It’s a true classic among the focal lengths. Despite all attempts of the camera and smartphone industry to educate us to be wide-angle shooters, the good old nifty fifty holds its own. And here, Voigtländer offers several interesting options for M-Mount users. Let’s look at two fast Voigtländer Nokton VM 50mm lenses, the 50/1.0 and the 50/1.5 II. Are they the smarter choice instead of Leica’s Noctilux and Summilux?
How does a “standard” emerge? In the case of focal lengths for 35mm photographic film cameras, it’s an interesting story. When Leica made the so called Kleinbildkamera (today known as Full-Frame) popular, they needed a lens design that ensured a) high quality because of the massive enlargements that were necessary to get decently sized prints from the small negatives and b) ease of production on an industrial scale with the technical means and materials from one hundred years ago.
Add to this the idea of the image size’s diagonal as a determined value irrespective of the negative or sensor format, you end up with an angle of view of about 53 degrees. This is perceived or marketed as “natural”, allegedly close to the angle of view of the human eye (which is highly debatable, but that’s another story). At any rate, you would end up at 43.3mm for a standard 24×36mm negative format. In any event, 50mm proved to be reasonably easy to design and produce, while offering a reasonable initial aperture and a good overall photographic outcome. But like the “portrait lens”, which was invented as a term to excuse soft rendering of the early 90mm lenses, “standard lens” is more of a marketing term.
The 50 was invented as “the standard” – and remained so
Leica proceeded, and all others followed. Because it was so convenient, I guess. There were attempts to introduce 40mm or 45mm lenses as standard (for example, in the Contax G system), but ultimately, the nifty fifty prevailed. And it was, for the above-mentioned reasons, the first focal length for which the industry went further in terms of speed. the fast aperture of f/1.4 was followed by f/1.2, often with Leica leading the band, until there came unheard of designs with f/1.0 and finally even f/0.95 apertures. Mind you, f/0.95 does, of course, not mean that the lens can add light. It just means that the diameter of the diaphragm in millimetres is slightly wider than the focal length, again in millimetres.
Voigtländer (or perhaps we should say Cosina, the parent company of the brand), of course, knows all about this. While its line-up at times seemed to be centred around the 35mm focal length as the “new normal”, many 50mm designs were launched meanwhile. There are lenses as fast as f/1.0, there is an f/2 APO lens (see episode 14 of the M Files), there are classic and modern designs, and the latest additions are a small f/2.2 and another APO-graded f/3.5 lens.
In this review, I will focus on two lenses which appear to be particularly interesting as Leica alternatives: The Nokton f/1.0, just a tad slower than Leica‘s Noctilux, and the Nokton f/1.5, slightly slower than the Summilux. Both cost just a fraction of the Leica lenses, of course.
Voigtländer Nokton 50/1.5 II: The Swiss Army knife among 50s?
Technical data, scope of delivery, price, and availability
The Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.5 was launched in 2020, as a version II of a 2013 design. However, it has not replaced another former 50/1.5 by Voigtländer, a Heliar design, with a rendering that is marketed as more “vintage”. The newer Voigtländer Nokton 50/1.5 II comes in black, silver, and at a €100 surcharge, bi-colour (black/nickel), and you can choose between single- and multi-coated versions. This makes for no less than six different options. For this review, the multi-coated version was used. It retails at €899 |£849 |$749; the lens is widely available new as of writing this article. The vented lens hood (LH-6, also used for some other Voigtländer lenses) is attached by a bayonet, but has, annoyingly, to be bought separately (€79 |£54 |$79). A pouch is not included, but an OP/Tech neoprene pouch with its fold-over top cover is a good and affordable choice.
For a fifty, this Nokton is a rather compact lens, especially given its wide aperture. It is just 37mm long (with the parts protruding into the camera, the overall length is 44mm) and has a diameter of 55mm, as with many rangefinder lenses. The Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.5 II weighs in at 235g “as-in-my-bag” (that is, with both caps and original lens hood) or 198g naked. The front screw mount takes 43mm filters, not a popular size if you are coming from Leica, but quite widespread among Voigtländer and Zeiss lenses (remember, they all come from the same Cosina factory).
