Reading mode: Light Dark

A day out with *** NEX-5N + Voigtlander 35mm f/1.2 II *** [15 imgs]

Go to last post
H

hken

Member
Messages
34
Reaction score
8
Location
US
A day out with my new toys - NEX-5N and Voigtlander 35mm f/1.2 II

I love the rendering of this lens, it can be both soft and sharp depends on how you use it - aperture, lighting and focus point and distance. I don't have the version 1 so I can't compare. From what I have seen, the new version is a bit sharper wide open with 0.5 close focus distance.

With the peaking mode of 5N, the combination gave me more shooting opportunities at the street without being notice and captured the as-is scene.

All photos are shoot wide open at f/1.2 and converted from RAW to JPG by Lightroom. C&C welcomed :)























































 
Some interesting shots here thanks for posting. My comments: This lens looks soft at f1.2. My favorite shot, the 7th=man with cart, I think would have been much better at f2.8 or f4 if light allowed. Bump the ISO up to 800 and shoot closer to the len's sweetspot (probably f5.6) would have produced dramatically sharper shots here.
 
Would try to post some color shots next time, for f/1.2 shots b&w shots look better to me as it somehow create film feeling and CA exists in wide open color shots.

Those are mainly chest level shot, focus with peaking mode on LCD (thinking to get the EVF or not..). Focusing at f/1.2 on 5N is easier than I thought, thanks to the great peaking mode!
 
Nice, but I don't see the point of the vignetting in many of them; or was that unintentional?

Rioch
 
Alupang said:
Some interesting shots here thanks for posting. My comments: This lens looks soft at f1.2.
Click to expand...
You need to look closer. There are many shots in the B&W series where the subject is OOF, but if you look around the image you will see things which are in very sharp focus---for this aperture.

It is impossible to get even 1/4 the resoultion at 1.2 as you can at, say 5.6,--with any superspeed. So "sharpness" in this contex is realative.

If fact this is one of the sharpest lenses at 1.2 ever made. :) (sharper than the 50/1.1 for sure) and to my knowledge is the fastest FF 35 ever as well.

Both v1 and v2 are superb, unique lenses, with huge character.

I just got a v1 and am completely in love ;)

to OP I just suggest you be a bit more selective in posting your examples. You have some REALLY nice ones in the B&Ws, but the fuzzy subjects in others distract from those. Less is more :)
 
TY for responding to the request for color shots, but again I wish you were more selective---these are just not interesting photos--no offense--i suspect you are just "testing", and they don't show off the lens. Many online "tests" do the same thing.

Also in daylight you don't need to use 1.2 quite so much in your samples. How does it perform at 5.6 or f/8?

Sometimes its better to wait till you have shots you REALLY love :)

with respect,
uhoh7

For those really interested in the lens:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110011
 
uhoh07 said:
Alupang said:
Some interesting shots here thanks for posting. My comments: This lens looks soft at f1.2.
Click to expand...
You need to look closer. There are many shots in the B&W series where the subject is OOF, but if you look around the image you will see things which are in very sharp focus---for this aperture.

It is impossible to get even 1/4 the resoultion at 1.2 as you can at, say 5.6,--with any superspeed. So "sharpness" in this contex is realative.

If fact this is one of the sharpest lenses at 1.2 ever made. :) (sharper than the 50/1.1 for sure) and to my knowledge is the fastest FF 35 ever as well.

Both v1 and v2 are superb, unique lenses, with huge character.

I just got a v1 and am completely in love ;)

to OP I just suggest you be a bit more selective in posting your examples. You have some REALLY nice ones in the B&Ws, but the fuzzy subjects in others distract from those. Less is more :)
Click to expand...
i agree i have to be more selective on the samples :p, just got too excited on my new toys. thanks for your comments and suggestions.

i would say this lens is sharp on f/1.2 "in some cases". i found a little bit strange thing on sharpness though, in general the right side of the photos is sharper than left side (landscape orientation), assume both side are in the same focus plane. This is not due to out focus, I tested it through and made that conclusion, maybe that's sample variation. I wonder if anyone notice that in other samples or is it just mine..
 
uhoh07 said:
TY for responding to the request for color shots, but again I wish you were more selective---these are just not interesting photos--no offense--i suspect you are just "testing", and they don't show off the lens. Many online "tests" do the same thing.

