Voigtlander 50mm 1.1 prices... ?

Adam_M

Adam_M

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Hi, I'd post this under Equipment but figured the chaps who come in this section may know more.

After looking through all my work, I've decided to go back to film, and finally get an M6 after lusting for one for 7 years. Usual reasons really, just happier with film, prefer RF's and the simplicity, only need a few focal lengths, etc.

Remembered this lens exists, and it'd be awesome for me. So went in search of UK prices. On eBay it's about £699, fantastic. And that's from an eBay seller in the UK, not outside the UK.

However on Robert White, the UK's 'proper' dealership, it's £1,140...

Is there something I'm missing? That's a MASSIVE price difference! though even at 1.1k, it's probably still going to be cheaper than a used Leica 50mm...

Here it is on eBay, others on eBay are similarly priced: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Voigtlander-NOKTON-50mm-f-1-1-Lens-50-mm-f1-1-Leica-M-Mount-NEW-/150788030616?pt=UK_Lenses_Filters_Lenses&hash=item231baac098#ht_1118wt_1159

The 35mm f/1.2 is fairly similarly priced, so this is quite an oddity.
 
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Robert White's are always way more expensive than anywhere else....they are very good though.
Have a look at DigitalRev, they are based in Hong Kong but are extremely well thought of and have a rep in the sellers section on here who will give you a price. Also Stephen Gandy on Cameraquest in the US sells Voigtlander equipment, the website is a mess to be honest but his prices seem reasonable.
I have a Bessa R3A and a Nokton f1.4 40mm and its a stunningly sharp lens, I've never used Leica but for my purposes I can't really see that spending 4x the amount will improve my images by 4x....

Andy
 
I'd recommend Red dot camera ahead of Robert White who always seem to be pretty overpriced. Aperture UK are good too. If you need 1.1 then the Nokton is about your only choice. If you can go 'slower' like an f/2 then I'd get a used Leica 50mm Summicron.
 
I would grab the screw fit voigtlander 50mm f1.5 and an adaptor. Much cheaper than the f1.1 and lighter too. It's also a stunning lens. I keep contemplating trading mine for a summicron f2 but when I look at what it produces I then decide not to!
 
You could look out for a Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 C Sonnar ZM too which always punches above its weight. The Zeiss 50mm f/2 is a real gem too. To be honest if I can't get a Leica lens I'd get a Zeiss and I'd use CV lenses for those focal lengths Leica or Zeiss don't do (12mm etc). For 50s on the M you are spoiled for choice, it was made for them.
 
The Zeiss is definitely a more classic looking lens, the Voigtlander 50/1.5 is closer to the Summilux ASPH in terms of sharpness and rendering.

As for prices, it's probably just a combination of import tax and dealer mark up.
 
Andysnap said:
Robert White's are always way more expensive than anywhere else....they are very good though.
Have a look at DigitalRev, they are based in Hong Kong but are extremely well thought of and have a rep in the sellers section on here who will give you a price. Also Stephen Gandy on Cameraquest in the US sells Voigtlander equipment, the website is a mess to be honest but his prices seem reasonable.
I have a Bessa R3A and a Nokton f1.4 40mm and its a stunningly sharp lens, I've never used Leica but for my purposes I can't really see that spending 4x the amount will improve my images by 4x....

Andy
Click to expand...

I can 2nd Digital rev, Very good and delivery is pretty fast considering!
 
Thanks for the responses everyone.

I haven't checked out DigitalRev's eBay shop for many years, though I love their videos. It seems to be entirely different, a long time ago you had to do bank transfer with them and I just didn't like it. Now they have a proper little online shop up! that's perfect for me!

It says on there that any import tax/duty gets charged back to them automatically, back in the day I'm sure you had to pay it and then send it off to them to get that back. This is the only bit that worries me, anyone had any experiences?

I guess I will go with them as they now have a proper website. I'll be getting this through a scheme we have at work, where they buy it, take off about £250 and then you pay the rest off over 12 months.

50mm 1.1 for £520 or 35mm 1.2 for £750? choices, choices...

Thanks for the suggestion of other lenses, I will definitely go for some of those for a more compact set up, but right now I'm after these two lenses in particular. I like stupidly fast glass!

Oh, and Robert White are definitely very expensive, however I have a used mint Bessa R2 coming from them tomorrow - it was £150 cheaper than anywhere else! the M6 can wait... and the R2 has all the features I need! short base length, but I can live with it.
 
I have the 35/1.2 II, it hardly leaves my M4. Really versatile lens, it's more to do with me preferring 35mm over 50mm though.
 
35 vs 50 is a personal thing. I have both and use both but 'see' 50 better.
 
RaglanSurf said:
There's one on ebay that finishes tomorrow, has no bids and looks to be in very good condition and the seller looks to have good genuine feedback.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Voigtlander-Nokton-50-mm-F-1-1-Lens-Leica-/270943110132?pt=UK_Lenses_Filters_Lenses&hash=item3f1577c3f4#ht_500wt_1156
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That is SO tempting... shame I don't have the pennies right now!

I am definitely a 35mm man also, at least where rangefinders are concerned. RF's should come with 35mm's as standard kit lenses, and SLR's should still come with 50mm's for their kit lenses.

So... been tossing it up a bit, now I might just go for the 35mm f/1.4! simply because of it's size, and from what I've seen it's a very nice B&W lens. And a focusing tab vs focusing ring, the tab wins it for me for this style of shooting. It also leaves a lot of money available for other things. And the R2's short rangefinder base length might be an issue with such a fast lens, maybe.

