Click on picture to enlarge!
Today Voitgländer will announce the production of new lenses for the MicroFourThirds system!
The first lens to be unveiled is the new Nokton 25mm f/0.95 lens. This lens has been designed for MFT and you don’t need to use any adapter! The Lens is manual only (no autofocus). Expected price $1000 and availabilty by October/November.
The image quality is reported to be on a very high level. The only comparable lenses to date are the old C-mount lenses like the [shoplink 15432]Schneider 25mm f/0.95 (which costs over $900 at eBay)[/shoplink]. There are also two more 25mm f/0.95 lenses like the [shoplink 15433]Navitar and Angenieux (again C-mount lenses)[/shoplink]. But those are not designed for MFT and you need an MFT adapter. They are also a little bit more expensive than the Nokton (and the Nokton is new!).
We hope to learn more about the Voigtländer-MicroFourThirds future strategy as soon as possible!
Source: Photoscala
[poll id=”4″]
175 Responses
Nice!
SH1T…
HOLY LORD.
No interested. Nothing new.
Wild lens. Hope to see pictures soon!
A pretty big letdown… and to make matters worse I’m assuming no autofocus???
What the f*ck…who cares?
Was that the “big rumor?”
Really expensive MF lenses?
While it be really soft and ghosting like most of the MF lenses I’ve tried wide open?
So… expensive
Really nice!
Too bad I don’t have a m4/3 body :/
I was right!!
Not sure if it is going to be such an hot item after the ” new item” factor wears out
I do not mind an manual focus lens but so far I cannot see a m4/3 camera which would allow a very accurate and comfortable use of the manual focus
Harold
1000$ and no autofocus? Is it a joke?
Waitt… the best lenses IN THE WORLD doesn’t have autofocus, and they are neither for m4/3.
They must suck then….
but is manual…pff
Wow! Nice, fast, cool achievement, good for lower ISO or higher shutter speeds at night, but in terms of effective aperture (for depth of field) it’s a 50/1.9 for 35mm film.
So it’s no Noctilux in m43 format. And there are millions of 50/1.8, 50/1.9 and 50/2 lenses knocking about if you have a full-frame digital.
I’m thinking this might be aimed more at the video users with the AF-100….. film makers don’t care much about auto focus and love shallow DOF.
yeah manual sux
but on the other hand it is Voitgländer
come on guys. that means we will be getting much much more Voitgländer lenses soon. and probably sigma tamron soon. this is a huge step for m4/3
learn to look at big picture
That’s why the news is important! Ther ewill be more lenses soon!
You naysayers look at the aperture again. This is the m43 version of Noctilux. Same angle of vision as the Noctilux on full frame (50mm), same aperture, 1/10 the price. Again, before bashing, please give any better option at f0.95…
If it had a way of triggering the manual focus assist, that’d be nice … but I doubt it’d even have that.
I’ve made this very easy for myself. The next lens I get will be a longer (40-60mm)prime. Assuming the lens will be made, it will probably be fairly fast, and should have AF capabilities for video. All these other lenses are cool, but not necessary at this point, for me.
Well hell, not an earthshaker by any means but a damn fine prime lens.
For all you whiners wanting AF, go get the 20mm 1.7 pancake.
This lens creates the M9 for the rest of us.
Now you will only have to switch your sensor with a M9 one…lol
Whether you will buy it or not, it can only be good for the system that other people are making lenses. Good news, but probably too steep for me. If it had been autofocus I might have sold a kidney, but as it it? lovely, but no thanks.
Phew. I wonder what the other lenses will be. The post says there will be more…
I haven’t been waiting for this lens ..
ค๊วยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยย!
I swear, more of this anticlimactic web-hype bullcrap is gonna make me throw up. These corporate morons have no idea what excites a photographer.
I would be excited if this had autofocus. As a manual-focus lens, though, it doesn’t excite me at all because I rarely need such shallow DOF in a normal lens.
If this was a 40mm with autofocus, sure, I’d be excited, but I’d almost NEVER run this thing wide open, and I’d want it in Four Thirds, not micro.
I guess for cine guys it’ll be interesting, but this is neither exciting nor in any way revolutionary or new. It doesn’t even LOOK new, it looks like a nifty-fifty tamron 50mm F1.7 that I have.
I don’t need or want all-metal construction. Metal is heavy and gets hot in the sun. Rubber grips, please. Oh, and manual focus lenses, in this day and age, should not cost that much. If the glass is so great, why not put the 100 dollars’ worth of electronics in there to make it fully compatible?
