Image courtesy: Cameraquest
Voigtländer joined MicroFourThirds and we hope that they are going to make many more lenses soon! Two of the nicest (and fast) lenses are the [shoplink 15738]Voigtländer 35mm f/1.4[/shoplink] and [shoplink 15736]40mm f/1.4 pancakes[/shoplink]. They are M-mount lenses (not m43!). I will soon start a poll soon to ask you what MicroFourThirds lens you want from Voigtländer.
The Voigtländer 35mm f/1.4:
Image samples:
– Taken with the GF1 (Flickr)
– Taken with the E-P1 (Flickr)
Video samples:
– Taken with the E-P1 (Youtube)
Camera porn:
– The lens attached on the GF1 (Flickr)
– E-P1 (Flickriver)
[shoplink 15738]Check out current 35mm f/1.4 lens auctions on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
Check the 35mm f/1.4 price on Amazon US (Click here)
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The Voigtländer 40mm f/1.4:
Image samples:
– With the E-P1 (e-p1.net)
Video samples:
– Taken with the E-P1 (Youtube)
And again a little bit of camera porn:
– The lens attached on the G1 (Clubsnap)
– GF1 (mu-43.com)
[shoplink 15736]Check out current 40mm f/1.4 lens auctions on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
Check the 40mm f/1.4 price on Amazon US (Click here)
22 Responses
Hey, please check my friend Dylan’s Flickr pictures. He uses his GF1 with Voigt 35mm 1.4 lens http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=35mm&w=49440497%40N07
Both look like nifty little lenses and the results look good (I imagine the samples are processed). However, to me the focal lengths between 30-50mm are not very useful on m4/3.
I already have a Panny 20/1.7 (very good), a Summilux 25/1.4 (wonderful lens), a Zeiss 50/1.4 (rather soft wide open) and a Samyang 85/1.4 (surprisingly decent). The only Voigtlanders I would like to try are the Nokton 50/1.1 and the recently announced Nokton 25/0.95.
I’ve been using the 40mm for about a year occasionally with E-P1, mostly for bokeh-stuff. Here are some photos & vids of mine at Flickr w/ the 40mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/miemo/tags/voigtländer/
The bokeh of this lens is rather peculiar – highlights get a strong “halo” around the edges, which gives them a very lively feel. So not the most soft bokeh, but definately has a character of its own. Sharpness in in-focus areas is really good, also very nice color rendition.
Build quality is top-notch, and the thing is really petite even with the M-adapter (probably wouldn’t be much smaller even if made natively to m43).
40/1.4 SC works wonderful on my GF1 🙂
A 35mm f1.2 plus dedicated 1.7x teleconverter would be great – gives 70mm f1.2 and 120mm f2. This would give a really flexible, compact and fast midrange in combination with the 20mm f1.7. I prefer the 20mm to the CV 25mm on size grounds – although the CV is a little temptress…… The two zooms (7-14mm and upcoming 100-300mm) would cover the extremes nicely where required.
How about the need for speed AND wide angle? Something that compares to an 80/2.8 for a full frame isn’t that hot.
I (like many 4/3rds users here) do not own or want a full-frame camera, so it is irrelevant to me what the equivalent depth-of-field and light-gathering capabilities would be on a big, bulky, $2500 5D/D700 or small but expensive $8000 M9.
Just like I don’t want to drive an SUV, so it doesn’t matter how much more cargo room it has than my car.
I have the 35mm on my GF1 and I find the equivalent 70mm focal length very flattering for photos of people, while still allowing a little environment in the shot.
I do think full-frame cameras are very nice and have wonderful capabilities — if that’s what you enjoy using — but on a m43 camera, these Voigtlander lenses are still pretty hot.
Hi hd72,
I see your point. But there is something we cannot escape: it is difficult to get wideangle lenses for 4/3 or M4/3. Whatever great lens Voigtlander adapts for M4/3 mount would actually be a “normal” lens in the best of cases.
