Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f/1.5 ASPH VM – Why the Hood Steals the Show
Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f/1.5 ASPH VM - Why the Hood Steals the Show
Lens Review
Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f/1.5 ASPH VM – Why the Hood Steals the Show
Who would buy this Nokton 35mm f/1.5? That picky voice in my head questioned as I looked at the silver rim that didn’t quite match the vented circular hood. So I stuck with my Summilux 35mm and skipped this announcement on the Voigtlander website. However, I later found a lovely square lens hood from my supplier that seemed like the perfect match for the lens. I ended up buying a pre-owned Nokton 35mm f/1.5 ASPH VM in black paint, also known as the Type II, from Fotopia.
There’s one important rule I follow when buying a lens or deciding whether to use it: if it doesn’t look good or isn’t ergonomic, it doesn’t make sense for me. For instance, some of the MS Optics lenses are nice, but I can’t stand how the lens rotates. Eventually, I’ll just sell it. The Nokton 50mm f/1.5 SC II was an example; it’s a stellar, compact lens that’s easy to carry, but its barrel design and black color weren’t my top choices. Yet, I still find myself in love with lenses like the Summilux 50mm f/1.4 ASPH or the Summicron 50mm f/2 Rigid. Should you get this or who should consider this lens? We’ll explore that more in this post.
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Voigtlander Lenses Lineup
Voigtlander has been aggressively expanding its roadmap across different focal lengths. I am one of the beneficiaries from Cosina. I also bought the Nokton 75mm f/1.5 ASPH VM, and it’s an amazing lens. They also released the 50mm f/3.5 APO and 50mm f/2.2. Sometimes, I wonder why they produce so many lenses of the same focal length; perhaps it’s the CEO’s love for rangefinder cameras? They recently announced some great lenses like the APO Lanthar 50mm f/3.5 and Color Skopar 50mm f/2.2, providing very nice and affordable options for us!
Nokton 35mm f/1.5 ASPH VM
This lens is best suited for those just starting with a rangefinder camera who don’t want to pay the hefty price tag for a Leica Summilux but aren’t chasing clinical sharpness across the frame. Recently, I met Marc, who was traveling in Hong Kong. He has a Leica Summilux FLE, which he loves, but he was looking at this Nokton 35mm. Why? Partly because it’s so compact and looks good on the Leica M. It takes a 39mm filter thread which you could share among other vintage Leica lenses. Sometimes, I used a yellow filter on it with my M10 Monochrome. Most importantly, choosing between the Nokton 35mm f/1.4 II VM and the Nokton 35mm f/1.5 ASPH VM can be differentiated by the tone. If you want some vintage look in the bokeh but not modern sharpness, go for the Nokton 35mm f/1.4. If you prefer something cleaner and modern, with moderate contrast and more vivid, defined colors, go for the 35mm f/1.5 lens.
Lens Character
As usual, Voigtlander lenses have a colder color tone. They exhibit a considerable amount of vignette when wide open, which I see as a characteristic of their lineup. I don’t mind the vignettes because you can either post-process to edit it out or keep it to give that nice cinematic look. Also, its contrast is moderate, which makes the colors pretty rich. It is quite sensitive to blue and green color palettes. I think it has a more pastel look than the Summilux 35 FLE, with red and other sharp colors being quite subtle, even when I tried it on my digital Leica M10-P and film camera MP.
Bokeh
Comparing two shots that I did wide open f/1.5 and at f/2.8 on my Leica M10-P.
Sharpness
It has nice center sharpness and close focus sharpness, considering it is such a small compact lens compared to the Leica Summilux. It isn’t as sharp as the Summilux 35 FLE (11663) at wide open, but I think the mid-frame sharpness of a Leica is better; it is more akin to the Summilux 35mm pre-FLE (11874). I find it strikes a very good balance for those picking a lens in the modern era, where most 35mm ASPH lenses are so sharp, and someone doesn’t want to spend extra for the Leica. The Nokton 35mm f/1.5 does the job well, offering a bit of that vintage look while maintaining a certain sharpness in the modern era.
Impression Versus Summilux 35mm
Based on my 8 years of experience with the Summilux 35 FLE, the Nokton doesn’t have the nice transition where the Summilux FLE has much finer transition from shadow to light, and the highlights seem to be better preserved. With two-thirds of the size of a Summilux FLE, you cannot demand more with it. I am super happy with this lens, and my Summilux now sits idle in the corner of my cabinet. The Summilux 35mm Pre-a has the signature Leica glow, not everyone loves it. If you don’t like the glow, the Leica Summilux 35mm FLE and Pre-FLE are nice options. The Nokton 35mm f/1.5 fits right into the spot that provides good sharpness and performance. I still find the Summilux 35 FLE is a lot better in terms of quality.
Minimum Focus Distance at 0.5M
With the ability to focus down to 0.5 meters, it is clearly an advantage when I come across things with very nice textures.
Square Lens Hood
I have to be honest with you: the hood is the main dish and the lens is the side dish to me. I was deeply attracted by the look of the lens hood and decided to add it to my webstore. For those who want a sleek Summicron 35mm APO look on their Nokton 35mm, you may check out the page here. It is available in black and silver aluminum as well as brass and black paint in brass. For those who want a thicker black paint, good news—my supplier has refined the black paint to make it thicker and last longer.
Also, there is this clean protector ring available to hide the silver rim to give a nice clean look.
Digital Performance
All photos shot with the Leica M10-P digital rangefinder camera.
Analog Film Performance
I shot it with Kodak Vision 3 250D, 500T, Reflx Lab 800 pushed 1 stop and Fuji color 400. I find it a very comfortable daily lens. It performs much better on black and white film, which I shot with some Rollei 80S. Maybe it’s just my personal preference.
Final Thoughts
It’s a super compact and nice lens that feels good in your hand. The overall build is very solid, especially if you get the Type II brass in black paint version. It’s a lens that I would love to bring out with me. This is one of the lenses that I would recommend to someone who has just joined the rangefinder world, maybe you’ve just bought a Leica M10 or Leica M240, and are looking for a 35mm lens. I like it a lot more than the Ultron 35mm f/2 because you can get extra sharpness at f/8 and have that extra stop at f/1.5. In their existing lineup, I really hope they could renew the Color Skopar 35mm f/2.5 with a better aperture ring! Lately, the Nokton 28mm f/1.5 VM caught my eye, and I am going to share a bit more about that lens in the lens review. So, stay tuned.
All images have been resized. If you wish to view them in the highest resolution, please refer to my Flickr account.
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