Fun With Sony Cameras

[Patrick Kolb]

First outing with my new Sony A7riii and Voightlander 65/2 lens. Conditions were less than ideal, but I did have a fun day with some friends.

Ice Pattern by Patrick Kolb, on Flickr

 

[iiiNelson]

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

Yup I had the 35 Summicron version 5 and it was my favorite all around lens on the M along with the ZM50/2. I had a 50 Summilux as well but I didn’t like it as much as the Zeiss for a number of reasons.

On Sony I too use the 35/1.4 Sony Zeiss. It’s probably the best all around 35 that I’ve own (supplanting the 35 Summicron IMO in many ways). NOW I LOVED THE 35/1.2 almost strictly for people shots and general lowlight photography due to the character reminding me of the best parts of the last 2 Leica 35/1.4 FLE which is why I didn’t buy the Summilux in the end. All of these are great lenses no doubt and when you get to this level sometimes it comes down to picking the one you’ll likely use the most. They’re all great.

 

[seb]

These are good findings for the voigtländer nokton 40/1.2. Let's add a few things.

I did a comparison of the lut curve with a color target. The 40 needs a push of brightness compared to other lenses and the curve is not equaly over the whole dynamic range. This adds a very special look to the pictures which can be attractive at the beginning. But may be a concern on others shots and that is distracting in postprocession.

On the other hand I used this lens for three projects now. One is a business portrait for online news and two are kids/family suff for printouts. On all three the environment should be an important part of the pictures. Maybe I was too long away of an 35 (because I was not happy with the two natives and hoped about a 40 all the time) and I'm just on a hype. But the results shows the beauty of the subjects and the sligtly blurred environment in a wonderful way. Also some private family/friends stuff shows this. My verdict on this lens is: if you're after a environmental portrait lens for the a7-series there is nothing comparable. The flaw is the rather complex use (awarness of the issues, framing, focussing and processing). If you're willing to do the additional effort you'll get very unique and beautiful pictures.

On top of that, the lens is a nice landscape/street lens stopped down. But here are others can fullfill that.

 

[seb]

... The 40 needs a push of brightness compared to other lenses and the curve is not equaly over the whole dynamic range. ...

I had a short break at a client and went for a coffee and tried to build a luma curve in C1 that negates the 40/1.2 contrast character.
Maybe some of you are interested in:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sUyL6AsrCoSi0DKWiyddm_qVKEubW9Na/view?usp=sharing

It's a C1-style-file. They are located at "C:\Users\#username#\AppData\Local\CaptureOne\Styles50" on the pc. After saving the file there and a restart of C1 you should see it under "user styles".

It's only a luma curve.Therefore the color characters of the lens are not affected. It's builded out of two it8.7 target shots I made under the same conditions. One with the 55 (which is probably the standard lens for all a7xxx profiles) and one with the 40. Both are exposed to match at 65% gray. Profiled in C1 with the a7RII generic and linear curve.

I don't know if it works, I had no reference files here.

 

[Vivek]

What are “lut” and “loot” curves?

 

[seb]

What are “lut” and “loot” curves?

Thanks, I updated my post. It's the luma curve in the curve tool. Sometimes I mix up things with the translation to english.

And I added also some informations about the file and how to use it.

 

[Knorp]

I had a short break at a client and went for a coffee and tried to build a luma curve in C1 that negates the 40/1.2 contrast character.
Maybe some of you are interested in:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sUyL6AsrCoSi0DKWiyddm_qVKEubW9Na/view?usp=sharing

It's a C1-style-file. They are located at "C:\Users\#username#\AppData\Local\CaptureOne\Styles50" on the pc. After saving the file there and a restart of C1 you should see it under "user styles".

It's only a luma curve.Therefore the color characters of the lens are not affected. It's builded out of two it8.7 target shots I made under the same conditions. One with the 55 (which is probably the standard lens for all a7xxx profiles) and one with the 40. Both are exposed to match at 65% gray. Profiled in C1 with the a7RII generic and linear curve.

I don't know if it works, I had no reference files here.

Hi Seb, I've imported your styles file successfully in C1 (macOS), but not before I had slightly modified its contents: removed the space where the lines read this " /> into "/>

 

[scho]

For Lightroom and Photoshop users, the latest Adobe updates include new lens profiles for both the Voigtlander 65/2 and 40/1.2 lenses.

 

[seb]

Hi Seb, I've imported your styles file successfully in C1 (macOS), but not before I had slightly modified its contents: removed the space where the lines read this " /> into "/>

Hmm... It worked fine here. I just downloaded it to my computer at home now and it worked. Did you copy paste the text or just downloaded it?

Tested it with some pictures and the contrast comes very close with the style.
What are your findings about it?

 

[Knorp]

Hmm... It worked fine here. I just downloaded it to my computer at home now and it worked. Did you copy paste the text or just downloaded it?

Tested it with some pictures and the contrast comes very close with the style.
What are your findings about it?

Hi there Seb,

the download didn't seem to result in a recognisable file, so I did a copy/paste of the text instead and named the file accordingly with extension .costyle
But importing it as a new style resulted in an error. I opened an existing file and 'compared' its contents to the new file and at first sight only noticed those spaces.
Removed the spaces and the import went fine this time.

