seb
Member
I prefer the colored one. The subtle colors in the "washed out" scenery are beautiful and the picture itself pops out of all the contrasty, saturated shots people wants to create out of such situations.
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Fun With Sony Cameras
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scho
Well-known member
A few of my first shots with the new CV 40/1.2 Nokton on the A7II. I like the way this MF lens handles on the Sony A7II and although there is some CA image quality is otherwise very good. I now have a relatively compact 3 lens CV kit with the 12mm Ultrawide, 40mm Nokton, and 65mm Lanthar. I may add a 21mm Zeiss Loxia to the kit (had the CV 21/1.8, but too large so it was sold).
An old exposure meter. Highly recommended by Herbert Ponting, who used one to good effect in 1910, when he was the official photographer with Captain Scott on the ill-fated Antarctic Polar Expedition, and also travels to the far east and America etc., glass plates and all !!
And Alfred Watkins was one of those old late Victorian poly-what-nots who built some cameras, was a businessman, an antiquarian and an archaeologist who coined the term 'ley lines' for the apparent arrangement of ancient features in straight lines across the countryside. He wrote "The Old Straight Track', a book read by inquisitive hippies in the early'70s!
And Alfred Watkins was one of those old late Victorian poly-what-nots who built some cameras, was a businessman, an antiquarian and an archaeologist who coined the term 'ley lines' for the apparent arrangement of ancient features in straight lines across the countryside. He wrote "The Old Straight Track', a book read by inquisitive hippies in the early'70s!
Portugal has its share of remarkable churches - Igreja de São Francisco shows Franciscans being beheaded by Japanese warriors (yes, they look like Moors, but are supposed to be Japanese):
Santuário de Nossa Senhora da Nazaré houses an ancient wooden statue of the Madonna:
But if I were a church goer I’d probably choose Sao Domingos. It’s been through fires, earthquakes, and floods; what remains is simple and shows its history:
Santuário de Nossa Senhora da Nazaré houses an ancient wooden statue of the Madonna:
But if I were a church goer I’d probably choose Sao Domingos. It’s been through fires, earthquakes, and floods; what remains is simple and shows its history:
I haven't seen so much 3D in quite sometime.
Dear Barry, nothing to worry about.All the best to you and Alice.
And thanks for the kind words about my Venice pictures.
Your findings about the Voigtländer Nokton 40/1.2 are a nice addition to the linked reviews.
I can add, that the lens comes with punch in the darks. Some likes that. Sadly it's not my preference. On the other hand FL40 seems to suit me, the IQ is very good and I like the rendering (even with the mediocre onions on some distances). Therefore I put some effort to find a good way in post to reduce the time for the contrast-issue and be happy at the moment with the lens combo you already pointed at.
The 65 looks like a must have. But I'm still thinking about the loxia 85 instead. It's just more my style (FL and IQ). And as long as I'm still thinking I'm not in a hurry to buy it. Which is good too. :angel:
Two more from Venice:
Venice
(a7RII + Voigtländer Nokton 40/1.2)
Barry Haines
Active member
Knorp
Well-known member
Barry Haines
Active member
Hi Bart, hoping that I'm guessing you correctly, that you are looking for a verdict on the CV40mm.
Truth be told, I have not taken all that many pics with this lens since receiving it last month (well not as many as I would have liked to!)...The weather/light has been pretty grim here lately and I'm now just getting over a bout of man-flu :-( ......and all us guys know how bad that can be ;-)
Probably Seb and Carl are the best people to ask if you are looking for a deeper in-look perspective into the Pro's and Con's of the new CV40mm F1.2
Although I did spend a bit of time at home yesterday comparing it against the ZM35/F1.4 (a smallish MF lens that I really do like a lot! which is also fast and close by in FL).
The aperture ring is clicky in the same way as the CV65mm is...The focus ring has less resistance than the 65mm but not sloppy in anyway, it's still smooth and buttery...The 65mm has that Leica lens feel that I like, just the right amount of resistance, which I'm sure you are aware of.
