Consider a voigtlander Lh-58s lens hood, which included a separate matching lens cap to block out stray light, to improve the contrast in the photograph. Also better protection against bumps against the lens front …
I ordered it and it is beautiful! I put the voit on my D700 with the hood and cap. Also i use a circular polarizer and the hood screws on top of that. Focus does not rotate the barrel during extension so the filter can be rotaded by twisting the hood. Reall top notch build quality on the hood and cap. Tolerance is so tight that it uses a cushion of air for removal resistance and it stays in place by vacuum.
Thanks for the review of the Voigtländer. I also used quite a bit of 50 mm lenses and around from Leica and others and do not think Leitz/Leica is enough out of this world to call the Voigtländer being only 80% of the Leica-lens, even a current Summilux Asph. It's not a definite scale, I know, but 80% to me sounds quite harsh, as if it was just another normal-lens. In my book, many of such lenses deserve that rating. From what you are showing I'd rather rate it 90-95% of a current Leica-lens and better than some of the old crop from Wetzlar.
The Nikon green dot focus confirmation on the newer SLR bodies works great. It's the best manual focus system other than split prism or rangefinder patch. It works great on their DSLR bodies as well. It's never failed me and it's very quick. Nikon FE, FM, F100 etc are very durable and will not likely fail like your Leicas.
Love my F100 and F3HP, but you can have the FE2's. Both FE2 cameras I purchased after minimal use the exposure meters stopped working in both A mode and manual. So, durable? Think not. The F100 remains my go-to film body with the F3HP as a back up.
Great to hear! It really exceeded my expectations. Can't believe how sharp it is wide open. They could sell this lens for $899 and it would still be a a steal!
Great images! Been tempted by this lens for a while (I love the 40mm). The F100 doesn’t need CPU contacts for focus assist (it works with AI lenses too) but it does need them for matrix metering.
I agree, this 58\1.4 Nokton is realy cool! But when you focus on the eyes of the model and then recompose the frame, the camera's focusing assistant will not always help at all at maximum apertures, because you get a very small depth of field, so after recomposing the frame you should always try to control the sharpness of the most important part of the frame without focusing assistant of your camera (and yes, sometimes it is very difficult, but on open apertures with with shallow depth of field on another it is impossible )!!! Greetings from analog photographers of Ukraine!!!)
Not only Leicas need TLC after all those years. I bought an OM-1 and had it immediately serviced after purchase a year ago. Now went for a road trip and guess what ... exposure meter failed the first day. Have a couple of Spotmatics, most awesome finish and design, deep love of mine! But many of them also have sticky shutters. Yeah they're really old, from the 60s ... Recently bought a very early '77 or '78 Nikon FM covered in sticky dirt, just cleaned the outside, no service, no nothing and guess what, it works like brand new, doesn't miss a beat. I read the Nikons starting from FM onwards have a design with much less lubricants inside so they almost never get sticky / too slow shutter speeds etc. Yes I know Nikons can also fail, but maybe ... they really just fail less than others? No one sends an FM for a CLA and still most shoot like on the first day. Cool Voigtländer glass btw. Love what they did and still do in terms of lenses!!
All the major camera manufacturers made high quality cameras but I think Nikons from the original F through the F6 made the most robust bodies. The FA may have been a little less reliable but that was the new metering system at the time. Any F- whatever body will just last.
Whats funny is 2 of 3 of them had a CLA in the past 12-16 months. Also, CLAs on Leicas are like $400-600, take 3-4 months, and need CLAs apparently every 100 rolls of film or 12-months. That is a cost in money and time I'm unwilling to pay. Sucks because the images I've made with my Leica glass are my faves.
