After trying several flavors of Nokton and Lanthar, I ultimately decided to keep the 35 2 Lanthar despite the front-heavy imbalance I noticed on the Zf.
Coming from the Nikkor 40 2, I initially found the Lanthar’s size, weight, and balance difficult to overlook. The issue was not really its size or weight in isolation, but how far forward it seemed to carry that weight on the Zf. I use a leather half-case rather than an attachable grip, which likely accentuates the problem.
After spending more time with both the 40 1.2 Nokton and the 35 2 Lanthar, though, I realized their respective trade-offs are not entirely unlike those found throughout photography. The Nokton offers speed, character, compactness, and a particularly natural fit on the Zf. The Lanthar gives up some of that handling ease and low-light capability in exchange for rendering and optical correction that are better suited to my style and intended use.
Ultimately, I decided I was more willing to accept the Lanthar’s handling compromises than the Nokton’s optical trade-offs. That is not a criticism of the Nokton. They are distinct tools with different strengths, and in an ideal world, I would keep both for different jobs.
Different strokes for different folks, as with nearly every other choice in photography. For now, the Lanthar’s particular set of trade-offs makes more sense for me, even if it remains mildly awkward on the Zf without a grip.
burningheart
R5 + Voigtlander RF 35/1.4
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Great combination of R5 and 35/1,4 Nokton
wish more images
Voigtlander has always made handsome well designed lenses for as long as I can recall Fred. In fact, I never owned a Leica RF lens for any of the 10+ Leica/Epson rangefinder bodies I've owned over the last decade or so.
This lens looks like a charm, handsomely designed (straight symmetrical lines) with the right sized focus ring and aperture ring. My only nitpick would be that the aperture value should start bright on the left side of the dial and work smaller as you click it counter-clockwise. Small nitpick but it's my preference.
Voigtlander have always made excellent lenses that have incredible value. There's plenty of character to be found with many of their models, even the older ones.
I wish they made a 40mm version exactly like this one. Yep I'm one of those weird 40mm devotees. I'm a big fan of the older 40mm f/1.4 SC RF lens. Single coating makes things interesting, a modern body like this one in 40 with single coating- take my money.
Z-mount 35mm f/1.4 Nokton vs Z-mount 40mm f/1.2 Nokton on Nikon Zf and Z50II.
I already own the 40mm and it is ok. But I do not love it, mainly because of the slightly bloated size/weight on DX bodies, and what I find is "boring" rendering overall, even at f/1.2 (feels like it tries to be corrected but fails).
I am tempted by the size/weight of the new 35mm "classic" but wonder if I will be wowed by its rendering and if I'll regret the thiner depth-of-field (and slight compression on DX) of the 40mm at f/1.2.
I'd like to have something that behaves like the old Nikon AI 35mm f/1.4, which offers a recognisable festival of spherical aberrations wide open that help make environmental portraits stand out. The samples here look good.
I do not have the funds to buy the 35mm classic without selling the 40mm. Anybody pondering in the same way? And does anyone have enough experience with both to share some learnings? (PS I already use the 35mm apo-lanthar for when I want something clean, precise and punchy).
I have both and after using the new 35 for a bit yesterday, I can say it renders very close to other Nokton Classics. I've used the M mount one extensively and I will say this new one has the same characteristics, but a little less extreme. Meaning, wide open the center seems sharper and the edges less ghostly.
In comparing it to the 40 1.2, the 40 is so much better in many ways. I'm talking about shooting at 1.2 and 1.4 respectively, I'm not concerned with stopping down results as I have better lenses for that anyway. That's not the point of these imo. That said, the 40 is sharper, has better falloff, better separation, cleaner bokeh. The 35 is sharp enough in the center and doesn't have as smooth of a transition. The bokeh is what is the biggest difference in the rendering. The 40 has a pleasant bokeh, the 35 has what isn't out of focus bokeh, but a smeary, blurry, low contrast look. It's a matter of taste. I would compare it to something like using a diffusion filter, where sometimes it looks great, but sometimes it could be too much.
The 35 handles beautifully. It's the perfect size and has the right amount of focus resistance. It's one of those lenses that can stay glued to your camera. The 40 is a lens that I'd use for specific reasons and would never be an everyday lens.
Character is subjective and the 35 has it, but imo it rides the line of classic rendering to looking like a crappy lens. That's what the Nokton Classics are though, so Voigtlander did a good job creating these to emulate that.
If you already have the 35APO this 35 will give you something very different. I'd definitely consider having both if you like 35mm.
Balivernes wrote:
Z-mount 35mm f/1.4 Nokton vs Z-mount 40mm f/1.2 Nokton on Nikon Zf and Z50II.
I already own the 40mm and it is ok. But I do not love it, mainly because of the slightly bloated size/weight on DX bodies, and what I find is "boring" rendering overall, even at f/1.2 (feels like it tries to be corrected but fails).
I am tempted by the size/weight of the new 35mm "classic" but wonder if I will be wowed by its rendering and if I'll regret the thiner depth-of-field (and slight compression on DX) of the 40mm at f/1.2.
I'd like to have something that behaves like the old Nikon AI 35mm f/1.4, which offers a recognisable festival of spherical aberrations wide open that help make environmental portraits stand out. The samples here look good.
I do not have the funds to buy the 35mm classic without selling the 40mm. Anybody pondering in the same way? And does anyone have enough experience with both to share some learnings? (PS I already use the 35mm apo-lanthar for when I want something clean, precise and punchy)....Show more →