The lens is short (the shortest I own) and remarkably light for a standard FL lens (It does not have quite the same feeling of heft/solidity of the CV65mm though but then it's a lot lighter and I appreciate that), it handles/balances really well on the A7 series cameras, that has a less troublesome girth than the CV65 does if you have big fingers between the lens and the cameras grip.
The lens throw at 120 deg (Inf-0.35m) is very nice indeed...The lens separation of subject matter performs very well indeed WO in the 1.5m - 5m range, giving you that 3D look with nice OoF transitions in the foreground and background (not nervous double edged at all that I have noticed...If you see it, then my PP is to blame).
The lens is chipped for exif data which is handy for auto-profiling in PS etc...although I'm not aware of a LR/PS specific profile yet being released for it to date.
Filters can be fitted inside the lens hood itself, just like my old 58mm CV Nokton does which is great if just wanting to fit a protection UV/Clear filter but awkward if you regularly change filters out, then you would be probably better off IMO leaving the hood off and attaching them directly to the lens itself.
When shooting WO expect to pretty much ALWAYS correct the CA for colour images I find this the most annoying thing about the lens itself....It does clean up nicely though and not really a problem when stopping down.
I do tend to over sharpen and add more structure by comparison to others here, which I do realize has a detrimental effect upon the nice rendering that this lens can produce...Seb's nighttime pictures of Venice are lovely processed in C1 which proves that I'm to blame and not the lens itself.
The lens performs much better stopped down than I first thought and is nearly comparable to my ZM35/f1.4 with front filter correction and shim removed, which I find remarkable!
If you are looking for a thumbs up then I would say...Yes (Value for money the lens is for sure....although that is meaningless in some ways as this lens is fairly unique that has no rivals that I can see as a 40mm FL lens).
It's a nice compliment to your CV65mm with about the right amount of AoV spacing of those two FL's...It also sits in very nicely between your 2 Sigma Art lenses (20mm and 135mm).
It makes for a very versatile lens for travel that even stitches together nicely, that's if you need something a bit wider as Seb has also demonstated earlier.
Hope that helps Bart, wishing you all the very best.
Cheers Barry
pegelli
Well-known member
Hi Barry, thanks for the extensive write-up.
I've been eyeing this lens, but already have a M-mount Nokton 35/1.2 II and a Heliar 40/2.8. If I remember correctly you had (or have) a Nokton 35 and how would you compare it to the new Nokton 40? The way you describe it it doesn't seem that much different in rendering as well the need for CA clean-up when used wide open.
For me the 65 is a no-brainer for a next lens in my bag, but I wonder if it would it be worth exchanging my Nokton 35 and Heliar 40 for one new Nokton 40?
Life's choices can be tough
I've been eyeing this lens, but already have a M-mount Nokton 35/1.2 II and a Heliar 40/2.8. If I remember correctly you had (or have) a Nokton 35 and how would you compare it to the new Nokton 40? The way you describe it it doesn't seem that much different in rendering as well the need for CA clean-up when used wide open.
For me the 65 is a no-brainer for a next lens in my bag, but I wonder if it would it be worth exchanging my Nokton 35 and Heliar 40 for one new Nokton 40?
Life's choices can be tough
Barry Haines
Active member
Hi Pieter, my apologies for the delay in answering...I had just logged out before catching your comment.Hi Barry, thanks for the extensive write-up.
I've been eyeing this lens, but already have a M-mount Nokton 35/1.2 II and a Heliar 40/2.8. If I remember correctly you had (or have) a Nokton 35 and how would you compare it to the new Nokton 40? The way you describe it it doesn't seem that much different in rendering as well the need for CA clean-up when used wide open.
For me the 65 is a no-brainer for a next lens in my bag, but I wonder if it would it be worth exchanging my Nokton 35 and Heliar 40 for one new Nokton 40?