Optics and rendering
Lens design
The Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.5 II has “Vintage” in its full name, but this is relatively misleading because it is a modern lens design. It consists of eight lenses in seven groups. One element has two aspherical surfaces. In this respect, the Nokton is very different from the older Heliar Classic 50/1.5. Unlike Leica‘s current Summilux, it has no floating elements.
Colour drift and vignetting
Colour drift describes the phenomenon of images having a weird colour cast towards the margins. Often, it is green on the one and red on the other side (thus, “Italian flag effect”). The cause for this is the rays of light hitting the sensor at a steep angle. The Nokton VM 50/1.5 II has no propensity to behave this way on a digital Leica M camera, which is what we can expect from a 50mm lens (wide-angles are much more prone to this error). What we do get, though, is vignetting, especially when the lens is used wide open. It can be corrected with a Lightroom profile or manually.
Chromatic aberration
The Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.5 II does not claim to be an APO lens, and it isn’t. Longitudinal chromatic aberration can occur with some fringing of out of focus details, especially in high contrast situations. You can correct this in post-processing or get rid of it by stopping down the lens a bit (but that’s not what you buy a fast lens for). Lateral CA seemed to be not much of an issue in the situations in which I used the lens. All in all, CA is certainly no reason for keeping off this lens. More about this on fredmiranda.com.
Sharpness
For such a fast lens, the Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.5 II is remarkably sharp from wide open (if you managed to nail focus). Both resolution and contrast (the two are jointly creating what we usually call “sharpness”) are at high levels. It further improves stopped down to f/2.8, giving good rendering right into the corners. At close distance, the lack of floating elements results in a bit of spherical aberration. It is up to you to decide if the resulting moderately soft rendering in such instances is a pro or a con for this lens. At any rate, from mid-distances and slightly stopped down, the 50/1.5 II performs very well.
Bokeh and flare
Today’s coating technologies are truly remarkable. I could hardly bring the 50/1.5 to flare and if, the effects were very subtle — for my taste at least. Bokeh is even more subjective for sure, so I will not give a judgement. But I am happy to share the impression that the twelve blade diaphragm helps in achieving a smooth rendering of out of focus parts. However, there are lenses with bokeh that is more to my taste, such as the current Summilux 50 or Voigtländer’s 50 APO-Lanthar. But again, your mileage may vary.
My verdict, optics
It is challenging to find something to seriously criticise in this lens. Sharpness and flare control are excellent, chromatic aberrations are acceptable, and even more subjective points such as bokeh or colour rendering leave nothing to be desired. Sure, a floating element would have improved spherical CA. But ultimately, the limiting factors for this lens are likely to be the camera’s rangefinder precision and/or, of course, the photographer’s skills.
Mechanics and handling
Overall appearance
As I said, the Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.5 II is a fairly small lens. The aperture ring has two wings for easy handling, and the focus ring is knurled over the whole perimeter. The Helvetica style lettering is classic in white, there are no imperial distance values, just metres. All in all, a sober design, nothing fancy, nothing nostalgic but nothing modern either. You might not shout out “wow” when you have this lens in your hands for the first time, but I came to like it. What I dislike, however, is the shiny chrome bayonet for the lens hood, as it could even induce unwanted flares if unused.
Build quality
Cosina, the company that produces the Voigtländer lenses, has earned a reputation for excellent craftsmanship, and the Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.5 II is just one more example. Both rings operate with exactly the right resistance, the half stops of the aperture click into place nicely. This all metal and glass lens from Japan is likely to last decades, and the lens will be serviceable as long as there are experts who know how to handle such a job.
Focusing
The minimal focusing distance is 0.7m which is also the limit of all newer rangefinder cameras. So, there is no separate range for users of electronic viewfinders as in some other recent M-Mount lenses. The focus throw is about 90 degrees, a good compromise between precision and operating speed. Make sure your rangefinder is well aligned. At a 1m distance, the depth of field is only around four centimetres!
