Voigtländer Nokton 50/1.0 (Z mount), or Verklärte Nacht

[Airy]

Name "Nokton" is well-deserved. Here are a few shots @f/1.0, 1.4, 2.0. Zf, handheld, 1/60s, -1EV.
This lens is sharp at daytime, but here it looks crazy sharp: I took similar test pics some time ago with the Noct 58/1.2 and the Canon FD 50/1.4 and the results were quite inferior.
Only the coma and halos look more developed than with the Nikkor but bright night sources are seldom of interest anyway.

[Airy]

Concerning flare and ghosts, this is one case with a funny ectoplasm. It is completely gone by f/1.6. The displayed shots are at f/1.0, 1.4, 2.0 and then 5.6. The striped sunstars are due to the LED sources.

[Akira]

Indeed, the images look sharp even with the lens wide open.  I wonder if this sharpness is also thanks to (or due to) the LED light?  I like the atmosphere of the first frame(s), though.

[Airy]

LEDs are multipoint light sources and indeed contribute to the perceived sharpness.

[Erik Lund]

Looks like a fun lens!
Great with the multi star strike pattern

[Airy]

More fun with the Nokton at 1.0. Of course this would not be my aperture of choice for e.g. a portrait. The shots are for testing purposes. Camera is the Zf as before.
Given the 1/3 stop clicks, one can imagine all shades of DOF and bokeh from 1.0 to 2.8, with subtle gradations a bit similar to what the 105 or 135 DC lenses would allow with respect to spherical aberration.
On the last shot, focus is on the dark red leaves of the nearest tree (and yes, they are fairly sharp)

[Airy]

Similar to the Nokton 58/1.4, this one can be used to shoot against the light. Here's an example, stopped at f/4 with focus on the flags (I should have used f/2.8 ). The shot is underexposed; I took another one compensated at +1 EV but the result is meh.

[Erik Lund]

All very nice images


With these types of lenses I will often do on purpose a step or so of underexposure, to keep the bright areas from blooming too much, then in post processing lift up the middel tones and or the highs. Makes these fast lenses do very well in high contrast scenes.

[Akira]

According to my brief experience as owner of Nokton 58/1.4, the rendition of the focused area was a bit too dry to my taste.  Among the Nikon F mount standard lenses that I have used on the full-frame cameras, I preferred Zeiss Planar 50/1.4 for its rather wet and softer rendition.

Of course, Airy, I would be glad if you are happy with your brand new ultra-fast Nokton.

[Airy]

With these types of lenses I will often do on purpose a step or so of underexposure, to keep the bright areas from blooming too much, then in post processing lift up the middel tones and or the highs. Makes these fast lenses do very well in high contrast scenes.

I am also at odds with the "blown"character of the image centre, which occurs on all high-vignetting lenses (including the Noct Nikkor). I often handle that the lazy way, starting with the LR auto setting, then finishing by hand (reducing contrast close to, and saturation to their initial values, for one thing).

[Airy]

According to my brief experience as owner of Nokton 58/1.4, the rendition of the focused area was a bit too dry to my taste.  Among the Nikon F mount standard lenses that I have used on the full-frame cameras, I preferred Zeiss Planar 50/1.4 for its rather wet and softer rendition.

It is rather the bokeh of the Nokton 58/1.4 that I found problematic. Apparently, this Nokton 50/1.0 fares better (except in the far corners) at comparable apertures. Its sweet spot may be at f/1.4, actually, where the 58/1.4 is rather weak (lacking contrast, and even sharpness at short distances). Other than the 58/1.4 or the 50/1.2 Nikkors, the new Nokton has no "dual personality", dreamy vs. sharp. It evolves from sharp to very sharp, contrasty to very contrasty as you stop down.

If you do not like dry, you should try the Summicron R 50/2, one of my all-time favourites (but for shooting against the light). Sharp but mild wide open, "subtle" in one word. I have the 2nd version. The 1st adds "Leica glow", so I was told, but I'm not necessarily after that.

[Airy]

Zf, handheld (but 1/100s at 280 ISO), wide open.
It surprizes me every time how manual focusing is made easy by this particular camera and lens combination. Again, f/1.0 is not the preferred stop for such pictures, but as you may see, I've been successfully blurred into the background...
Sorry not to have time for even a halfway decent shooting session. Enormous pressure on professional side. But I promise I'll evade it tomorrow, to the benefit of an enjoyable shooting session on a sunny day (at last).

[paul hofseth]

Reminds me of the original Nokton f1,5 for the Prominent camera. Somewhat difficult to adapt to a digital apparatus, so I have never tried to use this over 70years old design on anything exept film (and the compur shutters of my two equally old Prominents have problems).

p.

[Airy]

Can you provide a picture of (since "made with" seems difficult) this ancestor?

[paul hofseth]

wil this do? Drastically compressed.