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Archive 2017 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

GMPhotography
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p.13 #1 · p.13 #1 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

Dang that’s not good. Look forward to some real testing. Thanks in advance for all of you testing this out.

Oct 04, 2017 at 08:58 PM

Juha Kannisto
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p.13 #2 · p.13 #2 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

I picked up mine already. Now on my way to work. Did some quick test shots from an overpass at all apertures from f1.2 to f8 on the way. Will copy those somewhere once in the office. It looks great corner to corner at f5.6 at long distances and very good at f4 as well judging from the viewfinder.

The hood is quite small and it was attached already in the sales box. The cap is plastic and goes inside the hood, not on top. The hood can't be screwed in on reverse position though otherwise it could fit in reverse as well.
Infinity is a little before the midpoint of the infinity symbol on my A9.

Oct 04, 2017 at 09:03 PM

twomblywhite
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p.13 #3 · p.13 #3 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

jaybr wrote:
Thanks for the link BastionK.
Here's the Google Translated link:

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.mapcamera.com%2FKASYAPA.php%3Fitemid%3D31056

The rendering in these images is lovely, the LoCa fringing however (as expected for a compact piece of fast glass) is terrible. Now we know why Cosina Voigtlander posted black and white samples for this lens on their website. It will be interesting to see how much LoCa fringing (and vignetting) reduces as you stop down, I'll mostly need to shoot this lens at f2.8.

My copy arrives today or tomorrow, so I'll do my own rigorous testing and post my evaluation here.
J

Ok completely sincere question: for what reason would you choose this lens if you're going to mostly shoot it at f/2.8? Or were you not aware that it had pretty severe LoCA before purchasing it? From everything I've read about the lens since its announcement it's been understood that to maintain this particular oof rendering a compromise of moderate LoCA would have to be made.

The rendering looks spectacular and the sharpness across the frame already attained at f4 as shown in that single high ISO example is very promising. if the lens performs well at infinity then I'll be ecstatic. I'll be happy to take care of the fringing in post.

Oct 04, 2017 at 09:38 PM

Fred Miranda
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p.13 #4 · p.13 #4 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

Oct 04, 2017 at 10:01 PM

jaybr
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p.13 #5 · p.13 #5 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

"Ok completely sincere question: for what reason would you choose this lens if you're going to mostly shoot it at f/2.8? Or were you not aware that it had pretty severe LoCA before purchasing it? From everything I've read about the lens since its announcement it's been understood that to maintain this particular oof rendering a compromise of moderate LoCA would have to be made"
...
Fair question. Answer, stopped down performance. From f2.8, the Voigtlander's straight blades should start giving me the beautiful sun stars they're renowned for. Also from this aperture, LoCa and Vignetting should reduce nicely.

In daylight I rarely shoot at wider apertures than f2.8 (especially portraits), because the DOF is too thin for my liking. If I focus on the eye, at f2.8 the ears and nose are always in focus, which is what I prefer.

In lowlight situations, the Voigtlander FE 40mm's wider apertures gives me more flexibility to take more detailed lower ISO shots when needed.
J

Oct 04, 2017 at 10:05 PM

DavidBM
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p.13 #6 · p.13 #6 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

Fred Miranda wrote:
I would say LoCA is pretty average for a fast lens at this size. I think it's just as expected and not really terrible.
By f/2.8, I'm pretty sure it will be much cleaner.

I agree that LoCA is average for a fast lens at this size. But the size is extraordinarily small for an f1.2 lens of high quality - and the LoCa not great by the standards of the best (larger, costlier relative to f-stop) recent lenses. So I guess some are wondering if they would prefer a bit more size/cost and a bit less LoCA.

Don't know where I stand yet until I get my hands on it!

Oct 04, 2017 at 10:08 PM

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p.13 #7 · p.13 #7 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

DavidBM wrote:
I agree that LoCA is average for a fast lens at this size. But the size is extraordinarily small for an f1.2 lens of high quality - and the LoCa not great by the standards of the best (larger, costlier relative to f-stop) recent lenses. So I guess some are wondering if they would prefer a bit more size/cost and a bit less LoCA.

Don't know where I stand yet until I get my hands on it!

