A few from my new CV 35 F1.4 SC
March 9th, 2008
Hexar RF, CV 35 F1.4 SC, TriX, Xtol 1+1
I’ve just finished scanning the first roll of shots from my new Cosina Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm F1.4 SC (worst name ever for a lens). It’s a tiny little thing, and the focus tab is going to take some getting used to, but it seems to work. What do you think?
March 9th, 2008
Lovely shots and i agree that the bokeh is not too distracting but one needs to be aware of this and control it to a certain extent.
BTW, is the focus tab essential or can it be removed?
Enjoy your new 35 and i suppose a comparison with the biogon is coming soonish?! ; )
March 9th, 2008
You will come to love that focus tab and wonder how you ever managed the act of rangefindering previously without one. Congratulations on the new addition to the family - I’m going to stick with my 40mm SC for the time being as I laid down my cash for a camera bag instead - go figure!
March 9th, 2008
Very nice photos, Matt. How did you decide to order the SC versus the MC model? bobk
March 9th, 2008
This new series confirms a lot of things :
- Kate is very patient
- It seems to be very cold where you live (which reminds me I should stop complaining about our weather, although I would like to see some snow someday, in order to take nice pictures)
- Whatever the lens, your pictures are great as always
- Your web-sized pictures look as razor-sharp as usual. The first one, especially, could have been taken with the Biogon, as far as I’m concerned. And god do I love the Biogon.
- There is, indeed, some double-lines in OOF areas… But then, I always thought that there’s something really wrong with people looking at the background BEFORE looking at the foreground :)
Anyhow, it certainly is not distracting at all in the pictures you posted. BTW, the Biogon also shows a little bit of double lines wide open. I still love him :)
So.. Are you keeping both ?
March 10th, 2008
Sunny, the focusing tab is not removable.
Akikana, that must be some camera bag. Have you read my post on expensive camera bags?
Bob, I decided that the things offered by the MC were probably better done with the Biogon and that the SC would give me something with a different look. I think I made the right choice.
Clement, I plan on keeping both. There’s a bit too much distortion in the SC for architectural shots. The Biogon will stick around for those at the very least.
March 10th, 2008
great photos! are you going to write detailed review on this lens?
did you get a lens hood as well? or is it unnecessary, you think?
March 10th, 2008
The overall impression is first rate - the sharpness is good and the tonalities and the way it renders portraits is very pleasing. The only itchy element looks to be the background blur when it becomes too busy with fine detail, like in the case of Kate’s portrait with the bare trees behind. I assume this gets fixed by f2.0.
March 10th, 2008
To be honest, Matt, I find the bokeh to be a bit objectionable, too. If I only occasionally took photographs in low light and at open aperture, then I could live with it. In your case, though, that’s quite often the way you work and you’re going to be seeing the fussy background, double lines, etc, in a lot of your photographs. Maybe after a while it’ll start to annoy you - or maybe not! It certainly looks sharp enough on the screen images.
March 10th, 2008
The bag I bought will not hold lunch. It just about holds a second camera, film, maps, iPod, phone and notepad (rarely used in the field!). It does have a rather snazzy holder for a drink bottle though. What would be worth a review is lens blowers. They may be one of the cheaper purchases but my $4 outlay last weekend for one was money not well spent - it has some serious design flaws.
SC v MC: ‘People’ say that SC for B&W and MC for colour. Having run a few rolls of colour behind my 40mm SC it gives some pleasing results. Your milage may vary…
That bokeh has a lovely ‘milky’ texture to it doesn’t it.
March 10th, 2008
suziq, I skipped the hood. I haven’t noticed flare problems yet, but is a little early to tell.
The bare trees shot is a good example of a really challenging situation for bokeh. Lots of fine detail in the background can make many lenses look bad. Even the Biogon will give you some gnarly results in these conditions. FWIW, that was shot at 1.4 and 1/8th, so I probably couldn’t have done it with the Biogon without serious camera shake problems.
‘What would be worth a review is lens blowers.’
I use a giottos rocket blower at home, but it’s a little big for field use.
Yeah, the SC is supposed to give you more details in the shadows at the cost of increased susceptibility to flare. I’m not sure if I buy that, but I figured it would be hard to beat the biogon for flare resistance and general neutrality, so why not go completely the other way.
‘milky’ is a good way to put it. I could do without the double lines but the texture is nice, but I’m also a fan of vignetting in lenses for people work, so what do I know?
March 10th, 2008
Well, the lens cosmetics may mimic the old Summilux, but so far as one can tell on the web, the image character at f/1.4 looks entirely different.
The bokeh in these actually doesn’t look quite so jangly as I’ve seen in samples elsewhere - the doubling-up seems a bit softer edged here, which helps.
I’m curious as to your own impressions of its tonal character, especially subtlety of local gradation, compared to the other 35s you’ve used. That’s something that’s a bit hard to judge in small JPGs on the web.
March 11th, 2008
‘especially subtlety of local gradation’
I’ll have to do some side by side comparisons to be sure, but the upper midtones in the prints I ran off yesterday seem particularly well defined.
I wonder if some of the harsh doubling-up seen elsewhere is a result of too aggressive sharpening.
March 11th, 2008
Hey Matt,
They look great! As a 35 biogon owner, I’d have to say this CV lens looks tempting.
March 14th, 2008
Matt,
I’ve wanted that lens for some time now! I love the sharpness and the OOF. Of course it helps to have some skill when using one of these babies and you certainly continue to show that. Bravo!
March 23rd, 2008
I’ve noticed in many shots from other photographers that this lens does suffer from barrel distortion. Do you recognise this? These are lovely pictures, but they do not show straight lines at the sides of the frame.
March 24th, 2008
Erik, this lens does exhibit significant barrel distortion. It also vignettes wide open.