Review on Voigtlander Nokton 50Mm Leica Mount by Charles Adelaja

I haven't had a chance to try this lens on a Leica camera. I use it on a Sony VG900 full frame camcorder. The first full-frame mirrorless camcorder that accepts Leica M-mount lenses with an adapter and captures 24-megapixel photos. Unfortunately, the VG900's video suffers from poor moiré, aliasing and low resolution due to poorly implemented line skipping, so I had to use still mode to see what this lens is capable of. Blurred areas create a special look. This lens is worth every penny and the only thing better is the $11,000 Leica Noctilux and quite frankly few of us can afford or justify the cost of this particular lens. The $4,000 Leica 50mm f/1.4 Summilux-M isn't as bright as this, although at f/1.4 it will be sharper across the field. But with videos, you probably won't notice the difference. Shots taken with this wide open Voighlander are a little soft and the far corners are a little blurry. But hey, we're talking f/1.1 here. If you want extreme sharpness, pay twice as much and get the Leica 50mm f/2 Summicron-M. But if you want maximum low-light performance for your Leica, VG900 or NEX that won't break the bank, this is for you. The lens is compact for f/1.1. It's not much larger than my Canon 50mm f/1.4 and much smaller and lighter than the Canon 50/1.2 and cheaper. The focus ring feels nice, is smooth and easy to focus manually. The peak focusing on the VG900 makes manual focusing very easy. Everything about this lens can be described as SMOOTH, from the character of the image to its handling and looks. The lens isn't too sharp wide open, and that's actually one of its strengths that you can play to. A VERY flattering soft "look" for portrait photography, flowers and the like. Should it be spicy? Okay, turn it down to f/4 where it's sooooo sharp I can see the paper grains in my resolution chart! So this lens can do it all: you want it to be smooth and creamy, shoot from f/1.1 to f/2; if you want it to be crisp and sharp, shoot at f/4 or higher. f/2.8 is a good balance between the two. This is a rare find in the world of photography: a lens that truly gives you MORE bang for your buck. $1,000 for a lens of this caliber is a steal in the Leica world. The images that come out of this lens will challenge your creativity while allowing you to explore new levels of subject isolation, softness and sharpness at the same time. This lens should work great for Sony's upcoming A7 and A7R mirrorless cameras. It also works as the equivalent of a 75mm f/1.65 lens on any Sony NEX camera. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.