Charlie N wrote:
from my experience, the voigtlander stars tend to come very early, you dont need to stop them very small to have a significant impact.
Yeah, my initial pics with the 65/2 seems like I over-did it at f/8 - they are potentially too big! I should have taken some f/4, f/5.6 shots to see how big they get with aperture. That's a good problem to have in my book.
Yes, I don’t mind them generally—especially with the 65 as there is almost no downside to shooting at large apertures from a sharpness standpoint. With the 40, there are potentially downsides as not as sharp,across the frame at F1.2-F2.8, but still good enough usually.
Mathieu18 wrote:
Anyone have any thoughts how this performs in general vs the 35/1.2? Seems more similar than dissimilar but curious how it compares at wide aperture.
The 40 is what I wanted the 35 to be. It's much, much better wide open, at least if you don't shoot at or near MFD. I actually love the softness at MFD, but some might hate it.
Bokeh is similar from MFD to ~1.5 meters, but after that the 35 disintegrates quickly while the 40 only gets funky corners (a bit too funky, but that was expected).
Even though they have very similar rendering, the 40 is clearly optimized for larger distances while the 35 is optimized for closeups.
Edit: Also, don't forget that MFD is shorter with the 40! So the softness might have been just as "bad" with the 35 at the same distance.
Makten wrote:
The 40 is what I wanted the 35 to be. It's much, much better wide open, at least if you don't shoot at or near MFD. I actually love the softness at MFD, but some might hate it.
Bokeh is similar from MFD to ~1.5 meters, but after that the 35 disintegrates quickly while the 40 only gets funky corners (a bit too funky, but that was expected).
Even though they have very similar rendering, the 40 is clearly optimized for larger distances while the 35 is optimized for closeups.
No probs! I'm still learning the lens, but by now I think I know how to avoid the bad sides, and overall I like it a lot.
I'll keep the Loxia for daylight shooting though, especially when the sun is out. The Nokton is more of "all or nothing" when it comes to bokeh.
Loving all the photos in this thread, especially yours Makten!
I feel like I need this lens, but I have a Canon 50mm 0.95, its obviously no where near as sharp wide open but does a decent job stopped down. That being said you lose the crazy bokeh, that I love so much, when its not wide open. I can't help but feel that getting this Voigtlander would be a bit redundant but then again I get a lens that I guess is way more usable.
Mine arrived today, hurray. I took it out for a test whilst my son was at soccer practice. I love the handling. It feels solid and really well made and both the focus and aperture rings suit my taste. I have no great photos to share but will post a few anyways to keep the samples clicking over. So far the worst thing about it is the purple fringing at F1.2 to F2.8. I hope to test it against my Loxia 35/2 over the coming week, because I only really want to keep one of the two. Sharpness, colour and contrast I all like.
Oh - the nature one's I used a tripod but forgot to turn IBIS off, and I'm testing C1Pro which I am a beginner at so maybe my sharpening levels aren't optimal.
Got mine too, sometime last week (or was it the previous week? – Just too much work to keep track atm). Haven't had a chance to use it for what I primarily see myself using it for; people and urban night time, but I uploaded a few test shots to the Flickr group for now.
Halloween came to Sweden some years ago. Youngsters don't know that it's the same event as "All hallows eve", which is tonight. No pumpkins, just lighting candles and remembering the deceased.
I left the tripod at home, so all of these are handheld wide open with the Nokton.
I'm not one to pay too much attention to the technical qualities of a lens. I tend to focus more on the general look it might allow. But from those of you who do test and make showcases for these things, I read that this lens seem to be optimised, sharpness wise, for mid distances, and that suits me just fine. Glad to finally get to try it at night.
First of all, thank you so much for sharing this review and these pictures. It allows having a good idea of the capabilities of this lens. I sold a few month ago my APSC camera and been looking to buy a full frame A7.
I really want as a start a "all around" lens to be glued to it, and waited for the release of this 40mm for a looong time. Some of the pictures are simply amazing, but I am very concerned about the purple fringing.
Most of the pictures posted were taken by night or dimmed light, with very little examples of "outside" pictures fully open. I was about to buy this lens but now having second thoughts - a barely usable lens during daylight defeats my purpose of my "unique lens"
The issue is, there are no alternatives for Emount in the "normal range" with nice Bokeh capabilities and reasonable size...
Hi and welcome to the forum. Like you, I waited for this lens for a long time. Pretty much from the moment those first test shots from Japan arrived, I knew I'd get it for myself.
If you read my post just above yours, you'll see I'm maybe the last person here to speak to the technical aspects of the lens, but the purple fringing does get pretty bad in the circumstances where you'd expect to find it.
I have a stress test of sorts, in a previous post of this same page. The one with the sun in the frame? I've edited that for pf, but I'd be happy to send you the raw file if you want to have a look. It has a lot of pf in the branches.
Hmm... what images lead you to the conclusion the lens is barely usable during daylight? As many other here i have now owned/tried/learned the lens during a short period only so I'm not a "CV 49/1.2-expert" - but I have yet to see anything telling me I can use the lens when it's dark only.
Maybe your needs are very specific? Please tell us more - we/I might learn something together. What sort of images and what quality is it you demand?
The lens is not without flaws. As all other fast Cosina-Voigtländer lenses there is some purple/magenta pollution at large aperture openings, the flare resistance is pretty much OK but gets worse as you stop down, bright spots in the background are ugly towards the corners (also a typical CV feature), the transition zone can be disturbing and has to be factored in when doing something "serious" and there is mechanical vignetting causing this wide DOF towards the edges and so on. It's not a lens for everybody but for those accepting the compromises.
EDIT: I see twelveish reply not, posted as i wrote. Yes, welcome to the forum!
Thank you for the quick response and warm welcome.
My words may have been too strong - I'm sure the lens is usable during day. However, Twelveish I see you mention the only picture posted lately during day/not ideal lighting also had a lot of fringing and had to be edited.
I am a casual / hobby photographer without pretension, and I am afraid this lens may be too "difficult/frustrating" to use for my walks/holiday pictures. Unfortunately, I feel options are very limited for the Emount system and this lens fills a unique combination of compactness/good bokeh/sharpness in the 35mm - 50mm range. It is very unfortunate that the purple fringing seems out of control.
It is also good to see pictures of Sweden - reminds me a few happy years of my life there
I think it’s pretty clear that this lens is more than capable in the daylight. But if you are shooting high contrast back lit scene you are going to have to stop down to avoid the fringing. The carnival pictures are in daylight and many appear just fine.
Dooley wrote:
Hello,
First of all, thank you so much for sharing this review and these pictures. It allows having a good idea of the capabilities of this lens. I sold a few month ago my APSC camera and been looking to buy a full frame A7.
I really want as a start a "all around" lens to be glued to it, and waited for the release of this 40mm for a looong time. Some of the pictures are simply amazing, but I am very concerned about the purple fringing.
Most of the pictures posted were taken by night or dimmed light, with very little examples of "outside" pictures fully open. I was about to buy this lens but now having second thoughts - a barely usable lens during daylight defeats my purpose of my "unique lens"
The issue is, there are no alternatives for Emount in the "normal range" with nice Bokeh capabilities and reasonable size......Show more →