Also in daylight you don't need to use 1.2 quite so much in your samples. How does it perform at 5.6 or f/8?

Sometimes its better to wait till you have shots you REALLY love :)

with respect,
uhoh7

For those really interested in the lens:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110011
Click to expand...
thanks for posting the thread, nice! (that's one of the reasons i bought this lens!)

i should have use smaller aperture like f/4 or f/5.6 is daytime photos but i couldn't resist the magic of f/1.2 at my first day with this gem (it's my first ever f/1.2). I really love how it work with peaking mode of NEX-5N, very inspirational and rewarding experience.

This lens is truly special, sharp at center from f/2.8 and corner from f/4.0 (really sharp when stopped down a bit) Trust me, I am rather picky on lens sharpness :)

btw, i DO love my posted b&w street photos here, that's why i wanted to share
 
uhoh07 said:
TY for responding to the request for color shots, but again I wish you were more selective---these are just not interesting photos--no offense--i suspect you are just "testing", and they don't show off the lens. Many online "tests" do the same thing.
Click to expand...
Hmm... now I wonder if we have to post interesting photos only when showing something? I hope I misunderstand something and hopefully you can elaborate a little.

I'm certainly not looking for artistically stellar images when spending a few minutes with a lens review. To be honest, I'm always surprised by the bitchy comments (not thinking about you here) you often can find when reading comments on lens tests.

If you really are interested in the CV35/1.2 I put some observations together in the thread here: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1042&message=39359647

regards,

Jonas
 
hken said:
(...)
Click to expand...
hken said:
i would say this lens is sharp on f/1.2 "in some cases". i found a little bit strange thing on sharpness though, in general the right side of the photos is sharper than left side (landscape orientation), assume both side are in the same focus plane. This is not due to out focus, I tested it through and made that conclusion, maybe that's sample variation. I wonder if anyone notice that in other samples or is it just mine..
Click to expand...
It shouldn't perform like that. Do some controlled testing and find out about possible decentering. Shoot a (boring) brick wall at f/1.2 and f/2, perpendicular, and check the corners. The should be uniformly blurry. If they are not you'll have to decide for yourself if you want to have the lens serviced or exchanged.

regards,

Jonas
 
Jonas B said:
Hmm... now I wonder if we have to post interesting photos only when showing something? I hope I misunderstand something and hopefully you can elaborate a little.

I'm certainly not looking for artistically stellar images when spending a few minutes with a lens review. To be honest, I'm always surprised by the bitchy comments (not thinking about you here) you often can find when reading comments on lens tests.
Click to expand...
haha---I don't think I'm too far out of line in this thread, but I take your point. I just can't stand the "I've got a new lens---here are some shots out the window". There is plenty of that in that RFF thread i referenced--shots of the suburban hedge. Yuck.

Why not take some time and show the same thing with an at least mildly interesting shot?

As you go through that RFF thread you begin to see some sweet ones.

The B&Ws here ARE interesting, but not allways well shot---which is understandable with the DOF---but this is THE EASIEST SUPERSPEED TO FOCUS AT 1.2. DOF is equal to a 50 @ f/2. :) (as you know, of course)

So think twice Jonas!!!!

just kidding--never saw a bad post from you ;)
 
Jonas B said:
hken said:
(...)
Click to expand...
Jonas B said:
i would say this lens is sharp on f/1.2 "in some cases". i found a little bit strange thing on sharpness though, in general the right side of the photos is sharper than left side (landscape orientation), assume both side are in the same focus plane. This is not due to out focus, I tested it through and made that conclusion, maybe that's sample variation. I wonder if anyone notice that in other samples or is it just mine..
Click to expand...
It shouldn't perform like that. Do some controlled testing and find out about possible decentering. Shoot a (boring) brick wall at f/1.2 and f/2, perpendicular, and check the corners. The should be uniformly blurry. If they are not you'll have to decide for yourself if you want to have the lens serviced or exchanged.

regards,

Jonas
Click to expand...
I read your thread several times before buying lens, thanks so much such a detailed review/experience of the lens. A couple of points want to clarify though, for your photo of infinity at f/1.2 (the processed one to show veiling flare), to my eyes the left side (grey wall) look less sharp than the right side (red wall). But I cannot say for sure on that down-sized photo. is that the case? are there any other photos could illustrate the even sharpness at wide aperture?

