A dark night, and a brace of Voigtlanders

Evening all,

I fell in love with the Voigtlander f/0.95 17.5mm as soon as I mounted it on my GH4 a few years back. It properly sprang to life once I moved over to the G9 - the high-res viewfinder made it much, much easier to check focus, and I feel that the sensor was able to benefit from the lens more than the GH4's was.

Due to coronavirus in the UK, I've left the area where I live on very few occasions. I am lucky in that I have the South Downs to the north, and the English Channel to the south - and both are only a five minute walk away for me.

Despite coronavirus, I've ensured that I've kept my Photo 52 challenge up to date. This forces me to get out with my camera so that I at least have one image, no matter how rubbish it is, to show for my week.

As the nights have grown longer, the Voigtlander 17.5mm and its 42.5mm brother have both joined me on my evening walks, so I thought I'd show you a few shots I grabbed the other evening whilst traipsing along the undercliff.

All images process in LR6.14, output at 3.14MP.

Undercliff Nights - Voigtlander f/0.95 17.5mm @ f/2

Saltdean Nights - Voigtlander f/0.95 17.5mm @ f/4

Undercliff Night Ride - Voigtlander f/0.95 17.5mm @ f/2

Fishing at Night - Voigtlander f/0.95 42.5mm @ f/2

Cheers,
Paul

All are very nice Paul, thanks for sharing! A night walk with a Voigtlander attached to the body of choice is good for the soul 🙂

Beautiful images! Those lenses make beautiful sunstars!

These photos work really well as a set. I think you've accomplished turning your photos into art moreso than just recording the scene. I like the tone you've set in your images and the use of lighting (or lack thereof) and transitions in tone and colour. In #1 the top half of the image has smooth colour graduation in the sky and neat sun stars contrasted by the harsh and chaotic reflections in the uneven wet surface of the pavement. #3 follows this theme of contrasting elements within the frame with the harsh red and calm blue lighting dominating their respective portions of the image. The slightly erratic motion blur on the horizontal axis that exaggerates the cyclist and camera movement is also contrasted by the relative smooth colour graduation and sharpness on the vertical axis. That's my amateur analysis for your images. Certainly very well taken with lots of interesting elements in each photo.

BruceRH wrote:

All are very nice Paul, thanks for sharing! A night walk with a Voigtlander attached to the body of choice is good for the soul 🙂

Yes, very much so! There's a certain tactile satisfaction to using them.

Cheers,
Paul

Roger Monroe wrote:

While your images are an excellent demonstration of this lenses capabilities, your visual sensibility would make lesser optics look great. I particularly like the first and last. images. The first is hypnotic :-). Thank you.

Thank you so much, Roger. Really appreciate your comments.

Cheers,
Paul

RobPNth wrote:

Beautiful images! Those lenses make beautiful sunstars!

They really do. Both lenses give starbursts to pinpoint lights from as early as f/2, though stopping down to f/5.6 really gets them bursting proper!

Cheers,
Paul

superpig000 wrote:

These photos work really well as a set. I think you've accomplished turning your photos into art moreso than just recording the scene. I like the tone you've set in your images and the use of lighting (or lack thereof) and transitions in tone and colour.

Thank you so much - I hadn't even considered them as a set until I read your comment, and I totally see that now.

In #1 the top half of the image has smooth colour graduation in the sky and neat sun stars contrasted by the harsh and chaotic reflections in the uneven wet surface of the pavement.

The sea, particularly at this time of year, throws plenty of moisture over the sea wall and onto the concrete pavement. The area where I took the shot had just the right amount without it turning into a massive puddle to wade through!

#3 follows this theme of contrasting elements within the frame with the harsh red and calm blue lighting dominating their respective portions of the image. The slightly erratic motion blur on the horizontal axis that exaggerates the cyclist and camera movement is also contrasted by the relative smooth colour graduation and sharpness on the vertical axis.

I wasn't sure whether to straighten the image or not. I think I made the right choice on leaving it askew to really emphasize the movement of both the pan and the cyclists.

That's my amateur analysis for your images. Certainly very well taken with lots of interesting elements in each photo.

Thank you once more for your comments, they've made me consider things about my images I hadn't even thought of!

Cheers,
Paul

Excellent set. And those sunstars. Perfection.

Astrotripper wrote:

Excellent set. And those sunstars. Perfection.

Thanks!

If I ever moved to another system, I'd have to ensure that there were primes available for it which easily produce sunstars like the m43 Voigtlander Noktons.

Cheers,
Paul

amipal wrote:

Astrotripper wrote:

Excellent set. And those sunstars. Perfection.

Thanks!

If I ever moved to another system, I'd have to ensure that there were primes available for it which easily produce sunstars like the m43 Voigtlander Noktons.

Cheers,
Paul

This is the main reason I also use Sony, there is a plethora of Voigtlander’s and then there are the Zeiss Loxia’s as well 😁 The Loxia 21 sunstars are beautiful.

What a great set! Thanks for posting. This just goes to show that wind and rain and next to no light is no barrier to creating great images.

I am particularly impressed with the star effect from what is a relatively wide aperture.

I'll have to get my Oly f1.2 lenses out

J4Hug wrote:

What a great set! Thanks for posting. This just goes to show that wind and rain and next to no light is no barrier to creating great images.

I am particularly impressed with the star effect from what is a relatively wide aperture.

I'll have to get my Oly f1.2 lenses out

That is the beauty of Voigtlander, you can get great sunstars starting at f2, excellent night lenses.

BruceRH wrote:

amipal wrote:

Astrotripper wrote:

Excellent set. And those sunstars. Perfection.

Thanks!

If I ever moved to another system, I'd have to ensure that there were primes available for it which easily produce sunstars like the m43 Voigtlander Noktons.

Cheers,
Paul

This is the main reason I also use Sony, there is a plethora of Voigtlander’s and then there are the Zeiss Loxia’s as well 😁 The Loxia 21 sunstars are beautiful.

That's good to know, thanks!

Cheers,
Paul

J4Hug wrote:

What a great set! Thanks for posting. This just goes to show that wind and rain and next to no light is no barrier to creating great images.

I am particularly impressed with the star effect from what is a relatively wide aperture.

I'll have to get my Oly f1.2 lenses out

Thank you!

I actually considered getting an Olympus f/1.2 lens to compare against my Voigtlander. Yes, the IQ will be fantastic, but will I get the unique rendering of the Voigt? No, no I won't.

And so I put that particular idea to bed!

Cheers,
Paul

amipal wrote:

BruceRH wrote:

amipal wrote:

Astrotripper wrote:

Excellent set. And those sunstars. Perfection.

Thanks!

If I ever moved to another system, I'd have to ensure that there were primes available for it which easily produce sunstars like the m43 Voigtlander Noktons.

Cheers,
Paul

This is the main reason I also use Sony, there is a plethora of Voigtlander’s and then there are the Zeiss Loxia’s as well 😁 The Loxia 21 sunstars are beautiful.

That's good to know, thanks!

Cheers,
Paul

You are welcome! There is a thread on FM for the Loxia lenses as well as the various Voigtlanders. Here is a link to a Loxia image on the Loxia image thread that has impressive sunstars as an example.

Voigtlander, my first camera in 1959 with one year in Northern Iceland with nothing to do except take photos. What a shame I was too young to appreciate the opportunity.

Earl

Madrid