Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
p.54 #1Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
DSC02614 by Al Trujillo, on FlickrOct 22, 2024 at 03:53 AM
p.54 #2Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Jman13 wrote:
So my Voigtlander 21/1.4 is here, and as I mentioned I'm adapting it to my Nikon bodies. This lens is VERY finicky about the adapter thickness when used on Nikon. I tried with my Megadap adapter, which works great with my AF lenses, though it is slightly thinner than the perfect flange distance. And the Nokton was ABYSMAL on it. Sharp center, massive field curvature that meant the edges were utter trash if focused on the center until about f/5.6, and then they were only fairly bad.
Put it on my Fotodiox E to Z adapter, which I have but...Show more →
Looks good, I like those photos.
How does 21/1.4 look on Zf? Would you be able to share a photo of this combo?
So my Voigtlander 21/1.4 is here, and as I mentioned I'm adapting it to my Nikon bodies. This lens is VERY finicky about the adapter thickness when used on Nikon. I tried with my Megadap adapter, which works great with my AF lenses, though it is slightly thinner than the perfect flange distance. And the Nokton was ABYSMAL on it. Sharp center, massive field curvature that meant the edges were utter trash if focused on the center until about f/5.6, and then they were only fairly bad.
Put it on my Fotodiox E to Z adapter, which I have but...Show more →
Looks good, I like those photos.
How does 21/1.4 look on Zf? Would you be able to share a photo of this combo?
Nov 19, 2024 at 07:08 PM
p.54 #3Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
First landscapes with the 21/1.4.
ILCE-7RM5 21mm f/14.0 1/60s 100 ISO -1.0 EV
ILCE-7RM5 21mm f/14.0 1/60s 100 ISO -1.0 EV
ILCE-7RM5 21mm f/8.0 1/320s 100 ISO 0.0 EV
ILCE-7RM5 21mm f/8.0 1/320s 100 ISO 0.0 EV
Nov 19, 2024 at 10:17 PM
p.54 #5Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
I love my CV 21 f1.4 but I think I shot it at f1.4 only once, for the northern light few months ago. I have a Sony PZ 16-35. I am keeping the CV mainly for the sunstar, quite a chunk of metal to carry around though. For some reason I never jelled with the Loxia 21, owned it several times.
A few shots this week.
A few shots this week.
 |
||
 |
||
|
ILCE-7RM5 Voigtlander NOKTON 21mm F1.4 Aspherical lens 21mm f/10.0 1/100s 100 ISO -1.5 EV
|
||
 |
||
|
ILCE-1 Voigtlander NOKTON 21mm F1.4 Aspherical lens 21mm f/10.0 1/60s 100 ISO 0.0 EV
Jan 10, 2025 at 04:59 AM
p.54 #6Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Great lens, has some real vibes & tones.
https://imgur.com/a/ffpAZWM
https://imgur.com/a/ffpAZWM
Jan 10, 2025 at 01:01 PM
p.54 #7Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
I forgot about this thread. A recent shot with the 21/1.4.
ILCE-7RM5 21mm f/16.0 1/100s 160 ISO -0.3 EV
Jan 10, 2025 at 07:14 PM
p.54 #8Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Love this lens a lot, but it ended up being a focal length I don’t use very often. It has just been chilling on the shelf.
Hopefully I can find it a good home where it will actually get used.
Beautiful photos from all of you!
Hopefully I can find it a good home where it will actually get used.
Beautiful photos from all of you!
Jan 11, 2025 at 06:19 PM
p.54 #10Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
One from last summer when I was in Zion National Park and just got around to processing.
ILCE-7RM5 Voigtlander NOKTON 21mm F1.4 Aspherical lens 21mm f/8.0 1/320s 125 ISO 0.0 EV
Jan 12, 2025 at 09:23 PM
|
p.54 #11Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
From this morning.
|
||
 |
||
|
ILCE-7RM5 Voigtlander NOKTON 21mm F1.4 Aspherical lens 21mm f/9.0 1/60s 100 ISO -1.5 EV
Jan 12, 2025 at 09:36 PM
p.54 #12Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
That’s phenomenal
Douglas L wrote:
From this morning.
Douglas L wrote:
From this morning.
Jan 12, 2025 at 09:37 PM
p.54 #13Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Recently compared the Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 to the Sony 20mm f/1.8. I really wanted to keep the Voigtlander as I appreciated the manual focus and build/quality of the lens. However, the Sony just out performed it. In terms of resolution, particularly corners, the Voigt just does not compete with the sony in wider apertures. People talk about character of a lens, but all those character renderings can be adjusted in lightroom. But you can’t adjust resolution and blurriness and that is why I decided to keep the sony and send back the voigt.
