{"id":2406,"date":"2013-09-16T11:58:27","date_gmt":"2013-09-16T16:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/?p=2406"},"modified":"2013-09-16T12:16:15","modified_gmt":"2013-09-16T17:16:15","slug":"review-voigtlander-nokton-42-5mm-f0-95","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/review-voigtlander-nokton-42-5mm-f0-95\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Voigtl\u00e4nder Nokton 42.5mm f\/0.95"},"content":{"rendered":"

Voigtl\u00e4nder is the oldest name in photography. \u00a0The original Voigtl\u00e4nder optical company was founded in 1756 and has been producing groundbreaking photography equipment since. \u00a0They created the fastest optical lens in the world in 1840, the original Petzval lens, which was a screaming fast f\/3.7. \u00a0Ok, screaming fast for 1840. \u00a0They also created the first all-metal daguerreotype camera in 1841. \u00a0That legacy of solid metal build and ultra-fast optics is realized today in the lineup of ultra-fast lenses for the Micro 4\/3 system.<\/p>\n

\"Voigtl\u00e4nder<\/a>
Voigtl\u00e4nder Nokton 42.5mm f\/0.95<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today, the Voigtl\u00e4nder name is owned by Cosina in Japan, but they continue the legacy by producing outstanding optics for a range of SLRs, rangefinders and now mirrorless cameras. \u00a0The lens we’re looking at today completes the trinity of ultra-fast primes for the Micro 4\/3 mount. \u00a0In 2010, Voigtl\u00e4nder made waves by introducing the 25mm f\/0.95 Nokton. \u00a0They followed that by creating a 35mm equivalent lens in the 17.5mm f\/0.95 Nokton (reviewed here<\/a>). \u00a0Now, in 2013, they complete the trinity with a portrait length lens while maintaining that ultra-fast f\/0.95 aperture in the Nokton 42.5mm f\/0.95.<\/p>\n

The 42.5mm f\/0.95 has a field of view equivalent to an 85mm lens on a full frame camera, and so is perfectly suited to a range of applications, though with a fast aperture in this focal length, a primary use for this lens is available light portraiture. \u00a0With an aperture of f\/0.95, the Nokton 42.5mm is nearly two full stops faster than the Olympus 45mm f\/1.8 for Micro 4\/3 and gives you the ability for shallow depth of field usually reserved for larger format cameras. \u00a0 \u00a0Enough talk, let’s dive in!<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not familiar with my reviews, I review from a real world shooting perspective. \u00a0You won\u2019t find lens charts or resolution numbers here. \u00a0There are plenty of other sites that cover those. \u00a0I review products on how they act for me as a photographic tool in real-world shooting.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Voigtl\u00e4nder Nokton 42.5mm f\/0.95 on the Olympus OM-D E-M5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Around the Lens: Build Quality and Handling<\/h3>\n

Like the other f\/0.95 Noktons, the 42.5mm f\/0.95 is an extremely solidly built lens. \u00a0It’s crafted entirely of metal and glass and is quite substantial in the hand. \u00a0The lens is significantly larger than something like the Olympus 45mm f\/1.8, as expected for such an extreme aperture, but even when seeing the size, the thing that surprises is the weight. \u00a0This is a VERY dense lens, and feels far heavier than it looks. \u00a0I’d highly recommend using this lens with a camera that has a relatively substantial hand grip, simply because it is rather front heavy. \u00a0The lens weighs in at a hefty 1.25 pounds. \u00a0Indeed, the \u00a0Nokton 42.5mm f\/0.95 is the heaviest lens currently made by a major manufacturer specifically for Micro 4\/3.<\/p>\n

\"Voigl\u00e4nder<\/a>
Voigl\u00e4nder Nokton 42.5mm f\/0.95 with Hood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The lens comes with a nice metal hood and a hood mounting ring that screws into the filter threads. \u00a0If you don’t want to use the hood, you can leave this mounting ring off. \u00a0If you plan on using the hood, screw the mounting ring on, and then the hood mounts to the ring via thumbscrew.\u00a0 The hood is also reversible for storage. \u00a0Nice!<\/p>\n

