Photography News | Issue 33 | absolutephoto.com
50 First tests
Voigtländer MFT lenses from£743
The Micro Four Thirds system has many things going for it, including very good third-party lens support so you get options like these exciting primes from Voigtländer boasting super-fast maximum apertures. The MFT Voigtländer lenses share the same physical characteristics so we will discuss them here before going into each lens’s optical performance in detail separately. MFT lenses are usually small and compact and that applies to these lenses too, even though you might expect bigger front elements for maximum light-gathering power. That only really applies to the 10.5mm. One thing that is a surprise is how solid and heavy they are for their size. Their build quality is impressive while the weight is a potential downside given that many people love the MFT system for its portability. Focusing is manual only and the knurled focus ring is lovely and smooth. In all four, there’s quite a long travel from minimum focus to infinity – about three quarters of a full rotation for all except the 17.5mm, which is about half a
rotation. An unusual sight nowadays is a depth-of-field scale but we have them here. The aperture ring is click-stopped in 0.5EV steps and there is the option of making the aperture ring stepless for silent operation during video use. The aperture itself features ten diaphragm blades so bokeh should be smooth and circular, and operation ismanual. There is no communication or linkage between the lens and the camera body so no stopping down the lens at the very instant of exposure and no aperture control from the body or display in the viewfinder. Set the aperture value on the lens and that is the value in use so the occasional visual check is advised. With an optical viewfinder, setting a small aperture means a dimmer viewing image and vice versa. With the EVF and live view, the camera (I used an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II) compensates so the viewing image stays bright. Well, in the case of the EVF it stayed bright-ish as the camera only compensated to a degree. When using the EVF, just focus at
a wide aperture and then stop down to the required value to shoot – just like the olden days of preset lenses. Focusing, of course, needs care. Shoot close-up headshots at f/0.95 and depth-of-field is limited, literally millimetres with the 42.5mm lens at one metre from the subject. You need to make sure the dioptre correction is correctly set for your eye – use anAF lens to do this – and use anymanual focus assist aids on offer, although they may not work. Although there is no camera to lens linkage, the lenses can be used in aperture-priority or with manual metering and the various light measuring patterns worked too. I shot with no problems using aperture-priorityAE andmulti-zoneOlympus ESP light measurement. The key feature of these Noktons is the f/0.95 maximum aperture. It sounds brilliant in principle but there is usually a price to be paid, either financially or in terms of performance. On price these Voigtländers offer great value and on performance, well, let’s see… WC
Specs
T Verdict
Wide open, central performance is surprisingly good in terms of sharpness but there is some purple fringing that can be resolved in software. The edges are quite soft at this setting and improve with stopping down. By f/2.8 central sharpness is very good and the extreme edges useable too. For critical use there is not much to choose between f/4, f/5.6 and f/8 so it’s more to do with how much depth-of-field do you want. Quality dips a little at f/11 and even more so at f/16, so if you want maximum depth-of-field with high quality you might be better off stopping at f/11. Voigtländer 10.5mm f/0.95 £799
f/0.95
Format Micro Four Thirds Construction 13 elements in 10 groups Filter size 72mm Aperture range f/0.95-16 Diaphragm 10 blades Minimum focus 17cm Depth-of-field scale Yes Lens hood Supplied Dimensions (lxd) 82.4x77mm Weight 585g Contact flaghead.co.uk
A decent performer and its ultra-wide view will be much appreciated by landscapers and urban shooters. Overall I love ultra-wides for foreground drama and strong impact and this Voigtländer optic is certainly well suited tomany subjects . Pros Fast aperture, wide view Cons Large front which means large filters in the context of Micro Four Thirds
f/2
f/2.8
f/5.6
f/11
f/16
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