Jan 13, 2025 at 12:13 AM
p.54 #14Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
I'm glad this thread has come back to life!
This shot is from this morning. About 20 minutes before sunrise and it was pretty dark, but just enough light to shoot. I decided to shoot this scene wide open at f1.4 since...why not?!
This shot is from this morning. About 20 minutes before sunrise and it was pretty dark, but just enough light to shoot. I decided to shoot this scene wide open at f1.4 since...why not?!
ILCE-7RM5 21mm f/1.4 1/30s 125 ISO -1.7 EV
Jan 13, 2025 at 01:37 PM
p.54 #15Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Two more from yesterday morning.
ILCE-7RM5 21mm f/11.0 1/200s 320 ISO -1.7 EV
ILCE-7RM5 21mm f/11.0 1/160s 320 ISO -1.7 EV
Jan 14, 2025 at 03:24 PM
p.54 #16Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
.
ILCE-7RM5 21mm f/1.4 1/4000s 100 ISO -1.7 EV
Jan 19, 2025 at 03:32 PM
p.54 #17Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
finn69 wrote:
Recently compared the Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 to the Sony 20mm f/1.8. I really wanted to keep the Voigtlander as I appreciated the manual focus and build/quality of the lens. However, the Sony just out performed it. In terms of resolution, particularly corners, the Voigt just does not compete with the sony in wider apertures. People talk about character of a lens, but all those character renderings can be adjusted in lightroom. But you can’t adjust resolution and blurriness and that is why I decided to keep the sony and send back the voigt.
Welcome to this forum, and thanks for your thoughts on the sharpness of these two lenses.
But I still feel that I have to disagree that bokeh, the transition of sharpness and smooth or uneasy background can be adjusted with reasonable (or any) effort in post.
In addition, to me the slightly paler and clearly bluer color cast of the Sony 20mm/f1.8 G (and matching it to my other lenses) is often enough trouble, that I try avoid it‘s use. It is a personal preference to be out shooting and not toiling behind a PC working on adjustments. To me, the less postprocessing a lens needs, the better. Others really enjoy the process of postprocessing and it is their part of this hobby.
For my aim of restricted and rather focussed postprocessing the Zeiss’s Batis line and Voigtländer’s respective lens lines have shown to be very similar and well matched, wheras the color of some Sony lenses is unfortunately all over the place. Color is probably the reason that the otherwise very sharp Sony 20/1.8 has only been designated a G and not a GM lens and why it is less expensive than the true GM lenses (the latter are actually matched accross the line).
In the end sharpness, where the Sony 20/1.8 excels, is just one part of a very complex equation. There are clear reasons for both the Sony 20/1.8 and for the Voigtländer 21/1.4 and it depends where one‘s focus is. Above there are several f1.4 shots of the Voigtländer and keeping an eye on transitions, color, background bokeh and not withstanding sunstars you may catch the point I‘m making.
Recently compared the Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 to the Sony 20mm f/1.8. I really wanted to keep the Voigtlander as I appreciated the manual focus and build/quality of the lens. However, the Sony just out performed it. In terms of resolution, particularly corners, the Voigt just does not compete with the sony in wider apertures. People talk about character of a lens, but all those character renderings can be adjusted in lightroom. But you can’t adjust resolution and blurriness and that is why I decided to keep the sony and send back the voigt.
Welcome to this forum, and thanks for your thoughts on the sharpness of these two lenses.
But I still feel that I have to disagree that bokeh, the transition of sharpness and smooth or uneasy background can be adjusted with reasonable (or any) effort in post.
In addition, to me the slightly paler and clearly bluer color cast of the Sony 20mm/f1.8 G (and matching it to my other lenses) is often enough trouble, that I try avoid it‘s use. It is a personal preference to be out shooting and not toiling behind a PC working on adjustments. To me, the less postprocessing a lens needs, the better. Others really enjoy the process of postprocessing and it is their part of this hobby.
For my aim of restricted and rather focussed postprocessing the Zeiss’s Batis line and Voigtländer’s respective lens lines have shown to be very similar and well matched, wheras the color of some Sony lenses is unfortunately all over the place. Color is probably the reason that the otherwise very sharp Sony 20/1.8 has only been designated a G and not a GM lens and why it is less expensive than the true GM lenses (the latter are actually matched accross the line).
In the end sharpness, where the Sony 20/1.8 excels, is just one part of a very complex equation. There are clear reasons for both the Sony 20/1.8 and for the Voigtländer 21/1.4 and it depends where one‘s focus is. Above there are several f1.4 shots of the Voigtländer and keeping an eye on transitions, color, background bokeh and not withstanding sunstars you may catch the point I‘m making.
