I recently bought a UV filter for my Voigtländer Nokton lens. I’m not really interested in its UV-filtering capabilities; instead, I want it to protect my lens’ glas from damage. I usually carry my camera around my neck or shoulder without a lens cap, so some form of protection makes me feel more comfortable doing so.
I wasn’t too keen to put a piece of glas in front of the actual lens – since this could result in reflections and worse image quality in general – but so far it seems to have been working alright.
Previously, I’ve been using a lens hood for protection. But it’s kind of bulky and I think it occasionally results in black corners on the photo. And that’s why I’m currently trying this new filter instead.
After I acquired my new camera and lens, I set up a quick test subject in the backyard to test the camera’s shutter speeds as well as the lens’ different apertures in a controlled environment.
And I figured these test photos are worth sharing, as it gives an idea of how this lens renders on film at its various settings.
Camera on tripod positioned approximately 1 meter from the focus point.
The focus point is pretty much in the middle of the frame (just right to the center of the bottle in the middle).
Film: Kentmere 400, developed in Rodinal.
Scanner: Canon CanoScan 9000F Mark II (scanned using Silverfast SE software).
Adjustments: contrast raised and some sharpening applied in Apple Photos (all photos to the same amounts).
Anyhow, here they are: the photos showing the test scene at the eight different major aperture stops of the Voigtländer Nokton Classic 35mm 1.4 Multicoated lens for the Leica M mount. (Zoom in or open the image in a new window/tab for slightly more resolution.)
I’ve been on the lookout for a black Leica M and this particular lens for a while. Then – back in October – I got a good deal on this new Voigtländer lens, and mid-November I finally found this good-looking M4-2 on eBay, too.
It’s the perfect setup for me, and it’s been an absolute joy to shoot with for the last one and a half months. Can’t wait to shoot it even more!
