p.1 #1 · GF1 and Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 Nokton does wedding...
Was not acting as the official photographer for this wedding, so I was able to have a little fun. As much as I love the Panasonic 20mm, all of my favorite photos came from the Nokton. I think it probably has more to do with the focal length than anything else, with the 20mm not being intimate enough for this kind of thing. Enjoy.
As for the shots, obviously you don't get any aperture readings here, but the shots were around f/1.4-2.8. Shot RAW, processing in Lightroom, a variety of techniques used here that I won't bother documenting.
As for the GF1, it was great. The big caveats I would bring up are that I was really feeling the effects of its limited dynamic range. I was intentionally blowing these out a bit because there was a lot of dappled shade and I didn't want to shoot fill, so I just "went" with it and wanted a bit of a washed out look. However, even overcooking them the curves look very unnatural since the highlights were so badly blown - so if I were to do it again, I would underexpose a bit and blow it out in post. Working in full sunlight wasn't too big of a deal - the LCD is very bright. However, portrait orientation with polarized sunglasses can be problematic. 20mm worked great, still love Face Detect mode. Feel like I'm starting to be able to focus the Nokton effectively. I generally don't rely on the focus zoom, but I do run my in-camera settings for high sharpness - not sure if that's helping me in focusing or not, will experiment with it more later.
p.1 #2 · GF1 and Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 Nokton does wedding...
Nice series Sam. I find its much easier to focus without using the zoom-in MF setting than I originally thought it would be, especially with the wider lenses. At f/1.4 and below, above 40mm, I definitely use that feature. The Nokton definitely makes a nice pairing with the E-P1; so does the 28mm f/2 Ultron--I highly recommend it.
p.1 #3 · GF1 and Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 Nokton does wedding...
Sam,
These images are looking pretty darn good on my laptop monitor.
I'm looking forward to receiving my GF1 soon and the Notkon sure looks like a winner.
I'll have to keep it in mind for future aquisition.
p.1 #4 · GF1 and Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 Nokton does wedding...
I like the photographer's input, nice framing and sense of "moment", good job! But to be absolutely honest, I'm not crazy about the camera or the lens input in these photos. I didnt like the bokeh or generally the wide open performance, too swirly and busy and you get some light spilling from the highlights like a glow (cant remember what its called but I recognise it when I see it and the lenses that do this annoy me). Also the sensor doesnt seem to hold much detail and tonality in the highlights, most photos have that "overexposed and pulled" look to them. All these things I dont really mind for B&W sort of abstract/dreamy stuff, but for this type of photography I'd prefer something different.
p.1 #5 · GF1 and Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 Nokton does wedding...
The "glow" is the result of spherical aberration. You will see it at f/1.4 on the 40mm Nokton, but its gone at f/2 and up. Some like it, some don't. For this type of photography, I like it--it supplements the mood. However, I realize its not to everyone's taste.
p.1 #7 · GF1 and Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 Nokton does wedding...
Spyro P. wrote:
Also the sensor doesnt seem to hold much detail and tonality in the highlights, most photos have that "overexposed and pulled" look to them. All these things I dont really mind for B&W sort of abstract/dreamy stuff, but for this type of photography I'd prefer something different.
Fair enough, but to be clear - you shouldn't be judging the body's ability to "hold detail and tonality in the highlights" from these examples since that is obviously, expressly not what I was going for here.
p.1 #12 · GF1 and Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 Nokton does wedding...
Lotusm50 wrote:
These look great. The CV 40/1.4 is often criticized for having an unattractive bokeh. In these, it seems to be most evident in the 6th image.
In my experience, that photo is the exact type of photo where the 40mm Nokton's bokeh breaks down. It doesn't render point sources of light in the background very well. Everything else looks fine to me.
p.1 #13 · GF1 and Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 Nokton does wedding...
jhapeman wrote:
In my experience, that photo is the exact type of photo where the 40mm Nokton's bokeh breaks down. It doesn't render point sources of light in the background very well. Everything else looks fine to me.
The thing you don't see is the truly brutal levels of CA you can see with the lens wide-open. You have to be really, really careful with this lens. This shot, for instance is pretty unbearable in color:
Looks like it's mainly birefringence, which may mean that fast glass on Micro 4/3rds is just going to be inherently problematic.
p.1 #15 · GF1 and Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 Nokton does wedding...
Thanks Yakim.
I did some D700 vs. GF1 tests here checking out differences in DR, and it was a good reminder about how killer the D700 really is. In testing out Lightroom Beta 3, same thing. The D700 is cleaner at ISO 6400 than the GF1 is at 1600. Crazy.
Needless to say, its hardly fair to compare it to the D700 and ultimately the GF1 can produce a great photo, but you have to work within tighter constraints and sometimes need to work a bit harder to get the result you want. But the GF1, especially when paired with the 20mm is a little wonder given its size vs. performance. The D700 doesn't produce very good quality while its sitting at home in a cabinet.
p.1 #16 · GF1 and Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 Nokton does wedding...
My wife & I have G1s and an Olympus EP1. Also I have a Nikon D3.
I've been trying to decide between the getting a Voigtlander 40 f/1.4 to use just on the micro four thirds cameras, or to get a Voigtlander 40 f2 SLII to use on the D3 and the micro four thirds cameras.
I've seen uglier bokeh on the 1.4 wide open, but think that if you only use it at f/2 or more, the bokeh looks pretty good.
What are your thoughts on how these two lenses compare?
p.1 #18 · GF1 and Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 Nokton does wedding...
Great shots, Sam. When focusing with the 40mm, does the camera automatically zoom in on the focus point, or is it a simple process to get the 5x or 10x zoom for critically focusing?
p.1 #19 · GF1 and Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 Nokton does wedding...
Unfortunately no, it doesn't automatically zoom. Zooming manually is a bit awkward - you have to press the focus select button, then hit "set" - and half pressing cancels the zoom, which always trips me up (wish it would just stay zoomed).
p.1 #20 · GF1 and Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 Nokton does wedding...
Still liking this combo, but I must admit I'm seriously spoiled by the 20mm f/1.7 and the GF1's surprisingly good AF. The 20mm is almost too sharp, but it's pretty addicting.
