Of course, it’s all about the 0.95. That’s the F stop by the way, the indicator of how much light can be captured by the lens. In the world of photography, you think you are doing pretty well if your lens is F2.8, you are starting to pay serious money for F2, and if you want to get down to F1.2, then you will need a very flexible credit card. But 0.95? Forget it, unless you fancy giving Mr. Leica $11,000 for the privilege.
So when Voigtlander announced this lens, designed specifically for M4/3, much lust was generated. More lust than Voigtlander expected perhaps, because they can’t make enough of them. The Voigtlander dealer for Thailand is AV camera, and their first two batches of twenty pieces sold out in two days. The third batch was an order for forty pieces, Voigtlander sent ten, and they were sold within two hours of arrival in the shop. Fortunately, I had left a deposit to secure one, and $899 (27,800 baht in real money) later, I was walking out with a Voigtlander box under my arm.
In the box you will find the lens with a cap, plus a hood and a separate larger cap to fit the hood. This is good because you can never have enough lens caps with the word Voigtlander stamped on them.
The lens itself is quite heavy and beautifully made. The focus ring is silky smooth with a long travel and the F stop ring has a satisfying click to it. Apart from the hood and caps, there is no plastic here; the lens is a gorgeous creation in metal and glass. As well as no plastic, there are also no electronics; this lens is completely manual in operation. Fortunately, M4/3 cameras are designed to be used in manual mode and using the Voigtlander is a delight, provided you are not in a rush. Set the camera to A mode and ensure “shoot with no lens” is enabled. Set the F stop at 0.95 and focus, then turn the F stop as required and shoot.
I don’t mind shooting manually, but I do wish they had built in sufficient electronics so that the F stop and the name of the lens were embedded in my images. Resorting to a little notepad to record F stops is a step backwards.
So, how does the lens perform? In normal light, the obvious comparison would be against the Panasonic 20mm F1.7; generally regarded as the best M4/3 lens. I have run a few direct comparison tests and I reckon that the Voigtlander is slightly better. But there is not much in it and the Panasonic has the advantage of being tiny and offering auto-focus; and it’s cheaper. So, as a walk-around lens, you can’t beat the Panasonic 20mm; but you don’t buy the Voightlander as a walk-around lens. You buy it for when there is almost no light, for when you want to create crazy bokeh, and when you want to go out and shoot with a “real” lens attached to your camera.
In low light, this lens allows you to keep on shooting without having to raise ISO. It was late afternoon in the crocodile pen when this was taken, but enough light when shooting at F0.95.
Not much light in a shopping mall, and a coffee cup is not much of a subject, but the background lights look good a F1.4
Take it out at night, and the bokeh from lights really comes into its own:
If the mood takes you; just throw everything out of focus and generate a bokeh Xmas tree:
Sometimes, shooting wide open can be too much. The depth of field is tiny, especially if you are close to your subject (and this lens can get very close). Only the lip of this glass is in focus:
Shooting these candles at F0.95 produces some very blobby candles:
Stopping down to F1.4 works better:
Generally, I found that stopping down to F1.4 or more gave a better photo, F0.95 is a little soft and provides such a very small depth of field. But it is good to know that the extra light is there if you need it.
The Voigtlander 25mm is a lens made in the classic style and, as such, it is a pleasure to own and use. Image quality is excellent from F1.4 and up, and F0.95 allows shooting in very low light and produces wonderful bokeh, especially of light sources. If I was only allowed to carry one lens, and did not need the speed of auto-focus; this is the lens I would take.
Comments 🔗
2011-01-30| chetumaire saysProper glass for M4/3 may finally be swaying me to buy one. You may want to refer to one of those plastic bits when spelling Voigtlander next time…
2011-01-30| Spike saysOops, thanks!
2011-01-31| genuinej says“lip of this glass…” Do you mean rim?
2011-01-31| Pete saysThat’s nit-picking isn’t it Gj?
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lip Numbers 3 to 6 refer. 5 nails it.
2011-02-01| Spike saysPete, by “nit-picking” do you mean “excessive pedantry”? Thanks for the reference. I was just going to change “lip” to “edge” and ask him what the hell he was on about.
2011-02-02| Jamie in Phuket saysI need to wait another 15 years until kids are grown up and there are no school fees to pay, then I can go camera mad without feeling guilty. Spent around 50,000 Baht last year on camera and lenses. Best I can manage on the F stops is 1.8 with a Canon 50mm lens. For the moment as a simple blogger, no need to spend more on cameras!
2011-02-02| Spike saysThere is rarely a need; but often a want.
2011-02-02| Claus saysThank you for the great review!
I have to admit that when you wrote “M4/3” I thought at first you meant “M3 and M4, the old cameras”. Took me a while… :-)
2011-02-04| Billy the Brush saysand I thought he was talking about motorways …
2011-06-04| Peter saysI have a brand new one for sale if anyone is interested
2011-06-04| Spike saysWhat?!! Where? Why?How?
Really…?
2011-06-30| Justin saysI’m interested in your lens.
2011-12-21| Wardate saysVery good review. Are you in Pattaya?
2011-12-22| Spike saysThanks. Yes.
2011-12-25| boy saysnice pictures and review, thank you, boy
2011-12-25| Spike saysThanks Khun Boy. AV Camera have them in stock if you want one!