Perhaps there's a slight difference between Windows and macOS how these files are read ?

Anyway, as I don't have the VN40/1.2 (yet) I applied the style to a random image and there was a noticeable change in a positive way.
So I'd say I'm all set and ready ... :grin:

Kind regards.

 

[Mark K]

Plumbeous Water Redstart, female
A99II 70-400mm

 

[pegelli]

I had a short break at a client and went for a coffee and tried to build a luma curve in C1 that negates the 40/1.2 contrast character.
Maybe some of you are interested in:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sUyL6AsrCoSi0DKWiyddm_qVKEubW9Na/view?usp=sharing

It's a C1-style-file. They are located at "C:\Users\#username#\AppData\Local\CaptureOne\Styles50" on the pc. After saving the file there and a restart of C1 you should see it under "user styles".

It's only a luma curve.Therefore the color characters of the lens are not affected. It's builded out of two it8.7 target shots I made under the same conditions. One with the 55 (which is probably the standard lens for all a7xxx profiles) and one with the 40. Both are exposed to match at 65% gray. Profiled in C1 with the a7RII generic and linear curve.

I don't know if it works, I had no reference files here.

Hi SEB, thanks very much for this. I downloaded the file, copied it to the indicated folder and started C1 (I still use version 10). It all worked like a charm :thumbup:

I don't have a 40/1.2 but tested it on some images from my Nokton 35/1.2 (version II) and what it seemed to do qualitatively is make the image a bit brighter, more in the shadows then the lighter parts. Is this indeed the correct result that can be expected from using this style?

 

[seb]

Hi SEB, thanks very much for this. I downloaded the file, copied it to the indicated folder and started C1 (I still use version 10). It all worked like a charm :thumbup:

I don't have a 40/1.2 but tested it on some images from my Nokton 35/1.2 (version II) and what it seemed to do qualitatively is make the image a bit brighter, more in the shadows then the lighter parts. Is this indeed the correct result that can be expected from using this style?

Hi Pieter, thanks for the test. It looks like you are right and I messed something up with the darks. It seems I subtracted the effect of the lut curve of the profile on top. I did a quick update of the link below but I'll do a deeper test this evening and will finalize the file then. And I'll post also some on topic stuff (pictures) then.

Sorry guys, I should not do and post such tests quickly between two business meetings.

 

[pegelli]

Hi Pieter, thanks for the test. It looks like you are right and I messed something up with the darks. It seems I subtracted the effect of the lut curve of the profile on top. I did a quick update of the link below but I'll do a deeper test this evening and will finalize the file then. And I'll post also some on topic stuff (pictures) then.

Sorry guys, I should not do and post such tests quickly between two business meetings.

Thanks Seb, no problem, I just love tinkering on dreadful weather days like here today, when going out shooting is not my preferred option :grin:

I've downloaded the second version and now the darks stay put while the lights get marginally lighter, but overall a much lower effect as the previous version. Very hard to see on my screen, but closely looking at the histogram while switching between cloned variants with and without the style applied shows what is happening.

Looking forward to more tinkering and testing from your side (as well as the examples you can show with lens this is actually developed for)

 

[seb]

Thanks Seb, no problem, I just love tinkering on dreadful weather days like here today, when going out shooting is not my preferred option :grin:

I've downloaded the second version and now the darks stay put while the lights get marginally lighter, but overall a much lower effect as the previous version. Very hard to see on my screen, but closely looking at the histogram while switching between cloned variants with and without the style applied shows what is happening.

Looking forward to more tinkering and testing from your side (as well as the examples you can show with lens this is actually developed for)

Pieter, I'm glad you had bad weather today! :shocked:

The first try with the luma curve was wrong. My latest version (can be found under the link) shows almoust the same (very subtle) curve as version 2 which you already tested. The differences are reproduceable but hardly visible on the screen. The shots of the target has the same lightning, distance and camera settings (ISO100, 1/320s, f6.3, manual flash). The 55 was resized to match the 40. On the 40mm I added in post +0.15 exposure and then the style with the luma curve. All are profiled with "no color correction" and "linear curve". The resizing and positioning was made in PS, therefore all shows the same exif.

Sony Zeiss Sonnar 55/1.8


Voigtländer Nokton 40/1.2 with +0.15exp +luma curve


Voigtländer Nokton 40/1.2 with +0.15exp (without luma curve)


Sorry to all, I caused a great stir for nothing... And still no fun pictures...
Cheers Sebastian

 

[seb]

Ok, back to topic! Our weather was not better. I had to walk through the rainy Bern.

Same Weather
(a7RII + Voigt Nokton 40/1.2)

​

 

[tofa]

 

[seb]

From the last hike. Short before sunset, sadly it was already cloudy.

Meiesäs
(a7RII + Voigtländer Nokton 40/1.2)

​

 

[mediumcool]

Number 99

Sony a7 with Canon FD 24mm f/2.8 1/250 unknown aperture ISO 250

 

[Knorp]

Number 99

Sony a7 with Canon FD 24mm f/2.8 1/250 unknown aperture ISO 250

So depressing: a little TLC would do miracles. Or is it the climate ?