Clockwise from upper left: Bilbao, Spain. Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.5II on Leica SL2, ISO 100, f/4, 1/800s; Flysch Coast, Spain. Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.5II on Leica SL2, ISO 100, f/8, 1/250s; San Juan de Gastelugatxe, Spain. Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.5II on Leica SL2, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/320s
Viewfinder
The naked Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.5 II has no viewfinder blockage at infinity and only very little at close distance. With the original lens hood attached, blockage increases, but even at 0.7m, you can easily control the framing. Here, the remarkable smallness of the lens is helpful, of course. And it is an important argument for recommending the Nokton 50/1.5 as a true standard lens, that is, a lens you can have on your camera as a standard.
My verdict, handling
The Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.5 II is an easy to handle rangefinder lens, and the standard of manufacture appears to be very high. Focusing and setting the aperture is a beautiful experience, but some users might miss a focus tab. All in all, this lens is a joy to use.
Alternatives
When it comes to a universally useable fast 50mm lens, the Leica Summilux comes to mind. There are several generations of this long-established classic. The latest ones feature aspherical lenses and a floating element for improved performance in the close range. I remember Leica‘s Peter Karbe once saying that this is one of his favourite M lenses. And it is indeed is a wonderful optic.
Another option is the Zeiss C Sonnar 50/1.5 which may have the same maximum aperture but in all other respects, this is a very different lens. The Zeiss is more or less a remake of a 1930s design with a very characteristic drawing. Some find it awful, others not. I have not tried it to an extent which would me allow a judgement.
I can say more about the M-Mount conversion of the Zeiss Planar 50/1.4 originally for Contax/Yashica SLR. It is big, but excellent, read here part 15 of the M Files. A 50/1.4 also available from Thypoch and TT artisan. Finally, Voigtländer has a 50/1.2 which could even be a compromise between the f/1.5 and the f/1.0 lenses. It has a good reputation, but I can’t say anything about it.
The bottom line
A fast 50 has its rightful place in every kit of photographic gear. It is a versatile focal length, and while today’s sensors might replace the ultimate quantity of lens speed, narrow depth of field and beautiful bokeh are still interesting assets, even in times of ever better AI post-processing options. Not the least, such a fast lens is essential for film photography. The Voigtländer Nokton VM 50mm f/1.5 II is in every respect a recommendable option for a fast 50. It is optically convincing, well-built, and it comes, for what it is, at a very reasonable price.
Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0: That unique look?
Technical data, scope of delivery, price, and availability
The Voigtländer Nokon VM 50/1.0 was introduced in 2021, when it replaced the 50/1.1 from 2009. While similar in size and weight, it is a tad faster, but honestly the f/1.0 might be more driven by marketing considerations. The 50/1.0 is available new, there is only a black version, and its price is €1,749 |£1,649 |$1,699 (September 2024). A very nice metal lens hood is included, it is attached (also in reverse direction for transport) via a bayonet. A pouch has to be bought separately from third-party manufacturers.
Such a fast lens cannot be tiny and lightweight. The Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0 is 55m long (with the parts protruding into the camera, 68mm) which is actually not so big. But the diameter! This is where the fast aperture demands its price. 74mm is really fat for a rangefinder lens, and the lens hood further increases the size. Weight is 540g with both caps and lens hood or 485g naked. The filter size, significant for this lens because you are likely to need ND filters, is 62mm.
Optics and rendering
Lens design
The Voigtländer Nokton 50/1.0 VM is one of these lenses that “have it all”. All stops pulled by the designers: It gets by with just nine elements, according to Cosina thanks to the special front element. This large lens is described as “grinding aspherical” which means that it not moulded (which is cheaper) but ground (a manufacturing process Leica did a lot of research on, and invested enormous sums in a few decades ago). Floating elements ensure good sharpness at all distances, and the rear lens is another asphere. All these expensive details were chosen to enable compact size, Voigtländer claims. There is no reason to doubt this.
