Contents
Some additional thoughts:
I just wanted to mention a few things that didn’t seem to fit well in the other sections of the review.
1. This lens is the absolute ultimate night street lens and coupled with the Olympus E-M5 is the ultimate street combo. I was able to shoot handheld with this lens and my E-M5 from dusk to deep night, and never once did I push the ISO above 800. Most of the time, I was shooting at ISO 200 or 400. This is just remarkable to me. Between the outstanding in-body IS on the E-M5 and the crazy large aperture on the Nokton, you just have a low-light machine.
2. I really like the tonality and rendering this lens gives on portrait subjects. Skin tones are lovely and the look of the images is pretty special to my eye.
Conclusion
Pros
- Surprisingly sharp wide open, both on near and far subjects.
- Blisteringly sharp stopped down across the entire frame.
- Extremely large aperture allows for subject isolation in a moderate wide angle and extreme low-light performance.
- Beautiful drawing style and excellent bokeh up close.
- Built like an absolute tank with wonderful mechanics.
- Price is actually rather reasonable given the performance and speed.
- Wonderful color and contrast.
Cons
- Purple fringing and longitudinal chromatic aberration can be problematic at wide apertures.
- Field curvature at infinity focus is severe and requires active compensation by the photographer.
- All manual lens with no camera communication, which means stop down metering and manual focus at all times.
- Big and heavy for a Micro 4/3 lens.
Overall, I was absolutely blown away by the performance of this lens. I was not expecting anywhere near the performance it provides at f/0.95, and the resolution it delivers stopped down is equally stunning. It handles extremely well, draws beautifully and provides Micro 4/3 shooters with the ability to isolate their subject with a wider lens. If you like environmental portraiture and shoot Micro 4/3, this lens is an absolute must for your kit. While it has its flaws, they never overshadowed the positives in my eye. I’ve never been a huge fan of the 35mm focal length, but I absolutely loved shooting with this lens, and was very sad to part with my review sample. Very highly recommended.
Sample Images
Thanks for this.
Right now this lens is competing with the Oly 75mm for the next piece of glass to save for.
Great work, enjoyable read! Would be very helpful to hear your views on the Voigtlander 25/0.95 and how it compares with this.
“but worst of all, the lens cap won’t attach when the lens hood is mounted, which means that you either need to leave the cap off when stowing the lens, or unscrew the hood every time you put your camera away.”
Didn’t you get two caps of different size? One smaller is for the lens without hood, one bigger for the lens with hood.
No, I didn’t, but I was provided this review sample and the larger cap was not included. Does it ship with the larger cap? EDIT: after some research I see it does come with a lens hood cap..will update the review..thanks!
did you ever find the hood cap size? i have similar problem with a used lens i just purchased. cant figure out what size to buy… might have to go to the camera store and just try them all. help?
Thanks for the review,
I just received this lens, I haven´t tryed yet. This weekend I´m sure.
Thanks for the review, Jordan. Another set of very beautiful pics…
Hey Jordan, Firstly great photos, the best user review I have read till date, had the lens for about 2 weeks now and I am amazed how the m43 format has chnaged and prolly has come of age on par with the other sensors….esp with OMD this lens is a beauty esp in low light and the ability to use zone focusing completely kills it on the street…I havent missed auto focus yet however the CA annoys me sometimes at wide open however I guess there is nothing that CS6 and LR cant fix. Anyways awesome review and great pictures. Cheers mate!!!!
Excellent review and some beautiful shots as a bonus!
I’ve hesitated buying this lens, since I already have the Voigtländer 25mm, but you’ve convinced me!
Thanks for sharing such great information. The lens definitely gives a sharp image of contrast and color.
Hi Jordan,
Good review.
I just picked up this voightlander 17.5 myself today. Pretty happy with it until I used a speedlight with this lens. Something really strange happened.
All the images with flash had this stereoscopic look (sorta like when you look at 3D video without the glasses on).
This doesn’t happen with my other lenses. Would you know what’s happening here?
Regards,
Mark
thank you for great review. I ordered my copy and will share later. now i m set for my OMD with Nokton 17.5 and Oly 75mm. Which is another lens i highly recommend. thanks.
Hello.
you query proved f/0.95 and Voigtlander 17.5mm XC Fujifilm Fujinon 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS is the best lens Voigtlander 16mm Fufi the speaker as well, ruling that is brighter than that is evident . value for money which makes better images. a greeting
sorry, I meant wrong lens to Fujifilm Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R against 17.5 mm The Voigtländer Nokton f/0.95
Great review thanks, backed up with some excellent images which really show the potential of the lens. Particularly love the he environmental cityscape portraits. Just got. An EM1 body and I’m looking at the nokton lenses to allow me some subject isolation. Looks like this lens and the. 42.5mm will be on my wish list!
IMO, the second and second to last pics are stunning! Yes, the others are very good, but these are really standout pics!
@GlueFactory, tastes certainly differ. I hated the second and second to last pics, liked most of the others, particularly the use of selective focus. Not complaining though, Jordan makes his HDR preferences very clear at the outset. A great review. I am very tempted by this lens. Although I have the focal length comprehensively covered, the speed and build quality will likely make it a sound investment.
Hi, i use olympus omd em1 with voigtlander 17,5mm f 0.95, what priority setting should be used in the camera body?
Can i still use A priority? Or only with S priority? I am confused, because in order to use the wide open 0.95 aperture, of course we have to set it manually at the lens body isn’t it?
and if we use A priority, then the kens will not work because it is manual?
thanks for helping
Hi Antono,
You select A (aperture priority) on the OMD and set the aperture on the lens. The camera will chose shutter speed accordingly. You can set the ISO manually or set it to auto-iso.
Hope this helps.
Hi Surfdiver,
thanks for your reply.. I also notice from the manual to use A or M..
so, the camera, if we set A priority, will know that we use a faster aperture (for example if we use 0,95), and it will set the shutter accordingly .. eve though no exif will be recorded, is that correct?
thanks
Hi Antono,
Yes thats correct, if you choose aperture priority (A) on the E-M1 and set 0.95 aperture on the Nokton, the camera will choose shutter speed accordingly with no exif information in the file.
The final image of the Voigtländer Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95 you have aliens hood on the lens. didi it come with the lens and if not where did you get the lens hood. Also I get the feeling from your 2012 review, the Voigtländer Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95 has or might have made a newer version of the lens. I’m saying this now because it is 2015.
Las I’m also looking at the new 4/3 Olympus 7-14 f 2.8. Which would you say is sharper.
Please email me your thoughts.
thanks
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