Zeiss ZM 35mm Biogon F2 vs Voigtlander Nokton Classic SC 35mm at F1.4

[alantcs2010]

Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 Nokton Classic SC vs Zeiss ZM 35mm F2 Biogon T*

I have decided to do a test on these two lenses mainly because I need a light weight 35mm lens to travel oversea in the next few days. Many of you may have read a lot of reviews on the individual lens. But I am going to show you side by size comparizion between these lenses. I have purchased the VC 35mm only one day ago and all these days I have been using the ZM Biogon. I have to say that I am very satisfied with the result of the Zeiss lens. In the first place I should not be comparing the two lenses as they are of different category. I wished I had a Leica Summicron and a Summilux to check the differences as well. That is not happening now. I am not going into the technical aspect of these lenses which you can easily find them online. I will be comparing these:

- Distortion
- Sharpness Center and Corner
- Out of Focus - Bokeh
- Colors Rendition
- B&W Rendition

I will be using a full frame Leica M9P for the test. Snapshot mode is set for black & white photos. Normal mode is set for color photos. There is no post production so that what you see is what they produced.

For more details - Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 Nokton Classic SC vs Zeiss ZM 35mm F2 Biogon T*

 

[magicianhisoka]

Thanks for sharing! The 35mm 1.4 seems scary in the center. Too soft for my liking.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Hmmm....

I wouldnt worry too much at all about it being "soft". The Nokton 35mm F1.4 at SGD780 is a steal. Fastest modern build & affordable optics on the market right now.
Raise of hands here, how many actually print their pictures bigger than A2? :bsmilie:

So far, no 35mm F1.4 lens has come close to that size (its tiny) & price unless of course if you wanna compare the leica 35mm lux steel rim ver1, but at the price it is at, pure madness......

I'am not a fan of the Zeiss 35mm F2 Biogon, the size is disgusting. Would prefer the Zeiss 35mm F2.8 C-biogon.

 

[magicianhisoka]

The size is great I must admit But I'd like to see it in chrome

 

[Royale With Cheese]

The size is great I must admit But I'd like to see it in chrome

me too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After the LTM lenses from cosina stopped production, they stopped chrome, so upsetting!!!!

currently F1.4 lens chrome at that size only lux steel rim! argh!!!!!! why so expensive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[alantcs2010]

I like the 35mm F1.4 mainly because of the size. The built quality is very good as well. The black marking at the ring for the apertures seems to smudge for my copy. The look & feel is nice and good. I remember I read in other forum about the leica 35mm lux version1 might not be sharper than the Voigtlander 35mm F1.4 at F1.4. For me, I only believe when I test lenses side by side. I don't do gallery printout, so the 35mm F1.4 is a nice lens for me. In fact I am going to bring this little fellow to Turkey Tonight. The Zeiss Biogon 35mm is staying at home.

 

[hjbyeo]

I come from SLR side, so yes, even when the biogon's double the size, I am not really bothered cos' it's already small in comparison! I am also very pleased with its image capturing capabilities on my ZI.

But I would have to agree that with a 1.4 and at that size, everytime I see 1 on sale in BnS, I am tempted to buy back this wonderful offering from Voigtlander. It'll be quite a match with my RD1. ;-)

 

[artspraken]

although i applaud the effort and time involved in doing that review, i cannot agree with the basis of comparison between what are actually 2 very different lenses.

 

[alantcs2010]

I can only review on what I had on hand. Actually i really like to test out the Leica Summicron IV and the Summilux pre asph. The current Zeiss ZM series are fantastic lenses. I have the 25mm Biogon F2.8 and I used to have the Leica 24mm Elmarit asph F2.8. Both are super great lenses. Base on my memory, I don't see much different in them. But a test has to be done side by side to confirm this.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

I can only review on what I had on hand. Actually i really like to test out the Leica Summicron IV and the Summilux pre asph. The current Zeiss ZM series are fantastic lenses. I have the 25mm Biogon F2.8 and I used to have the Leica 24mm Elmarit asph F2.8. Both are super great lenses. Base on my memory, I don't see much different in them. But a test has to be done side by side to confirm this.

our RFSG lao jiaos did do some lens testing for 35mm.