Colour drift and vignetting
Colour drift, explained above, is no issue with this lens. Vignetting exists, and to a significant degree, when the lens is used wide open. If you wish, you can eradicate it with manual corrections in Lightroom (I have discovered no correction profile for the Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0 so far). In my humble opinion, many images look more interesting with some vignetting because it guides the eye, but that’s a matter of taste. At any rate, the vignetting can lead to light sources being rendered in cat’s-eye style towards the corners. I guess that’s a price you have to pay for getting an f/1.0 lens at a reasonable price.
Left to right: Copenhagen. Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0 on Leica M10, ISO 200, f/1.0, 1/4000s; Sweden. Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0 on Leica M10, ISO 200, f/1.0, 1/4000s; Konstanz. Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0 on Leica M10, ISO 200, f/1.0, 1/3000s
Chromatic aberration
You would expect considerable chromatic aberration in a superfast 50mm lens, with purple and other fringes, resulting in unwanted rendering of high contrast areas and a general lack of sharpness. However, both lateral and (to a slightly lesser degree) longitudinal CA seems remarkably well corrected in the Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0. I have seen quite a few slower lenses with far poorer performance in this area.
Sharpness
If a lens renders “sharp”, a somewhat subjective category, depends on resolution, contrast, and the absence of field curvature. The 50/1.0 produced, in my tests, contrasty images, even in demanding lighting situations, and resolution turned out to be good to excellent from wide open right into the corners. In his extensive review, Fred Miranda notices “pronounced outwards field curvature”, and I was also able to reproduce his findings. I would, however, hardly shoot landscape or architecture at f/1.0. But be aware that, for example, in portraits the corners of the out-of-focus area DO NOT SHOW THAT “dreamy”, “creamy” or “blurred” EFFECT.
Clockwise from upper left: Bikes. Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0 on Leica M10, ISO 200, f/1.0, 1/1500s; Cages. Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0 on Leica M10, ISO 200, f/4.8, 1/1000s; Flowers. Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0 on Leica M10, ISO 200, f/1.0, 1/4000s
Bokeh and flare
Similar to the 50/1.5, the Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0 is pretty flare resistant. This is a major achievement, just think of the huge front lens and all the other massive elements in this design. If any, diffuse light sources in the centre or just outside the frame seem to provoke veiling and glare. As mentioned above, bokeh is subjective. But for a 50/1.0 lens, it is certainly a main reason to buy (or to not buy) a particular lens. I like the rendering of out-of-focus areas, both behind and in front of the focal plane. The twelve-blade aperture helps here for sure.
Left to right: The good old film days. Utrecht, Netherlands. Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0 on Leica M10, ISO 200, f/1.0, 1/1000s; Left ashore. Kållandsö, Sweden (note CA). Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0 on Leica M10, ISO 200, f/1.0, 1/2000s; Film Make: Kodak Film Type: ProImage LensTaggerVer:1.7.6
My verdict, optics
The Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0 can produce very good-looking images with impressive flare control and good sharpness. Stopped down, it is even excellent, but if you want to shoot at f/4, you would likely make a different choice. Nonetheless, the Cosina engineers delivered a masterpiece with this top model of their M-Mount range. It is difficult to believe that such a lens can be made for such a price.
Mechanics and handling
Overall appearance
The Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0 is impressive. It is, big, at least for a rangefinder lens. The front lens diameter determines the overall size, making the Nokton an impressive companion to the slim modern rangefinder cameras. The aperture ring is knurled but has no wings. The lens is so big that you can’t get lost with your fingers, though. The focusing ring has the classic “Berg und Tal” pattern (“mountain and valley fluting”, also called scalloped focusing ring) which alludes to rangefinder and other lenses from the classic period in the 1950s and 1960s. With an overall diameter far larger than the size of the mount and at the same time a shorter look, the 50/1.0 looks sturdy and robust. The lettering is well visible in white (imperial scale in red) and a neutral Helvetica style typeface (just big enough for my taste).
Build quality
As with the 50/1.5, this rather new Voigtländer lens is living proof that there is no reason to look down at this brand. The manufacturing standards are seemingly excellent. The Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0 is the most expensive lens in the company’s M-Mount line-up. Indeed, it seems to have flagship qualities also in terms of its mechanics. And the included (!) lens hood even has a velvet lining to swallow stray light.
