35mm M lenses. Leica vs Voigtlander. New vs Vintage. Expensive vs Cheap. What should you buy?
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- čas přidán 1. 03. 2021
- Summilux vs Nokton vs Summicron. $8000 vs $3000 vs $1000 AUD. Contract vs Dreamy Look. Oh how do you choose what is right for you. This video compares 3 M-mount 35mm lenses.
Leica Summilux 35mm f1.4 (Current version) - approx. $8000 AUD new
Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.4 (about 5 years old) - approx. $1000 used
Leica Summicron 35mm f2.0 V3 (1973) - approx. $3000 used
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I have a lens you didn't review. The Zeiss 35mm 1.4 It's superb. I also, have the very inexpensive Voigtlander 35mm color skopar which is great for monochrome and I really like the small size.
Thanks for the info! Will have to look out for these lenses.
Thank you for the comparison, really appreciate it 😊 Something which I didn't expect from all three lenses was the amount of longitudinal aberration, very interesting for 35mm. Not to forget how only the Cron seems to display field curvature - still all lovely lenses.
Glad it was helpful!
Great video. Considering the framing is roughly correct which negates heavy cropping, in practice, the CA and local focus falloff patterns are not as noticeable as the overall structure. The Nokton is known to be very soft wide open so no surprise there. However, I didn't expect all three lenses to be this close nor the Lux to be marginally flat in comparison to the Cron. Thank you!
Thanks for watching and commenting Jonas. Yes it’s good to know the characteristics of the lens to help with expectations when using them. I actually use all 3 lenses across my Leica and Nikon-Z systems. Cheers
Im about to buy an m7 and really enjoyed the review on lenses. I think im going to go with the summilux. Just gotta find one for the right price. Thankyou
Good choice!
Had a new 90 apo; backfocused horribly and returned it. Bought a 90 elmarit-m. Had a 50 Norton vm, wasn’t special and traded it towards a 50 Lux. I’m done with Voightlander for lenses I might use more often-meaning if I might want to try my hated 35mm (I’m a 28 guy with a Cron asph), I might try a Voightlander. I’m a big Zeiss ZE fan with my Canon system (I have 8) so I tried a ZM 25mm and not blown away. I’ve now got a 24mm elmarit.
Thanks for sharing your experience with lenses. The back focus issue you were experiencing with the 90mm APO might be because your Leica M range finder focus might need some slight adjustment. I have found the 90mm APO will be the first lens you will notice this on Leica M's (because of its narrow depth of field, shooting at f2.0). Once you go down in focal lengths towards 24mm it's less noticeable, also true when the aperture is shut down to increase the depth of field. I have a video on how to adjust the Leica M, the link is here.czcams.com/video/lE7Yh5BgJ0I/video.html
I useful chart comparison. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
Liked! Thanks for these useful comparisons. I already have the Zeiss Distagon 35mm f/1.4 ZM, which is a wonderful “modern” lens, amazingly sharp, even when wide-open, and with a quite large overall size. Now and then, I consider adding a somewhat smaller 35mm lens, perhaps with some of that dreamy look, or other optical imperfections/aberrations. Of the three lenses discussed in this presentation, the Nokton and the Summilux have my attention, more than the vintage Summicron.
Ultimately, it is the Voigtlander 35mm f/1.4 Nokton Classic VM II MC, that wins this thought exercise, for me, being so much like a classic, pre-ASPH 35mm Summilix-M, but using a readily-obtainable hood, and threaded for readily-obtainable filters.
Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts.
Your Leica 35/2 Summicron-M was likely opened/serviced but not correctly put together - the Leica Pocket Book has photos of all 35 mm Summicron versions ever made, and all of them have focus and aperture stop aligned.
Thanks for watching and your comments.
great Test... but how about considering also a 35 1.4 Zeiss Distagon vs 35 Summilux FLE?? Thanks M
Great point! I'll have to get my hands on that particular lens one day to compare.
Hi Peter! Thanks a lot for the video, it was so useful. I have a Nokton and I was thinking about to upgrade to the Summicron 35mm V4. The Nokton cost me around 650€ and the Summicron I’m checking is about 2100€. After watch this video, I don’t see really a difference between those lenses. Do you think it’s a good idea to upgrade? Is Nokton lacking 3D pop or micro contrast comparing to the Leica Summicron?
Thanks a lot for you answer and happy new year!
Thanks for watching. You budget will no doubt influence your decision. The Nokton is a great lens and excellent value. The best camera/lens is the one you have in your hand when you want to take a shot. Also, decisions are most often emotional, then backed up by fact. So, my suggestion, buy whatever makes you happy right now. Use it, perfect it, then decide whether to add to it, trade it etc. We are all limited by budget, opportunity and our personal desires.... Cheers
Hi Peter.....is used leica T + Voigtländer Nokton 40mm 1.4 a good pairing for auto focus mode / portrait photography?
Thanks Guru for advice!
What lens is best for leica T then? 🤭
Thanks for watching. My experience is with the M-mount bodies and lenses. Not the guru on the T mount. Maybe in the future.
@@Adventure8 thanks for replying. Cool, anticipating your sharing.
Is the Voigtlander the single coated version? As I understand it is designed to be dreamy and have low contrast.
Mine is multi coat. Good contrast and detail. Some focus shift when changing aperture between f2 and f5.6
Assuming your current version of the Summilux is coded and thus efix data correct, in the first two photo comparisons, the selected photo is at f2.4 (per the histogram data in LRc) and not f2.0, so it appears like you compared the Summilux at f2.4 versus the other lenses at f2.0. The third comparison between the Voigtlander and Summicron at f2 shows the selected photo at f2.8 but I don't believe that the Voigtlander lens is coded. The fourth comparison between the Summilux and Voigtlander at f4 shows the selected image (Summilux) at f4.8. Can you please verify the results?
Hi, thanks for watching. It’s a bit confusing with Lightroom meta data. I did have the correct apertures. Lightroom does a calculation from the histogram, based on the available light, shutter speed and ISO to calculate the aperture used. It can be incorrect by up to 1.5 stops. Most always calculating a smaller aperture than actually used, ie. using f2.0, Lightroom might calculate f2.0, f2.4, f2.8 or sometimes f3.5. The 6 Bit coding only tells the body what lens use bing used (focal length and aperture). There is a menu selection for those lens with no Bit coding. I was really careful to compare shots at the same apertures. Sorry for the confusion.
@@Adventure8 Thank you for the clarification.
@@Adventure8 I get similar effects with Capture one. This seems to be a Leica thing as I’ve never had this happen with any of my Nikon DSLRs
@@ofeykalakar1 yes it’s a leica think because leica m lenses have no electronics or contacts to the body that would transfer information (except 6bit coding, which only tells the body what type of lens is mounted). The camera guesses the aperture based on the results of the light meter in the camera. Totally different system then nikon, canon etc
Starting point when assembling lens focus mount is wrong, accidentally, or on purpose,
Thanks
Where are the excellent Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 35mm 2.0 Aspherical Lens which have outstanding optical image quality !?
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