When I bought my first Leica M4 back in 2014, I decided to couple it with a Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f/1.4 S.C that I bought new (first time of my life I bought anything new). It was a great moment. I absolutely loved it and ignored its flaws as it was all I could buy myself at that time. I was so happy with it.
But time went on and as many of you may know, once you start thinking “Leica”, it is very hard to resist to the temptation of getting more gear… German gear… So I ended up selling that Nokton to get myself a nice Leica Summicron 35mm v4 (aka the King of Bokeh).
It was like a dream to have such combo in my hands. I also felt a bit dumb having spent 500 bucks more for a lens that was 1 stop slower… But it was supposed to be better overall – it was supposed to be the King of Bokeh. I kept it a long long time, changed cameras, from M4 to M6, to M9-p, to M4 again, then M6 again… But the lens remained the same.
I then one day started to shoot “semi-pro” and as I was getting paid for some work, I thought I had to step up and get an even better lens. So I sold the Leica Summicron 35mm v4 to purchase a Summilux ASPH pre-FLE. This lens was crazy good and behaved as planned. As perfect as you can dream of for a 35mm. But it lacked the classic character I love for my personal photography, and it is a bit on the heavy side.
So as nostalgic as I was, I bought a Voigtlander Nokton 35mm 1.4 S.C. – but this time the new v2 – and again I was in love… But long story short, history had to repeat itself, and I finally got my hands on another Summicron 35mm v4. So with both lenses in my hands, I decided to make a comparison between the two. I wanted to know if these two lenses I keep coming back to are really that different or if there is anything that would justify the current skyrocketing prices of the so-called King of Bokeh.
Characteristics
The Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 v4, also called the King of Bokeh, for some obscure reason, is a “vintage lens” made in the 80s. It’s optical formula is similar to the one of the Summilux pre-aspherical, with a stop less and a shorter minimum focusing distance of 0.7m. This Summicron is known to be the smallest 35mm f/2 ever made for a Leica M camera. And it is also known for being an overall great all rounder lens, being both sharp all across the field when stopped down, and quite romantic wide opened with classic traits like strong coma, vignetting, moderate glow. Colour saturation is nice and beautifully balanced too.
The Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f/1.4 v2 is a “modern lens” sold for the first time in 2019 and has been made to improve some traits of its older brother, the Nokton v1. The Nokton version II keeps much the same optical formula with only one lens element that has being changed for an abnormal dispersion glass. As such, this version 2 has seen a global performance increase. It has less distortion (about 2.1% vs. 3% for the v1), better field of focus flatness with no more soft ring in the middle field, and lens focus shift. I also noticed, comparing the two versions that the new one tends to have a rounder bokeh balls and thus tends to render less swirl effect. I don’t know if it is good or bad though.
Build quality wise, the Leica Summicron and Voigtlander Nokton are very similar. Both have very smooth focusing action, nicely clicked diaphragms, nice finish, engraved markings, bayonet hoods. The Nokton is slightly bigger than the Summicron. But this had to be expected with one more stop. While the Summicron is the smallest 35mm f2 I’ve ever seen, the Nokton is the smallest 35mm f/1.4 being mass produced.
Comparing the optical properties
Both the Leica Summicron and Voigtlander Nokton are non-aspherical, and thus should show things like wide open glow, coma, vignetting, moderate sharpness. The Leica Summicron has been highly appreciated and regarded as an excellent all round lens. Not too sharp like its ASPH counterpart, nice character, great bokeh at middle apertures, no distortion. On the other hand, the Voigtlander Nokton has often been said to be a “character” lens, with many things that could be better like focus shift, distortion, sharpness consistency, fuzzy bokeh. But what does this all mean in real life?
The Battle
I propose you to play a little game with me. Among the following pictures, try to determine which is the Leica Summicron and Voigtlander Nokton without skipping to the end.
So, are you confident in your guesses? I’d love to know in the comments if you got it right. As you might have guessed by the last comparison, the photos on the left are from the Summicron and on the right, the Nokton…
You can find high resolution files there.
Conclusions
The following I am about to say is highly subjective as it is all about personal preferences and observations, but here is what I observed on high resolution scans:
- At small apertures (f/8), beside a bit distortion for the Nokton that is only rarely visible, the lenses are almost indistinguishable. Look at the right side of the fridge picture for the distortion.
- At medium apertures (f/4, f/5.6) the Nokton has more contrast “pop” and more separation.
- At larger apertures (f/2, f/2.8) the Nokton seems clearly superior to me. Sharper, more contrast and smoother bokeh. It looks like that the Nokton is a tad brighter that the Summicron at given f/stops.