An electronic viewfinder helps if you work with the Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0. And then, the Leica SL is not that much bulkier than the M10 plus Visoflex…
Focusing
Minimal focusing distance of the 50/1.0 is 0.9m, so it does not use the full possibility of most rangefinder cameras. On the other hand, getting something really sharp at, say, 0.7m and f/1.0 can be a lottery. From 0.9m to infinity, the focus throw is about 90 degrees, with about half of the way between 0.9 and 1.5 metres. This allows for precise work in the close range and fast focusing at distance. This appears to be a good compromise. However, if you don’t want to risk some badly focused images, better use the lens with an electronic viewfinder, for example in an SL camera or an accessory Visoflex for your digital M.
Viewfinder
An electronic viewfinder is also the best means for healing the biggest handling issue of the Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0: It has massive rangefinder blockage. The lower right quadrant is hardly visible with the lens hood attached. Without it, it gets a bit better, but only a bit. In a way, this lens pushes the rangefinder concept to its limit. But then again, exactly this is pretty obvious, and I think the 50/1.0 is mainly interesting to those in the know.
My verdict, handling
The Voigtländer Nokton VM 50/1.0 is a special lens in many ways, also in terms of handling. It is heavy and big, causes more viewfinder blockage than any other Voigtländer lens I have used so far, and it is a bit slow to operate. So, no all-rounder, but rather something for special purposes and photographers who can handle such a beast.
Alternatives
You would, of course, consider the Leica Noctilux to be the epitome of a superfast 50mm lens. The current version sports an initial aperture of /0.95, earlier iterations had f/1.0 and f/1.2. A remake of the f/1.2 was issued a few years ago and can be bought new. I never worked with any of these legendary lenses. If you can afford any of them, new or used, pride of ownership is one guaranteed benefit.
The TTArtisan 50/0.95 does look very much like the current Leica Noctilux. The exterior design is almost a copy of the Leica lens. However, so far, I cannot say anything about its inner values. It is, however, a candidate for a review at some point in the following years. There also appears to be a Zhongyi Mitakon Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95, a lens about which I know nothing.
The bottom line
The Voigtländer Nokton VM 50mm f/1.0 is an exceptional lens in many respects. It offers a unique, somewhat glowy and dreamy drawing wide open and excellent sharpness stopped down. In so far, the good bits from both worlds. With its beautiful manufacturing quality, it is a joy to use. However, its size causes massive rangefinder blockage, and precise focusing is difficult. But the 50/1.0 is certainly a great option for all who really want to go into work with extremely fast lenses. Please remember a good ND filter if your camera has no fast electronic shutter. A high-resolution electronic viewfinder is of great help.
Conclusion: Are the Voigtländer Nokton 50mm lenses the smarter choice?
Voigtländer plays a big role in making rangefinder photography more affordable. While cameras, both analogue and digital, are expensive even when bought second-hand, the Voigtländer lenses offer an interesting entry point. Sure, they might not last as many decades as a Leica lens, and they don’t offer the value retention. But for practical use, many of them are excellent choices.
This also applies to the two Voigtländer Nokton VM 50mm lenses. The 50/1.5 is an excellent all-rounder. Compared to the current Summilux, the design of the Nokton 50/1.5 lacks the sophistication of its floating-element technology, which yields exceptional close-up performance. But if you want one 50mm for all purposes which is lightweight, affordable, with some character wide open and at near distances and flawless performance stopped down, this is the way to go. And remember, you don’t carry around the value of a used small car.
Super special or super versatile? You have the choice
The 50/1.0 is more special. Its wide-open performance is unique, and if you like this special glare and super-thin focus plane, you will love it. But keep in mind that the rangefinder can reach its limits at close distances. An electronic viewfinder is recommended. It also overcomes the heavy blocking of the viewfinder of this massive lens, which makes it a lottery what you will see it in the lower right quarter of your image. When stopped down, the lens shows its other side, with rich colours and excellent resolution. However, if you want to use it at f/2.8, there is no reason to buy such a massive and expensive lens.