I have to disagree with you there. The classic 50mm f/1.4 on a 35mm film camera is what I use for 80% of my photography. This lens will allow me to move to a m4/3’s body because I can finally emulate that same look from a small digital body. I obviously don’t mind manual focus at all, but I do hope it has electrical contacts so it automatically triggers the 7x focus mode.
This? An 1000,- prime lens? That is the amazing news?
Mwoehahahaha, I was right 🙂
And that would be 37mm on my NEX, my favorite focal length, if it would only work on APS-C 😉 35mm/f0.95 equivalent, mama!
No letdown at all! I’m so excited about this lens (except for the price). It’s what I’ve been waiting for!
What a disappointment … neither really “unexpected” nor useful for 99% people. MF only lenses are like hand washing your clothes.
You must take a lot of pride in your photography. I actually prefer manual focus in the studio, and I also enjoy it for street photography. It truly forces you to focus on your composition instead of just snapping away like an idiot then sorting out 500 pics on your computer when you get home. To each his own…
I completely do agree with your statement Eric!
I think it’s quite the opposite. You are thinking too highly of your very limited uses of the camera. Your preferences just do not apply to most shooters (both enthusiasts and pros) whom you seem to refer to as idiots (and we all know what that tells about your personality ;)). My photography (as probably most other people) is centered around the my life and not the other way around and I prefer to spend my time shooting fleeting moments and enjoying beautiful memories rather than fine-tuning focus.
You are not alone. MF is a no-starter, especially at f/1!!!
wholeheartedly agree with Eric!
Oh, and it’s not just manual focus, it’s manual-everything. Kinda like my goofy little thirty-dollar Tamron.
Don’t get me wrong, fast glass is useful, it’s just not ONE THOUSAND US DOLLARS useful. Then again, with contrast-af only, even if it HAD autofocus, it would just be painfully slow to focus. Contrast AF can’t predict which direction to turn the motor, so it has to guess, and if it misses, it has to go through the whole range again….
Check again the specs. It’s f/0.95 lens. DOF is going to be several millimeters (or for the US populace: less than 1 inch).
Any AF would suck with such shallow DOF.
AF at F0.95 just will not happen in a big-glass lens especially with a standard DOF. That’s why the 20mm is a pancake: Optics says so. Remember, the system has INTERCHANGEABLE LENSES. An F0.95 prime is a hell of a fine thing below 1K. For other stuff, go into the bag and switch over.
For those with the money to get one this is the kind of lens that will make a micro 4/3 camera sing.
Worth the wait, it will be a perfect night time lens.
This ends all the fuss about finding fast c-mount lenses, adapters and praying they fit and do not vignette. I believe Cosina will make a sharp lens. Hopefully they make more models.
Pity it’s MF only, but that’s the price we pay for all the electronic lens control in new mounts these days. I suppose only Panasonic, Olympus and Leica will make AF lenses for m4/3.
BTW, I was also right, picked Cosina, hoped for Fuji. Ah well, off to bed.
YAAAAAAAWWWWWNNNNNN
I might have been interested in this if it was 4/3, not m4/3.
I predicted a crummy 900 dollar manual focus lens from Zeiss, and was COMPLETELY RONG!
(wrong is spelled rong on porpoise)
Is it a FF optic with a µ4/3 mount or has it actually been downsized for 4/3?
Perhaps the best news is this might open the whole Voigtlander catalog for µ4/3 adaption. They have some fine little lenses.
It’s a newly designed lens!
Nice, the mft system for the casual consumer who doesn’t want a bulky DSLR; and this “amazing” announcement is for a lens that costs nearly 3x as much as a body. Really? $1000? I’m a student, I got tuition to pay and books to buy, and I’m still dreaming about getting the Oly pancake f2.8. 20% was really generous, it’s more like 2%.
This is awesome news. Such a high quality lens, and more coming on the way.
to me this is exciting. why? because a serious company like voigtländer seems to take m43 for serious, that’s a huge success on the way to more pro quality accessories. I’m excited! (and no, I don’t need this lens…but my videographer friend would kill for it!)
Well I like the lens. I love MF lenses anyway, especially if they have metal build. it looks nice too, not too big, probably the size of a Panny 14-45. It’s heavy though at 410g.
The focal length and the max aperture fill a very important gap in the current lineup as well: fast normal lens. Yes, I have and love the 20mm f/1.7, but it is a 40mm f/3.5 equivalent. being a 50mm f/1.9 equivalent, the OOF areas (bokeh) on this new lens should be at least 2.5~3 times more obvious and effective than the Panny 20mm. Some of the best shots I have taken were with a 50mm f/1.8 (on film), and now this lens will let me do the same on my m4/3. Don’t forget that the equivalent aperture of f/1.9 is only for background blur purposes, the lens is still a 0.95 in light gathering, meaning fast shutter speeds at low ISO in dim lighting (candle lights @ ISO-800, 1/60s).
