Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
p.39 #1Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Some images I took with my Voigtländer 21mm f/1.4 Nokton on my Sony a7R IV.
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 DSC03282 by Frederik0711 Photography, on Flickr |
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 DSC03284 by Frederik0711 Photography, on Flickr |
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 DSC03300 by Frederik0711 Photography, on Flickr |
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Oct 06, 2020 at 03:59 AM
p.39 #2Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Voigtländer 21mm f/1.4 Nokton + Sony α7R IV.
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 DSC04268 by Frederik0711 Photography, on Flickr |
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 DSC04274 by Frederik0711 Photography, on Flickr |
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 DSC04218 by Frederik0711 Photography, on Flickr |
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Oct 08, 2020 at 04:18 PM
p.39 #4Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Shot with A7RIV few days ago:
Sunflower Field at Sunrise by Douglas Liu, on Flickr
Sunflower Field at Sunrise by Douglas Liu, on FlickrOct 08, 2020 at 07:30 PM
p.39 #5Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Joined the club today and so far I am delighted. Crazy sharp and contrasty, colors, sunstars and handling as allways in CV lenses perfect. It works with extention macro tubes, great against the light... Just delightful 
Autumn forest by Radek Kucharski, on Flickr
Autumn forest by Radek Kucharski, on FlickrNov 05, 2020 at 10:42 AM
p.39 #6Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
21mm VM 21mm Nokton on modded A7RII
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Nov 22, 2020 at 04:10 PM
p.39 #7Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Two shots of the same location in different mornings.
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Nov 22, 2020 at 04:53 PM
p.39 #8Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
A7R2+Voigtlander Nokton 21/1.4 E
Jan 02, 2021 at 04:31 AM
p.39 #9Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Probably my most beloved lens of all time so far.
Unfortunately, it fell out of my backpack during a mountain tour and now has to go to Japan for repairs. Apparently the Voigtlander lenses withstand less than these modern polycarbonate lenses from Sony and Canon. The Voigtlander fell only 20 cm deep and yet the sharpness was not the same after the fall ...
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2krRzAL]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2krMkLf]
Unfortunately, it fell out of my backpack during a mountain tour and now has to go to Japan for repairs. Apparently the Voigtlander lenses withstand less than these modern polycarbonate lenses from Sony and Canon. The Voigtlander fell only 20 cm deep and yet the sharpness was not the same after the fall ...
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2krRzAL]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2krMkLf]
Jan 13, 2021 at 10:50 AM
p.39 #10Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Loving my 21/1.4 VM as much as ever. Here are a few shots from last year. The lens has pretty much been glued to my Z7.
Oakridge, Roatan Island, Honduras
Shoe repair shop, Reforma, Mexico City
Souvenir vendor, Teotihuacan, Mexico
Fishing pole, West Bay, Roatan Island, Honduras
Isla de la Pasión, Holbox, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Holbox, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Oakridge, Roatan Island, Honduras
Shoe repair shop, Reforma, Mexico City
Souvenir vendor, Teotihuacan, Mexico
Fishing pole, West Bay, Roatan Island, Honduras
Isla de la Pasión, Holbox, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Holbox, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Jan 13, 2021 at 01:17 PM
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p.39 #11Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Just wanted to give this forgotten thread a little bump...
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Jan 17, 2021 at 08:05 PM
p.39 #12Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Anyone tried both Batis 18 and this one? Currently using Batis 18 myself but is very tempted by this lens. Would you switch and why?
Jan 19, 2021 at 07:39 AM
p.39 #13Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
weirdo021 wrote:
Anyone tried both Batis 18 and this one? Currently using Batis 18 myself but is very tempted by this lens. Would you switch and why?
I had the Batis 18 twice, just couldn't get over the unnecessarily fat size, the lack of a AF/MF switch and the manual focus feel. The CV 21 has better sunstar, if that's your thing. The CV 21 has beautiful colors and rendering too. Weight could be something to consider too, the CV feel very dense and solid, which means heavy, but it's F1.4.
Anyone tried both Batis 18 and this one? Currently using Batis 18 myself but is very tempted by this lens. Would you switch and why?