As fascinating as the Voigtländer Nokton VM 50 lens is in its superfast f/1.0 variant, my personal recommendation is the f/1.5 lens. Modern sensors with their high ISO abilities can easily compensate for the 1.3 stops you are losing. And you get a really affordable, well-made and beautifully rendering lens. So, it could be indeed the smarter choice than Leica‘s Summilux.
But there are also good reasons to go for the Leica lens: longevity, value retention, service options for decades, beautiful design, and even better rendering are important points. In the end, only you can decide if you can or want to spend nine hundred or nearly five thousand. In either case, you will get good value for money. The same is true for the €1,749 Nokton f/1.0 which makes ultra-fast lenses accessible; something which can hardly be said of the €12,350 Noctilux.
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If you (dear reader) don’t need a fast lens, I’d vouch for the 50 APO-Lanthar. Got panned in some reviews but the rendering is lovely and striking. There is some remarkable subject/background separation for an f/2. ;-), and it controls flare very well for those situations where you want to shoot into the light. The only gotcha is that it’s easy to lose color saturation in the corners when you’re wide open and the image is underexposed, so if you avoid that, you’ll get some great images.
I agree but preferred the 35 APO even more but owned both. Both are magnificent lenses and only second to Leica in being larger in size but dramatically lower in price. Sometimes size is everything but often it is not.
Size does often matter though. If I’m doing anything involving a change of clothes after work, space quickly gets gobbled up. It’s not nice to lug around a big pack on a crowded train or bus.
The 50 APO Lanthar f/2 is just a bit too long which makes it unwieldy to pull in and out of a bag, but I’ve managed sometimes. The Thypoch Eureka 50mm f/2 is just dandy, but you do have to extend it. I think this is why people will pay gobs for the Leica lenses. Having weekend-day level of images as an EDC is quite something.
That said, unless you have a job that precludes actually taking pictures with your camera, or you spend all your disposable income on gear, these third party lenses (like the ones in this excellent review, and the 35mm APO Lanthar f/2 that you mention) are going to be a staple for the lot of us.
Hi Jörg-Peter, thanks very much for another excellent writing. Pity you don’t have access to the Nokton f1.2, would be very interesting if you could compare it to these two.
I have owned a lot of 50mm glass. Including zeiss sonar (especially magical in dark scenes), leica m 50/1.4 (wonderful rendering), leica sl 50 APO (disappointed in rendering- the SL 35/2 APO is gorgeous in rendering and the best of the SL APO glass in my opinion), Panasonic S 50/1.4 (gorgeous rendering), Leica SL 50/1.4 (a bit more gorgeous rendering than Panasonic and quite soft in extreme corners but better rendering than SL 50 APO), Olympus 25/1.2 ( rendering disappointing compared to gorgeous rendering of 17/1.2), Voigtlander 50/1.0 ( gorgeous rendering and way better than the Leica noctilux), Voigtlander 50/2 APO (great lens but not as gorgeous in rendering as the 35/2 APO. The only issue with 35 was it is not as small as the Leica m 35/2 APO – one does have to pay a lot more to get that exquisite lens due to the tiny size making the design far more challenging). In my view, the latest Voigtlander lenses are amazing and second to none in rendering if they suit you. We are really blessed these days with a lot of amazing options. The Voigtlander 50/1.0 does have field curvature but the Noctilux is no better in that aspect. The 50/2 APO is a wonderful landscape lens. I owned both lenses and used one at F/1 or so and the APO typically at f/8. I pick the best brush for the situation as I do in watercolour. Hence, In my OM system, I carry zooms for “f/8 photography” and a f/1.2 prime for “bokeh images”. There is no perfect lens for all types of photography. Anyway, for this article, the Voigtlanders will not disappoint for correct applications.