If only the price was lower… Still a fine lens though!
Okay, tomorrow I’ll start selling stuff at eBay (899€ is quite a pricetag).
If it would have been a 1.4 or 1.2 I’d fall asleep instantly… But 0.95 OMG!!!!!!
Well you got one right: 99% will wan’t it, as for 20% buying it, I think it’s just too optimistic, unless the IQ is stunning…
Hi Bruno! It’s a quote from the source and not from me. Until late night I really didn’t know what product it was.
well that was totally not worth the hype.
expensive MF lens.
Totally agree!
4/3 25mmF0.95 is FF 50mm F2 equial.
Who bought 50mmF2 1000$? No one hehehe.
actually, 50/0.95 (in all respects but DOF) which makes difference 🙂
safeg. No. Please don’t start this.
No, it’s a 50mm f0.95 equivalent. It’s not a 35mm lens but a u4/3. So still exciting.
And yes people buy $2000 50/f2 lenses 😉
f0.95 is f0.95, 25mm is 25mm.
2/50 requires an entirely different ISO/shutter speed
That is brilliant! They found the gap in current m4/3 lens offering. Main audience for this product is people who use m4/3 camera as alternative to (Leica) rangefinder. It’s not targeted for everyone.
I’d love to have lens like that on my GF1, 25×2=50mm is good all round size and with two stops down still highly usable in low light. Manual controls and metal parts gives right feel for taking a shot and even the price is reasonable, cheap actually considering how much good quality manual objectives cost.
I would rather have a $900 Leica Summilux 25mm f/1.4 (it is sharp and the images are so, so good).
The addition of another partner to the MFT game is great none the less.
A $900 Leica f1.4 lens? Why not make it $200 then? Keep dreaming!
yes there is a four-thirds leica 25mm f/1.4. doing some research next time will help you avoid looking like an idiot
The Leica is sure great, but together with the adapter it is much bigger and heavier than the Voigtländer + one step darker for the same price.
I will definitely buy this lens. I already own a few voigtlander and the quality is great (look for Ken Rockwell and Steve Huff) and they both agree that those are great lens.
If this lens delivers half the quality I expect it to, then it’s the single most solid addition to the µ43 system since the Pany 7-14mm! 🙂
I really hope it’s really good because even though it’s not for my pocket, it strengthens the system and if it sells well (which I hope it does) it paves the way for new wide and fast lenses to come.
In the end it looks like someone (other than SLR Magic) was (and is) listening! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Great way to fill the silly season!
I’d really like to see the lens reviewed ASAP!
Looking at the voigtlander lens prices on Amazon, most of them are selling between 50% to 100% below list price. Assuming this one will also fall down in 6~8 months to something like $600~$700, I’m sure many people will buy it. Unless they all go and shell out $1000 anyway, which makes the lens price remain high.
I’d buy one for 100% below list price!
🙂
LOL! Good one!
Oh, well, if it were to drop to six hundred bucks, it’d be another matter ENTIRELY.
the depth of field range marks seem to be totally off for a 25 mm lens.
I really want to like this, I have 4 Voitglander lens personally, but at 25mm this is not going to cut it. What We really need something like 16mm f/1.x “native” for the m43. This is their first in M43. Let’s hope there will be more.
I was dreaming for that lens !! When I read earlier tonight about the announcement I wanted it to be it but I said to myself: don’t kid yourself It aint gonna happen.
Well it did and it is NOT very expensive. I was about to get the 28 Ultron with m43 adapter (600euro + 150 novoflex adapter). I am guessing a lot more than 20% will get that.
It was what was missing from m43 lens lineup, Ultrawide we have the nice Panasonic and Olympus, the fast 50mm ? very easy to find in legacy glass. But the normal fast 50 equiv. was absent.
P.S. I love it that it is MF only. Micro 43 is not about proffesional photography and speed.
From the specs above, it actually looks like this lens will be over $1,100 in US dollars.
899 euros = £739 list price 😀 then further price drop in 6 months me thinks 😀
The lens looks nice. Is there any way to physically mount manual focus u4/3 lenses on a regular 4/3 camera using a mechanical (and possibly optical) adapter that is or will be available in the market?
i was hoping it’s an AF lens..
hope pana/oly will deliver 25 f1.4 AF that’s not as expensive as panaleica..