Life's choices can be tough
Yes, I had the 35mm Voigtlander f1.2 Nokton Mk2 a few years back as you know (I wrote a bit about it for Guy buried in this tread somewhere), after previously owning a ZM 35mm f2 Biogon on a Sony APS-C Nex-5N camera and previous to that I must have spent about a couple of decades shooting film with a 35mm Summilux M and a 35mm Summicron M (80's & 90's lens versions on my Leica M4, M6's and a brief time also spent with a 35mm R Summicron on my R6.2)...All of those lenses perfomed admirably but from memory I think I personally preferred the rendering of the CV35/f1.2 out of all of those if that helps....Lens choices are personal and subjective and if you asked somebody else they might possibly give you a completely different answer to myself.
I felt that all 3 Nokton lenses (35mm, 40mm and 58mm) behaved very similarly to one another in so many ways, each one has a very pleasant smooth OoF transitional rendering that also performs decently sharp across the frame when stopped down but they all have suffered from certain amount of WO CA that needed fixing in post...The 40mm may possibly be the sharpest of those 3 lenses once stopped down but that comes at a price of having probably the worst CA WO IMHO of all 3 of them...The 58mm was still a little bit soft in the extreme corners when stopped down but it had a very nice classic style of rendering WO...BTW, I recently sold the 58mm to fund the 50mm Mitakon which on reflection may have been a mistake!
If I was you, I would personally just keep the 35mm Nokton F1.2 for now and just go with the 65mm Macro Apo-Lanthar as it's a no brainer as you say, both those two lenses compliment one another perfectly 35mm and 65mm FL's
The only thing you are missing out on is the exif data on the CV35/f1.2 as opposed the E mount 40mm F1.2...If I ever get a chance to travel again, then perhaps we could possibly meet up one day (that would be nice), you would be most welcome to borrow the CV40mm and then you could draw your own conclusions...The CV40mm F1.2 is certainly a very nice lens and a bargain compared to many of the the other lenses which are now available for us Sony users.Wishing you the right lens decision...All the very best.
Cheers Barry
Ummm... Fun with Capture One (loving the free copy of this raw converter - will probably buy a Sony licence). Couple of photos I've shown before, followed by a couple not yet seen.
Hong Kong From The Peak Circle Walk by Jason Hindle, on Flickr
Lockhart Road by Jason Hindle, on Flickr
Causway Bay at Night #2 by Jason Hindle, on Flickr
Causway Bay at Night by Jason Hindle, on Flickr
Hong Kong From The Peak Circle Walk by Jason Hindle, on Flickr
Lockhart Road by Jason Hindle, on Flickr
Causway Bay at Night #2 by Jason Hindle, on Flickr
Causway Bay at Night by Jason Hindle, on Flickr
Knorp
Well-known member
Thank you very much for that jury verdict, Barry :thumbs:
The 65/2 is an awesome performer, but I’m not sure about that 40/1.2 yet. Although you, Seb and Carl showed some excellent images I’m still on the fence.
The burglars left me the silver 35/1.2 Mk1 and while stopped down it’s not too bad, WO it is soft and suffers from a bad imitation of that illusive ‘Leica glow’ ...
Because of those flaws I took interest in the 40/1.2, but I’m not in a hurry.
Btw rumour has it there is a 125/2 in the works ... :bugeyes:
All the very best.
The 65/2 is an awesome performer, but I’m not sure about that 40/1.2 yet. Although you, Seb and Carl showed some excellent images I’m still on the fence.
The burglars left me the silver 35/1.2 Mk1 and while stopped down it’s not too bad, WO it is soft and suffers from a bad imitation of that illusive ‘Leica glow’ ...
Because of those flaws I took interest in the 40/1.2, but I’m not in a hurry.
Btw rumour has it there is a 125/2 in the works ... :bugeyes:
All the very best.
iiiNelson
Well-known member
The 35 Norton II is the ONLY M mount lense I didn’t sell. For most things I preferred the 35 Summicron but for people photography the 35 Nokton II is one of, if not, the best 35 lenses I’ve shot on any platform. Every picture I’ve seen of the 40/1.2 has the same characteristics as the 35 so I agree with your write up.Hi Pieter, my apologies for the delay in answering...I had just logged out before catching your comment.