The lens has three rings: the broad scalloped manual focus ring, the aperture control ring, and a third ring that is spring-loaded. \u00a0This top ring can be pulled down and rotated 180 degrees. \u00a0When this is switched, the white aperture dot is now a yellow aperture dot, and the click-stops for f-stops are removed, allowing for continuous (and silent) aperture control from f\/0.95 to f\/16. \u00a0This is quite useful for video use.<\/p>\n

The manual focus ring is well damped and silky smooth to operate, while the aperture ring has nice solid detents every half stop. \u00a0The aperture diaphragm is a 10 bladed design, which allows for generally round highlights throughout the aperture range. \u00a0The lens is a joy to focus and feels wonderful in the hand. \u00a0Of course, like all the Voigtl\u00e4nder lenses for Micro 4\/3, the 42.5mm f\/0.95 is an all-manual lens. \u00a0You must set your aperture manually and then manually focus. \u00a0Luckily, with the ability to magnify parts of the scene on most all Micro 4\/3 cameras, manual focus is very accurate to use and can even be quick once you’ve had some practice.<\/p>\n

One very unusual feature of the 42.5mm f\/0.95 is its extremely close focus ability. \u00a0Most 85mm lenses on full frame cameras have minimum focus distances in the 0.85m to 1m range. \u00a0This is close enough to get a solid head and shoulders portrait of an adult, but not much closer. \u00a0The Olympus 45mm f\/1.8 features relatively close focus ability for a portrait lens, at 0.5m. \u00a0The Voigtl\u00e4nder 42.5mm on the other hand, can focus all the way to 0.23m, which is extremely close, and allows for 1:4 magnification. \u00a0Because of the smaller sensor of Micro 4\/3, this actually covers the same area as a 1:2 macro lens on a full frame camera. \u00a0With the ultra-wide f\/0.95 aperture, you can create some very unique photographs with this lens that simply aren’t possible with anything else.<\/p>\n

Continue: Image Quality<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Image Quality: Sharpness<\/h3>\n

For such a fast lens, the Voigtl\u00e4nder 42.5mm f\/0.95 is quite sharp, even at wide apertures. \u00a0At typical portrait focus distances, the 42.5mm f\/0.95 is quite sharp right from f\/0.95, though there is lowered contrast than at smaller apertures. \u00a0However, focusing outside of this range, both on more distant subjects and especially on closer subjects, results in softer images when the lens is shot wide open, predominantly due to rather heavy spherical aberration at certain focus distances. \u00a0I’ll get into that more in a little while.<\/p>\n

At f\/0.95 to f\/1.4, the lens provides enough sharpness to give you nice detail at the point of focus, while falling off gracefully to allow for very nice portraits.<\/p>\n

Once stopped down to f\/1.4 or f\/2., the lens loses most of its low-contrast glow and starts becoming extremely sharp. \u00a0At f\/4-f\/8, the lens is razor sharp from corner to corner. \u00a0Click on the image below to enlarge.<\/p>\n

\"LeVeque<\/a>
LeVeque Tower, Columbus, OH – Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Voigtl\u00e4nder Nokton 42.5mm f\/0.95 @ f\/5.6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Image Quality: Bokeh<\/h3>\n
\"Outdoor<\/a>
Outdoor Portrait – Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Voigtl\u00e4nder Nokton 42.5mm f\/0.95 @ f\/0.95<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With a lens of this speed and focal length, a primary use for this lens will be for creating shallow depth of field images and blurring backgrounds, so the quality of the bokeh is of major importance for a lens such as this. \u00a0The 42.5mm f\/0.95, like many Voigtl\u00e4nder lenses, has a very unique bokeh signature. \u00a0At f\/0.95, the specular highlights take on a cat’s eye appearance, and at closer focus distance create a beautifully soft swirly look to the blurred background. \u00a0I personally find this look to be utterly gorgeous for portraits, though it is a very subjective thing. \u00a0At closer portrait distances, the specular highlights are soft and even and the light glow and falloff make for a very unique rendering that is quite different from the more crisp and ‘perfect’ look you get from the more corrected fast Micro 4\/3 primes such as the Olympus 75mm f\/1.8. \u00a0This quality is very evident on the image to the right.<\/p>\n