This is better than I was expecting. I am a big Voigtlander fan and I love fast primes. I can see this replacing the Lumix 20mm on my E-P2!
Booh 🙁
What a bad announcement :-(((
Although this lens looks like an interesting one, it is useless for me: manual focus, very heavy (for a normal focal on the GF1) and very expensive. I’m the 1% not interested (and I guess this 1% is larger than 1%).
We need the autofocus 40mm f/1.4 for portraits!!!!!
It needs to be light and cheaper than the 50mm f/2.8 Leica. Look at C-mount lenses, it’s feasible but nobody does it (actually I do have a 50mm C-mount f/1.4 and it is great, but it lacks AF: see here http://blog.javacorner.net/2009/08/cheap-50mm-f14-portrait-lent-for-micro.html )
Get the Auto Zuiko 50mm/1.8 for portraits. It’s cheap, light and for portrait you shouldn’t need autofokus. I have it & like it.
Have you read what I wrote?
I do already have a 50mm f/1.4 (much cheaper, much lighter than yours and with great quality if you read my link).
And I do need AF, because MF is a pain in the neck. Note: I used to do MF on my film cameras and that worked great, so it’s not me. It’s the display, MF doesn’t work anymore: too slow, too many button to press to have the magnification and too inaccurate.
And the best portraits are not in studio, they are candid, so we do need the speed!
Your right, sorry. I missed the last sentence in your post.
Any roadmap (or even “rumormap”) as to what other lenses they might release?
Yeah, manual focus seems like a bit of a bummer, but given Cosina’s old-skool orientation it’s no surprise. And when you come right down to it, most of my best M43 pictures have been shot with manual-focus lenses; I never actually have any problems doing it. So MF only is a disappointment but not really a handicap.
Clever thinking on Cosina’s part, too. I suspect they’ve noticed that a lot of their M-mount lenses are winding up on MFT cameras anyway, so filling out the line with something that can’t be done simply by adapting an M-mount lens makes sense.
another disappointing day in the day of 4/3 users.
Great job,
At less, this is new lens with the new designs.
Due to the c-mount 25mm/F0.95 Lens often has Vignetting,
the new one seems good without the same issue.
The front element and weight of the lens is larger than c-mount one.
It will be a good start for the M4/3 portrait lens.
wow! finally awesome glass! I always thought NOKTOR was a cheap scam and ripped off m4/3 users with the $700 price. now we have quality! I can’t wait! thanks Voitgländer
So FT is a Panasonic (& Leica), Olympus, Vioghtländer cooperation – good news!
Maybe there will be a cool Bessa R5D (igital), which a Bessar Body and Panasonic technology.
Exactly what I’m thinking of right now. What other system has names such as these on board?
We keep talking about wanting Sigma and Tamron in m4/3, but compare reviews of some of their lenses to m4/3 equivalents on SLR gear, and you’ll see we actually don’t need them :).
We’ve got sharp lenses, quality and innovative cameras and all that in a small package. Hopefully there’ll be some more positive announcements of m4/3 in the coming weeks.
Come on, is this the big announcement? Buhuuuuuu….
as a taster for life with 1.0 or faster… here are my shots on an ep-1 with an original noctlux – 50/1.0….cast 7-10 times the price of the new voightlander
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinparis2007/sets/72157624683500719/
this could be a fun lens
DSLR Magazine annouces its availabilty in Sepotember:
http://www.dslrmagazine.com/digital/objetivos-para-camaras-digitales/nokton-25-mm-f-0-95-para.html
What an immensely huge letdown. Time to ebay my Pan G2. mft is such a disappointing system.
Wonderful news! Now all they need to create are a 14mm and a 45/50mm and i would be set for life!
This is excellent news!! This really puts a great spin on the system. Only Leica has a native f0.95 lens built for it. If the image quality is up to voightlander specs, this will definitely go in the bag. It will be interesting what olympus will do. What is also interesting is what the licensing agreement Cosina made with pana/oly so that they could join m4/3. Pana and oly must have known this was coming for months. Now we will see how these type of lenses do in the market. Exciting times indeed.
Meh. If this was autofocus I’d definitely be interested. What we really need is a 60-70mm f1.4 portrait lens (equivalent of the Nikon 85mm 1.4). Why can’t manufacturers get making autofocus lenses? I can buy cheap manual legacy lenses anywhere even without huge adapters.
yawn
Not interested at all ! I do not know how editor is going to be crazy for such a thing ………
i dont want a manual focus if im going to spend over 1000 dollars
thats rediculous
Man, you complainers have no idea about the quality of CV lenses. And manual focus is fine, although I do think wide open might be tough without a viewfinder.