Can see them here:
RFSG » 35mm Lens Bokeh Test Shots

 

[virtualme78]

The 2 lenses are totally different in character. If i remember reading somewhere, Zeiss lenses are known for the sharpness and the "Pop-up" effect and Nokton 35mm f1.4 is a modern lens with classic effect which means its sharp in the centre but soft at the sides. With the difference in price and size, i think i'd go with the Nokton one anytime.

 

[ZShutter]

The Nokton has quite a bit of distortion which is not acceptable to me.
The Zeiss ZM Biogon f2,8 is almost the same size as the Nokton for a few more hundred dollars more.

 

[alantcs2010]

My test showed that the Voiglander holds itself better in off center area than the center area as compare to the Zeiss. I usually don't put my subject at the center if I am using a 35mm lens.

Thanks lao jiaos,
Saw the 35mm test of many lenses. The 40mm summicron c F2 seems to be quite good for bokeh. It is as good or better than the 35mm summicron IV (bokeh King).

 

[newghost]

Saw the 35mm test of many lenses. The 40mm summicron c F2 seems to be quite good for bokeh. It is as good or better than the 35mm summicron IV (bokeh King).

As with the m rokkor 40/2! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[Benji77]

Detailed comparison. Well done for the effort!

To be honest, the price point for each item should be a factor we all should be mindful of.
The ZM is about S$1500, and the CV is $780. This half the price, with an extra 'stop' for the CV.

The other factor is this - we are mere-hobbyist. Do we really care about 'pin cushions' and 'distortion' that much?

Personally, the CV is slightly more difficult to handle (as it's really small), as compared to the ZM.
Price per ratio, I'd take the CV

 

[alantcs2010]

Thanks Man. Maybe the Zeiss 35mm Biogon F2.8 has everything. It is claimed to have slightly better performance than his brother, the Zeiss 35mm Biogon F2.

 

[ricohflex]

Don't understand.

It has the glow at F1.4 which indeed make it a classical lens.

This one not rangefinder lens. The real thing. Sharp and no distortion. They dare to say in writing, page 2 para 3.
http://www.zeiss.de/C12567A8003B8B6F/EmbedTitelIntern/Biogon4.5_38mm_CF_104867_e/$File/Biogon4.5_38mm_CF_104867_e.pdf

 

[hjbyeo]

Interesting comparison. Thanks for posting it.

The barrel distortion of the Nokton sure is obvious when compared directly to the Biogon. That's the main reason I sold mine. Once I noticed it was there it nagged away at me ... :sweat:

:bsmilie: ... I have the same "problem". I need my straight lines to be straight, ok.. quite straight. I chose the Zeiss ZM 4.5/21 for that reason as well.

But that's why some of us have more than 1 35mm or 1 50mm etc, very dependent on the subject you are photographing. ;-)

* * *

TS, thanks for the comparison, and documenting that down.

 

[s1chen]

I have own the Nokton Classic MC F1.4 for 2 weeks and I compare it against the leica 50mm Summicron, 35mm Summicron, 35mm Summilux and 50mm Summilux. Despite the cheap price for the Nokton, I find its F1.4 is not suitable for low light, indoor shooting unless you are working on centre sharp type of photo. The photo are de-focus object anything out of the 30% from the centre. I regret bring this only lens with my M9 on last year christmas shooting my family shots to find out that only the centre person face is sharp and the other person standing beside is all out of focus... On the other hand, on any occasion when I use the Cron and Lux, they are always sharp from edge to corner.

In conclusion, unless you are shooting artistic photo with the intention of defocus corner, don't use them for shot that you need centre to edge sharp and you have one chance to capture the scene at that moment of truth. In fact, I find my Leica X1 do a better job than a M9 with Nokton F1.4.

Nevertheless, I have sold the Nokton at a lost but no regret.

 

[fei]

I ditto the above and I deem it as a very happy problem!

All lenses mentioned above are good lenses with it's own characteristic.

We need time to use it for a good period of time to fully understand what potential can each of the gems bring you. Depends on your mood of the day pick the right lens and enjoy what beautiful pics can the lens paint for you.

Ü