However, if you are using the lens to shoot more distant subjects and still provide isolation, the look becomes much harsher, in addition to amplifying many of the aberrations of the lens at wide apertures. \u00a0At further focus distances, the specular highlights gain a bright green ring that is very prominent, and the overall rendering of the background becomes quite busy. \u00a0Some people love harsher unique bokeh such as this, though I don’t personally care for it that much. \u00a0This is very evident on the image below.<\/p>\n

\"Running<\/a>
Running with Joy – Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Voigtl\u00e4nder Nokton 42.5mm f\/0.95 @ f\/0.95<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the lens is stopped down, highlights remain relatively rounded, though the shape of the 10 aperture blades is visible, as they are not curved diaphragm blades. \u00a0However, bokeh remains of a similar quality to the wide open rendering, though the ‘swirl’ nature of the bokeh is lost at smaller apertures.<\/p>\n

Image Quality: Lens Aberrations and Flare<\/h3>\n
\"Tiny<\/a>
Tiny Flower – Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Voigtl\u00e4nder Nokton 42.5mm f\/0.95 @ f\/0.95 at minimum focus distance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The weak points of the Voigtl\u00e4nder 42.5mm f\/0.95 is in chromatic aberration and spherical aberration. \u00a0While the Nokton controls lateral chromatic aberration quite well, the lens is very prone to purple fringing and longitudinal chromatic aberration at wider apertures, which improves a bit at smaller apertures.\u00a0 At typical portrait distances and lighting, the chromatic aberrations don’t seem to be too much of a problem, but further out they appear to multiply, which is a little bit of an odd behavior.<\/p>\n

At wider apertures, the lens exhibits rather significant spherical aberration, which appears as a low contrast glow.\u00a0 The lens is optimized for the 1-3m range which is typical for portrait shooting, and at these points wide open, spherical aberration is present, but not overly intrusive.\u00a0 Proper postprocessing can eliminate any real visible remains of the glow.\u00a0\u00a0 However, the lens worsens in this regard on more distant subjects and especially on much closer subjects.\u00a0 At f\/0.95 near minimum focus distance, there is a very pronounced glow filling the whole image and resolution is dramatically reduced as a result.\u00a0 When shooting near minimum focus distance, it is advisable to stop down to at least f\/2 if your goal is to obtain sharp focus on your subject.\u00a0 However, the extreme close focusing ability combined with the dreamy look the spherical aberration and extremely shallow depth of field creates is quite beautiful in its own right, and can make for some very unique closeups such as the flower on the left.<\/p>\n

The good news is that spherical aberration is essentially fully corrected by f\/1.4 at most focus distances and by f\/2 when focusing extremely close.<\/p>\n

The lens is prone to rather complex flare when shooting directly into the sun, but resists veiling flare relatively well with minimal loss of contrast in those situations.\u00a0 Overall an OK performance, but nothing to write home about.<\/p>\n

Image Quality: Color and Contrast<\/h3>\n

The character of the color and contrast changes a little throughout the aperture range with the 42.5mm f\/0.95.\u00a0 At wider apertures, the lens by default produces low contrast images with somewhat muted color.\u00a0 These can be brought to a much higher contrast look with minimal post-processing and the color information responds well to saturation adjustments.\u00a0 Stopped down, the images become much more crisp with a higher contrast look and richer color profile.<\/p>\n

The combination of all these factors results in images from the Nokton 42.5mm f\/0.95 having a very unique look to them.\u00a0 The combination of interesting but pretty bokeh, good resolution, and a soft low contrast glow make for a really beautiful look to portraits at wide apertures and a much richer look when stopping down a bit.\u00a0 Some may not like the way the lens renders, but if you’re a fan of how Voigtl\u00e4nder images typically look, you’ll love the shots you get out of the 42.5mm f\/0.95.<\/p>\n

One more thing:<\/h4>\n

While I didn’t run into this issue with the 17.5mm f\/0.95 Nokton, the 42.5mm f\/0.95 seems to be somewhat slower than expected with regards to actual light passage.\u00a0 While the optical properties of the lens show f\/0.95 with regards to depth of field and such, exposure was not quite there. The lens exposed wide open much closer to around f\/1.1, being around 2\/3 stop faster than f\/1.4 rather than a full stop.\u00a0 Part of this may be the rather heavy vignetting that is visible at f\/0.95, though other losses may be inherent as well.<\/p>\n

Continue: Conclusion and Image Samples<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

Pros<\/h4>\n