Wow, beautiful! Had a strong suspicion this would happen. The Nokton Classics have been popular on m4/3, this was a perfectly logical move.
I see some people here moaning about the weight and lack of AF, and can’t help but think they’re missing the point a bit. I would have been a little disappointed if Voigtlander had stuck an AF system in a lens like this… It would have robbed it of all it’s charm and style.
If only it was 1/4 of the price…
damn, this is great news! a 25mm f/0.95 is amazing, and who cares about AF?? more than a century of photography have been made with manual focus AND, for GH1 users (video) AF is not that important for video making.
<3 Voigtlaender.
But I do think they misjudged the market if they think that 20% of m43 users will pay $1000 for a manual focus lens, no matter how good.
I think they also erred on the focal length. The Leica D Summilux 25mm f/1.4 is already a superb lens with AF at the same price. The Lumix G 20/1.7 ASPH is already super sharp and more than good enough for most enthusiasts at $350.
On the bright side, 25mm is not a commonly available focal length for adapted legacy lenses, since common wisdom says that RF lenses shorter than 28mm give too much vignetting on m43.
If they were smart, they would have designed this with an APS-C or larger image circle so they can remount it for E mount (NEX) and NX. After all, the NEX only has a single 16mm prime right now, so I bet NEX users are champing at the bit for more lenses.
PS Going by forums, 80% of m43 users seem to think that $300 is too much to spend on a lens. Cheap ba$tards. 😛
Should be more appropiate if you said the forums that you usually surf have that tendency. My group general using more decent manual lens on m43. and some using less expensive lens too, the point is that we loves old manual lens and feel that m43 is still more appropiate at the moment.
and I feel interested on Voigtlander moves and looking forward to see the test photos of it.
Besides, for NEX, which indeed attractive, but not now for me. NEX has an inherent design problem that manual super wide and wide lens’ photo quality degrade a lot with this combination.
‘Besides, for NEX, which indeed attractive, but not now for me. NEX has an inherent design problem that manual super wide and wide lens’ photo quality degrade a lot with this combination.’
The consensus is that this is (probably) due to the short flange back distance. There is nothing stopping voigtlaender from designing a lens with a longer than standard FBD for NEX. I do think that the biggest application for this 25/0.95 is probably going to be in HD video, where it will be great for low light and shallow DOF applications.
I’m certainly a proponent of the theory that glass is worth paying more for than bodies, but with the advent of the NEX and the A55/A33, it does seem as if the tide is about to turn away from m43. Panasonic needs to have something wow-worthy at Photokina, or it’ll end up as an also-ran.
For those of us still lost in the past with memories of our 50mm f1.8 on our manual film cameras, this is good news indeed. But this gives more light for the same DOF. I hope it drops below $1000 pretty soon.
No, nothing to do with short Flange distance; if that is M mount, has to match M-mount flange with an adapter. if that is C/Y mount, then, you also need the adapter to match the flange distance of the lens.
The problem is NEX forgot to control the ray angle, then, lead to an CA problem. and I don’t think it could be solved by software. So, better wait for a more advance model.
Need to see test shots.
We seem to be forgetting that this is NOT really a 50mm lens – just a cropped 25mm and it won’t have the shallow DOF of a traditional 50mm lens. I doubt the F0.95 aperture will match the same shallow DOF of a real 50mm at F1.4
This is certainly an interesting development and I’m happy for anyone who would like and can afford this lens. But the truth is, the time when I would pay $1000 for a single lens has passed. I’m not cheap… it’s just that life has forced other priorities. It also seems a bit large and heavy for the spirit of micro four-thirds. But in all fairness, one needs a lot of glass to get f/.095. That said, if this means Voigtlander will be coming out with a micro four-thirds digital rangefinder, then I’m all for it.
You’re right, it’s more like f/2 on a full frame. Which would be terrific. But then I’d need to carry around a large, heavy $3,000 D700 or 5D — which I do not want. If I want full frame sensor with a rangefinder-sized body, then I’d need to drop $8,000 on an M9. Again, not what I want.
This lens on my little GF1… *that* is what i want. 😉
Sorry, I clicked on the reply below RW’s comment. Didn’t notice till it was too late that “reply” is actually *above* the comment you’re replying to.
Great job on the FT5. I’m glad that this site will still be up and running and the haters will not return to the site!
I’m excited to see the future and more affordable lenses that present themselves. Too bad we didn’t get a third party body, but we can hope that this m43 expansion will help progress the format.
