Voigtlander lenses

Alexauwa

When filming on the GH2 I`d like to shoot on Voigtlander lenses.

I'd be great to hear your feedback on it in term of sharpness, DOF, Bokeh and types.

I am primarily interest in the 25 mm 0.95 as it fits straight on the GH2 but als on
the Voigtländer Nokton Classic 35mm F1.4, 50 mm f1.1. and 50mm f1,5 which
require an adapter.

What experiences do did you make? What adapter do you recommand and whats
the difference using on?

Looking forward to your replies.

Best,
Alex

LPowell

I've used the Voigtlander 58mm f1.4 (Nikon F-mount) on GH1 and GH2 and it's a superb lens, highly recommended.

mickos

I'm using the 25 mm 0.95 on the GH13 - its great! But I'll probably get a monitor for better focus.

hishimaru

I would avoid getting the 35mm 1.4 nokton. I have the 40mm which is almost identical in build/style/size. While it works great on my Leica m6, it is not ergonomically suited for video work. The focus tab can make it awkward especially if you have a rig or even just a long tripod plate attached.

lenuisible

>I would avoid getting the 35mm 1.4 nokton.
Same here, I have the 40mm to, and even for stills, I find the focus tab annoying.
I fell in love with the nokton 0.95, and I'm considering the Voigt 35 1.2 Leica M with an adaptor for the focal, the speed, the handling and the look.
Very expensive, I should take a canon fd 35 f2 instead for 1/6 of the price, but ...

DeejayMD

Hello there!

I did some test shots on my way home from work a few weeks ago with the Voigtlander 25mm and the 14-140mm:

The Voigtlander is awesome. Hard to focus without a monitor (saving money for DP-6), but awesome!

astraban

ahah, the canon is probably going to be a step to it ! :-) I've the fd 35 f2, love it, but the voigt 35 1.2 is still tempting !...

kazuo

Go to this address to view a short film I shot with the Zeiss 50mm/1.7 and Nokton 40mm 1.4:
http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/1116/a-poem-shot-on-gh2#Item_3

The film was really an exercise to try out the two lenses, to see how they would complement one another in a real situation.

I also shoot with the Nokton 0.95 - it's a fantastic lens, albeit alittle soft when fully open. You would need to get yr settings right, especially when shooting with ND filters, cos it lets in 1 stop more light than the average. Very similar to the Nokton 0.95 is another fast lens, the Revuenon 55mm f1.2. I love it, especially its unique bokeh, and am convinced it has the same glass as the Nokton 0.95. So far only the 0.95 makes lemon shaped points of light, and the Revuenon is the same. Many critics have argued that the Revuenon is a remake of the legendary Tomioka, but I think a more plausible likelihood would be it's a lens made by Cosina. I suspect Cosina had worked on this lens, perfected the art of crafting fast glass, before it was ready to build and design the Nokton 0.95

Mimirsan

I have the CV Ultron 28mm f1.9...its my favourite lens nice and sharp and great colour rendition (it sits on my 5n all the time)
I also had the 40mm f1.4 MC Nokton...again very nice lens and pretty decent wide open but have sold it as Ive a 35mm f1.4 for xmas...I enjoy using the focus tab myself ;-)
The only downside to these lenses is theyre not very close focusing. The 25mm f0.95 is still king on M43 and has great uses as a macro lense also.

kazuo

The king of macro focusing has to be the Carl Zeiss Flektogon 35mm 2.4
I am constantly amazed at old technology. I love the lens to bits. It focuses at 0.18, you have to see the images to believe it - tack sharp at 0.18!

I agree with Mimirsan that the Voigts generally are not good at close focusing. I tried the Flek and the Nokton 40mm Classic side by side - the Nokton is nowhere close

Rerbreg

Yes, I agree 100 % Voigt excellent lenses ,very good for video work, 25, 50 1.1, just great.
Now I want 75 1.8 and 35 1.2 to collect a set.

Alexauwa

Thanks heaps for your feedback!

@DeejayMD nice footage, even really sharp. Did you decease the apature a lot when shooting the flowers on the voigtlander?

I was going to start with the 14-140 lens, would you recommand it when getting the kit?

Alexauwa

@LPowell Is there any adapter you'd recommand for the 58 mm?

LPowell

@Alexauwa

I tried several inexpensive Nikon F-mount adapters. This one had the tightest fit:

http://www.adorama.com/CZM43NK.html

DeejayMD

@Alexuawa
The footage even looks great on YouTube!
Flowers were shot with f_2.0 to f_2.4 i think. I forgot my Heliopan Vario ND so i had to shot with 1/1000 shutter speed.
When the sun is shining, the Nokton is really to "bright". You have to buy a ND Filter, when you don`t want to loose shallow DOF. Voigtlander is not that sharp at wide open, but beginning with f_2.0 to f_2.4 it`s very sharp.
The Bokeh is awesome anyway.
I ordered the GH2 with it`s 14-140mm because i needed a zoom lens which is optimized for video. And it is! And it is really sharp, as you can see in my testshots.

Ausboy

@DeejayMD - In case you don't know, focussing is not that hard with the GH2 because you have the focus assist. To access it with manual lenses, press the scroll wheel in with your thumb once. Voila - pin point accuracy as the tele zoom kicks in to help with focussing. With Pana lenses when the lenses are set to manual as soon as you touch the lens ring it zooms to assist with focus.

DeejayMD

Yeah, the focus assist. I use it all the time! It`s a feature i love, just as touching the LCD to focus with the 14-140mm. It never failed.

Alexauwa

@DeejayMD Thanks for response. Is your GH2 hacked (in video as well), if so what settings do you use?

DeejayMD

No, at that time no hack existed (July 2011) ;)

To be honest, my whole equipment (GH2, Voigtlander and the 14-140mm) was stolen a few weeks ago. I just ordered the same stuff today.
So i never used a hack before. But i`m going to, when i recieve my order.

When shooting my video i did a mistake. I used a very contrasty image style. Not good for post. The last settings i used (before i lost my GH2) were "nostalgic" with everything else lowered to -2, except sharpness to +1. And it was good :)

Alexauwa

@DeejayMD sorry to hear that. Hope insurrance will pay! I am about order to mine in the next few days ;)

Alexauwa

@DeejayMD Do the GH2 14-140 kit comes with a lens hood agains the sun?

thepalalias

@Alexauwa

I used the Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f 0.95 to shoot close-ups by candelight one night and an interview for a homeless documentary on another. The fact that you can use 25mm in a fast lens (as opposed to the 50 and 85mm f1.2 EOS lenses that Canon offers) is really helpful in terms of depth of field at night.

In the daylight, I compared the it to the Panasonic 20mm pancake (both at f16) and there was a big difference. At that aperture, the Nokton looked quite noticeably softer, but not necessarily in a bad way.

In fact, for shooting headshots, I would much rather use the Nokton. I'll see if I can find anything I can post to help.

DeejayMD

I just received my order! :)
@Alexauwa: Yes, lens hood comes with the kit.

kazuo

Generally i would stay away from the Panasonic zoom lenses cos they dun have fixed apertures. Use only fixed apertures if you are seriously trying to achieve anything cinematic.

DeejayMD

But you don`t want always cinematic. The 14-140mm with GH2 is almost like a normal camcorder due to it`s automatics. The 14-140mm is a good and very sharp lens, but with a non-cinematic character. If you want cinematic style with the Lumix lens, then step back and zoom in ;)

stoney

@DeejayMD Sorry to hear that. 25mm 0.95 is a great lens. So is 14-140.

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