I had the Batis 18 twice, just couldn't get over the unnecessarily fat size, the lack of a AF/MF switch and the manual focus feel. The CV 21 has better sunstar, if that's your thing. The CV 21 has beautiful colors and rendering too. Weight could be something to consider too, the CV feel very dense and solid, which means heavy
, but it's F1.4.Jan 19, 2021 at 07:46 AM
p.39 #14Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
weirdo021 wrote:
Anyone tried both Batis 18 and this one? Currently using Batis 18 myself but is very tempted by this lens. Would you switch and why?
I own both and will be keeping both: apart from the obvious speed and focal length difference (aside: apparently the Voigt is closer to 22mm by the way), I find there is enough differences to justify having both.
Both lenses have high macro and micro contrast and are very sharp, so no difference there.
The Batis is better behaved when it comes to field curvature - being relatively flat field, whereas the Voigt has a more wavy W-shape - and requires more careful placement of the focal point, although overall, the Voigt has a much better manual focus experience of course.
I think the biggest difference between the two probably comes down to colour and overall rendering: the Batis has the classic, gorgeous, accurate Zeiss colours - rich and saturated but still neutral in colour balance, albiet with a slightly more modern look vs say the Loxia's; this makes it the best for scenes with greens and blues (no one does blues as well as Zeiss IMO). The Voigt colours have a warmer colour balance to them, which is great in certain scenes, but can 'contaminate' the blues a bit, and make greens a bit yellow vs the more accurate Zeiss.
The overall rendering of the Batis is classic Zeiss, although as I said above, with a slightly more modern look to it; the Voigt has quite a unique rendering (in a good way!) - I'm not articulate enough to exactly put my finger on it - you'll have to look at the sample images and decide for yourself, but personally, I love it; in fact I would say that for deep depth-of-field scenes (which don't often get talked about enough on this site), the rendering or overall image gestalt, is class-leading.
Anyone tried both Batis 18 and this one? Currently using Batis 18 myself but is very tempted by this lens. Would you switch and why?
I own both and will be keeping both: apart from the obvious speed and focal length difference (aside: apparently the Voigt is closer to 22mm by the way), I find there is enough differences to justify having both.
Both lenses have high macro and micro contrast and are very sharp, so no difference there.
The Batis is better behaved when it comes to field curvature - being relatively flat field, whereas the Voigt has a more wavy W-shape - and requires more careful placement of the focal point, although overall, the Voigt has a much better manual focus experience of course.
I think the biggest difference between the two probably comes down to colour and overall rendering: the Batis has the classic, gorgeous, accurate Zeiss colours - rich and saturated but still neutral in colour balance, albiet with a slightly more modern look vs say the Loxia's; this makes it the best for scenes with greens and blues (no one does blues as well as Zeiss IMO). The Voigt colours have a warmer colour balance to them, which is great in certain scenes, but can 'contaminate' the blues a bit, and make greens a bit yellow vs the more accurate Zeiss.
The overall rendering of the Batis is classic Zeiss, although as I said above, with a slightly more modern look to it; the Voigt has quite a unique rendering (in a good way!) - I'm not articulate enough to exactly put my finger on it - you'll have to look at the sample images and decide for yourself, but personally, I love it; in fact I would say that for deep depth-of-field scenes (which don't often get talked about enough on this site), the rendering or overall image gestalt, is class-leading.
Jan 20, 2021 at 06:12 AM
p.39 #15Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Petegh wrote:
I own both and will be keeping both: apart from the obvious speed and focal length difference (aside: apparently the Voigt is closer to 22mm by the way), I find there is enough differences to justify having both.
Both lenses have high macro and micro contrast and are very sharp, so no difference there.
The Batis is better behaved when it comes to field curvature - being relatively flat field, whereas the Voigt has a more wavy W-shape - and requires more careful placement of the focal point, although overall, the Voigt has a much better manual focus experience of course.
I...Show more →
This ^^^^^
I owned them both and agree 100%. Still have the Batis 18/2.8. Traded out the CV Nokton 21/1.4 for the smaller and lighter Loxia 21/2.8 since I almost never shoot the 21mm focal length wide open.
weirdo021 wrote
Anyone tried both Batis 18 and this one? Currently using Batis 18 myself but is very tempted by this lens. Would you switch and why?Both lenses have high macro and micro contrast and are very sharp, so no difference there.
