Fred Miranda (see previous reviews) published their review of the new Voigtlander NOKTON 35mm f/1.5 VM lens for Leica M-mount (now in stock at Adorama and B&H Photo) – here is their conclusion:
The Voigtlander 35mm f/1.5 Nokton is another solid release from Cosina. This compact, well built 35mm lens is fast, light and performs well at a price that won’t break the bank.
Wide open, the Voigtlander 35mm f/1.5 Nokton does well at center but around the mid-field area, resolution drops a bit followed by an improvement towards the corners. The Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux FLE tested here also performed this way – with a drop in the mid-field, which seems common with most fast 35mm lenses. In terms of resolution however, the Leica outperforms the Voigtlander when shooting wide open, but when stopped down to f/2.8 and smaller apertures, both offered similar performance.
Coma, CA correction and vignetting are within the parameters of other 35mm f/1.4 lenses which are usually not highly corrected wide open but with great improvement stopped down. Low distortion and negligible focus shift are also strengths for the Voigtlander 35mm f/1.5 Nokton.
At minimum focus distance, it performed better than expected, considering it’s not equipped with a floating element/group. At close to mid-distance, field curvature is noticeable but luckily it flattens almost completely towards infinity distance. The lens’ rendering is quite smooth and pleasant and I think it’s a great choice for environment portraits even in low light.
Just like with other Voigtlander lenses, the Voigtlander 35mm f/1.5 Nokton is capable of defined sunstars starting at f/4 and best from f/5.6 until f/11. However, it is still capable of decent sunstars even at f/2 or f/2.8. The sunstars will have 12 points since the lens is equipped with a 12-blade aperture mechanism (straight blades)
Flare resistance is one of the best I’ve seen in a 35mm f/1.4 lens. There is very little veiling and ghosting is rare.
Pros:
- Ultra compact and light for a fast 35mm lens with a modern design.
- Low distortion.
- Great build quality with tight tolerance construction. Focusing tab as smooth as silk.
- Aperture mechanism provides defined 10-pointed sunstars.
- Low lateral CA.
- Outstanding flare resistance.
Cons:
- Specular highlights ‘cats-eye’ shape due to high optical vignetting.
- Small drop in resolution at mid-zone.
- Noticeable axial CA.