I was hopping that they would announce a new four thirds SLR. sigh. I do hope Olympus would come up with new SLRs this year.
If this lens comes with CPU inside it, that will be great.
If my pen could do focus detect with this lens that would be awesome.
Totally disappointed…
Sorry, I’m not interested
interesting release, but too close to the panaleica 25/1.4 for comfort. i use the 50/1.1 on my e-pl1 for portrait work and it’s brilliant though, so will be keen to see the test results.
ps all of you MF whingers need to shut up and learn how to use a camera. keyboard warrior photographic skill
keyboard warrior (not equal to) photographic skill
I think there is a VERY limited market for such expensive manual-focus lenses for the 43 format segment. If I am that concerned about image quality, I will drag out my 5D and L series primes to get the shot before spending any more money on camera gear at the risk of incurring the eternal wrath of my wife.
I only gripe about AF because micro 4/3 has no OVF. This would be fine for carefully composed shots, but it may be important to bracket focus for action shots. At 25mm it won’t be TOO bad, but i’d kill for an edge detect overlay on the LCD.
@Jonathan
“all of you MF whingers need to shut up and learn how to use a camera.” – you’ve said what’s on my mind.
I love my Leica, Leica lens, MFT w/ M-mount lens, 16mm c-mount lens – all MF lens. There are times for super AI faster than light AF – like when you are sport or war zone photographer. But one of the joy about photography is actually the focusing part. AF lens, at times kills that joy.
> AF lens, at times kills that joy.
MF on most dSLRs is a pain in the butt. Simply because view finders are too small and live view focus assist is either absent or poorly implemented.
Also on most dSLRs it is impossible to view/preview the RAW – they show low quality preview JPEG. IOW, until loaded on the PC, it is impossible to tell whether the shot subject is sharp enough.
I’d love toying with MF, but Canons/Nikons/Olys I have held in my hands were barely capable of it. I keep an eye on rangefinders, but affordable ones apparently released only once in a decade. Last was the Pannay DMC-LC1 which is now even on eBay is a rare find.
Does anyone know the filter size for this lens? Thanks!
Nevermind. I see it now. It’s 52mm. Sweet!
Yawn! So much hype yesterday for such a boring piece of news!! I neither want it, nor will I buy it…
I knew it would not be worth waiting up for….so I didn’t. So what is the big news? Yet another m4/3 lens. I am not in the 20$ that will buy this lens, nor in the 90% that wanted it.
Like many others I am waiting for some 4/3 developments.
John
At the very least, will this MF lens report the focal length and aperture opening to the camera for EXIF data ?
Maybe just a lens with m43 mount equipped
@Seika: That’s the problem. There really isn’t anything to indicate this is a m43 lens other than it mounts to m43. Similar to the Noktor. They can say its a new design, but if so they’d be expected to at least communicate data back to the camera even if MF. If it doesn’t then this is a meaningless announcement and has nothing to do with the ‘future’ of m43 lenses as this is nothing other than a generic lens with a built in m43 mount conversion.
Really its a piss poor answer for all that build up. You can get a 25mm f0.95 that has minimal vignetting for $300 new already and I’ve posted the link for it before.
@J Where can we get a 25mm f0.95 lens with minimal vignetting for $300? Sorry I missed the link.
Here you go.
It does vignette, but it isn’t bad and at < 1/3 the cost a little cropping is acceptable.
http://www.surveillent.com/senko-advanced-components-vfa2595h-1-manual-25mm-f0-95.aspx
You are right. If this was a AF-lens, than I might buy it. But an MF lens with manual aperture can also use a mount adapter.
Anyway it shows that MFT is becoming more and more a market for third-party products and this is a good thing.
OMG, why theses commercials don’t know anything in photo !!??
Nobody need a 50mm with a micro 4/3 ! The micro 4/3 are usefull for reportage, so in travel we need 24mm to 35mm but 50 mm is already too high.
Well yeah that’s true… already the Pana 20 mm 1.7 (40mm equivalent) does not cover a wide enough angle for street photography. I’m tempted to get the Olympus 17 mm for this actually.
However, however… super fast lenses ARE needed… and they won’t be wide angle for sure so… I still think it has a place. Anyway it’s too early to settle for a new lens. Waiting for the Photokina to see what’s coming out…
IMPROVED LOW-LIGHT PHOTO/VIDEO & RAZOR-THIN DOF
Remembering a handicap ~2/3 EV to APS-C and 2 EV related to FF135, the equivalent lenses would require:
• 50mm f/1.9 on FF135
• 33mm f/1.65 on APS-C
Certainly this new lens is a welcome addition to µ43,
and more lenses from Cosina/Voigtländer is on many users wishlists.
