Dan Kerin

 Voigtlander 35mm F/1.2 Nokton

It has been a while since I have got my hands on any Voigtlander lenses. For long time readers of these mini reviews, you may recall that while I was in education I primally used Voigtlander lenses as they were great value for money. It was only when I began to prefer older lens designs and rendition that I moved to older Leica lenses (mainly designed by Dr Walter Mandler). I had an upcoming project where I needed to gather sample images using the Kodak Vision range of cine film which I had re spooled into 35mm canisters. This is the third edition of the 35mm f1.2 by Voigtlander and is an optimised design that focused on reducing weight and size. At the time of writing this I have not tested or got my hands on the previous versions but from images online the version 3 does look to be smaller. This lens consists of 9 elements in 7 groups and weighs 332g. There are 12 aperture blades and the lens has half stop clicks from f1.2 to f22.

The first thing I noticed with this lens was the size. While for its size Voigtlander has done a good job of keeping they weight down its physical size is more similar to a SLR lens. For some people this may not be a problem however I much prefer smaller more compact lenses as they make the Leica M system more balanced and don’t look too intruding. A nice feature on this lens for digital shooters is you can focus down to 0.5m instead of the normal 0.7m. I have noticed more and more lenses are allowing for closer focus for use on digital M cameras with live view or when adapted to other mirrorless systems. I am sure you can get great results but since 2022 I have only been shooting film so don’t have any sample images. In the hands the lens feels good, great build quality that we have become accustom to from Voigtlander and the focus throw, while quite short for a lens witch such a wide aperture feels good and quick enough that you can quickly focus from far to near.

From shooting with this lens on a couple of occasions I will say I am happy to be done with it. Now before we talk about performance for me another one of the main factors when choosing a lens is how it feels and works on the Leica M system. For me this lens was just too big. I know Voigtlander made a big deal about the lens being 20% shorter and 30% lighter than the previous version but for me this still isn’t enough, especially if you are planning on using it as an everyday lens. This is not to say it’s a bad lens it just doesn’t suit my shooting style and I would much prefer to use the Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 instead. With the elephant in the room out of the way let’s move onto performance. Being a lens with so many elements and two aspherical elements I was expecting a performer and I wasn’t let down. Sharpness is incredible and even at f1.2 I was amazed by just how sharp this lens is. In addition to this the lens handles flaring and difficult lighting situations really well. So if you don’t mind the extra size this could be a great all round lens.

Before shooting with the lens, I already had a very strong opinion. For me the main reason to shoot a Leica M camera is to have superb quality in a small discrete package that you can take with you anywhere. Again, this is mainly based on the way I shoot but this lens in my opinion is far too large. I understand it is an f1.2 and has an aspherical design but for half the cost and half the size you can buy the Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 which is a great lens and balances very well on a Leica M camera. For me the difference between f1.4 and f1.2 is not enough to justify the size and weight of the lens. If it was a 35mm f0.95 then maybe, but for half a stop more light which can be easily compensated by having a steady hand I don’t think its worth it. Save some money and go for the Voigtlander 35mm f1.4.