Voigtlander 17.5mm f0.95 Nokton Micro Four Thirds Lens

Other reviewers have given a very good account of the optics of this lens and I agree with what they say. It has it's limitations but in general it's a good lens. What I think the other reviews don't touch on however is how a 17.5mm 0.95 lens makes the 4/3rds system into an excellent low light system, comparable with the best of what full frame cameras such as the Nikon D600 have to offer. And it does so with a much smaller, lighter, and travel friendly footprint. Since the 4/3rds system is generally considered a slow sensor camera and a poor low light performer I think it's notable how this lens turns that notion on it's head. On a full frame camera a 0.95 lens like this one has a very narrow depth of field, bordering on the unusable. At 3' the depth of field is 1.5" which is barely enough to have the nose and face in focus at the same time and it's tricky to make work in low light. But the same is not true on the 4/3rds system where a 0.95 lens will have a more usable depth of field of 3" at 3'. This is because 4/3rds cameras have twice the depth of field for a given F stop when compared to full frame cameras. From a depth of field perspective this 17.5mm 0.95 lens on a 4/3rds system performs the same as a 35mm 1.9 lens on a full frame system, a combination most people find quite useful at night. However, the fast nature of the lens will also make the relatively slow Micro 4/3rds sensor set to an ISO of 800 provide the same shutter speed as a very fast full frame camera set to an ISO of 3200. In other words your micro 4/3rds camera set to an ISO of 800 with this 17.5mm lens set to F 0.95 will have the same depth of field, field of view, and shutter speed as a full frame camera set to ISO 3200 with a 35mm lens set to F1.8. Yes, it's manual focus but most people use manual focus in low light anyway because autofocus performs so poorly in low light. To put it simply this lens enables a micro four thirds camera to perform in low light with very similar characteristics to the fastest full frame cameras. This is also a reasonable lens in daylight because when set to F8 the depth of field keeps everything from 4' to infinity in focus. You can use the manual focus if you want to but it's not necessary if you'd like to just point and shoot. This isn't unique to this lens of course but the point is manual lenses are more reasonable on a 4/3rds sytem than they are on a full frame system because you don't really have to focus in daylight if you don't want to. The fact that depth of field is doubled on a 4/3rds system can be used to provide a very usable hyper-focal camera at F stops which minimize diffraction effects. I should also mention that the same low light reasoning above applies to how this lens extends the 4/3rds system to make it reasonable for those who want to use shallow depth of field to isolate their subjects. Before this lens (and it's sister 25mm 0.95 lens from voigtlander) the best you could do was the 25mm 1.4 lens from Panasonic. Unfortunately, a 25mm 1.4 lens on a 4/3rds system provides the same depth of field as a 50mm 2.8 lens on a full frame camera which is ok, but not great for using minimal depth of field to isolate a subject. The 17.5mm 0.95 lens on a 4/3rds system provides the same depth of field as a 35mm 1.9 lense on a full frame camera, a combination that is much more useful when working with shallow depth of field. So for me while I like the build quality and think the optics are fine what makes this lens so appealing is the way in which a 0.95 17.5mm lens uniquely expands the utility of the 4/3rds system to make it comparable to full frame cameras by taking advantage of the doubling in depth of field and 2 stop improvement in sensitivity offered by the 4/3rds system. I love panasonic's 25mm 1.4 but it doesn't take you to the night time equivalent of a full frame camera with a 35mm 1.8 lens the way this lens does nor does it give you the depth of field control that full frame photographers expect from their cameras in the way that this lens does.

I’m in love with this lens. I’ll be honest: I bought this to try out almost expecting to return it. It’s way outside my usual budget. But I can’t let this gem go. I’ll get the obvious drawback out of the way: it’s huge. Doubles the weight of my Pen-F. I disagree with those who say this makes it awkward to use, though. Obviously you’re not going to buy this for one-handed use, and with your other hand properly supporting the Voigtlander and operating the focus and aperture, it feels really good to me. The factors that make this lens irresistible are the deliciously smooth adjustment rings, the incredible low light performance, razor thin depth of field wide open, color profile, rock solid build, unique/fantastic bokeh, incredible sharpness (especially when stopped down, but more than useable wide open), super close/borderline macro minimum focus distance/magnification, etc. It also happens to be my favorite focal length (35mm equivalent). I’ve used this lens to take photos of stars without a tripod. I’ve used it for portraits, especially in low light. I’ve used it for macro. I adore it for still-life. I’ve used it for landscape. Is it the ideal go-to lens for all of these situations? No, but it can handle them all and give very satisfying results. This lens can give me everything I need in most situations, and give a result with some uniqueness that makes it stand out. You’ll have to be okay with using manual, which takes some getting used to. It’s not ideal in every situation. But this lens is unbelievably fun when you want to explore your creative side and get some impressive photos. I’ve been in tons of situations where I’m trying to use a more typical lens thinking the Voigtlander wasn’t the right fit. Then I’d gave it a shot anyway. Then I’ve smiled at how much better it did than whatever other lens I was trying to use. Worth every penny to me.

I recently made the switch from a Nikon D90 +16-85VR lens to the Olympus OMD m43 camera plus this lens. The change has had it's ups and downs, but ultimately the change has given me what I had expected, a lens that was challenging due to the manual focus and its quirks, but a lens that can reward you with very special images if you put in the time and effort to learn how this lens works. This lens is not for beginners or those who want to whip out the camera and shoot, and it's also quite large, however, combined with my OMD, it's still much much smaller and discrete than my old DSLR. PROS: Once you stop down a bit this lens is very sharp, the creative license that the shallow depth of field gives you is remarkable, the build quality and handling on this lens is superb, while it is a manual focus lens, the focus scale is very handy when trying to hyperfocus or taking street pics. CONS: Performance at the lowest aperture numbers is challenging, the edges are soft and vignetting is very pronounced, however it is still usable, especially if you're not close focusing at max aperture. Even stopped down, corner performance can be a bit soft and you have to learn how to work with the curved focus plane. This lens isn't perfect, and it's very expensive, however my previous experience with the D90 + 16-85VR duo made me realize that I wanted something extra out of my lens, and this lens has not disappointed in that regard. Low light performance is impressive, and as I already mentioned, the ability to play with the DOF creates many opportunities that just wouldn't exist with a more normal lens. Video performance with this lens is also quite impressive. Once you start to work with the focus scale, you can take quicker snapshots when needed and obtain very good results. It's been a learning experience and a very rewarding one, if you're up for a challenge and don't have an army of kids to feed, this lens just might be for you ; )