A Voigtlander Nokton 35mm F/1.4 lens is similar to a Leica old lens. Modern Leica lens makes sharp and crisp images even at wide open aperture. But a leica old lens such as 35mm Summilux 2nd generation makes soft images at wide open aperture. Do does Voigtlander Nokton.
I like a sharp and crispy image from modern Leica lenses but I do enjoy old lenses as well. This is why I kept Voigtlander lenses even though I got the same focal length Leica lenses. There are a few benefits of using a Voigtlander Nokton 35mm F/1.4 lens. Due to its optical limitations(?) , it’s easy to capture images with halation and flare effects. They add artistic feeling to the images, so I enjoy capturing them as opposed to make them through a post-processing phase. (However, these are pretty tricky or difficult to capture with a modern Leica lens due to its excellent optical capabilities.)
Voigtlander Nokton 35mm with a Leica M film camera system
Voigtlander Nokton works well with a film camera body. With a digital Leica body, you can tell the difference instantly between the Nokton lens vs Leica lens. But with a film body, it’s hard to tell.
For your comparison, these are film photos with a modern Leica lens.
If you look closely, you might be able to tell the difference between the two lenses(Leica vs Nokton), however in most cases, it’s difficult to tell. At least that’s the way I feel.
Often times, people ask me via Instagram or through my other blog(NAVER) to recommend a budget lens. Some say that they bought a Leica M film camera but they couldn’t afford a Leica lens due to the tight budget. They want me to recommend them a budget Leica lens, then I usually recommend Voigtlander lens.
Voigltander has two product lines. One is Nokton line and the other is Ultron line. With Nokton, you could enjoy old lens look and feel (yet with a large aperture number, the image gets very sharp and crispy.) But with Ultron line, you could get very sharp image from the wide aperture just like a Leica lens. (Note that with a modern notkon product line, it’s getting similar to a modern Leica lens, though.)
About Voigtlander Ultron lens photo examples, please click the below post.