Jan 19, 2025 at 05:56 PM
p.54 #18Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
Knut. wrote:
Welcome to this forum, and thanks for your thoughts on the sharpness of these two lenses.
But I still feel that I have to disagree that bokeh, the transition of sharpness and smooth or uneasy background can be adjusted with reasonable (or any) effort in post.
In addition, to me the slightly paler and clearly bluer color cast of the Sony 20mm/f1.8 G (and matching it to my other lenses) is often enough trouble, that I try avoid it‘s use. It is a personal preference to be out shooting and not toiling behind a PC working on adjustments. To me, the less...Show more →
I agree the Voigtlander 21 f/1.4 has beautiful color and contrast. Perhaps finn69's sample of the Voightlander was subpar. I tried two samples of Sony's 20mm f/1.8 and both were decentered - although corner sharpness was fairly even and similar, midfield sharpness varied from one side to the other (I guess the corner-correcting aspheric elements were properly centered but some other(s) in there weren't). And like Knut. says the Sony lacks great color - it's cool and muted.
finn69 wrote
Recently compared the Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 to the Sony 20mm f/1.8. I really wanted to keep the Voigtlander as I appreciated the manual focus and build/quality of the lens. However, the Sony just out performed it. In terms of resolution, particularly corners, the Voigt just does not compete with the sony in wider apertures. People talk about character of a lens, but all those character renderings can be adjusted in lightroom. But you can’t adjust resolution and blurriness and that is why I decided to keep the sony and send back the voigt.But I still feel that I have to disagree that bokeh, the transition of sharpness and smooth or uneasy background can be adjusted with reasonable (or any) effort in post.
In addition, to me the slightly paler and clearly bluer color cast of the Sony 20mm/f1.8 G (and matching it to my other lenses) is often enough trouble, that I try avoid it‘s use. It is a personal preference to be out shooting and not toiling behind a PC working on adjustments. To me, the less...Show more →
I agree the Voigtlander 21 f/1.4 has beautiful color and contrast. Perhaps finn69's sample of the Voightlander was subpar. I tried two samples of Sony's 20mm f/1.8 and both were decentered - although corner sharpness was fairly even and similar, midfield sharpness varied from one side to the other (I guess the corner-correcting aspheric elements were properly centered but some other(s) in there weren't). And like Knut. says the Sony lacks great color - it's cool and muted.
Jan 19, 2025 at 08:14 PM
p.54 #19Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
This is a great thread! Quite grateful to Fred and others for feedback on these lenses.
Im considering the 24 GM 1.4 or the Voightlander 21MM.
I bought the Voightlander 35 mm APO Lanthar aspherical lens on the review and examples from Fred and comments from others, and am very happy. Excellent lens, great experince, and I love the sharpness and resolution. Paired with my a7RV the images are good!
I was initially looking at the 24GM 1.4, but not think perhaps the 21 Voightlander may be a better buy, though I think both is the right answer, at some point.
Im shooting landscapes, not much astro. I will shoot some astro, so thats the only hang up between the two.
I wonder if the 24GM is the more well rounded option...
Im considering the 24 GM 1.4 or the Voightlander 21MM.
I bought the Voightlander 35 mm APO Lanthar aspherical lens on the review and examples from Fred and comments from others, and am very happy. Excellent lens, great experince, and I love the sharpness and resolution. Paired with my a7RV the images are good!
I was initially looking at the 24GM 1.4, but not think perhaps the 21 Voightlander may be a better buy, though I think both is the right answer, at some point.
Im shooting landscapes, not much astro. I will shoot some astro, so thats the only hang up between the two.
I wonder if the 24GM is the more well rounded option...
Jan 27, 2025 at 01:56 AM
p.54 #20Voigtlander 21mm f/1.4 Nokton Review
From two days ago.
Frozen Chesapeake Bay
Francis Scott Key Bridge (formerly) in distance
|
||
 |
||
|
Frozen Chesapeake Bay
ILCE-7RM5 Voigtlander NOKTON 21mm F1.4 Aspherical lens 21mm f/10.0 1/40s 100 ISO 0.0 EV
|
||
 |
||
|
ILCE-7RM5 Voigtlander NOKTON 21mm F1.4 Aspherical lens 21mm f/10.0 1/20s 100 ISO 0.0 EV
|
||
 |
||
|
Francis Scott Key Bridge (formerly) in distance
ILCE-7RM5 Voigtlander NOKTON 21mm F1.4 Aspherical lens 21mm f/10.0 1/20s 100 ISO 0.0 EV
Jan 27, 2025 at 06:25 AM