Even without AF, these lenses certainly have their applications. Adding AF in future might be possible, but with large and heavy lens groups they will not be a speedy lens.
But a 2/3 EV handcap to APS-C would mean the equivalent would require f/1,2 for APS-C. See here:
http://www.photographyuncapped.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/Ken-Storch-The-Lists–ISO-Shutter-Speeds-Fstops.gif
Anyway that’s not always the case, because mft has no handicap against the NX-System but a full EV against the Nex system.
I’ve already talked with the CV authorized seller in Taiwan, but he was surprising and asked me the information source. But then, he say that I can prescribe the lens now.
Should Somebody get it for the first report?
I am also curious about the $300 alternatives?
C-mount lens?The Senko ADL ones?
http://www.cosina.co.jp/seihin/voigt/v-lens/micro-ft/index.html
33mm f/1.2 on APS-C (CORRECTION)
This would fit perfect on a m43 rangefinder camera.. OMG, when is the first m43-rangefinder coming???!!
If it would activate the focus assist (magnification) as soon as you touch the focusing ring, I would not have problems with it being manual only.
I have the Nokton 40/1.4 and the Lumix 20/1.7. The latter is much better for manual focusing as it activates focus assist as soon as I touch the focusing ring. If Voigtländer/Cosina could inplement this feature, I think they would have a winner. Pressing buttons to activate focus assist is just too slow in many situations.
@ agent00soul :
Your comment is the cleverest I could read on this page.
The problen isn’t the DOF calcul, MF versus AF, etc…
The real question is : When Pannasonic, Olympus or other camera makers will create a camera adapted for street photographers, with a good intergrated evf or rangefinder, and quick and efficient focus assist?
What i can see with that new lens is only good news to come :
– other brands comming in MFT system,
– other quality MF lenses to come,
– C-mount fast primes price will drop (I hope so!)
– firms understand MFT can be an alternative to “excellent but too expensive” Leica rangefinders.
Waiting now for well-done best Panny, Oly or Cosina camera…
I want this lens for Sony NEX!
@agent00soul & gekopaca
I’m fine with the way the focus magnification works on my GF1. Quick and easy… what else do you need?
Does it feature electronic communication with camera body? Will it provide automatic magnification when manually focoused? Will it provide EXIF data?
I hope this lens to be not just a piece of metal and glass: if Cosina chooses to enter into the standard I hope they will be compatible with the current technology!!!
Anyway a good news!
If this Nokton 25mm F0.95 is optimized for 4/3 format then it will be better solution than Leica M lenses on mFT body which perform outstanding on 135 format but not very nicely on 4/3 sized sensor. Good thing – it is a 25mm not 50mm lens so more wides are surely coming either. The mFT products becoming more mature with those lenses. Nice news admin, cheers :).
iMikl: I don’t know about the GF-1, but on the E-P1 you must press the awkwardly placed OK button to activate and deactivate the focus assist. Furthermore, you must be in “green square mode”, which means the live histogram isn’t available. So it’s further button presses to switch mode, as I use the live histogram for exposure compensation all the time.
With the GF1 you just have to press the rear (click)dial and then use it to zoom in and out. Very intuitive.
I’m not into m43 yet, but things are getting more and more interesting. Could anybody tell a newbie how manual focus assistance might work with a m43-body and this kind of lens? Thanks
Magnification on GF1 is quite fast – I use it with no problems with my 40mm 1.4 Nokton Classic. But I also wonder about EXIF data and if it would automagically prompt focus assist then even better.
So is it 25mm or 50mm in 135 terms???
Manual focus, manual aperture? Sucks. I won’t buy it, but I hope that something very similar will be announced by Oly or Panna.
This lens has been fully developed for mFT only:
— it doesn’t exist in any other mount (i.e., not like Sigma)
— the optic formula is unique, completely knew and modern (11 elements in 8 groups, 10-blades diaphragm) (i.e., not like Noktor)
With Cosina/Voigtländer being officially part of the mFT Consortium, we can expect full communication between the lens and the body. “Officially” is the key word, and confirmed by the use of the official mFT logo in the press release, i.e., completely different from Noktor (for instance). Note that Voigtländer already knows how to integrate a CPU to their lenses (see their SLR lenses), so full communication shouldn’t be a problem.
I hope your optimism is warranted… I think it will be quite difficult to manage such a narrow depth of field given the ergonomics of a heavy lens mounted to a GF or EP. The addition of a lens that at least triggers focus assist and communicates focal distance (for image stabilization purposes) would be quite helpful.