After reading a few posts back that the CV 40/1.2 is sharp edge to edge by f/4 and optimum at f/5.6 (long distance), I got hopeful this lens will be very versatile. (street, portraits, landscapes)

Frankly, I am expecting to see a fair amount of axial color at wide apertures and don't believe it will be very sharp wide open or at f/1.4. I think it will be usable though.
From the samples so far, OOF rendering appears to be smooth at mid-distance and that was already a surprise to me. It reminds me of the CV 35/1.7 rendering.

Please David, give us the good news when you get yours! I don't think it will be available in the US for many days.

Oct 04, 2017 at 10:19 PM

DavidBM
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p.13 #8 · p.13 #8 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

Fred Miranda wrote:
After reading a few posts back that the CV 40/1.2 is sharp edge to edge by f/4 and optimum at f/5.6 (long distance), I got hopeful this lens will be very versatile. (street, portraits, landscapes)

Frankly, I am expecting to see a fair amount of axial color at wide apertures and don't believe it will be very sharp wide open or at f/1.4. I think it will be usable though.
From the samples so far, OOF rendering appears to be smooth at mid-distance and that was already a surprise to me. It reminds me of the CV 35/1.7 rendering.

Please David,...Show more →

Will do Fred! The big question for me at some level is something we won't know: assuming it is decently centrally sharp by f2 (but maybe only just usable at 1.4 and below) could they have made as good a lens at f2 if they just made an f2 lens? In which case it might have been even smaller, with not much or any loss is serious usability.

But we'll never know that I guess, and the real question is not how good some non-existent alternative could have been, but how good this puppy is. At very least you would expect the cats eyes at f2 to be better on this than if it was built as an f2 lens....

Oct 04, 2017 at 10:27 PM

GMPhotography
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p.13 #9 · p.13 #9 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

The FE 35 1.4 cleans up at f2.8 so not far off the mark. Just have to see

Oct 04, 2017 at 10:27 PM

Juha Kannisto
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p.13 #10 · p.13 #10 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

Here are 2 long distance series shot with my A9 and Nokton 40/1.2 from an overpass in Shinjuku from f1.2 to f8 at 1/3 stops. I focused at f1.2 at the distant buildings in the middle and didn't refocus between shots to keep the framing pretty close (all handheld). I didn't notice any focus shift so far.

They are OOC JPEGs and EXIF is available. I also have the RAWs if somebody is interested in those.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WysUezLe4EC3KwG52

Oct 04, 2017 at 10:27 PM

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p.13 #11 · p.13 #11 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

DavidBM wrote:
Will do Fred! The big question for me at some level is something we won't know: assuming it is decently centrally sharp by f2 (but maybe only just usable at 1.4 and below) could they have made as good a lens at f2 if they just made an f2 lens? In which case it might have been even smaller, with not much or any loss is serious usability.

But we'll never know that I guess, and the real question is not how good some non-existent alternative could have been, but how good this puppy is. At very least you would expect...Show more →

One could think of this lens as an excellent f/2 performer with the ability go faster if needed. The only issue is that the straight aperture blades won't yield rounded specular highlights at f/2.

Oct 04, 2017 at 10:42 PM

twomblywhite
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p.13 #12 · p.13 #12 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

jaybr wrote:
"Ok completely sincere question: for what reason would you choose this lens if you're going to mostly shoot it at f/2.8? Or were you not aware that it had pretty severe LoCA before purchasing it? From everything I've read about the lens since its announcement it's been understood that to maintain this particular oof rendering a compromise of moderate LoCA would have to be made"
...
Fair question. Answer, stopped down performance. From f2.8, the Voigtlander's straight blades should start giving me the beautiful sun stars they're renowned for. Also from this aperture, LoCa and Vignetting should reduce nicely.

In daylight I rarely...Show more →

Thanks for answering. I'm pretty curious to see the sunstars - I hadn't really been thinking about them when contemplating this lens.

As for the depth of field - I guess it really depends on the subject distance. I personally think that the range of possibilities a wider aperture offers always adds to the potential of a portrait lens (yes, to me it's a wide/normal portrait do-it-all lens if it's good at infinity) of this type. If one needs more dof, contrast, sharpness and fewer aberrations then they just stop down a bit. But you can't make a slower lens faster and f/1.2 offers so very many interesting possibilities.

Also if you shoot at f/1.2 with a 40mm lens and your subject is 7 feet away (84 inches), then the depth of field will be 7.86 inches. That's enough dof for a sharp head from nose to ear.