Yes, I had the 35mm Voigtlander f1.2 Nokton Mk2 a few years back as you know (I wrote a bit about it for Guy buried in this tread somewhere), after previously owning a ZM 35mm f2 Biogon on a Sony APS-C Nex-5N camera and previous to that I must have spent about a couple of decades shooting film with a 35mm Summilux M and a 35mm Summicron M (80's & 90's lens versions on my Leica M4, M6's and a brief time also spent with a 35mm R Summicron on my R6.2)...All of those lenses perfomed admirably but from memory I think I personally preferred the rendering of the CV35/f1.2 out of all of those if that helps....Lens choices are personal and subjective and if you asked somebody else they might possibly give you a completely different answer to myself.
I felt that all 3 Nokton lenses (35mm, 40mm and 58mm) behaved very similarly to one another in so many ways, each one has a very pleasant smooth OoF transitional rendering that also performs decently sharp across the frame when stopped down but they all have suffered from certain amount of WO CA that needed fixing in post...The 40mm may possibly be the sharpest of those 3 lenses once stopped down but that comes at a price of having probably the worst CA WO IMHO of all 3 of them...The 58mm was still a little bit soft in the extreme corners when stopped down but it had a very nice classic style of rendering WO...BTW, I recently sold the 58mm to fund the 50mm Mitakon which on reflection may have been a mistake!
If I was you, I would personally just keep the 35mm Nokton F1.2 for now and just go with the 65mm Macro Apo-Lanthar as it's a no brainer as you say, both those two lenses compliment one another perfectly 35mm and 65mm FL's
Wishing you the right lens decision...All the very best.
Cheers Barry
pegelli
Well-known member
Thanks Barry, I've been thinking about a trip to Cornwall (also inspired by your and other people's beautiful images on this forum) so if I do I'll get in contact and see if we can arrange a "shoot-out". Nothing firmly planned yet and my better half is lukewarm to the idea (mainly related to weather risk) but hasn't outright turned me down yet :lecture:Hi Pieter, my apologies for the delay in answering...I had just logged out before catching your comment.
...
If I was you, I would personally just keep the 35mm Nokton F1.2 for now and just go with the 65mm Macro Apo-Lanthar as it's a no brainer as you say, both those two lenses compliment one another perfectly 35mm and 65mm FL's
Wishing you the right lens decision...All the very best.
Cheers Barry
Indeed, I'll start with the APO-Lanthar as soon as the piggy bank is filled enough and if Bart's rumour of a 125/2 version comes out it might jump ahead of the 40 anyway :clap:
Barry Haines
Active member
Hi Bart, I agree the 65mm is a bit special (certainly in my books it is) and would appeal I think to most ppl who want near optical perfection with their Hi-Res Sony cameras. It outperforms even some lenses stopped down whilst only being used WO at f2.0...The 40mm IMHO is not really in the same league but then I don't think it's trying to be like the 65mm, it's more about a look that it can convey, which is well suited to being shot WO in low light and at a certain distance just as Seb demonstrated earlier.
BTW. I added the 'Leica pseudo glow'
to the Virgin Mary and child shot (shown above) that is not what to expect from it but nonetheless it is still fairly soft WO, especially when being used close-up, it's not that dissimilar from your now rare Silver Mk1 CV35mm F1.2 which if memory serves me correct is the same optical train as the Mk2 but just with different bodywork and coatings.Thank you Tres...In a nutshell we all want our lenses to perform in a certain way...I had the 35mm pre-asph Summicron M (Once dubbed the King of Bokeh by MJ) which was not as sharp as the next gen but it was well suited to portrait photography I felt.
I have settled at long last with a Sony FE 35mm F1.4 Distagon for portraits etc... as it has a smoother rendition than my ZM 35mm f1.4 Distagon...But I use the ZM35/F1.4 the most as it's slightly sharper with more natural colours as well as being lighter to lug about (sadly no exif data).
Hi Pieter, I would be very happy to meet up with you and and your better half, either your way or here in Cornwall that would be great
Alison is very easy to get on with so your wife will feel at ease...Point taken Re: The Cornish weather it's always a risk.
Cheers Barry
P.S. Getting the 65mm first is the way to go IMO
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