- Wide open performances (f/1.4 vs f/2) performs very similarly. Look at the nightscape shot this is the only one here shot at f/1.4 with the Nokton.
- Both lenses have the same kind of flare that seems to be about the same at equivalent apertures. At f/1.4 the Nokton is the worst, but that was to be expected.
- Colours – sorry, as I am confined and cannot access my local lab for C41, so you will have to trust me on this from previous experience – are better with the Summicron. Better saturation and separation, warmer.
All in all, I have quite a lot of difficulty now to justify keeping the Leica Summicron King of Bokeh. I clearly did not expect the differences to play out in this direction and was confident about the fact that the Leica lens was always the better one. I am not saying the Summicron is bad, but the comparisons I did just showed to me that, maybe, higher price doesn’t always mean “better”.
Now, that was the brain speaking, but the heart saying different things. Some people will speak of “gear coherence”, some other will talk of the “Leica glow”, that the Leica Summicron surely has wide open. The Summicron can also evoke the “charm” and “gear lust” only some gear can bring to its owner.
So is one better than the other, both in terms of the quality of the outcome, and all the other reasons we might like to own gear, it’s all up to you and your preferences. Can you guess which one I will be keeping?
Thanks for reading, and I hope I hadn’t caused to much trouble to you 😉
Feel free to visit my instagram and Kamerakraft webpage if you like film Leicas or film scanning devices.
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Comments
Adrian Cullen on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Iaeaix on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
I always thought the Voigtlander is a no comparison with Summicron V4 in terms of color/micro contrast/pop etc.., and I never intended to own Voigtlander therefore.
Ended up sticking with the V1 Summicron since then.
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Zvonimir on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Perhaps I am too easy to please. I bought used an eight element 35mm Summichron for my M3 in 1987. It has given me many hundreds of photos from all over the world. However, I don't think I could locate Bokeh in any of them, as I don't know what it looks like.
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Mike on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Thank you for a great job done with this article. I share most of your thoughts. I guess this information will be truly helpful for those who are making those hard decisions.
I also owned both lenses at some point and ended up sticking with the Summicron (I'm shooting color film most of the time). For me it has a perfect combination of great unique image look (I couldn't find any other lens with that special dreamy glow in some situations) and performance (build quality, smoothness, size). Also it's the latest Leica 35mm lens made specificly for the film cameras (and it will only raise price wise since it's no longer produced). So I always recommend to keep it till you can, you won't regret it.
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Bruno Chalifour on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Bruno Chalifour on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
jh on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Giuseppe Papale on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Calum on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Grady Carter on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Immo on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Nick Clark on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
A minor correction, the Summicron v4 is no longer the smallest 35/f2 for Leica M. That title belongs to the outstanding Voigtlander 35/f2 Ultron.
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Marc Wick on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 01/06/2020
Daniel on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 02/06/2020
Comment posted: 02/06/2020
Jim Kuo on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 02/06/2020
Peter Maynard on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 02/06/2020
I did however eventually ( several years later) buy a second hand Voigtlander 35mm f1.2 (first version) from a friend, swapping it for a Voigtlander 40mm f1.4 which I owned plus some cash - which seemed a good deal for me as somehow I never really bonded with that lens either. On reflection in addition to the focal length issue already mentioned, I think it has something to do with the form factor . Small bodied lenses like the two I mentioned often seem too small for me to handle comfortably. While the big 35mm f1.2 is perfect. But that is just me. Also I have seldom place too much of a premium on pure lens performance and much prefer character and interesting rendering.
BennyBaha on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 02/06/2020
Comment posted: 02/06/2020
Andrea Taurisano on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 02/06/2020
Anyway, although not scientifically rigorous, these comparisons are much more useful to us photographers than MTF curves are. If only we bought our gear based on purely rational thinking.. Last but not least, nice IG-gallery.
Comment posted: 02/06/2020
Victor on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 02/06/2020
I've guessed the lenses correctly, but I guess I just knew what to expect from both lenses even if don't own/have not tried either :) I'm a big fan of VC lenses and at some point was also confronted with a similar choice as you, i.e. VC40 1.4 (which is supposed to be better optically than VC 35 1.4) vs summicron-C 40. Considering how similar 35 and 40 are, and the thread on fredmiranda regarding comparison of 35v4 vs Summicron-C I think it's makes sense to share my findings on those two in context of your post. In the end I kept the summicron because:
1) it's really more like a 35 mm lens (I estimated mine is ~37 mm) and Nokton is almost 50 (45 or so, and I wanted ~35), so these are really two different lenses (well, this bit is irrelevant for lenses considered above). I did consider but did not get 35f1.4 for reasons below and because I could not find one with decent price.