The Batis is better behaved when it comes to field curvature - being relatively flat field, whereas the Voigt has a more wavy W-shape - and requires more careful placement of the focal point, although overall, the Voigt has a much better manual focus experience of course.
I...Show more →
This ^^^^^
I owned them both and agree 100%. Still have the Batis 18/2.8. Traded out the CV Nokton 21/1.4 for the smaller and lighter Loxia 21/2.8 since I almost never shoot the 21mm focal length wide open.
Jan 20, 2021 at 08:03 AM
p.39 #16Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
smpetty wrote:
I own both and will be keeping both: apart from the obvious speed and focal length difference (aside: apparently the Voigt is closer to 22mm by the way), I find there is enough differences to justify having both.
Both lenses have high macro and micro contrast and are very sharp, so no difference there.
The Batis is better behaved when it comes to field curvature - being relatively flat field, whereas the Voigt has a more wavy W-shape - and requires more careful placement of the focal point, although overall, the Voigt has a much better manual focus experience of course.
I think the biggest difference between the two probably comes down to colour and overall rendering: the Batis has the classic, gorgeous, accurate Zeiss colours - rich and saturated but still neutral in colour balance, albiet with a slightly more modern look vs say the Loxia's; this makes it the best for scenes with greens and blues (no one does blues as well as Zeiss IMO). The Voigt colours have a warmer colour balance to them, which is great in certain scenes, but can 'contaminate' the blues a bit, and make greens a bit yellow vs the more accurate Zeiss.
The overall rendering of the Batis is classic Zeiss, although as I said above, with a slightly more modern look to it; the Voigt has quite a unique rendering (in a good way!) - I'm not articulate enough to exactly put my finger on it - you'll have to look at the sample images and decide for yourself, but personally, I love it; in fact I would say that for deep depth-of-field scenes (which don't often get talked about enough on this site), the rendering or overall image gestalt, is class-leading.This ^^^^^
I owned them both and agree 100%. Still have the Batis 18/2.8. Traded out the CV Nokton 21/1.4 for the smaller and lighter Loxia 21/2.8 since I almost never shoot the 21mm focal length wide open.
I have had both lenses and generally agree as well. In the end, I swapped out both the Batis 18 and the Voigt 21 and I went with the Voigtlander 15 f/4.5 III and the Loxia 21 f/2.8 mostly because of their smaller size, but the Batis 18 and Voigt 21 are lovely lenses. I still have some shots with those lenses that are among my favorites. I posted a couple below.
Petegh wrote
weirdo021 wrote
Anyone tried both Batis 18 and this one? Currently using Batis 18 myself but is very tempted by this lens. Would you switch and why?Both lenses have high macro and micro contrast and are very sharp, so no difference there.
The Batis is better behaved when it comes to field curvature - being relatively flat field, whereas the Voigt has a more wavy W-shape - and requires more careful placement of the focal point, although overall, the Voigt has a much better manual focus experience of course.
I think the biggest difference between the two probably comes down to colour and overall rendering: the Batis has the classic, gorgeous, accurate Zeiss colours - rich and saturated but still neutral in colour balance, albiet with a slightly more modern look vs say the Loxia's; this makes it the best for scenes with greens and blues (no one does blues as well as Zeiss IMO). The Voigt colours have a warmer colour balance to them, which is great in certain scenes, but can 'contaminate' the blues a bit, and make greens a bit yellow vs the more accurate Zeiss.
The overall rendering of the Batis is classic Zeiss, although as I said above, with a slightly more modern look to it; the Voigt has quite a unique rendering (in a good way!) - I'm not articulate enough to exactly put my finger on it - you'll have to look at the sample images and decide for yourself, but personally, I love it; in fact I would say that for deep depth-of-field scenes (which don't often get talked about enough on this site), the rendering or overall image gestalt, is class-leading.
I owned them both and agree 100%. Still have the Batis 18/2.8. Traded out the CV Nokton 21/1.4 for the smaller and lighter Loxia 21/2.8 since I almost never shoot the 21mm focal length wide open.
