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17.5mm F0.95 Voigtlander topic
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  • It's a beauty. I just received the lens (from Steven Gandy) and it's beautiful. Perfectly calibrated lens marks, close focus, smooth focus, long throw. Very much like a zeiss superspeed in build quality. I'm not sure how it will cut with my pana/leica 25mm, but we'll see if I ever cut something;). Here's an ungraded still I dug up from the garden.

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  • And now I have to find a follow focus that works for for the 17.5 and the 25mm pana (the latter I might sell) FYI - The above still is photo # 1 from the 17.5. I will try to cut together some video and put it up. I'm slow moving. Bye

  • Thanks Stonebat! I DO feel very lucky in all ways. Have a nice weekend.

  • Got mine last night. Very tight mount. Since it has deeper DOF than Nokton 25mm, the max aperture seems quite useful.

    Long throw between 15cm and 1m focus scale. 1cm short throw between 1m and infinity focus scale where Nokton 25mm has 1.5cm throw between 2m and infinity focus scale.

    The clickless aperture locking ring works like a limiter on max clickless aperture value. E.g. Clickless aperture from 0.95 to 1.4.

    Yes I like 17.5mm focal length on M43. A standing portrait is possible at 5m away.

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  • Got mine today. Liking it so far. Gonna test it more thoroughly this weekend and compare it to the 25mm Nokton.

  • I noticed some purple fringing wide open. Does anyone know a good way to "defringe" footage besides uisng Lightroom?

  • @Tobsen

    how does it compare with the 25mm?

  • @sid I shot the hell out of the two Voigtländer noktons today. I didn't do any "scientific" comparison yet, but they work well together (what was expected). Next week in post I'll see more about sharpness, CA and so on. Feels a bit sharper wide open though....

  • 17.5mm 0.95 is really nice for creating the sensation of space and depth. So is 25.95. I don't think one can replace the other.

  • @stonebat

    thats what i was wanting to hear!

    so there is good reason to get the 17.5 even if you already own the 25mm

    which one would be on your camera more?

    thanks

  • For 16:9, 25mm would be my favorite. For 2.35:1 cropped from 16:9, definitely 17.5mm :) It's super sharp at f/2.8. Very nice color.

    Both are versatile lenses, and I won't be selling either one for very long time.

  • I'm conflicted. I have the 25mm version and I love it. It's exactly the kind of tool that I want to be working with. But I'm not sure if 17.5 is different enough to warrant another such a big investment. I pick up a zoom lense, look through it @25mm and then @17mm and with a few steps back and forth I don't see such a big difference. I know that FOV changes the feel of the space - but how much do these 7mm change, really? - I've got a hard time imagining a situation where I'd have the 25mm and think "shit, I wish I had the 17mm for this shot" or vise-versa.

  • Go to flickr. Find Canon 50mm 1.4 group and Canon 35mm 1.4 group. Browse photos. If you don't see much difference, don't buy it.

    To my eyes there is more difference between 17.5 and 25 than between 35 and 50 on Gh2. Prolly it's because I'm used to FOV from 20mm pancake.

  • BTW one could build a set of 17.5/25/35/58 or 12/17.5/24/42.5. Why 4 primes each? Simply based on optical characterstics. Perspective distortion and background FOV. Unlike some other lenses, wide angle converter is not a good idea for Nokton. The front element is too big.

  • Not sure if this was a rhetorical suggestion, but I actually tried that flickr comparison. Didn't find looking at diversely cropped images of different frame sizes to give me a good sense for the FOV differences. I prefer my original method of using a zoom lens and quickly going from 17 and 25. To be perfectly clear, I'm not arguing there isn't a difference - just that I'm debating with myself if I need it considering the price - and this is purely personal of course. 90% of the time I'm perfectly happy shooting the world with one 25mm and one 50mm lens. I wouldn't go out with only either one, though.

  • Good for you. Just keep moving on. They are just tools ;)

  • I just shot an entire 1 hour pilot for a makeover show over three days and did not once take off my beloved new 17.5mm! This lens is amazing and I couldn't be happier. I have briefly used, but don't own the 25mm. Perhaps I'm biased, as traditional 35mm fov is my favorite, along with 85mm, but I bought this lens knowing that it would be the one to live on my GH2 75% of the time. The images are stunning. Sharp in focus points with a beautiful creamy background. And when you hit that perfect focus from the 2-3 foot range, there is a pronounced 3D effect that makes people (especially women) look incredible. Plus close focus shots are fun and beautiful too. Very versatile lens. I'll try to get some footage soon for you guys.

  • Hello. Does anybody know good places to buy this lens online in Europe? Good prices? Thanks.

  • Regarding a previous posting, this lens works with the Canon WD58. Sharpness with the adapter is acceptable, and there is barrel distortion (similar to any decent wide adapter on a video camera). The weight of the adapter on the front focusing group does cause drag in the focus mechanism unless you provide support.

  • @Albi

    In this french shop the price is the normal retail price : 1139€ :

    http://www.lapetiteboutiquephoto.com/boutique/fiche_produit.cfm?ref=PBP011VC50NOCT17-095&type=143&code_lg=lg_fr&num=3

    It's completely safe to order from them, just check if they ship to your country, but if you're in the Schengen Area, I don't see why it would be different from one of the country they say they ship to :

    http://www.lapetiteboutiquephoto.com/page_8,fr,8,8.cfm

    You can try to call them at : +33 2 97 48 67 68

    Or write them an email at : lapetiteboutiquephoto@gmail.com

  • Same EUR 1,139.00 is available from their ebay store

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/110881644433

  • Created this short film shot entirely with the 17.5mm Voigtlander.

  • @beeldlab wow that was beautiful!

  • We shot a short portrait using Voigtländer and Nikon lenses. The first two shots, for example, were taken with the 17.5mm nokton. There are several more though like the cover pic.