Distinguished by its speed, the Nokton 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical from Voigtlander is a short normal prime designed for M-mount rangefinder cameras. Its comfortable focal length pairs with an impressively fast f/1.2 maximum aperture to enable notable control over depth of field for producing shallow depth of field imagery, and this aperture also benefits working in difficult lighting. Complementing the fast design is an optical layout that uses two aspherical elements to suppress spherical aberrations and distortion for notable sharpness, clarity, and accurate rendering. The lens's manual focus design permits working with subjects as close as 1.6' away, and it is also rangefinder coupled to 2.3' for working with optical focusing systems.
- Leica M-Mount Lens
- Aperture Range: f/1.2 to f/22
- Two Aspherical Elements
- Manual Focus Design
Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical Overview
Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical Specs
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Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical Reviews
I went with my heart on this one
My brain said get the RF 35mm1.4, but my heart said Get the Voigltander 40mm 1.2. I went with my heart. As shared, I chose this lens over the RF 35mm 1.4 VCM. That lens was clinically sharp, had some character, but eventually I felt like it was too wide, and *software corrected* instead of being optically corrected. So I chose the Voigtlander because it's just more fun to shoot with, is smaller, and has better, indescribable images. Furthermore, I had fell in love with the Nokton 35mm 1.2 (50mm FF equivalent) for the X-Mount on the X-Pro3. What I loved so much about that lens is present here -- beautiful, dreamy character when wide open at F1.2 to and sharp, SHARP results at F2 and above. The special thing about the 40mm variant on the Canon R5 Mark II / full frame is that it gives me a little wider FOV than the previous lens I had on APS-C, while still retaining all that character. So it's more of an everyday lens for someone who wants to document life while still having enough compression to isolate subjects. In images, there's a vignette at 1.2, but it's pleasing and even and helps to isolate those subjects even more -- stop down to f2 or above and it stars to dissipate. Again, it's pleasing and part of that character at the wider apertures and definitely gives off a vintage feel. With Canon's manual focus mode implementation (two arrows line up towards the center of a focus box) in addition to focus peaking, I am finding that I am getting a lot more keepers from this lens paired with a modern body like the R5 Mark II than I did with the 35mm 1.2 on the Fuji. Build quality is just as good -- solid, weighty feel to it. Optics incredibly clear and have no problem resolving the 45 megapixels of Canon's 8k sensor. No weather resistance, but I hear that Voigtlander lenses have tight tolerances so taking care of it when in inclement weather should help some (but I wouldn't shoot in super dusty environments, and I'd be incredibly careful in rain, mist, sand, beaches etc). If you don't need weather resistance, have some other lenses for work, and want to have fun with your camera, take a look at this one for sure.
Superb
Best lens in this format. I am shooting with Leica Monochrome, results have been superb. Excellent sharpness wide open thru the range. Close focusing is a little off between lens and rangefinder of camera, but further experimentation will iron this out. Lens engages 50mm frame lines thus composing is slightly wider than those lines, I don’t see a need for separate finder as this method looks and feels natural. I have used this focal length in many forms over the years, and I find it to be perfect for all types of photographs.