2) size (although VC is still a smallish lens) and
3) colours and contrast both on film and digital.
Regarding the sharpness, I did not notice any differences at equal apertures on film, and only slight on digital (on my A7 Nokton was sharper in the centre but more affected by thick filter stack and dropped faster in the corners if not re-focussed). I also think that your samples may be consistent with my findings: perceived sharpness is higher for VC due to the higher contrast it has (like their other lenses), but actual sharpness is hard to assess with the samples above and on film in general. If you try to look for details, you can find areas of higher detail exhibited by both lenses, so all in all they are pretty comparable. On digital you'd probably see ~0.5-1 stop difference between f2-f5.6 with the two in the centre (VC leading), and somewhat of a mixed bag outside of the central area. I did controlled shots from a tripod on digital and it's really a very minor difference.
In any case, at f5.6-8 both already resolve 42 mpix on A7r2 through most of the frame and thus any sharpness differences become irrelevant. In the centre it would be f2.8 or even 2.0 (on film anyway). I think in real life any sharpness difference at any apertures be mostly masked by hand shake/focussing accuracy/film grain as I believe is the case also in your samples (what's the film, btw?). It all runs down then to differences in color (VC being cooler and leica warmer), contrast (VC way more contrastier), bokeh (VC much smoother in most settings), handling and price (both are nice to handle, leica more expensive). I was not able to justify v4 price and VC (35/40) weight/size for myself, and hence summicron-40 (which I consider a cheap, small and competent substitute for 35v4). I also like lower contrast of summicron better (it's easier to increase contrast than to decrease it), and, strangely, it's not-so-smooth bokeh (character!). It also applies for 35v4 if the price is taken out of equation, but price is not related to optical traits of a lens but rather dictated by market. The problem with 35v4 is that it's over-hyped and thus price is inflated too much. With some luck you can get 35-asph for not much more, and that lens is in entirely another league so if you're ready to pay 1.5k eur for a small 35, just go all the way and get a better lens :) The question whether it's 3x better (while a stop slower) is up to you though.
jeremystrange on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 02/06/2020
Zach B on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 03/06/2020
But content like this is really great for photographers just getting into M-mount lenses and trying to decide how to best spend their money. I always recommend Voigtlander and Zeiss lenses for people just entering the system. Good comparison.
TT on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 03/06/2020
ed on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 22/06/2020
Question, please tell me that the grip on your camera isn't drilled into the body. Had palpitations when I saw it.
Comment posted: 22/06/2020
Wojtek on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 02/07/2020
Fantastic article. I would like to ask you for one important thing related with the Nokton - the focus shift. I currently shoot with M240-P with Nokton 1.2v2 - it is great but way too big. I mainly shoot street and portraits of my wife & son. I used to have a Summilux 35 pre-asph. which focus shift was abnormal what annoyed me and I sold that lens, however IMHO its character was mindblowing. I know that the Nokton 1.4 is it's copy but the issue above stops me. Did you face any focus shift problems? No one speaks about it loudly... I don't want to buy a summicron to get f/2.0 with clinical performance but rather have relatively usable f/1.4 - unfortunately if the focus shift is not completly resolved I will stay with my current lens or go for Cron...
Many thanks in advance for any help :)
Illya Swan on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 07/08/2020
Comment posted: 07/08/2020
Jimmy Cheng on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 01/09/2020
The summicron v4 is consistently sharper at all apertures. The biggest difference being between f2.8-f4. The difference is quite obvious and visible. The cron is pin sharp at the center from f2 all the way to f8, whereas the voigtlander didn't really perform that well between f1.4-f4, not until f5.6 that it starts to clean up and show comparable performance.
I think your review might be misleading to a lot of readers, and I hope you can maybe do a more systematic comparison.
Comment posted: 01/09/2020
Preston on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 21/10/2020
You and I are both a fan of the Zeiss Sonnar 1,5, and I find that a lot of the so-called flaws this lens exhibits are very similar to shooting the Sonnar.
The Sonnar isn't *tac sharp," that's what the 50mm Planar is for. The Voigtlander 35 isn't "tac sharp," that's what the Biogon is for.
That said, both the Sonnar and the Voigtlander 35 are paintbrushes. They render beautifully, and for my work, that's what's most important.
kzsf on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 21/01/2021
Fabrice on Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler
Comment posted: 28/02/2023
Comment posted: 28/02/2023