Lens Details - 35mm Voigtlander f1.2 Nokton Aspherical

My thoughts on the 35mm Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 Aspherical M mount lens are mostly good… mostly. This lens is really well made. It has perfect haptic feedback for me. The aperture clicks are smooth yet precise. The focus ring turns with just enough resistance to keep it from drifting but yet has no mechanical “feel” at all. It is just right. The spec sheet claims a maximum aperture of f1.2 and it will “stop down to f22 for those psychopaths that love diffraction in their photos”. This lens is fairly heavy though at just over a pound, you know it is on your camera. Especially a camera like the Leica CL…

So when I decided to pick one up, I started by looking at new ones. Well, that quickly led me to look at used ones! Haha. Turns out these lenses are quite costly when new and yet on the used market are quite reasonable. New ones run a smooth 1,000$ on Amazon for the 4th generation version. My version is the Gen 1 though so that saves a few bucks. The main differences between the versions is size, weight ( a byproduct of size ) and minimum focus distance. As the lenses get newer, they get shorter and focus just a little closer. How much closer you ask? Mine is .7 meters ( 27 5/8” ) and the newest version will focus down to .5 meters ( 19 11/16” )… So for several hundred dollars you get a slightly smaller and lighter lens that will focus about 8” closer. I don’t know about you, but I never shoot at the minimum focus except for lens reviews. Being able to focus closer like that is a non-issue for me. The difference in weight is only 190 grams too. This amount of weight( 6.7oz ) sounds like a lot and to some, it probably is, but for me it isnt that big of a deal. You know it is there, but it isnt that bad.

I have taken the Leica CL outfitted with this lens on several trips at this point and have come to conclude that I love it on the Leica CL mirrorless camera. Photos like the ones in this blog post show how this lens performs.

Shooting with the Voigtlander 35mm f1.2 M mount lens

This first photo shows what the Voigtlander 35mm f1.2 M mount lens is capable of. The low light performance of this lens can not be understated. I have found that blue hour photography is completely within reach of this little camera and lens combo. The clarity of the glass is incredible even when ISO is hogher to get a decent exposure.

The photo below is of a sunrise in Washington state at a friend’s house. Notice how rich the colors are. I have post process edited this image as well, but if the color data was not present the edit would not work.

The image has good distortion control all the way to the edges too. You can easily see how the horizon line and the clouds maintain their lines throughout. I am cheating a little here though. This is a full frame lens and I am shooting it on a crop sensor body. This is part of why it is so big actually. I didn’t mind this though as I also wanted to shoot it on my SL2 full frame camera as well.

Point is that on my Leica CL, I am only using the center of the lens which is usually the best part anyway. It is like a cheat code for crop sensor shooters.

Street Photography and Range Focus

I like how well this lens works for general street photography applications. Scenes as below with the girl painting the sign are really easy to capture. I prefer to shoot range focus in these scenarios if possible. This is where you set the focus point to some distance that is in reason of where you plan on subjects appearing in your scenes. This way you only need to press the shutter to capture the image.

I find that at f5.6 I will focus on things a lot more than if I set it to f8 and go with it. An aperture of f8 is very forgiving for street photos. I will usually choose something across the street and get sharp focus on it then I can just “point -n- pull” photos easily. If I want more light, then f5.6 usually solves that but I find I need to focus considerably more often. Way more than you would think for just one stop of light. The best days are the really sunny days where I can use f11. This is literally a “set it and forget it” aperture.

Concluding the Leica CL / Voigtlander 35mm f1.2 lens

Would I tell you to run out and buy this lens? If your views align with mine, yes. I absolutely love this lens on my Leica CL! This combination produces beautiful images with rich colors. It is also a fun rig to deploy too. The Voigtlander lens is a joy to use and gives off a feel of quality that some more budget friendly lenses do not.

I would also recommend checking out g with places like MPB (no affiliation BTW) before ordering from Amazon (where I do have affiliate links below). While Amazon will have brand new product with a nice return policy, it will cost more. MPB has better prices and even older generation lenses like my personal copy of this lens. So you have some decisions to make, but if you choose new, I really would appreciate it if you followed one of the links below to Amazon before purchasing. It should credit me with the purchase and help support my website if you do.

Thank you and get out there!!!