Olympus’ press release (which mention Cosina is joining but not saying much about the lens released) does have list mentioning about the lens standard on M4/3, the flange distance, mount diameter and the contact pins.
Hope they don’t make their release looks ridiculous and the lens actually has a smart mount (hence the contacts) as specified by the standard.
@ Al, iMikl & Agent00soul :
I know is quite easy to focusing with the GF1, but I’ve got a GH1 and I must press 2 buttons for (and very often the subject go by…).
But the main thing I need is a very compact camera (like GF1 or Pen, or more compact) with a built-in EVF or rangefinder… we will see at Photokina.
@ Andy :
Focus assist with GF1 : only press the roll
With G1 or GH1, 2 buttons
With Pen, never used but seems 2 buttons too.
With Panny cameras and same brand lenses (for instance 20mm f1.7) : when you touch the focus ring, instantanly got assist mode.
cool, thanks, I’ll have a more deep look into this
Just noticed this on the Olympus announcement:
“With COSINA CO., Ltd. coming on board, consumers will now be able to take advantage of the company’s unique traditions and advanced optical technology as it will now be possible to use Voigtländer and other renowned lenses with any camera compliant with Micro Four Thirds System standard.”
That statement: Voigtlander and other renown lenses …. Does that mean Cosina can also build Zeiss designed lenses for m4/3? Imagine that? If this is the case, m4/3 will potentially have some of the best lens makers in the world in it’s backyard!! Leica thru Pana, Olympus, Voigtlander and Zeiss!! Now if they would only keep the price reasonable!!! Maybe this is the reason for bringing the modular 4/3/FT concept to life? Mix and match 4/3 and m4/3 lenses… you can have both DSLR and rangefinder type cameras in the same system. I wonder if this ever crossed their minds?
Holy ****! I had totally forgotten about the countdown and just had a look – my jaw almost instantly dropped when I read the announcement! Man, that’s exciting news …
I’ll buy Nokton 25mm 0.95!!!!
If the focus ring triggers focus-assist on a GF1 I’m in.
Will these make full use of meter modes?
What would interest me is if they setup the rear mount to be able to actuate RF Cam system. I could see Cosina releasing say a Bessa RM43A, where it’s lenses actuate a coincident rangefinder. Imagine LV and a Optical Coincident RF with RF lenses specific to M43rds, costing far less than an M9 and if they use the 1:1 finder of the R3, would provide sufficient base to accurately focus the 25/0.95 they announced.
That I would buy in a heartbeat.
I’m imagining, the camera could calculate the parallax and distance electronically then send the information to the lens to focus right ? Another way to help the focusing other than contrast detect.
Or that’s just too time consuming and costly ?
Now all we need is a Voigtlander half frame 35mm camera that uses the m43 mount so we only need one lens system… how sweet would that be????
So, dreaming the cheap digital Leica dream, how all this would affect the Panny-Leica relationship?
I would want to see the lesn reviewed on photozone and/or dpreview and see that it had high quality, at least at f2.0, before buying it. It could make interesting competition to the rumoured forthcoming fast standard lens from Panasonic.
Reading the earlier postings I’m intrigued that some people seem to fancy a couple rangefinder MFT camera. Myabe they are thinking of a digital version of a Leica CL. I would imagine such a camera would be very expensive. A coupled rangefinder wouldn’t be able to focus any of the internal focusing AF lenses and CRF would have to be in addition to live view. I can’t believe anybody would market such a thing.
the thing is, you can already use the m-mount cosina lenses on m43 and your R3 or whatever. the thing that excites me sooo much about this lens is the idea of using an awesome voigtlander lens on m43 cameras with a MUCH closer focus distance (which the rf lenses don’t allow). i think this ones closest distance is 17cm as opposed to the 70cm-1m that the rf lenses have.
i do agree that it would be nice to see cosina m43 camera with a real shutter speed dial, real camera build and maybe a zoomable optical viewfinder…?
Here’s another sample shot taken with this lens…:
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/herr_k/9125546
I’m not usually much of an equipment fanatic, but I think maybe I’d kill to get this beauty 😉
Some samples, http://suwenchee.blogspot.com/2011/01/voigtlander-25mm-f095-for-m43.html?spref=fb.
Is there one that mount onto Sony NEX5? Came across this, http://suwenchee.blogspot.com/2011/03/voigtlander-25mm-f095-for-sony-nex-e.html. Was wondering where I can get one factory specs for Sony.