Also to dismiss f/1.2 and f/1.4 as being too soft is crazy. The rendering at 1.2 in the examples Bastian posted is golden and exactly what I am looking for. And the physical size looks very small - no need to make it more compact. Although the upcoming 35/1.4 is quite a bit smaller yet.

Oct 04, 2017 at 10:42 PM

Fred Miranda
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p.13 #13 · p.13 #13 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

Juha Kannisto wrote:
Here are 2 long distance series shot with my A9 and Nokton 40/1.2 from an overpass in Shinjuku from f1.2 to f8 at 1/3 stops. I focused at f1.2 at the distant buildings in the middle and didn't refocus between shots to keep the framing pretty close (all handheld). I didn't notice any focus shift so far.

They are OOC JPEGs and EXIF is available. I also have the RAWs if somebody is interested in those.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WysUezLe4EC3KwG52

Juha,
I hope you don't mind me posting crops from your test.

From your long distance samples, the 40/1.2 is already looking great at f/2.8 from center to edges. Not much changes from that aperture but f/4 or f/5.6 seem to be optimal for the very edges.
Here are the crops from your test:

Center

Edge

Center

Edge (1:1)

Center

Edge

Oct 04, 2017 at 10:59 PM

DavidBM
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p.13 #14 · p.13 #14 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

Fred Miranda wrote:
Juha,
I hope you don't mind me posting crops from your test.

From your long distance samples, the 40/1.2 is already looking great at f/2.8 from center to edges. Not much changes from that aperture but f/4 or f/5.6 seem to be optimal for the very edges.
Here are the crops from your test:

Nice. The wide open centreish crop is not as bad as one might think too. (though wide open performance matters more at closer distances I suspect...)

Oct 04, 2017 at 11:07 PM

Juha Kannisto
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p.13 #15 · p.13 #15 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

Fred and all, you are very welcome to use my test shots in any way you want. I'm also interested in everyone's analysis and comments, thanks!

I'm also liking the corner to corner results, and they look better even at wider apertures than what I first thought.

Edited on Oct 04, 2017 at 11:15 PM · View previous versions

Oct 04, 2017 at 11:07 PM

Fred Miranda
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p.13 #16 · p.13 #16 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

DavidBM wrote:
Nice. The wide open centreish crop is not as bad as one might think too. (though wide open performance matters more at closer distances I suspect...)

My thoughts exactly. Wide open is better than I was expecting at infinity. For this lens' price, I pretty sure CV knows they have something good here.

Oct 04, 2017 at 11:10 PM

philber
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p.13 #17 · p.13 #17 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

Many thanks, Juha and Fred!
This looks better than I had come to expect. Quite useable at f:1.2, even nice in many ways, though not all-purpose. Really gets better at f:1.8, and as good as it will get at f:2.8.
So the difference between f1.2 and other f:1.4 lenses isn't exactly massive, but then what native, small-ish, fast, high-quality 35mm do we have?
Zip.....
So this CV seems to be calling my name. In a couple of days I'll know more and more pics are posted...

Oct 04, 2017 at 11:12 PM

jaybr
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p.13 #18 · p.13 #18 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

"Feed and all, you are very welcome to use my test shots in any way you want. I'm also interested in everyone's analysis and comments, thanks!

I'm also liking the corner to corner results, and they look better even at wider apertures than what I first thought"
...

Ok I just looked at your shots.
I concur, corner performance is very good stopped down from f2.8 IMO.
I'm very excited about getting this lens.

Thanks for posting these images.
J

Oct 04, 2017 at 11:13 PM

GMPhotography
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p.13 #19 · p.13 #19 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

Looks pretty good the CA may go away even at F2 so we need to see a full range of apertures to figure that out. Impressed at the sharpness in the corners that soon. Keep them coming

Oct 04, 2017 at 11:19 PM

Fred Miranda
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p.13 #20 · p.13 #20 · The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 FE is coming!

jaybr wrote:
"Feed and all, you are very welcome to use my test shots in any way you want. I'm also interested in everyone's analysis and comments, thanks!

I'm also liking the corner to corner results, and they look better even at wider apertures than what I first thought"
...

Ok I just looked at your shots.
I concur, corner performance is very good stopped down from f2.8 IMO.
I'm very excited about getting this lens.

Thanks for posting these images.
J

Lucky Australians getting this lens earlier!

Oct 04, 2017 at 11:25 PM

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