So, there are many of us that love to shoot wideangles (say, the equivalent of 24mm, 28mm or 35mm in a full frame camera). I do not care that much about the size of the sensor in our cameras. But I care about what I can compose and shoot.
A 35mm f:1,4 could be a great portrait lens when used in a (M)4/3 system, as you mention. But it will not be that useful out of this use.
My question is: are there classic designs in the form of 14mm f:1,4 or 17mm f:1,4 that voigtlander can adapt?
The equivalent DOF will be visible in your m43 photos, even if no full frame cameras existed. All these Voigtlander lenses are great on my Bessa-T, but pretty normal or long on m43.
Even the f/.95 lenses lose their appeal on such a small format.
My point, exactly!
I hear ya — anybody else wish Voigtlander would just make a digital Bessa?
I agree — going wide for m43 is tough when you’re using lenses that were designed for a full-frame. I have several legacy manual lenses, but they’re all normal to telephoto on my GF1. Just to get 28mm you’d have to get a “super wide angle” full frame lens — the Canon FD 14mm for instance weighs well over a pound! And it’s only f2.8.
What I’m hoping is that since Voigtlander will soon be making lenses specifically for the m43 mount (and will ONLY need to cover the smaller m43 sensor) they can make fast wide angles with a lot less glass.
I messed my reply and it finished below Tom’s message.
It’s the same focal length as everybody using a nifty fifty lens on a crop sensor DSLR. So it’s actually very common and useful.
Fingers crossed!
Now, a M4/3 camera with a built in EVF in the top left corner (ala rangefinder so that I can keep my other eye open) with focus confirmation, and a couple of fast manual lenses from voigtlander would be a system that I’d buy.
I don’t like manual lenses. That’s so last century. Give us auto-focusing lenses!!!!
Ahh, my samples are the first that come up when you click the link.
Having used a lot of these on an epson R-D1 (the only other digital rangefinder out there), your list is missing the 35m 1.2 which is simply amazing. It draws so smoothly – like butter – and rivals the leica summilux I think. Downside is that it’s large, at least for a rangefinder lens. The 35 1.4 is nice, but is something of a compromise in my mind. It’s fast, but it’s images aren’t as appealing as the 1.2 or the old 35 1.7, which is only out in ltm mount.
I quite like Voigtländer
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcapfoto/4318435805
I’d love to see a comparison with these lenses against the Canon FD 35/2 SSC (Concave). It’s not as fast, but quite sharp with a very nice bokeh. One of my favorites on my GH1.
Look, F1.2 has never been a priority for wide angles for any major lens manufacturer. More typical has been 28mm f2.8 or thereabouts. F1.x has been more common in nifty fifties than anything else. If you really like to shoot wide angle a lot, grab the 7-14 or 11-22. (really, if you shoot wide a LOT, you should at least be using APS-C due to the wider format. 4/3 has nearly equivalent height, but APS-C is much wider.)
So, snag a Pentax or something and go to town with your wide angles on that. Micro Four Thirds HAS wide angle lenses. You’re just never, ever going to find a super-wide lens in F2 or faster because of how much glass would have to be on the front of it. It would be huge. And heavy. And over four thousand dollars.
I know, brand loyalty is nice, but as a photographer, you have to use the right tool for the job- and for wide angle, that is most likely going to be a larger (or at least wider) sensor.
Keep that Micro Four Thirds- it’s a great tool, it’s highly portable, it’s great for portraits, has more DOF than equivalent framing on full 35mm size sensors, and has every modern feature you could likely ask for. HOWEVER, for wide angle photography, because that’s not its strongest suit, you may have to pick up a K-r or CaNikon to get the most flexibility and best results. Realistically, if you do many widely disparate types of photography, you can’t always expect to get away with using the same tool for all of it.
What I really miss is a proper wide-angle lens. I used to love my 24mm back in the day, so an 11 or 12mm prime lens for MFT would be fantastic. In addition, there is a lot of legacy glass with 28mm and up, so no real need for another alternative.
I think a 12mm for MFT would be a big hit.