New Voigtländer Nokton 25mm F0.95

Nokton │ Canon Powershot S90 │ 22.5mm F4.9 1/30s ISO100When I tried the Nokton at Photokina I was still unsure if a fully manual lens made sense for me ( LINK to my original article). It doesn't support autofocus, automatic aperture control or electronic distortion and aberration correction. In short, there is no electronic communication between the lens and the camera whatsoever. The Nokton's extreme wide aperture, however, is a compelling argument in its favour. Even compared to the relatively bright Lumix 20mm pancake, the Voigtländer 25mm lets in 1.5 stops more light. That can definitely be the difference between a good photo and one compromised by excessive noise.

On the one hand I wanted the lens, on the other hand I was concerned that the lack of autofocus would make it too much of a speciality lens; one I wouldn't use enough to justify the investment (€ 900,-). I wasn't going to shell out that much money as long as there was a chance that I would be frustrated by having to manually focus each and every shot. To find out if that's the case, I shot extensively with an old Nikon lens in the last 2 months . Like the Voigtländer Nokton, both aperture and focus have to be set manually for each shot.

Mask │ GF1 + Voigtländer Nokton 25mm F0.95 │ 25mm F0.95 1/400s ISO100 That went surprisingly well. Well enough that I eventually decided to purchase the Nokton. A large percentage of my photos are of static subjects where there's more than enough time to set focus. Not only that, focusing manually forces you to decide what the most important feature of a photo is. Not that you shouldn't do that when using autofocus, but a manual lens forces you to do it for every shot. Quite a few times I pointed the camera at a scene only to determine there wasn't really anything that stood out. So I put the camera down and moved on without taking a photo.

I'm starting to enjoy working with manual lenses. They force me to take control of my settings, hopefully to the benefit of my photography. I know that's not a revelation for some, but for those like me who have become a little too reliant on the camera's automatic functions, it's a good exercise.

Black & White │ GF1 + Voigtländer Nokton 25mm F0.95 │ 25mm F1.4 1/2000s ISO100 The Voigtländer Nokton 25mm F0.95 itself is a beautifully crafted, metal lens. All that metal and glass comes at a price though: 410g is quite heavy on a compact Micro Four Thirds body like the GF1. Still OK, but probably better suited to the slightly larger, G2 and GH2 bodies. The Nokton's focusing ring is smooth yet has enough resistance as you turn it. Aperture can be set with precise clicks at half stop intervals. Due to its position at the front of the barrel, it's possible to accidentally change the aperture when pulling the camera from its bag. In terms of build quality, the Nokton easily surpasses any of the modern lenses I have ever used . It just feels great in your hand.

In Front of the Screen │ GF1 + Voigtländer Nokton 25mm F0.95 │ 25mm F0.95 1/160s ISO400 Optically, my first impressions are also positive. I need to shoot more with the lens to get a better feel for its bokeh. There is some purple fringing  along high contrast edges when shooting wide open ( LINK to F0.95 crop). There's also an abrupt decrease in sharpness in the extreme corners of the frame, even stopped down  ( LINK for F4.0 out-of-camera JPEG). But the greater part of the frame resolves a lot of fine detail and has excellent contrast. I don't consider the extreme corners that relevant when shooting wide open with a narrow depth of field. Where the lens is focused is certainly sharp enough at F0.95...and that's the most important aspect of this lens. After all, what's the point of acquiring an exceptionally bright F0.95 lens that you can't use wide open?


With no electronic contacts, the lens doesn't report focal length and aperture to the camera for inclusion in the photo's EXIF information. So here's my rather primitive solution: each sequence of photos at a particular aperture was followed by a photo of  the aperture scrawled in the snow. My suggestion: wear gloves if you're shooting for extended periods.

Comments

[candid photographer]

Great lens the new Nokton ... the portrait you shot reminds me somehow on my old leica lenses ... great !!!

[Björn Utpott]

Thanks, Peter. I've never had the opportunity to use those legendary old Leica lenses, so I'll have to take your word for it.