Voigtländer Nokton 25mm F0.95
Monday, September 27, 2010 at 15:10 ;)
Reaching │ GF1 + Voigtländer 25mm F0.95 │ 25mm F0.95 1/500s ISO160I got to spend a few minutes at Photokina with this very special lens mounted to my GF1. It's amazing how much light this lens lets in: 1.5 stops more than the 20mm F1.7 pancake. At 410g, the beautifully crafted lens is quite heavy. It's not much lighter than the heaviest Micro Four Thirds Lenses. I feel it's better suited to the Panasonic Gx and GHx bodies than the more compact rangefinder style cameras. You definitely want to use an electronic viewfinder for manual focus. Not only can the camera be somewhat unstable held at arms length, reflections on the rear screen can make it difficult to judge the optimum focus distance.
I'm still debating whether adding this lens will be a priority. On the one hand, it has amazing potential as a low light lens where you can choose to work with a relatively shallow depth of field. On the other hand, it's quite heavy, expensive and automatic control of focus and aperture are not supported. While there are times when manual focus is desirable, there are others where the speed of autofocus and face detection technology are valuable. So if Panasonic were to come up with a (hypothetical) 25mm F1.4 lens, I might choose it despite the Voigtländer being 1 stop brighter. But the Voigtländer is still tempting...
Both of the photos in this post were taken at F0.95. Click Here for a GF1 RAW file also taken with the Voigtländer at F0.95. I'm so used to taking indoor photos at higher sensitivities that I forgot to set the ISO to 100 for this lens.
;)
Object of my Desire │ GF1 + Voigtländer 25mm F0.95 │ 25mm F0.95 1/400s ISO160
25mm, F0.95, Panasonic GF1, Voigtländer
Reader Comments (14)
Wow, thanks for sharing sharing nice information about fuji digital camera.
Thanks for the brief review. I am wondering about buying this lens also.
I have two questions, if you don't mind answering:
1. Is the aperture ring step-less(continues) or is it step by step? I have Canon FD 50mm 1.4 and aperture is step by step and every time I change it, my camera shakes. Really annoying when filming a video.
2. Is the Manual focus assist automatically triggered when focus is used?
Hi; the aperture ring of the Voigtländer 25/0.95 has distinct aperture steps. There's a click at each setting, but I'm not sure if this is more or less than on your Canon lens. Unfortunately, manual focus assist is not triggered when you turn the focus ring: there is no electronic connection between the lens and the camera.
The extra stop (compared to a f1.4 lens) might not seem much in today stabilized, high-ISO noise correction, digital photography, but to a videographer, every stop is a godsend. It means significantly less lighting, and open the possibility to shoot pass the magic hour in specific settings. I predict this lens, combined with the GH2, will be extremely popular in the next few months. I sure wish I had the budget.
Yes, budget is the critical factor. So I have to decide between the Voigtländer and a likely Panasonic alternative. As you say, the one extra stop of the 25/0.95 is a considerable advantage, and not only to videographers, but also to (predominantly) stills photographers like myself. But I will wait until I know more about the Panasonic lens before I make a decision. Who knows, besides offering the advantages that a full electronic connection brings, Panasonic may surprise us and the lens might be faster than f/1.4.
Bjorn,
I just purchased an Olympus E-PL1 on the weekend. How did the 25mm .95 compare with your 1.7? Obviously you didn't get a chance to use it much. I guess I'm looking for impressions. I have yet to buy the 1.7 (we are going on holiday in ten days. Plan to buy something down there) Still, the .95 looks great. Was it heavy? Would bulk be an issue?
Congratulations on your new E-PL1. I didn't do any side by side image quality tests, nor did I use the Voigtländer at apertures smaller than f/1.4. Subjectively, I wasn't that impressed by its image quality. The Lumix 20/1.7 is sharp right from the largest aperture. But I don't think that image quality is the biggest issue when deciding between the 20/1.7 and the 25/0.95. I'd say yes, the bulk of the Voigtländer is definitely an issue: at 410g, it weighs more than the E-PL1 or the GF1 (348g with battery and card). Such a heavy lens negates a lot of the advantage of such a compact camera.
You also loose a lot of features due to the Voigtländer not having an electronic connection with the camera. These include, autofocus, face detection AF/AE, automatic aperture control, EXIF, automatic magnification in MF, as well as in-camera correction for distortion and aberration. Of course you don't all of those things all the time, but they sure are handy when you don't have time to set everything manually. I also find manual focus via the rear screen less than ideal; at arm's length it's challenging to hold the camera in a stable fashion. As a result, the magnified preview moves around and any reflections make it even more difficult to judge sharpness. I think a large, high resolution EVF works better for manual focus.
I'd strongly recommend the 20/1.7: it's both compact and versatile. The perfect lens for travel. Enjoy your trip.
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Hi Bjorn. Thank you for your review - it was super informative. One question relating to your email replies.
You say "Congratulations on your new E-PL1. I didn't do any side by side image quality tests, nor did I use the Voigtländer at apertures smaller than f/1.4. Subjectively, I wasn't that impressed by its image quality. The Lumix 20/1.7 is sharp right from the largest aperture. "
Are you saying you were not impressed with the image quality of the Voigtlander? You prefer teh images from the Lumix 20mm?
thanks
This was written back before I bought the Nokton. It's a lens that I needed to become more familiar with in order to get good results out of. In all but the extreme corners, the Voigtländer Nokton is sharper than the Lumix pancake at equivalent apertures. I wrote an article after shooting with the Nokton for a few days: http://www.bmupix.com/journal/2010/12/4/new-voigtlander-nokton-25mm-f095.html
I guess I'm looking for impressions. I have yet to buy the 1.7 (we are going on holiday in ten days. Plan to buy something down there) Still, the .95 looks great.
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Yeah it’s a serious review. But in video terms, and that is my main purpose, the cons are really minimized. Great lens, unique signature!
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What remarkable post! Unfortunately, manual focus assist is not triggered when you turn the focus ring: there is no electronic connection between the lens and the camera.
Thanks Camarad; even though manual focus assist is not triggered automatically, it's a simple matter on most Lumix G bodies to depress the rear thumb wheel to engage the enlarged focus assist view.