My photographic christmas wishlist

efix — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:55:45 +0000

These days I’ve been thinking a lot about stuff I’d like to treat myself with for christmas. Alas, the budget for new toys roughly equals zero this year. Still, being the gearhead that I am, here’s a list of what I would have Santa bring me

M.Zuiko Digital 45mm f/1.8 — Olympus’ latest Micro Four Thirds lens offering, equivalent to a 90mm portrait lens / short tele in 35mm terms. Being raved about by everyone who has it, and generally getting quite favourable reviews. This would complement my Lumix 20/1.7 nicely for a two-lens kit.

First user report on the new CV Nokton 35/1.2

efix — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:07:08 +0000

The new Voigtländer Nokton 35mm f/1.2 II lens seems to be available in some parts of the world already, and a user at rangefinderforum.com has posted some first thoughts and sample pictures taken with a Leica M9.

He claims the lens has better contrast wide open than its predecessor, is still sharp at f/1.2 and still exhibits pleasing bokeh. But judge for yourselves: http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=110011

Quick note: Nokton 35/1.2 price announced

efix — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 08:29:15 +0000

Cosina now have finally announced a retail price for the new Nokton 35/1.2. It’s going to be JPY 135,000, which is ~ USD 1,700 or EUR 1,200. Ouch.

http://www.cosina.co.jp/seihin/voigt/v-lens/v-l-m/vm35-1.2/ (Google tranlated)

EDIT: Interestingly, this British vendor lists it for GBP 900, which is a “mere” EUR 1,000 or USD 1,400. Maybe there’s hope yet …

Quick note: Nokton 35/1.2 II will come in August

efix — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:47:43 +0000

Via rangefinderforum.com.

According to this page on Cosina’s website (reminder: Cosina is the Japanese manufacturer that produces most of the Voigtländer and Zeiss photographic products), the new Voigtländer Nokton 35/1.2 II will be released in August. According to Cosina, it will retail for approx. 135k JPY, which is quite a bit steeper than the original version.

The page also mentions that the new 35/1.2 has now three aspherical surfaces, as opposed to the original version which had two aspherical surfaces. As the original 35/1.2 Nokton was a highly regarded lens, the rangefinder community is of [...]

It’s official! The new Nokton 35/1.2 Asph. II is coming!

efix — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 10:04:32 +0000

After recently having discontinued their very high-esteemed and popular Nokton 35mm f/1.2 Aspherical M-mount lens, Voigtländer announced that they were working on a successor which was to be released in the second half of 2011. On this year’s CP+ in Japan, the new Nokton 35mm f/1.2 Aspherical II was officially presented.

Picture courtesy of Cosina/Voigtländer

According to photoscala.de, the new version is much more compact than the original Nokton 35/1.2. This is probably due to an overhaul of the optical formula, which was needed because the glass of the aspherical lens element was no longer obtainable. [...]

UPDATED: Bad news … Nokton 35/1.2 discontinued

efix — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 19:45:43 +0000

This is bad news. Cosina have listed the Nokton 35/1.2 as officially discontinued. Which means prices will go insane once leftover stock will be sold out.

So, if you were fondling with that lens, get one now. You might not want to wait much longer …

I really don’t understand why they discontinued such a great lens. But then, they also discontinued the 50/1.5 Nokton, which is also a great lens. But maybe this means something new and even more exciting is going to come?

Edit: A fellow dpreview Leica Talk Forum user suggested their [...]

Visiting the sulfur mines at Kawah Ijen, Java, Indonesia

efix — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:39:30 +0000

rangefinderforum user leicashot recently visitied the sulfur mines at Kawah Ijen, a volcano in east Java, featuring the world’s largest lake of sulfuric acid. Around the lake, between clouds of sulfur dioxide gas, some 400 workers collect rocks of pure sulfur, which they then carry over four kilometers down to the processing plant at the foot of the mountain – for a handfull of dollars a day.

leicashot’s report features some stunning pictures of the mountain, the workers, the processing plant and its surroundings, as well as a report on his first-hand experience [...]

Lens swap decision

efix — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:08:54 +0000

The decision’s been made, I’ve made up my mind and will once again swap lenses for my M8.

Having been using the wonderful Zeiss Biogon 2/35 for several weeks now, I came to realize more and more that I need (want) a faster lens, as I do a lot of low-light shooting with frequently moving subjects (i. e. my son inside the house ), where fast shutter speeds are needed. Technically, I could resort to ISO 2500 in b&w, but I don’t always want b&w. So, the Biogon has to go.

Enter the Voigtländer Nokton [...]

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