Outstanding! I'd really like to get this combo myself. The only thing holding me back is the expectation of a MFT system lens from Oly or Panasonic in the same range (50-ish and f/1.4-ish). I'd hate to buy this lens and its adapter and then find an equivalent system lens was made that is about the same size and gives me AF and aperture control.

I'm also worried that if I bought an M adapter, this would only be the first in a long line of lens purchases.

Aug 15, 2009 at 01:05 AM

Jman13
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p.1 #15 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

One thing to remember...aperture control is a non-issue. Just stop down and go. Because you're focusing live, and the LCD auto-gains up, the lens can be stopped down to like f/16 and still focused just fine. About the only time you'd have to focus, stop down and shoot is if you were shooting landscapes in dim light where small apertures would be beyond the gain possible. But, in good light, f/11, f/16, whatever, it's fine. Now, if I'm stopping down that far, I will usually focus at a wider aperture just to get the focus point where I want, but focusing with the lens just set to f/2.8 or f/4 or something is easy and has essentially no impact on the LCD.

Aug 15, 2009 at 01:18 AM

mawz
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p.1 #16 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Jman13 wrote:
One thing to remember...aperture control is a non-issue. Just stop down and go. Because you're focusing live, and the LCD auto-gains up, the lens can be stopped down to like f/16 and still focused just fine. About the only time you'd have to focus, stop down and shoot is if you were shooting landscapes in dim light where small apertures would be beyond the gain possible. But, in good light, f/11, f/16, whatever, it's fine. Now, if I'm stopping down that far, I will usually focus at a wider aperture just to get the focus point where I want, but focusing with the lens just set to f/2.8 or f/4 or something is easy and has essentially no impact on the LCD.

My experience is that this is true except at the smallest apertures. On the G1 I've occasionally had the sensor run out of light when using a lens at very small apertures (usually f22 or smaller).

It's not much of an issue for me as I rarely stop down past f11.

Aug 15, 2009 at 01:08 PM

Jman13
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p.1 #17 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Here are some more from the Nokton:

You can see the funky large aperture bokeh in these next two shots. Sometimes it can be distracting...but, at least to me, I like the character in these two shots. These are both at f/1.7, I believe. By f/2, the bright line rings are gone in the bokeh.

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This is at f/4, I think...not quite sure:

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And I think this was at f/2 or f/2.8:

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Aug 15, 2009 at 01:31 PM

mawz
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p.1 #18 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

That 40's definitely a gem. I might get one if I get myself an R3m to go with my Bessa R.

Bokeh's on the harsh side, but not enough to be more than 'character', which is something I like in a lens.

Aug 15, 2009 at 01:54 PM

theSuede
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p.1 #19 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Thank you Jordan for a very nice little mini-test... :-) Looks good...!

As you say - too bad the background OOF-blur gets a little edgy at full/almost full apertures - it certainly doesn't seem to be lacking in the sharpness/contrast department (meaning you would WANT to use it wide open in dimly lite circumstances...)

Aug 15, 2009 at 02:08 PM

Khun Hans
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p.1 #20 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Thanks for posting. Somebody knows which adapter are available so far.

Aug 16, 2009 at 01:29 PM

TWoK
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p.1 #21 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

I wonder how the 40/1.8 AR compares.

Aug 16, 2009 at 02:26 PM

RCicala
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p.1 #22 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

I've been playing around a bit with the Voigtlander 35 f1.4. About the same size as the 40mm, although I don't believe its quite as sharp. Might just be operator error though.

Aug 16, 2009 at 04:14 PM

losloslos
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p.1 #23 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

This is fascinating to me--I dumped a medium-small collection of EOS gear including several L lenses because I just wasn't getting the image quality I wanted. I went through a succession of D2000, 1D, 2 20D's, several L lenses capped off by the 135L and the 28-300L and a few primes including the 35L.

The mickey-mouse color, the temptation to keep "marching through the lenses" thing and watching the big-money guys go through the CZ+R9+DMR cha-cha-cha put me off.

The capper was that I was taking the pictures of my life with a 30 year old Canon QL17, that were way more dramatic, "real" and more importantly, were selling better. I bought a R3M + 21 and that combo was dynomite (JJ-style) but had to sell it a while back.

So, here I am, with just the QL17, and now I'm studying your experiences here and I appreciate your posts--I am looking at m-4/3 + CV lenses as my next strategy, with what some AF-m-4/3 lens for "quick news-related" and "Girlfriend likes the greenbox mode" type of deal.

Thanks again!

G.

Aug 20, 2009 at 05:29 AM

pascal03
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p.1 #24 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Excellent test. Thank you for posting.

Aug 21, 2009 at 06:21 PM

Makten
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p.1 #25 · Voigtlander Nokton 40mm on E-P1

Am I the only one loving the bokeh shown from the Nokton? It certainly has character, but "harsh"? Amazing performance even at large apertures on the small sensor too!

Aug 21, 2009 at 06:33 PM


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