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Voigtlander Nokton Aspherical 50mm f1.5 |
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Written by Frank Granovski
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Friday, 03 November 2006 |
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I bought a black one a few months back as a cheaper alternative to the Zeiss Planar 50mm f2. However, coupled with its reasonable cost was the necessary Leica M-mount to screw-mount adaptor, since the Bessa R3A is an M-mount camera. The lens feels like it's well-made despite it's light weight. The aperture and focusing ring are easy to operate though I would have preferred a bit more stiffness in the aperture---not that it is sloppy. However, this is a minor, personal preference. The Voigtlander lens adaptor is easy to screw in with the plastic mounting tool included with the adapter. Once mounted, the lens screws in snugly, but the alignment is slightly off. At first I was concerned but then I was reassured that this is normal with lens adapters.
The lens is large, as large as the Nikon E 100mm and with beautiful clear glass. It should feel heavier but due to its aluminum construction the "expected" weight is scaled back as with most of the Voigtlander line. I assume this is part of the philosophy: ergonomic and free from unnecessary weight, utilizing modern manufacturing materials and methods. With 6 lens elements, and the front element aspherical on both sides, makes this an interesting design. Standard 52mm threads make it easy to find Nikon SLR size filters and hood. F-stops are from 1.5 to 16 which "click" in half stops. Minimum focusing is 0.9 metres. Its 10-blade aperture provides plenty of bokeh, under the correct conditions.
Having shot 20 or so rolls of colour and B&W, my photos came out extremely sharp. However, sometimes background and edge detail was lost due to lens flaws such as vignetting, noise and flaring. Erwin Puts describes this in his review, "in backlightning and when recording specular highlights or small light-points." To somewhat minimize this flaring, I put on a longer lens hood from Hoya, and try to avoid these "small light-points" such as light reflections. This is less of a problem when shooting outdoors and especially when it's overcast---my favourite shooting condition. I found using F2 to F4 produces sharp, bokehful images; and the Nokton's peculiar personalty is something which grew on me. However, for that creamy B&W look for the lowlight/indoor stuff, I'm glad I have my Summicron-c 40 back. I use both lenses but for some reason I've been using the Nokton more, even indoors. I guess sharpness is my God! |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 06 February 2007 )
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