Used Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical Lens for Sony E-Mount

2022-01-30T19:01:38

I was a bit hesitant to spend this much on a manual lens but after using this one for a few weeks I'm so glad I saved up for it! The electronic connection which enables my camera's manual focus assist is a huge benefit for getting focus quickly and accurately. I love the colors and the distinctive "swirly" bokeh that it delivers. I mainly shoot wildlife with my big 200-600mm lens but this lens has me spending more time with different subjects. Very happy to have this lens in my kit!

Ken B.

2019-06-26T12:43:05

I had this lens for about 8 months before finally deciding to sell it, however while I had it for that time, it was the lens that was almost always on my camera. Like many of you looking at this focal length for Sony E-mounts, you're probably considering the Batis 40 or maybe even a 35 or 50. I enjoyed the focal length of this lens quite a bit and if I ever decide to replace it, I would likely go with the Batis 40 over anything else. What's also likely drawing you to this lens compared to the Batis is the over 1 stop difference you'd be getting with the Voigtlander. In fact, that f/1.2 was too good to turn down for me, however this is where the lens was a disappointment in my opinion. If you are shooting a subject further away, let's say 15 feet or more, it was pretty sharp wide open and chromatic aberration wasn't a problem. However, as soon as I pushed this lens to it's minimum focus distance, it was quite awful. At f/1.2 shooting a still subject (for me this would be a watch, a glass of beer, a product's logo, flowers, etc...) it was unusable. Focus was so soft, there was ghosting, and horrible, horrible chromatic aberration at close distance. I would always get green fringing or purple fringing, there was no happy medium with the focus ring. The f/1.2 aperture wasn't an option with shots like this, even with a tripod. That meant that I had to shoot these images stopped down; f/1.4 wasn't much better, f/1.6 showed improvement, and f/1.7 was usually where I kept this lens' aperture at. At f/2 these shots were great and to be honest, the bokeh wasn't significantly different from the lower apertures. (On a side note, overall rendering of the bokeh was something that I really loved from this lens). Even when challenging this lens, I was still able to get good shots at f/1.7, which would trump the Batis by 1/3 of a stop, however I was drawn to this lens to shoot wide open, not to be forced to stop down up close. I was also sold on (and very much appreciated) the Voigtlander's manual focus (especially comparing it to the Batis). Without sounding overly romantic, I think it brought me closer with my subject and the pride of nailing a shot with this lens made me intrinsically happier than just letting the auto focus take over. While that was a blessing shooting stills or a posed shot, it was a curse when I tried taking it out on the streets - your results could very well differ if you're a more advanced shooter than I am, but as a hobbyist I found it hard to nail focus on moving subjects (even with Sony's ease of manual focusing). At f/1.7 or lower, the focus plane is razor thin and if you have jittery hands or your subject moves just the slightest bit, the area that you intended to be in focus was slightly blurry. While this lens is in fact tack sharp, this was the biggest factor in making it seem like it wasn't. Again, I could have stopped down to 2.8 or even 5.6 to alleviate this, but then why buy something with a low f-stop? I'm sure the auto focus abilities of the Batis 40 will have yielded better results for me shooting street photography than this did. Additionally, if you were to hand this off to a non photographer to take a picture of you and a significant other, you might as well give them your iPhone because there is no way someone who doesn't know this lens or Sony's set up will get anything usable. The people who are giving this lens 5 stars are certainly not wrong, but it does in fact have some drawbacks I think photographers should consider prior to making this purchase. I actually replaced this with a combination of the Voigtlander 65mm macro and added the 24mm GM to my line up. I like shooting more wide, and to mimic the focal length of this lens, I can always pop the 24 GM into super 35 mode on my a7RII to get a 36mm focal length and still get 18MP out of the image. At f/1.4, the images are crisp and it's minimum focus distance is so much better than the Voigtlander 40mm. For those super close up shots, the 65mm Voigtlander is perfect (since it's minimum aperture is f/2) and renders a background that is shallower due to the focal length and Macro capabilities. Overall, I would advise someone looking into buying this on a an a7RII or a7RIII to spend the extra cash and get the 24mm GM (if you can find it). If you're on the a7II or a7III, I would consider the Batis 40, even though the aperture on that is a tough pill to swallow.

Daniel M.

2019-05-16T16:30:49

Great little lense - using on my A9 and Ar3. Although manual focus only, I’ve had no problem getting sharp photos with this little gem. It has put some fun just going out and shooting wherever. This lens brings a special something to the photos I have taken. Highly recommend. Go get one.

RALPH B.

2019-01-13T13:36:31

Love this lens. I love how it renders and the bokeh is beautiful. I’ve taken great shots that I barely have to make any adjustments in Lightroom. I highly recommend this lens if you’re into using manual lenses.

CHRISTOPHER M.

2019-01-02T13:34:47

Beautiful, soft depth of field. This is my first manual focus lens and I having a blast with it.

Michael B.

2018-01-10T10:49:38

Love AF for the speed and accuracy. Love MF & shallow DOF for a specific asthetic look. Technically, this lens is a throwback to my Leica M days, shooting at 1.4 with a rangefinder, a sometimes terrifying experience. Using this lens on an A7R3 is a dream. Super well built and as dimuitive as the A series body. On my A6500, it becomes a very cool 60mm 1.2.

CHRIS D.