@@MacShootsFilm mmh where were they serviced? 100 rolls = less than 4,000 clicks between overhaul sounds low to me? I remember the old Nikon F2 was already rated at 100,000 clicks (ok ... total median lifetime) ... surely no one had them CLA'd 25 times in between :p
I had the older SLIIN version of this Voigt 58mm, absolutely great rendering, build quality is top of the notch, good balance of weight on film and DSLR. Only at certain occasions the bokeh is slightly busy, but most 50mm lens is not completely free of busy bokeh btw. This lens exceed the Zeiss planar 50mm 1.4 in my opinion. I don't have any chance to test it against rangefinder leica/zeiss/voigt lens, but the 58mm has closer min focus distance.
thanks for the effort and the sharing. i do not shoot film. but i have a VN 58/1.4 heading my way that I want to use for portraits with my D700 and D750. thumbs up to you and Dani.
I use both the 40 and 58 on my F100, Df, and Z6. So, from film SLR to mirrorless these lens perform. And as you have discovered non CPU lens use the F100 focus assist also.
I owned a Z6 briefly! I loved the colors straight out of camera with it! I switched to a SOny A7C as I only use digital for video. Thanks for watching, Gary!
Some stunning pictures there Mac. Loved the one by the lake. I bought these two lenses about 18 months ago and I rarely use anything else now. I’ll be interested to see what you think of the 40mm f2, you can get some great close focus shots with it.
Get yourself a Nikon F3, and the H1 or H2 focus screen, I call it the Anti-Focus peaking screen, everything shimmers that is not in focus, and clear as day for in focus. Also, pro tip, with a little surgery, you can put F3 focus screens into F5’s. Also, do you have anything that I do not?!? This 58/1.4 Nokton is the one reason I have not sold my Nikon stuff off yet, I favour the Leica M5 most of the time, but for a portrait session with the Nikon and 58mm
I have a couple F3s as they'll prob be the camera I go to while i'm out of the leica game. I def. will look into those screens! Thank you for the recommendation.
The focus assist on the F100 works with any Ai or Ais lens and no CPU contacts are required. I have both the F100 and Voigtlander 58mm and they are a nice combination, but any Ai/Ais lens will work with the "electronic rangefinder" of the F100. If you're on a budget the much cheaper F90x has the same focus assist for about 1/3rd the price.
@@MacShootsFilm Yes the F100 especially is a lovely camera. Here's an interesting thing... The Nikon F4 also has focus assist AND is the only one that can take pre-Ai lenses, and there are some beautiful pre-Ai lenses out there which sell for very little (the Sonnar design Nikkor 135mm f3.5 produces gorgeous images and can be had for $30-$40 is a prime (sic) example.
Dam! I had this lens and sold it. Now I feel silly! Great review. You seem to have got more out of it than I did but those images have something whatever that elusive something is. Beautifully crafted images Mac.
Great choice on the lens. I’ve had mine for about 3 years now and love it. I haven’t put it on my F100 yet though. I’ll have to give that a whirl! Pics turned out great!
Like it on the f100 with focus assist in lower part of view finder. F5 has focus assist in upper R where it is hard to find and easy to lose when focusing. But best of all, f6 it's on lower center of viewfinder and is huge and bright.
My thoughts and feelings about camera vs lenses would be the lenses! I don’t care what my body is when you have Leica lenses on any body…it just works! I tested this on my Canon EOS 1n or the Nikon F100 makes for beautiful results for sure! Great job Mac! Hot and sweaty! The coating on the Leica lenes are so good! Worth every penny I saved for my lenses!
Now you know why the Nokton is so highly regarded by discerning photographers, Mac. You can shoot it wide open and get great results. Try it on your digital camera and you wont want to use any other lens. Nikon Z mount lenses are superb, but do they have the character of the Nokton?
I use this lens on both my Df and Z6 as well as my F100 film SLR. And, yes, it has more character than any Z lens. I am not after sterile, clinical sharpness, but the micro contrast the Voigtlanders and Zeiss Classics possess.