Bah, I'll stop babbling on now. I'm just so excited to be finally going down the film rangefinder route! Can't wait to try some ISO 25 film. The Bessa R2 arrives tomorrow...
 
Firstly - congrats !

secondly - will you be using this just to please yourself or are you a paid photographer as well?

I now have a hexar, olympus OM's , minolta nice stuff and some nice lenses, as well as the gh1 panasonice, but from time to time I feel the lust to sell it all and get a 5d with a prime ! :(
am seeking pros who sort of have their reasons to still work with film (35mm)

I can name many artists who use film leicas but it would be interesting to see a person (non superstar photographer) who would choose to dump his digital fullframe in favour for a small film RF .

and congrats on choosing voigtlander f1.1 as well.

regards,
Didzis.
 
Starastin said:
Firstly - congrats !

secondly - will you be using this just to please yourself or are you a paid photographer as well?

I now have a hexar, olympus OM's , minolta nice stuff and some nice lenses, as well as the gh1 panasonice, but from time to time I feel the lust to sell it all and get a 5d with a prime ! :(
am seeking pros who sort of have their reasons to still work with film (35mm)

I can name many artists who use film leicas but it would be interesting to see a person (non superstar photographer) who would choose to dump his digital fullframe in favour for a small film RF .

and congrats on choosing voigtlander f1.1 as well.

regards,
Didzis.
Click to expand...

I dumped digital full frame in favour of small digital rangefinder (R-D1s). Not regretting it at all.
 
(this is a biggie, apologies in advance)

This one is definitely for 'me' - well, the 'calm photographer' in me. I'm glad I found the Bessa R2, as there is no temptation to use the aperture priority modes. Fully manual all the way. Why it pleases me (an important point) is another matter that I could babble on about for hours, but it comes down to myself being a low/natural light lover and lover of fast glass, a need for equipment that doesn't way of my photography with it's millions of buttons and modes.

And, frankly, to get back to photography that looks like a photograph. I've been using digital since the 300D (not counting the compacts that came prior!) and frankly they all have nearly zero soul to me, it is just like capturing the world with a cold hard flatbed scanner. It doesn't look like a photo any more.

Digital has its place, of course, and that is the quick turn around/no film to pay for and generally, 'work' stuff. But it just leaves me wanting something 'real'.

I'm a funny one, I'd say I'm not a paid photographer in the traditional sense, I don't class myself as a photographer though my job title is 'Remote Sensing Technician, Marketing Design & Photography'. I mostly work with cameras such as these Leica here: http://www.leica-geosystems.co.uk/en/Airborne-Imaging_86816.htm

Not something you can even attempt to use hand held. I guess I'm a 'Photogrammetrist'. No idea how this happened, I was happy shooting bands back in 2006/7!

I occasionally fly around in helicopters taking pictures of things for the company, but that's quite rare.

I tried to go down the 5D and primes route, I really did. I even got the focusing screen that allows better focusing with faster than f/2.8 glass. But it's just not the same, it doesn't feel or look the same. It's something I will be doing still, for when I need it, but this time with a D90 and D700 in the future. SLR's from now on for me, are only for their F/2.8 zoom's.

There are plenty of pro's that still use film, Chris Week's still uses his Leica MP quite a lot even though he has an M9. Severin Coller uses a Rolleiflex extensively and I believe is a full time film shooter these days, also shoots a lot with Lecia's too.

And then there's Dave Hill, who is well known for his very digital look with crazy compositing. His black and white work is beautiful and that's all film (from what I've seen), and he's using a Leica, Mamiya and a large format camera.

So, at least one person in the world is using film full time. That hopefully helps a bit. I'm hopefully getting back into the bands/non airborne photography this year more and if it weren't for the cost and turn around times, I'd be all film too with a similar Rangefinder/Medium Format set up. Realistically I know that can't happen, but one can dream.


Starastin said:
Firstly - congrats !

secondly - will you be using this just to please yourself or are you a paid photographer as well?

I now have a hexar, olympus OM's , minolta nice stuff and some nice lenses, as well as the gh1 panasonice, but from time to time I feel the lust to sell it all and get a 5d with a prime ! :(
am seeking pros who sort of have their reasons to still work with film (35mm)

I can name many artists who use film leicas but it would be interesting to see a person (non superstar photographer) who would choose to dump his digital fullframe in favour for a small film RF .

and congrats on choosing voigtlander f1.1 as well.

regards,
Didzis.
Click to expand...
 
wow ! that's an interesting job title !
getting chopper license and a leica is definitely a top priority for me. well - hopefully a robinson r22 as well, but no idea where would I get the money for it :D

gotta run now, feel the need to document the snow and what it has caused in the streets.
 
Starastin said:
wow ! that's an interesting job title !
getting chopper license and a leica is definitely a top priority for me. well - hopefully a robinson r22 as well, but no idea where would I get the money for it :D

gotta run now, feel the need to document the snow and what it has caused in the streets.
Click to expand...

I fly around in an R44 most of the time, LOVE those little things. We have to take the back door off on my side so I can shoot, when we first did it I was shocked that it's held in place by tiny pins. Occasionally I'm in a Twin Squirrel when required, usually over London, but I don't like those too much.

There's no way I could ever afford to pay for heli lessons! I'd struggle to even get a micro light license. All our pilots are ex-RAF guys. We fly extremely close to power lines, so we need the best and steadiest!
 
sweet !!
if you ever need a helping hand drop me a line ! :D
love choppers.

btw, I noticed that you've put the R2 in the classifieds already ! I hope you sort the numbers out before you actually sell it. + I remember seeing in your website that you've promised yourself to not to sell equipment for such reasons ! :D
 
Keep the camera, sell a kidney.

Andy
 
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