Thanks, Brian, for your kind feedback. I couldn’t agree more – the one and only perfect lens for all purposes simply doesn’t exist. However, the Voigtländer 50/1.5 and also the current Summilux 50 are, for M Mount, are good approximations. It‘s interesting what you are writing about your MFT setup. I just embarked on a trip to Italy, and with me is the OM-5 and the 12-100 zoom. A great setup for travel, and half the size and weight of a comparable full frame kit. You will read about it here… Best wishes and thanks again, JP
I used to own the 12 – 100 zoom and was delighted with it years ago. I sold it when I moved ti the Leica SL and lenses. However, I have moved back and the Pana Leica 12-60 is now my core lens. Looking forward to your article and forgot to mention I thoroughly enjoyed this article as I got distracted weaving my nifty fifty exploration. It taught me that lens rendering is a very personal choice and is not dependent on price but artistic expression. What one competent person recommends is not necessarily appropriate for your taste. It cost me a lot to confirm that Leica SL f/2 APO glass is not an f/1.4 lens in out of focus blur in contrast to their statement. I owned the Leica SL 35, 50, and 90 f/2 APO lenses as well as f/1.4 glass and the comparison was dramatic. Not surprisingly, Leica never showed comparison images. They make astonishing wonderful glass but please sell truth. I owned the best lens i have ever owned, the m 90/1.5 and it was not easy to sell when I fully committed to an OM system. Who knows I may buy it again and mount it on a Panasonic S5 version. A truly lovely rendering!
Mmm. I must say that I love the rendering of the SL Apo-Summicron. And of the Noct, which doesn’t have the same kind of weird field curvature problem of the otherwise attractive Nokton f1.0. Personal opinions I guess.
I agree – personal opinions. I have never liked the noctilux bokeh at all so that is personal aesthetic preference. I purchased the legendary Leica m 75/1.4 and the bokeh was terrible in my view and sold it after a very short period. We are blessed to have so many quality wonderful choices these days and my point fundamentally is cost is not a guarantee of quality or perfect rendering for all subjects and individual aesthetic preferences.
Hi Brian, on the Summicron-SL 35mm APO, it might just be one of the best lenses on this planet.. but it is 300-400g too heavy for its focal length and aperture, and that on a body that is already 100-200g too heavy, hence 6 reviews on B&H… or in other words nobody really cares…
Hi Joerg-Peter, thanks for one more article on the lenses.. I haven’t used any of these 50s but my consistent has been the Zeiss sonnar. It is amazingly light for a bright lens and has a wonderful character. I love the bokeh that lense produces.
The 50/1.0 tempts me but the weight and I think it can give some “funky” bokeh sometimes keeps me away from that. I read Steve Huff ‘s a while ago and in one of the pictures with foliage, the bokeh looks quite strange to me. He loved the lens in his review.
Ps- thanks for your previous reviews on biogon 35/2.8 and also 25mm. Needless to say I’m a fan of Zeiss lenses except their lens caps 😬
Hi, I purchased other brands of lens caps to replace the horrible zeiss lens caps which generally fell off anyway. I even had Canon and Nikon caps on them…you think Zeiss could have fixed that problem but the Leica had the X camera battery issue. Very puzzling.
Thanks, Mahesh,
It‘s always nice to hear that there are more fans of the more exotic M-Mount lenses out there. The Zeiss ZM line is a gem, and all the more remarkable as all lenses except of the 35/1.4 were designed in the analogue age. And most of them perform so well even on the super high resolving digital cameras! A pity that Zeiss takes no greater effort to push these products. Quite the contrary, I am a bit afraid that we are seeing a slow death of the ZM line. At any rate, theses lenses are keepers, and they will continue to be excellent, only the mechanical part can be a bit tricky.
As for the Voigtländer 50/1.0 – this is an interesting lens but certainly no all-rounder. Bokeh is, the longer am working on this topic the clearer gets my picture, first and foremost a matter of taste. All the better that we have so many choices.
Enjoy photography, Jörg-Peter
Yes than you. I’m actually saddened that Zeiss is slowly stopping/stopped the zm lenses. Their availability is certainly getting scarce.