So, I understand I might be asking for a comparison of two very different lenses, but that isn’t going to stop me from asking the question.
For those who have used both, what are your thoughts and comparisons of these lenses?
To help narrow it down, tell me how you think they compare in terms of quality for portraits. Would you say the Voigtlander is too much of a liability for portraits being a manual focus lens? I love my 65mm Voigtlander and use it for portraits sometimes, but since it is a macro and has a longer focus throw, I don’t want to use that as a great example of how all Voigtlanders are with focusing for portraits.
Any thoughts on either lens is welcome since I haven’t used either of them.
I used to shoot more manual focus as there was not many af options, but lately I prefer to use the eye af esp if you are shooting wide open and your subject is moving. GM is closer to CV 65mm size and IQ plus the af. CV 50mm is softer wide open and gets sharper stopped down:
I had 40 1.2 and now 50 1.2GM. Hands down the GM for me for portraits (I have kids). Eye tracking AF wins all day, and GM is higher resolution, sharper, CA is different level. I admit Voigtlanders are joy to use, metal construction and smooth focus ring just enough resistance make a premium feel. If you can live with MF (still portraits are not hard to manage) used Voigtlander almost half price of GM.
Sony’s 50/1.4 GM is a stunner of a lens! It pairs very nicely with Sony bodies. I also went from a manual focus 40/1.2 to a GM lens because I got tired of missing the moment. I enjoy the process and result.
Oct 04, 2024 at 03:40 PM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
Are you talking posed or semi-posed portraits? If you are, manually focussing in not difficult at all. Personally, I don't find even street portraits or even children playing difficult with manual focus, but those shots do take a bit of practice with pre-focussing. I have the Voigtlander 40 f/1.2, 50 f/1.2, and I have use the Sony 50 f/1.2 GM extensively. The Voigtlander lenses are smaller, so not surprisingly vignette more and you will get cat's eye shapes in out of focus highlight pretty far into the frame. They also have some axial CA (the 40 has a little more than the 50). Other than those two issues, however, their bokeh is pretty nice and they strike a nice balance between being too sharp and not being sharp enough when shot wide open and they sharpen up nicely as you stop down. The size of the lens is nice and small too. Closer than about 3 ft. and the image starts to get a bit softer, so I rarely take tight headshots with these lenses.
The Sony 50 f/1.2 GM, has very fast focus, nice sharpness across most of the frame wide open, and is sharp all the way across the frame by f/2. The bokeh is quite nice as well, although I do find the transition from in focus to out of focus to be pretty abrupt and a bit harsh at times. It certainly can take very nice portraits, but I prefer the images with a little more spherical aberrations from the Voigtlander lenses for a typical half body shot. That said the GM does everything pretty well and allows pictures without concerns that images won't turn out. It will get the shot, but I would slightly prefer the Voigtlander shot for my tastes for most portraits, although, YMMV.
I used to be a manual focus shooter until I got the GM 50mm f/1.2. I had captured some unforgettable shots with various fantastic 50mm f/1.2 and f/1.4 lenses, and at the time, autofocus lenses didn’t offer much of an edge over manual ones for general portrait photography.
But after using the GM 50mm f/1.2, I’ve been able to do so much more without worrying about shot accuracy. Now, I can seamlessly incorporate strobes in challenging lighting, focus more on composition and the environment, and capture fleeting expressions or dynamic moments with ease. The images I get with this lens more than make up for any minor differences in rendering. If manual focus is your preference, there are, IMO, plenty of legacy 50mm lenses with superior rendering compared to the Voigtlander 50mm f/1.2.
Both are beautiful lenses. I own the 50/1.2GM and Voigtlander 50/1.2 Nokton. The 50/1.4GM you are asking about is almost identical in image quality to the 50/1.2GM.
If all I were doing is portraits, both posed and those with people moving, I’d get the 50/1.4GM. Perfect autofocus every time and great rendering.
The Voigtlander 50/1.2 comes in handy when you need to have something small and relatively light and the portraits will be mostly posed. It’s also a great travel lens because of its small size. Rendering top notch. The Sony GM’s are sharper wide open, but for portraits this isn’t always a good thing. If you can, get both! They are lovely lenses.
Here are a few images from the Voigtlander and 50/1.2GM:
