Just need an iron will, otherwise will feel like one of those internet dog videos of a dog dropping a ball to pick up another one, over and over. Impose a blackout on yourself for the tiny 50/1.5 and hope it goes bad on Sony sensors. That one may also be hard to resist. Release date: October 22. At least they hold their resale well.
Hi, new FM user here. I'm also pretty new to Sony after Nikon starved me to death with no DX lenses. Now happy shooting A7III and Sony's 1.8/20,35,85. This covers I guess all my shooting needs but I'm really intrigued by Sony's MF features and after reading phillipreeves.net I guess there may be something to MF for me, something to slow down, work more intentionally, and learn photography at a deeper level. And this Nokton 50mm 1.2 with its unique rendering and glowing reviews seems like the best fit for my kit and the only somewhat missing focal length. I mean I don't absolutely need it, because for portraiture 35 & 85 work well, but I used to use 50 on Nikon in the past and appreciate its look for my images.
That said, my major use case is family & kids portraiture (both close up and environment) and events. Occasional landscapes, nature, wildlife but that would be in total 10-20% of my images. I would add this Voigtlander now primarily to be my portrait lens along with the 85. Other use cases might come in the future with skills.
But I have no experience with MF. I mean I tried a bit with my AF lenses and find it easy with 20mm and stationary subjects. But increasingly hard for running kids with longer FL at maximum aperture. So before making a purchase decision I'd like to get my expectations realistic.
I'd like to ask what people situations and scenarios you think are realistically possible to shoot with this MF Voigtlander 50mm at 1.2 - 2.0? What is reasonable to expect as a beginner, with some practice, and as a MF pro? What is your keeper rate with MF? Also, any pointers to how I could best learn & practice MF? Which of my current lenses should I practice with & at what settings?
Last thing I want is purchasing this great lens and then be disappointed because my skills & patience & subject matter don't match the lens. And let's face it it's easy to get excited by this forum thread and forget that the majority of the great images here are down to who took them, their vision, experience and skills. I would only want the lens if it helps me to learn and deepen my skills & improve my photography. Thanks!
WolfCrow wrote:
I'd like to ask what people situations and scenarios you think are realistically possible to shoot with this MF Voigtlander 50mm at 1.2 - 2.0?
The depth of field is pretty narrow at those apertures so ideally you'd be focusing on stationary subjects. I'd use focus magnification to verify, and if your subject is off-center you can shift the magnification point with the joystick. I have magnification assigned to a dedicated button (I use the AF button). Focus peaking can help in some situations, and if my subject is moving I'll use it: I have the focus peaking toggle assigned to one of the custom buttons so I can switch it on/off as needed. Focus peaking can also show you the zone of focus: as you stop down you see the zone expand and you'll know that anything within that zone should be in focus. Focus peaking isn't always reliable so if there's time I'll verify with magnification...but often there isn't time.
I think the key to becoming proficient with manual focus is practice. The more you work with manual lenses, the better you get. I don't actually have any autofocus lenses for my A7iii and don't plan to get any. I've used autofocus in the past on my NEX-6 but I've spent the last 3 years doing a lot of cinematography for a documentary I'm working on; cinema cameras and lenses are generally all-manual, no auto-anything, so I got used to manual lenses and found I enjoy the experience more.
WolfCrow wrote:
Hi, new FM user here. I'm also pretty new to Sony after Nikon starved me to death with no DX lenses. Now happy shooting A7III and Sony's 1.8/20,35,85. This covers I guess all my shooting needs but I'm really intrigued by Sony's MF features and after reading phillipreeves.net I guess there may be something to MF for me, something to slow down, work more intentionally, and learn photography at a deeper level. And this Nokton 50mm 1.2 with its unique rendering and glowing reviews seems like the best fit for my kit and the only somewhat missing focal length. I mean I don't absolutely need it, because for portraiture 35 & 85 work well, but I used to use 50 on Nikon in the past and appreciate its look for my images.
That said, my major use case is family & kids portraiture (both close up and environment) and events. Occasional landscapes, nature, wildlife but that would be in total 10-20% of my images. I would add this Voigtlander now primarily to be my portrait lens along with the 85. Other use cases might come in the future with skills.
But I have no experience with MF. I mean I tried a bit with my AF lenses and find it easy with 20mm and stationary subjects. But increasingly hard for running kids with longer FL at maximum aperture. So before making a purchase decision I'd like to get my expectations realistic.
I'd like to ask what people situations and scenarios you think are realistically possible to shoot with this MF Voigtlander 50mm at 1.2 - 2.0? What is reasonable to expect as a beginner, with some practice, and as a MF pro? What is your keeper rate with MF? Also, any pointers to how I could best learn & practice MF? Which of my current lenses should I practice with & at what settings?
Last thing I want is purchasing this great lens and then be disappointed because my skills & patience & subject matter don't match the lens. And let's face it it's easy to get excited by this forum thread and forget that the majority of the great images here are down to who took them, their vision, experience and skills. I would only want the lens if it helps me to learn and deepen my skills & improve my photography. Thanks!...Show more →
Trying to capture moving subjects at 1.2 is not for someone that is easily frustrated.
The keeper rate will be on the low side; experience or no experience.
The Sony 50 1.4 and the 55 will yield far more winners.
Additionally - the best portraits have a relaxed and spontaneous quality to them.
Characteristics easily lost when the photographer has to slowly achieve and maintain focus.
The slightest movement at either end and you need to focus all over again.
IMO - AF for portraiture with all but the most cooperative subjects.
Oct 13, 2020 at 08:31 AM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
WolfCrow wrote:
Hi, new FM user here. I'm also pretty new to Sony after Nikon starved me to death with no DX lenses. Now happy shooting A7III and Sony's 1.8/20,35,85. This covers I guess all my shooting needs but I'm really intrigued by Sony's MF features and after reading phillipreeves.net I guess there may be something to MF for me, something to slow down, work more intentionally, and learn photography at a deeper level. And this Nokton 50mm 1.2 with its unique rendering and glowing reviews seems like the best fit for my kit and the only somewhat missing focal length. I mean I don't absolutely need it, because for portraiture 35 & 85 work well, but I used to use 50 on Nikon in the past and appreciate its look for my images.
That said, my major use case is family & kids portraiture (both close up and environment) and events. Occasional landscapes, nature, wildlife but that would be in total 10-20% of my images. I would add this Voigtlander now primarily to be my portrait lens along with the 85. Other use cases might come in the future with skills.
But I have no experience with MF. I mean I tried a bit with my AF lenses and find it easy with 20mm and stationary subjects. But increasingly hard for running kids with longer FL at maximum aperture. So before making a purchase decision I'd like to get my expectations realistic.
I'd like to ask what people situations and scenarios you think are realistically possible to shoot with this MF Voigtlander 50mm at 1.2 - 2.0? What is reasonable to expect as a beginner, with some practice, and as a MF pro? What is your keeper rate with MF? Also, any pointers to how I could best learn & practice MF? Which of my current lenses should I practice with & at what settings?
Last thing I want is purchasing this great lens and then be disappointed because my skills & patience & subject matter don't match the lens. And let's face it it's easy to get excited by this forum thread and forget that the majority of the great images here are down to who took them, their vision, experience and skills. I would only want the lens if it helps me to learn and deepen my skills & improve my photography. Thanks!...Show more →
Let me offer a different perspective. I have the CV 50 f/1.2 and use it a lot for portraits primarily of my son and my wife. It works great for that application if you practice your MF technique. The key part of that technique (for me anyway) is focussing for a spot that you anticipate the subject moving into and timing your shot to get the focus you want. It is very different than using something like eye-AF in which you follow the subject and let the camera keep the subject in focus. Of course if the subject is sitting still, which is rare for my son, then you can focus to the spot they are with magnification and get very accurate focus. I shoot the CV 50 f/1.2 at f/2 or f/1.8 most of the time, so the depth of field is not really all that shallow (even half body portraits at that aperture get you 5cm in front and a little more than 5cm behind the subject in depth of field). Here are a couple of my favorite photos of my son shot with either the CV 50 f/1.2 or the quite similar 40 f/1.2.
I love my 50/1.2 Nokton, but it is frustrating taking pics of my 16 months old daughter with this lens. I was able to take one or two in focus shots by going down to f 2.8 and those two properly focused shots are clearly a notch above my other photographs in terms of IQ. She moves fast and manual focusing is not doing it for me. MF and super charged toddlers is just an incompatible combo IMO, but to each their own. That being said, it is my first manual lens and my poor skills are partly to blame here. I am gonna keep the lens, because it produces beautiful images and I am sure I will improve my focusing skills over time.
For now I just use Sony Zeiss 55/1.8 for Sony's amazing eye AF and I recently purchased Sigma 45/2.8 to give it a try. I know didn't quite answer your question, but I am offering you a workaround, i.e., buy this lens and buy some more AF lenses.
WolfCrow wrote:
Hi, new FM user here. I'm also pretty new to Sony after Nikon starved me to death with no DX lenses. Now happy shooting A7III and Sony's 1.8/20,35,85. This covers I guess all my shooting needs but I'm really intrigued by Sony's MF features and after reading phillipreeves.net I guess there may be something to MF for me, something to slow down, work more intentionally, and learn photography at a deeper level. And this Nokton 50mm 1.2 with its unique rendering and glowing reviews seems like the best fit for my kit and the only somewhat missing focal length. I mean I don't absolutely need it, because for portraiture 35 & 85 work well, but I used to use 50 on Nikon in the past and appreciate its look for my images.
That said, my major use case is family & kids portraiture (both close up and environment) and events. Occasional landscapes, nature, wildlife but that would be in total 10-20% of my images. I would add this Voigtlander now primarily to be my portrait lens along with the 85. Other use cases might come in the future with skills.
But I have no experience with MF. I mean I tried a bit with my AF lenses and find it easy with 20mm and stationary subjects. But increasingly hard for running kids with longer FL at maximum aperture. So before making a purchase decision I'd like to get my expectations realistic.
