Voigtlander Prominent and Nokton 50mm f1.5

[AZD]

Anyone out there have experience with these cameras and lenses? Yesterday I happened upon one of those bargains you can’t pass up. I spent some time last night cleaning old grease, and today will calibrate the rangefinder as it was way off. Everything else seems fine, except the slow shutter speeds, but that’s a project for another day.

It seems as though critical focus up close will be difficult. As nice as the camera is, the viewfinder/rangefinder is nowhere near as good as an M series Leica… which is where this lens might be headed (via adapter) if the results are promising enough.

Anyhow, just wondering if anyone else has used the Prominent, especially with this lens.

 

[blee1996]

I had Prominent with Nokon 50/1.5 in the past, used it both for film as well as adapted to Sony FE mirrorless mount. The lens is quite legendary for its out of focus rendering, and in general good character. It will definitely benefit from a lens hood, but finding the original metal one might be pricey. And the inside filter thread is of an odd size, 45mm if I remember correctly.

It was a while ago, but I remember adjusting the rangefinder on Prominent was not that hard. I was using a laser point through the rangefinder optics. Hope you can find some instructions online. The viewfinder is small, so I use a Voigtlander Kontur viewfinder for 50mm focal length.

At that time I purchased a Yeenon Prominent to Sony FE adapter off ebay, which has the focusing helicoid and is precision built. Nowadays there must be other brands and other mount support as well. It is well worth to use on full frame mirrorless, especially for its character,

Nowadays I own Prominent with Ultron 50/2 and Skoparon 35/3.5. The Ultron is not as sexy as Nokton, but has slightly more resolution and sharpness.

The first half of my Prominent folder on flickr were made by the Nokton. The second half by Ultron.

Voigtlander Prominent

Voigtlander's interchangeable lens rangefinder system, boasting some of the best lenses of its time. The most famous was Nokton 50/1.5 for its unique bokeh. My all time favorite Ultron 50/2 for its well balanced sharpness, high resolution, medium contrast, and smooth bokeh.

flickr.com

Hope it helps.

 

[AZD]

Thanks, blee1996! That’s exactly the information I was hoping to find. I wouldn’t mind one of those Ultrons either. It does seem typical that the f2 offerings are sharper lenses while the 1.5s are more about character. That’s fine, as I have other lenses and cameras for sharpness.

The rangefinder isn’t too difficult to adjust. At the moment it seems to agree pretty well with the “ground glass” I made from an old CD case.

A few minutes ago I was staring at the detached Nokton and thought it looked as if it might fit inside the body of an Industar-61… and it does quite nicely. All sorts of possibilities there. It may take a bit of work on the 61 to get the correct dimensions set, but I can probably handle that.

Getting ahead of myself though. Better put some film through the Prominent first.

 

[beemermark]

I used to have one with the fast lens. I’d go out to shoot with it and would find it so frustrating it would go back on the shelf. A year wagon by and I’d try it a again, back on the shelf for another year. I loved the lens, so finally, I bought an adapter for my Leica. Found out I couldn’t sell the body without the lens so I ended up finally selling the body lens and adapter.

 

[cliveh]

I once had a Voigtlander Prominent, with an Ultron 50/2 and although I'm sure it takes wonderful pictures, I could not get used to it. because of the complicated mechanics, I would describe it as trying to take pictures with an old typewriter fitted with a legal carriage. But that's just my opinion.

​

 

[gone]

I also had a Voigtander Prominent (we should start a self help group). It really is a beast to use as cliveh said, w/ an overly complicated design. Mine had a Heliar, another legendary lens. That was magical enough for me, and it had that 3D thing going on.

I sold it to buy a Bessa II w/ a Heliar, which was much easier and faster to use, but I preferred the uncoated Heliar to the coated one. Personal preference, but I liked the photos from it better than the coated Heliar. I never had much trouble w/ flare, just use a yellow filter, a hood, and don't point it towards the sun.

 

[JPD]

I also had a Voigtander Prominent (we should start a self help group). It really is a beast to use as cliveh said, w/ an overly complicated design. Mine had a Heliar, another legendary lens. That was magical enough for me, and it had that 3D thing going on.

I sold it to buy a Bessa II w/ a Heliar, which was much easier and faster to use, but I preferred the uncoated Heliar to the coated one. Personal preference, but I liked the photos from it better than the coated Heliar. I never had much trouble w/ flare, just use a yellow filter, a hood, and don't point it towards the sun.

They are talking about the 35mm Prominent from the 1950s, not the older 6x9 camera.

 

[choiliefan]

I used mine with the Nokton quite a bit years ago. A very useful accessory is the set of 2 Proximeters for getting in closer on your subjects. Voigtlander never skimped on the quality of their glass or their use of heavy chrome plating.

 

[AZD]

After a week of futzing around with it, I know I’ll never get along with the camera itself. That tiny little viewfinder isn’t going to work for me. Too bad, as it’s so well made otherwise. I’ve been ruined by the M3.

That leaves me with potentially adapting the lens to LTM or M. Commercially available adapters cost as much as say a Canon f1.4 or f1.5 ltm (or even the newer Nokton ltm) so probably not happening either. I did test fit the lens into an Industar-61. I think it’s possible, but would require cutting down the end if the inner helicoid to reach infinity. The advantage, however, is that the lens wouldn’t rotate as the focus is changed. TBD for now.

 

[blee1996]

The adapters for Prominent to LTM L39 seems to be 110-129 (Yeenon or Laina), which is actually not that bad considering the value of Prominent Nokton 50/1.5 in good condition.