Hey Mac :) Just watched the vid, and its pretty funny about the timing of this clip as i just like 3 days ago took the same lens out and wanted to shoot some more with it. I did the same thing as you and researched the crap out of the net for another 50 out there not being the 50mm f1,2 Ai-s or the f1,4 G etc. i used to own the Noct 58 a few years back and always kind of missed it even though i shoot with the 58 G from time to time. So the Nokton felt like it was a similar lens in some regards, and the reviews i saw talked about the character i thought i was after and other things i could really relate to in terms of what i wanted in my arsenal. I bought it fro over seas as it could not be obtained here, and when i got it i shot a few weeks with it but then i also got some other new gear and kind of "forgot" about it for a while. I always wanted to adapt it to my Leica M240 just to see what it would look like as well so took the opportunity to do that as well as sooting on my film bodies a bit. Its such a joy to use, and i agree with most of what you say in your vid. The only problem i had and have with it and also after i got it read about, was the constant over exposing with a few stops. I heard most people seem to have that problem with the lens, even people sending their sample back and having the same problem with the new lens. Since its content over exposure though its not that hard to get around. I had most trouble with it on my digital bodies actually. Film seems to handle that much better which is nice :) Did you notice that on your sample as well? Anyhow, enough babbling from me, was a nice vid and it seems we keep choosing the same kind of gear haha. Good choice :D /Martin The Swede,
I must have got lucky with the f100 spot meter. It's been so accurate for me regardless of the lens I choose. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your experience with the lens with me!
what are the problems with your M bodys? also the "in focus green dot" for the nikon f5 and f100 works with older ais lenses as well not just cpu contact lenses! I have an f5 and have owned an f100 in the past! I think the matrix metering only works on the lenses with the cpu contacts though.
I did not know focus confirmation worked on all lenses on the f5 and f100. That's amazing! As for M problems. The M6 has black lines through each frame and a scratch through the rangefinder paint. The silver M5 locks up and won't advance film after the 15th frame (gets tighter and harder to advance with each frame up to frame 15). The black M5 no longer advances film and the film just spins on the take-up spool. I'm cursed I guess!
@@MacShootsFilm Damn.... that would SUCK after dumping that cash. But for real.... EF glass is amaing with Porta and there are some amazing m42 pentax and other amazing m42 lens to have.
thank You for that great review. The Voigtländer reminds me a bit about my Nikkor 50 1,2. Have You ever tried that lens? It also makes a nice bokeh. The bang-picture of Danny with the branches in the background is great - as well as the pic at the shore.
Awesome video. Great lens and fantastic images. I have the F100 and I don't think I've shot more Tha three rolls with it, what do you mean with "focus assist in the F100“? Thank you for sharing this Mac!
For manual lenses the f100 has focus assist. It is a series of arrows and a green dot in the bottom left of the viewfinder. Place your center focus point on what you want to focus on and turn the focus ring. The arrows tell you which way turn the focus ring once it is in focus a green dot will appear. it makes using manual focus lenses so easy!
Hey there, how can you shoot this lens using the lens's manual aperture settings ( NOT CPU ) on a DF/810/850 in Aperture Priority Mode ( like on a F3 ) ????
Interesting Mac. I wouldn't think to put an old school lens like this on an F100. I believe you'd have better luck focusing manual lenses on a focusing screen designed for that job, like the kind found in a Nikon FM2
On the GFX too?!?! That's amazing! I did a few test shots with the 58mm on my Nikon D750 and it produced beautiful images. I'm so happy with this purchase!
@@MacShootsFilm yes, a lot of wedding photographers use it on the GFX , fantastic rendering. You get a slight vignette that can be corrected easy. In post.
Congratulations on your Marriage😋 You look so happy and enthusiastic. What is the name of your Podcast channel? I would love to subscribe. Many, many years of health and happiness to you both😋
Mac, i got a question.. i was tired of paying a lab and bought my own dev kit and i was developing last night and had some rolls come out dark in color almost blue and if im not losing my mind, i developed them to the T. i got the kit with the water heater, what do you think happened? you could see the images on the negitive but the negs had a dark blue color like it was underdeveloped.
