Looking for a lens to use in darker situations, such as caves and night street photography. Using with my Z6III mostly. I would prefer something smallish and manual focus is fine. Any suggestions from people using a lens in those situations? TIA.
The Voigtlander 40 f/1.2 has been my low-light pick for a few years now. The Z focus confirmation system gets along with it well. I've also got the 28 f/1.5 Nokton, but its heavier vignette can work against you in low light.
OffTrail wrote:
The Voigtlander 40 f/1.2 has been my low-light pick for a few years now. The Z focus confirmation system gets along with it well. I've also got the 28 f/1.5 Nokton, but its heavier vignette can work against you in low light.
Thanks. I'll check it out.
Hi. I have a Z6-3 (and really like it), but I find it a bit large for street photography. The times I used it for this I used either my 28/f2.8 or 40/f2. Both lenses are relatively inexpensive, work fine and are small-ish.
There are faster lenses available, of course, but for street photo work, my inclination is to trade off slightly higher ISO for size. YMMV, of course.
Side note: I often use one of the cheap, collapsible rubber lens hoods on the 40mm. As it happened, last summer I had that hood on my 40mm which was on my Z5 (converted for IR) when I took a very nasty fall on concrete. The Z5 took a beating and had to be repaired but the lens was fine -- likely because of the rubber hood. (I had to be repaired also. ;< )
For street photography of people anything less than 70mm results in distorted bodies and requires a shorter camera to subject distance which makes people uncomfortable and the tension is readily apparent in the resulting images.
Three I can recommend: Voigtlander 35/2 Apo, Voigtlander 28/2 Apo, and the Thypoch Simera 28/1.4.
I can vouch for the Voigtlander 35/2 Apo and 28/2 Apo. Wide open or stopped down. Accurate focus marks. Noticeable illumination falloff wide open but not IMO extreme or unworkable. I also have the Thypoch Simera 28/1.4. The Simera 28, an amazingly good lens for it's cost, and is the best for focusing by scale because it has a long focus stroke, but the long stroke also makes focusing by eye at smaller apertures a touch tedious. My Simera has inaccurate focus marks, but I added my own with silver paint marker. The Voigts have data connection to the camera, the Simera does not.
My Nikon Z 28/2.8 has AF, but no way to scale focus it, and manual focus by wire. No way to scale focus the Z 28/2.8. Image quality is a notch down the others I mentioned, IMO.
I think 35 is the best all-round FL for quick documentary shooting.
Added: There's a new Voigtlander 35/1.4 that's more compact than the Voigt 35/2 Apo. It isn't avilable for Nikon Z yet, but it is expected that it will be.
See: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1941993/
elkhornsun wrote:
For street photography of people anything less than 70mm results in distorted bodies and requires a shorter camera to subject distance which makes people uncomfortable and the tension is readily apparent in the resulting images.
Gary Winograd - 28mm
Henri Cartier-Bresson - 35, 50mm
Vivien Maier - 43 (ff eqv), 35mm
I'm being a bit cheeky but I generally agree with you. One of the things I've always gotten a kick out of is Gary Winograd - wasn't that guy over 6ft tall . . . kinda hard to disappear into the background though I image that little Leica looked like a toy when he held it up
OP- You might want to look at RoamingScott's rundown of 40mm lenses. Despite his lukewarm take on the Septon, it looks to be a very compact option.
glassartist wrote:
Gary Winograd - 28mm
Henri Cartier-Bresson - 35, 50mm
Vivien Maier - 43 (ff eqv), 35mm
I'm being a bit cheeky but I generally agree with you. One of the things I've always gotten a kick out of is Gary Winograd - wasn't that guy over 6ft tall . . . kinda hard to disappear into the background though I image that little Leica looked like a toy when he held it up
OP- You might want to look at RoamingScott's rundown of 40mm lenses. Despite his lukewarm take on the Septon, it looks to be a very compact option.
I saw Winogrand shooting at the crowded, bustling Venice Beach Ocean Front Walk (AKA "Boardwalk") during it's early heyday as a place to people watch in L.A. a couple of times in the early 1980's. He dressed in the most dull, non attention-grabbing clothing (dark green work duds that he reputedly bought at Sears) and looked like a plumber or HVAC technician snapping crowd shots on his (presumed) lunch hour. At the time he was using a Leica M4-2 or M4-P with the Leica motor winder and the then-current Leica-M 28/2.8.
Street photography is the toughest genre by far, in my opinion. There appear to be no rules! The answer to everything is "it depends". Depends on your personality, depends on your gender, depends on your boxing skills, depends on the customs of the country (or even state/city) you're in, depends on context/circumstances of that particular day. For example, photograhping political protesters or public celebrations in the US is easier than everyday commuter's life.
Anyway, the answer to the OP's question is obvious: the Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 Mk2. It is the smallest currently manufactured 35mm prime with fast f/1.4 aperture. It also happens to produce marvelous images that truly stand out.
I am surprised to see so many 300g+ recommendations. I own and love many of the aforementioned Voigtlanders too, but sorry folks: f/2 is not fast and 300g is not small for a manually focused prime.
If you plan to use it in darker situations, that most likely means you're going to want to use it wide open (or close to it), which, in my experience, starts to contradict wanting something small, as smaller and faster lenses often have less IQ and high vignetting wide open. So this becomes a tricky balance.
For example, stylistically, the Voigtlander 40mm f1.2 is great at f1.2, but I would stop it down to around to at least f2, ideally f2.8 if I wanted to capture a low light city scape. I don't have the Nikon 35mm f1.8 to directly compare it against, but I can't help but feel that, despite its larger size, it would work better at f1.8 for low light city scapes based on what I have read about it. I also have the Voigtlander 35mm f2 APO. It's quite small, is one of the highest IQ lenses I have ever used, and it is very sharp wide open. But at f2 it's does have quite a bit of Vignetting. At f2 you are losing about 3 stops, and at f2.8 you are losing about 2 stops. So, for a city scape where you want edge to edge illumination, you can start asking yourself whether it is really an f2.8 or f2 lens in terms of light gathering.
Hope this information helps you decide the right lens for your needs / preferences.
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