I have had both lenses and generally agree as well. In the end, I swapped out both the Batis 18 and the Voigt 21 and I went with the Voigtlander 15 f/4.5 III and the Loxia 21 f/2.8 mostly because of their smaller size, but the Batis 18 and Voigt 21 are lovely lenses. I still have some shots with those lenses that are among my favorites. I posted a couple below.
Jan 20, 2021 at 08:32 AM
p.39 #18Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Very nice answers to the differences between those wide-angle lenses.
I pretty much agree, especially with what Petegh wrote.
I also had the Batis 18mm and the Loxia 21mm too.
I sold the Batis because I found it unnecessarily bulky and because manual focusing was painful.
Manual focus is essential for me with wide-angle lenses. I find the autofocus on my A7 cameras to be unreliable, and wide-angle lenses are generally quite tricky to focus for perfect and as uniform sharpness as possible. I found the results with the Batis great, but very inconsistent for that reason and because of the poor implementation of the manual focus, it was not possible for me to simply test the perfect focus setting for every distance and to learn it by heart (e.g. turn the focus ring to the hard stop and put a hair tip back on many manual lenses) and apply that quickly in the field.
After using the Zeiss lenses for a long time, I decided to switch to the Voigtländer because my Nokton copy on my A7RIII is stopped down from about f4 onwards a bit sharper than the Batis and the Loxia were.
I also learned to love f1.4. I didn't miss it with the Zeiss lenses, but since I've had the Voigtlander, I don't know how I could live without it in the past. This is particularly helpful at sunset or in the blue hour in the mountains while climbing, skiing,...
Interestingly, the images with all three lenses are very different. OOC I like the Zeiss colors even more, because maybe they are more saturated/contrastier and especially with the Batis these great blue tones ... But when I edit the pictures in Lightroom, it is usually easier for me with the Voigtlander lenses and in the end I like the result a bit more. But that is certainly very subjective.
All three lenses can produce great, very three-dimensional images. From my point of view, the two Zeiss lenses stopped down a little more than the Nokton. On the other hand, I sometimes find the clarity of the nocton's images even higher.
I pretty much agree, especially with what Petegh wrote.
I also had the Batis 18mm and the Loxia 21mm too.
I sold the Batis because I found it unnecessarily bulky and because manual focusing was painful.
Manual focus is essential for me with wide-angle lenses. I find the autofocus on my A7 cameras to be unreliable, and wide-angle lenses are generally quite tricky to focus for perfect and as uniform sharpness as possible. I found the results with the Batis great, but very inconsistent for that reason and because of the poor implementation of the manual focus, it was not possible for me to simply test the perfect focus setting for every distance and to learn it by heart (e.g. turn the focus ring to the hard stop and put a hair tip back on many manual lenses) and apply that quickly in the field.
After using the Zeiss lenses for a long time, I decided to switch to the Voigtländer because my Nokton copy on my A7RIII is stopped down from about f4 onwards a bit sharper than the Batis and the Loxia were.
I also learned to love f1.4. I didn't miss it with the Zeiss lenses, but since I've had the Voigtlander, I don't know how I could live without it in the past. This is particularly helpful at sunset or in the blue hour in the mountains while climbing, skiing,...
Interestingly, the images with all three lenses are very different. OOC I like the Zeiss colors even more, because maybe they are more saturated/contrastier and especially with the Batis these great blue tones ... But when I edit the pictures in Lightroom, it is usually easier for me with the Voigtlander lenses and in the end I like the result a bit more. But that is certainly very subjective.
All three lenses can produce great, very three-dimensional images. From my point of view, the two Zeiss lenses stopped down a little more than the Nokton. On the other hand, I sometimes find the clarity of the nocton's images even higher.
Jan 21, 2021 at 08:56 AM
p.39 #19Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Thanks for all the replies regarding the differences.
I have som of my favorite photos taken with Batis 18 and have the 25, 40 and 85 as well. Tempted though by the VM for the 1.4..
Really nice images you all provided!
I have som of my favorite photos taken with Batis 18 and have the 25, 40 and 85 as well. Tempted though by the VM for the 1.4..
Really nice images you all provided!
