Voigtlander Nokton 58mm f/1.4 SL-II Manual Focus Lens for Pentax Film & Digital Cameras

2010-01-10T19:00:00

The Voigtlander Nokton 58mm f/1.4 is certainly a specialty lens, but within that specialty, it's hard to find better. The Nokton is a beautifully made piece of glass. All metal construction, tight tolerances, and a satisfying heft convey quality and class. The well dampened and smooth focus ring make manual focus precise. Every bit as good as the Pentax Limiteds. Relatively sharp across the frame right from f/1.4, the Nokton has astounding sharpness and contrast by f/2.8. - When you hit focus. The DOF is quite narrow when opened up, so many soft shots are because of missed critical focus, not any fault of the lens. The bokeh can be a bit sub-par under certain circumstances, but is generally very good. I struggled with manual focus on my stock K10D, but on my K7, with it's larger viewfinder and optional magnifying eyecup, I was able to get more keepers. I'm sure a split prism focus screen would improve things even more. If you're new to manual focus lenses, you may find this lens frustrating until your skills improve. Again, this is because of the very shallow DOF wide open, not any flaw with the Nokton. In 35mm terms, this is an 87mm, right in the sweet spot for portrait photography. The Nokton is excellent in this application. If you're fond of the slight-tele end of things for landscape photography, stopped down this lens is among the best I've used. The only minor disappointments with this lens are the lack of a lens hood (one is available) and the really lousy lens cap. For as solidly built the Nokton is, the cap is just as cheaply made. Quite surprising considering the quality of the lens. Over all, this is an excellent manual focus lens for the K mount. A specialty lens because of its lack of auto-focus as much as anything else, if you're committed to getting the most out of this lens, you won't be disappointed.

ryansabo