I was super tempted by getting the new 40mm 1.2 in M mount, but I really appreciate the compact form factor of the 40mm 1.4 Nokton. I decided to just get the 7Artisans 50mm 1.1 instead. I can have the 40mm 1.4 Nokton and the 50mm 1.1 cheaper than getting the 40mm 1.2 alone.
Well, B&H finally acknowledged my 40/1.2 return and it looks like it will be at least another week before the replacement arrives. In the mean time keep the great images coming from this hopefully-great-for-me-next-copy lens.
12/27 EDIT: This morning they say it is going to be shipped 1 day service back to me - so looks like we'll have it for the weekend if they ship it out today!
Kudo's to B&H - they sent the replacement 40/1.2 via overnight by 10:30 am service w/o being asked. Now I need to find some time to shoot with it tomorrow afternoon.
Keeping the samples going. Over on Instagram, there is a "trend" of taking pictures of manhole covers at night, at very large apertures, creating bokeh balls and cats eyes. I gave it go, and well, it is actually kind of fun. Finding one away from traffic is highly recommended.
Hi there, I also just received my Nokton.
I really like what it delivers so far but two things are not too nice. First one is the lenscap which is cheap plastic and doesn‘t fit very well (it takes a few tries to attach), the second thing id that it doesn‘t focus to infinity when turned to the end. I have to turn back a bit to focus at f1.2.
How about your Noktons? Are they focussing to infinity at the end of the range?
Tumbleweeds wrote:
Hi there, I also just received my Nokton.
I really like what it delivers so far but two things are not too nice. First one is the lenscap which is cheap plastic and doesn‘t fit very well (it takes a few tries to attach), the second thing id that it doesn‘t focus to infinity when turned to the end. I have to turn back a bit to focus at f1.2.
How about your Noktons? Are they focussing to infinity at the end of the range?
The lens has focus shift and will be at the infinity hard stop at around f/5.6.
Fred Miranda wrote:
The lens has focus shift and will be at the infinity hard stop at around f/5.6.
Oh, I had to google focus shift, but now I know. OK, thanks for the information (even though I hoped that I just had a bad copy and could get it fixed by replacing it)
Focus shift is of course never a "good" feature. With a live view camera focusing at working aperture it really isn't a problem. As soon as you know how things work it isn't much top think about. This is very different from auto-focus lenses suffering from focus shift: they are often beyond control. A well known example here is the EF 50/1.2L.
Yes, it is convenient being able to turn the focusing ring to the hard stop when focusing at something far away. But, how many lenses allow for that? (And, how often do you shoot at infinity with the lens set to wide open?)
I have actually found the CV40/1.2 to be convenient to use despite this flaw. . In nearly all situations you can focus using the working aperture, and there are most often no hard stops helping.
It doesn't take long to learn what aperture you want to use in different situations. It also doesn't take that long to learn what f-stops that are affected by the focus shift.
Well, it is what it is. You get this nice amount of SA wide open making for a good lens with character and a drawing style working for many situations including portraits. Stop it down a bit and it is sharp and contrasty. It is not a lens for everybody but I have come to like it better and better while learning it. (Granted, I often crop my images to 4:5 or 1:1 ratio - I'm not sure I would be very interested in the lens if I always shot 1:1.5.)
Tumbleweeds wrote:
Hi there, I also just received my Nokton.
I really like what it delivers so far but two things are not too nice. First one is the lenscap which is cheap plastic and doesn‘t fit very well (it takes a few tries to attach), the second thing id that it doesn‘t focus to infinity when turned to the end. I have to turn back a bit to focus at f1.2.
How about your Noktons? Are they focussing to infinity at the end of the range?
Wide open, the infinity stop is just a bit too far.
Stopped down it appears the infinity stop is right on the mark.
Had a chance to take some quick snaps with the 2nd copy and it appears to be much much much better off in the borders and corners stopped down.
At f/5.6 focused at infinity (OK, about a mile), center very very sharp, mid-zone has a slight dip, then back to super sharp all the way out to 98% to the corner where it slightly falls down a bit. Only noticeable at 100% viewing.
Looks like a keeper.
Still bummed that it's not sharper wide open near MFD, but it certainly sharpens up at >2m wide open and plenty sharp at f/2 for candid shots.
Focus shift not an issue for me since I always will be focusing at the working aperture with this lens.
Not sure if this will be a travel lens, as AF is nice to have when you hand the camera to your wife or some trusty-looking stranger in a foreign land.