thanks again for your great effort on reviewing the cv 35/1.2 II. :)
 
uhoh07 said:
Alupang said:
Some interesting shots here thanks for posting. My comments: This lens looks soft at f1.2.
Click to expand...
You need to look closer. There are many shots in the B&W series where the subject is OOF, but if you look around the image you will see things which are in very sharp focus---for this aperture.
Click to expand...
Look at the second shot for just one example. 1/250 sec so I think we can rule out shake. I think the plane of focus is the front of the lady's purse but it's not that sharp there. At f4 and ISO 800 the shot would have been much sharper.
uhoh07 said:
If fact this is one of the sharpest lenses at 1.2 ever made. :) (sharper than the 50/1.1 for sure) and to my knowledge is the fastest FF 35 ever as well.
Click to expand...
Could be the sharpest 1.2 ever made but still, it looks soft to me wide open and it would be much sharper stopped down.
 
hken said:
I read your thread several times before buying lens, thanks so much such a detailed review/experience of the lens. A couple of points want to clarify though, for your photo of infinity at f/1.2 (the processed one to show veiling flare), to my eyes the left side (grey wall) look less sharp than the right side (red wall). But I cannot say for sure on that down-sized photo. is that the case? are there any other photos could illustrate the even sharpness at wide aperture?
Click to expand...
I went back to the DNG file and checked and it is hard to say. It feels pretty safe to say both sides of the street are equally iffy.

I also had a look at the comparison series taken at 12m and compared the left and right side of the f/1.2 image. They are as equal as one can ask for. When checking this I think at least 5m or around 10-20m is a good distance; it's always hard to be sure the sensor is exactly parallel to the brick wall so a somewhat longer distance lessens the impact from an error there.
hken said:
thanks again for your great effort on reviewing the cv 35/1.2 II. :)
Click to expand...
You're welcome... and it's always nice getting a comment!

regards,

Jonas
 
uhoh07 said:
Jonas B said:
Hmm... now I wonder if we have to post interesting photos only when showing something? I hope I misunderstand something and hopefully you can elaborate a little.

I'm certainly not looking for artistically stellar images when spending a few minutes with a lens review. To be honest, I'm always surprised by the bitchy comments (not thinking about you here) you often can find when reading comments on lens tests.
Click to expand...
haha---I don't think I'm too far out of line in this thread, but I take your point. I just can't stand the "I've got a new lens---here are some shots out the window". There is plenty of that in that RFF thread i referenced--shots of the suburban hedge. Yuck.

Why not take some time and show the same thing with an at least mildly interesting shot?

As you go through that RFF thread you begin to see some sweet ones.

The B&Ws here ARE interesting, but not allways well shot---which is understandable with the DOF---but this is THE EASIEST SUPERSPEED TO FOCUS AT 1.2. DOF is equal to a 50 @ f/2. :) (as you know, of course)
Click to expand...
f/1.8 if I may ask.... ;) and not very easy to focus there due to the aberrations and veiling flare. It's clearly easier to focus that lens at f/2 (which can be perfectly done as it has no focus shift).
uhoh07 said:
So think twice Jonas!!!!
Click to expand...
OK, will do, and I'll try to avoid thinking in circles. All this surely make me think twice about ever posting a "First look at...." again. ;)
uhoh07 said:
just kidding--never saw a bad post from you ;)
Click to expand...
Heh. Now you are kidding.

Cheers,

Jonas
 
Alupang said:
Look at the second shot for just one example. 1/250 sec so I think we can rule out shake. I think the plane of focus is the front of the lady's purse but it's not that sharp there. At f4 and ISO 800 the shot would have been much sharper.
Click to expand...
F/4? they are all wide open. That shot is just OOF period. There is no plane of focus. Look at the tarp on the left in the next shot after that.

As I said, you need to look closer if you are going to delcare a lens soft or sharp. No Offense--but cmon. You know better.

Here is my V1 @ f/1.2



here f/8



flare test:



obviously hood is not needed :)

here you can open up full sized:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55299472@N07/sets/72157628129000956/with/6344843201/

there are a few more. My copy I would describe as outstanding at 1.2, and at least decent at f/8.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top