I'd like to ask what people situations and scenarios you think are realistically possible to shoot with this MF Voigtlander 50mm at 1.2 - 2.0? What is reasonable to expect as a beginner, with some practice, and as a MF pro? What is your keeper rate with MF? Also, any pointers to how I could best learn & practice MF? Which of my current lenses should I practice with & at what settings?
Last thing I want is purchasing this great lens and then be disappointed because my skills & patience & subject matter don't match the lens. And let's face it it's easy to get excited by this forum thread and forget that the majority of the great images here are down to who took them, their vision, experience and skills. I would only want the lens if it helps me to learn and deepen my skills & improve my photography. Thanks!...Show more →
ramesesthe2nd wrote:
I love my 50/1.2 Nokton, but it is frustrating taking pics of my 16 months old daughter with this lens. I was able to take one or two in focus shots by going down to f 2.8 and those two properly focused shots are clearly a notch above my other photographs in terms of IQ. She moves fast and manual focusing is not doing it for me. MF and super charged toddlers is just an incompatible combo IMO, but to each their own. That being said, it is my first manual lens and my poor skills are partly to blame here. I am gonna keep the lens, because it produces beautiful images and I am sure I will improve my focusing skills over time.
For now I just use Sony Zeiss 55/1.8 for Sony's amazing eye AF and I recently purchased Sigma 45/2.8 to give it a try. I know didn't quite answer your question, but I am offering you a workaround, i.e., buy this lens and buy some more AF lenses. ...Show more →
No no, I think you and the previous posters together paint the answer pretty well and I'm open to hear more thoughts from yet more people. Seems like everybody loves the lens. For some people though the experience could be summed up as that it seldom delivers (low keeper rate) but when it does it's very special. My kids make up 80% of my photography right now. The boys never sit but my only daughter is willing to stand model from time to time so her and this Voigtlander would be a match. That's one use case already! Maybe there's more. :-)
Anyway, I guess the answer is in the "slow down" goal I have mentioned before. My family life with five little kids (0-11) is so hectic that maybe I cannot realistically expect I can slow down with my photography... Nice thought exercise anyway, thanks everybody! I'll come back in 5-10 years. :-)
Okay, so I guess it's been 5 years now :-) I didn't resist and pulled the trigger on the E-mount (not SE) thinking I would return the lens if I really didn't like it. And after the first day of shooting I do like it quite a bit. I need to check images on my computer to see the image quality, rendering and I'd also like to test it against Sony 85mm f1.8 to see the difference for my portrait photography. Manual focusing definitely means I will have more images to go through, and more work on culling. Tried with kids - babies are hard, the older ones are okay, they can be still for a while. Tried with a tame bird - quite hard, but maybe there will be something in reasonable focus. And of course, still life is the easiest. Only at f1.2 focus peaking (mid sensitivity) doesn't really show much, as if nothing much climbs over the contrast threshold to trigger peaking.
However, my biggest gripe and one actually that alone may force me to return the lens (and I'm wondering why I haven't read about this anywhere) is the focus ring. It's so close to the body that my left hand turning it goes up against my right hand holding the body. There's friction in UX that may go away if I adjust but it doesn't seem to be comfortable to keep my left hand fingers on the left side of the lens so they don't bump into my right hand fingers all the time. And since I keep working the focus ring back and forth to find my focus this really bothers me. Sony lenses have their focus ring in front of the lens and aperture ring close to the body. This makes much more sense to me and would definitely prefer it this way. Does it bother anybody else
Would any forum members care to add their experience whether the SE version might be better in terms of the slimmer focusing ring getting less in the way of the right hand holding the body (for reference see my experience 2 posts above)?
Also, considering both versions are optically the same which version do you think might better hold its value in the future? Over here the SE version is ~$100 more expensive than the original even though that one has value for videographers as well with its declick aperture mechanism... Which one would you go for?
I got the SE version and i don't have any issues with the focus ring and my fingers.
Between the two, I'd pick SE because of its slightly lower weight, compact body and lower price. I know I am not gonna be using this lens for any video work, so declicking feature is just added cost and weight for me and nothing else.
That being said, I don't really see a reason for SE version to hold its value better than the original version and vice versa. Both lenses are identical internally and produce the same IQ.
Keep the original version if it is cheaper than SE for you and enjoy the lens.
Just traded my beloved 50/1.4 ZA for this lens due mainly to the improved portability and sunstars, and here are some of my first shots from earlier today. Initial reaction is very positive and in line with what i’ve read on this thread - rendering and bokeh are very nice, sharpness is there wide open with some glow depending on the distance, and stopped down sharpness is great. Having such a versatile lens in this small package is really nice! All shot wide open.
tbpeur01 wrote:
Just traded my beloved 50/1.4 ZA for this lens due mainly to the improved portability and sunstars, and here are some of my first shots from earlier today. Initial reaction is very positive and in line with what i’ve read on this thread - rendering and bokeh are very nice, sharpness is there wide open with some glow depending on the distance, and stopped down sharpness is great. Having such a versatile lens in this small package is really nice! All shot wide open.