I still say you should pick up a Helios 44-2 lens. I have the old version where I can lock it into place per F-stop, but you can get newer ones that have either been modified to fit or (maybe) made to fit the Nikon F system. I'd get those off eBay, though there might be a reputable seller on Amazon (gotta love that Prime shipping). Also check out The Bokeh Factory, he mods certain lenses to fit including the Helios and the Contax/Yashica version of the Contax Planar 50mm f/1.4 which is apparently known to perform better than the ZF version. With that said, if you use a lot of the AF bodies (like the F100), I can see the ZF working better as it will place nice with the rest of the internals on the F100, as opposed to the mod lens which probably won't give a fuck. I also spotted a Leica M to Nikon F adapter at B&H, but looks like it's a special order so probably won't get to you until like five years from now.
I don't understand how can focusing wide open with a rangefinder be easier than with a SLR. With rangefinder you have to focus with the center of the viewfinder and recompose, so you change the distance from your subject and also paralax error...
With a rangefinder patch all I have to do is make sure two images overlap. An SLR feels like guessing. All that said, it's subjective and personal. Everyone excels at different things. I'll nail SLR focusing. I just need more reps.
@@MacShootsFilm yes, I understand, I use rangefinder cameras. But to align the patch, first you have to point it towards the eyes of the model, focus and then recompose. With an SLR (with a matte screen) you can focus wherever you want and you don't have to recompose. Great video by the way, I ordered a 58 1.4 for my F's and F2 a few days ago 😍
@@Chris-ey7zy rangefinder can also be "off" because of bad calibration, and also extra error because you have to focus and then recompose (only important shooting wide open).
@@mugreGTv6 sure they both could be off. But It’s easier to know if your rangefinder is off than a dslr. Focus to infinity hold camera vertical then do it again horizontal. Trying to figure out exactly which part of a dslr is off is hard. Plus they don’t make dslr to the quality of a rangefinder. Students are told to do manual focus with their dslr and then think why is my focus off. Then they think they must be bad at focusing but is it because of the quality of the build of cameras. Lots of these cameras are so built for mass market how often do they really test that part of the camera.
If you suck at manual focussing, there's a hack if you want to use newer cameras - a small device (adapter of sort) that will turn every vintage Nikon F glass into CPU backed one. Almost. But with it you'll be able to get focus confirmation. As I said with every Nikon F lens. It costs less than $10 in my country. That being said I'm not sure that crap is legal or even sold in the US... Say, how's your eyesight? FE, FM and so on don't have built-in diopter, but F3 and F100 do. By the way, what do you expect from 40 - 50 years old cameras? No camera on this planet will work indefinitely...
You don't need such devices to get focus confirmation on Nikon bodies: it is an optical, not a mechanical system and works via the integral phase/contrast detection sensor.
I have nd's and prefer quickly just increasing shutter speed. The combination of base iso of 64 and having 1/8000 on my d850 has been a game change with shooting wide open in full sun. But for wide open at 1/15th sec to blur water, I still screw on the ol vari nd.
I shoot a Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f/1.1 on my M5. I'm not surprised, you are getting great results. You are definitely right about the banger of the day btw. - what a shot! One suggestion - not related to the lens - or camera. Have a look at the video from Analog Insights about how to pronounce German camera and lens brands correctly ( ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iW_iBmUC_Xc.html ) - or his latest video for that matter since it's a video about an old Voigtländer camera. Just for future reference ;-)
The implied scientific or comparing approaches just aren't. Not even the slightest. One of these over the top unneeded justifications ('what why should replace what'), where the pleasure of sharing to try things are not accepted to be just enough. But no; often wanting to demonstrate more (jet remeign in generalistic blablas) is just the (genuine) enemy of "'the (sooo) good enough". No active attempts to show that one tries hard to not confuse peremptory statements with anything else... makes me feel everything to be a missed opportunity.