Jan 21, 2021 at 09:21 AM
p.39 #20Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Fred Miranda wrote:
I switched out my Loxia for the CV21/1.4 for two reasons:
1) I like the ergonomics of the Voigtlanders a lot more than the Loxias
2) The CV21 is 2 stops faster
The IQ of both lenses is spectacular. The build quality is equal. The Loxia is lighter and a little smaller. I was thrilled with both lenses and was sad to let my Loxia go.
I also have the 24 GM and the Batis 18. I like having separate MF and AF kits, although defending that preference becomes sketchy in this case, especially with the excellent MF performance of the 24GM. I do think that 21mm and 24mm are different enough focal lengths to justify keeping both, particularly if you're a landscape shooter. I love my Batis 18, but not for MF applications - the Batis implementation of MF is not very satisfying in my experience.Like Guy, I am in a very similar boat. I would add that I also like the CV 21 f/1.4 for its great close focus performance, and the only thing I didn't like about the Loxia was the aperture ring. I do wish the CV 21 f/1.4 were lighter, but in time I am likely to get the CV 21 f/3.5 which is truly light when I want a smaller kit.
On the AF side, I also have the Batis 18 and really like it, but because my MF kit is pretty small I am thinking of going with larger faster lenses for most of my AF kit. I may add the Sigma Art 28 f/1.4, the Sony ZA 50 f/1.4, the Sony GM 85 f/1.4, and the Sony GM 135 f/1.8. Even though I really like the Batis 18, I am not sure I will keep it. I might just use the CV 21 f/1.4 with the AF kit.I went through some changes in my kit as well. We are really lacking superb 28mm and 35mm MF E-mount lenses. (Voigtlander or Zeiss).
Strictly for landscapes though, I'm currently shooting CV 15/4.5 III, CV 21/1.4, Loxia 35/2, CV 65/2 and 100-400 GM. I find these 5 lenses do everything I need for any scene.
As far as resolution, my weakest lenses are the CV 15 and Loxia 35 but both have great qualities I appreciate like color rendering, sunstar rendering, flare resistance and low distortion.
I am very happy with my AF kit as well and it's similar to yours:...Show more →
Fred, this was back in 2019, whats is todays present lineup looking like using MF lenses
Steve Spencer wrote
smpetty wrote
swldstn wrote
So I haven't had time to go through this whole thread yet. In general when comparing to the Loxia 21/2.8 (which I have) what are the plus/minus of the Voigtlander? Then if I also have a 24/1.4 GM and even the Batis 18/2.8 is it worth swapping out the Loxia for the Voigt?1) I like the ergonomics of the Voigtlanders a lot more than the Loxias
2) The CV21 is 2 stops faster
The IQ of both lenses is spectacular. The build quality is equal. The Loxia is lighter and a little smaller. I was thrilled with both lenses and was sad to let my Loxia go.
I also have the 24 GM and the Batis 18. I like having separate MF and AF kits, although defending that preference becomes sketchy in this case, especially with the excellent MF performance of the 24GM. I do think that 21mm and 24mm are different enough focal lengths to justify keeping both, particularly if you're a landscape shooter. I love my Batis 18, but not for MF applications - the Batis implementation of MF is not very satisfying in my experience.
On the AF side, I also have the Batis 18 and really like it, but because my MF kit is pretty small I am thinking of going with larger faster lenses for most of my AF kit. I may add the Sigma Art 28 f/1.4, the Sony ZA 50 f/1.4, the Sony GM 85 f/1.4, and the Sony GM 135 f/1.8. Even though I really like the Batis 18, I am not sure I will keep it. I might just use the CV 21 f/1.4 with the AF kit.
Strictly for landscapes though, I'm currently shooting CV 15/4.5 III, CV 21/1.4, Loxia 35/2, CV 65/2 and 100-400 GM. I find these 5 lenses do everything I need for any scene.
As far as resolution, my weakest lenses are the CV 15 and Loxia 35 but both have great qualities I appreciate like color rendering, sunstar rendering, flare resistance and low distortion.
I am very happy with my AF kit as well and it's similar to yours:...Show more →
Fred, this was back in 2019, whats is todays present lineup looking like using MF lenses
Feb 17, 2021 at 08:13 PM