Voigtlander lenses are very well known by manual focus shooting photographers as one of the best brand on the market. Cosina surely knows how to properly craft very smooth and accurately performing manual focusing mechanics, based on decades of successful experience. Their quality level is very close to Leica M lenses. In a well trained hands manual focusing provides unique precision of control which benefits over relying on automatic camera decision. In this article I'm providing a mini review of newest ultra-fast aperture Voigtlander lens designed for APS-C sensor - Voigtlander 35mm F0.9 Nokton Aspherical in Fuji X mount.
The lens copy I'm reviewing is purchased from CameraQuest - official US distributor of Cosina Voigtlander lenses, and in my personal opinion one of the best place to purchase Voigtlander lenses due to their exceptionally great service. Looks like I've received well centered copy (checked on Siemens Star chart), so pictures should be quite representative, though I'll do only few indoor pictures today and plan to add more on the weekend.
You can also check official specs of Voigtlander 35mm F0.9 on Cosina portal.
I'd also recommend YT video review of Voigtlander 35mm F0.9 Nokton lens (in Japanese) performed by MapCamera Japan.
Mechanical performance
First impression out of the box - the lens is surprisingly not too large as for ultra fast F0.9 aperture and knowing that some electronics is packed inside. I'd say the size is very similar to Fujinon XF 23mm F1.4 autofocus lens. The weight is 17oz which is about 480g, it feels very well balanced on Fuji X-T5 camera thanks to great weight centering.
Front filter thread is 62mm, and focusing ring is wide and has large diameter, which is helping to keep higher precision of focusing. I was a bit worrying about very short angular rotation at long shooting distances, but that large radius and very well dampening are making focusing pleasant and easy to do precisely. Front area is protruding by about 8mm when focused to minimal 0.35m distance.
Cosina site mentioned FLE (Floating Lens Element) involved into optical design, so I've checked that. The rear optical module is moving in much shorter range of about 4mm, which is clearly indicating FLE movement, which is slightly modifying optical formula of lens while focusing and should improve IQ overall on whole focusing range. That is more complex to make mechanics observable in premium Leica M glass optics, which adds to the lens price but also to its optical performance.
It's interesting that front glass element is surrounded by additional light catching traps to reduce reflections.
12 aperture blades have flat edges which is traditional to Voigtlander lenses, the circle formed at F2 is shown below. It should technically allow to bring sunstars looking light sources during night shots to the frame, when stopping down aperture.
Voigtlander 35mm F0.9 Nokton is equipped with short lens hood made of metal with plastic locking mechanics. Inner surface of hood is covered with antireflective felt layer.
When mounted the Voigtlander lens hood allows to easily operate with circular polarizers and other filters, and mounting protective cap. Lens still remains not very large.
Cosina decided to make the hood mount reversible for more compact lens storage in the bag. Focus ring can be still well operated with hood mounted that way, but aperture control ring will be blocked - which is a nice feature in case you tend to bump aperture ring accidentally. From the other side, lens is equipped with electronics transferring to camera details about selected aperture and focused distance.
Nice touch of quality - Cosina engineers decided to use steel posts for more durable grip of lens hood in locked position.
Voigtlander 35mm F0.9 Nokton barrel is narrow enough in the mount area, so it can be safely mounted on any Fuji X camera including X-Pro3 (known for protruding lens release button frame).
Optical performance
I've took couple of indoor shots, mostly at what this lens is designed for - wide open F0.9 aperture. It looks exotic by number, though in fact providing quite similar DOF (Depth Of Field) observable with a full frame camera when shooting using 50mm F1.4 lens wide open. It allows to get similar picture look on smaller APS-C sensor, combined with artistic flexibility of Fuji film simulations.
Few shots at F0.9 and F1.4 show that OOF blurring remains very smooth for stopping down aperture thanks to 12 blades are forming more round circle.
F0.9
F0.9 - 100% crop
F1.4
F1.4 - 100% crop
Foreground OOF blur looks different but is also smooth enough.
Lens shows longitudinal aberrations wide open which is expected to see at ultrafast F0.9
Focusing on distant objects is very easy with Fujifilm focus-zoom assist. Many prefer focus peaking, though personally I'm more confident about focus precision by looking at 100% crop.
More pictures during sunny weather
Preliminary conclusions
I'll have to wait for better chance to continue shooting in dark conditions, and also during bright sunny day to add more image samples to article. So far I like shooting with Voigtlander 35mm F0.9 Nokton, wider focus ring is very comfortable. Aperture ring is far enough and has different texture to not accidentally rotate it instead of focus, aperture click stops are snappy and hold position very well, they also are nicely audible. It's useful to be able to see selected aperture value in viewfinder, though I keep it at F0.9 all the time anyway. This lens is very much reminding me positive experience of shooting with Voigtlander 25mm F0.95 Nokton - lens I primarily used to pair with Panasonic GX1/GM1 cameras. Like that lens, 35mm Nokton is decently sharp in the center and mid area wide open, which can be improved by stopping down if more details needed. Mechanics is moving very smooth and almost silent when focusing. The lens feels well balanced on larger Fujifilm X body, however it's a bit protruding down so camera can't be positioned flat on the table.
You may be also interested to check image samples comparison with TTArtisan 35mm F0.95 lens
More pictures
