Voigtlander Nokton Vintage 28mm F1.5 ASPH review – the excellent fast wide lens

Keith Wee

Jan 21

A shout-out to Riceball Photography, the authorized dealer for Voigtlander in Singapore, who provided the copy for this review. The Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH is currently available in limited quantities.

Introduction

Announced in December 2023, the Voigtlander Nokton Vintage 28mm ƒ1.5 Aspherical is an exciting piece of optics. While Leica M-mount 28mm choices are plenty, there are not a lot of choices if one is searching for wallet-reasonable super-fast lenses with excellent imaging quality output.

The most apparent choice is the excellent benchmark Leica Summilux-M 28mm ƒ1.4 Aspherical at a princely USD7795. In terms of pricing versus performance, I was looking forward to testing the Voigtlander Nokton Vintage 28mm ƒ1.5 Aspherical.

Let us look deeper at the Voigtlander Nokton Vintage 28mmƒ1.5 Aspherical and how it performs.

*for brevity's sake, I will refer to the lens as the Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH from now onwards.

Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH on Leica M10-R

Technicalities

Voigtlander makes 4 versions of the Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH, all with the same optical design. There is a matte black and silver finish, Type I with an aluminum body, and a Type II brass body in black paint and chrome. The version in this review is the Type II in chrome finish.

Source: Voigtlander official site

While the finishes may look similar in photos, the differences are pretty noticeable in real life, with the Type II (brass body) version giving a higher-quality finish.

The Voigtlander Vintage Line currently consists of seven lenses, three with the ƒ1.5 specification: 35mm, 50mm, and 75mm, and now the new Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH makes four.

My review of the Voigtlander 35mm ƒ1.5 Aspherical is here.

Voigtlander describes the Nokton Vintage 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH as a wide angle lens with three features: a large aperture, compact dimensions, and outstanding optical performance.

The Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH has an 10 elements in an 8-group optical design featuring two double-sided aspherical lens elements for outstanding optical performance even while photographing wide open. Following recent optical designs, the minimum focusing distance goes closer than the Leica M rangefinder's minimum of 0.7m, going to 0.5m with Live View or the Visoflex.

Source: Voigtlander official site

Aperture range of ƒ1.5 to ƒ16
12-aperture blade design
10 elements in 8 groups optical design with two aspherical elements
Minimum focusing distance of 0.5 meters
43mm filter size, at φ54.0 × 45.5mm and 250 grams (Type I), 330 grams (Type II)
Works with the Voigtlander LH-6 hood accessory

Build, handling, and performance.

I will just get to the point and share that the Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH is an extremely well-built lens. With its brass construction, the Type II has a nice heft without feeling bulky, unlike the Leica Summilux-M 28mm ƒ1.4.

The knurls around the focusing ring are incredibly comfortable, with the aperture ring's design giving a very good grip. As with all higher-end Voigtlander lenses, the labelings on the lens body are all painted into engraved areas, ensuring their durability over time.

This is a 'Summilux' level fast lens, and thus samples wise I decided to go further and include both portraits wide open and of course, late night low light shots.

Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH on Leica M10-R

As one can see, flaring is present when light is intense, and for the fact that I went hood-less, however the character of the lens is lovely here, and I personally prefer this over what some would call a clinical 'correct' feel. In fact, there was little loss in details when I shot directly into light sources.

Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH on Leica M10-R

Colors reproduction is punchy with a good amount of pop. Coupled with the sharpness possible with the Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH wide open, this lens's potential image quality is excellent, giving a very good performance-to-price ratio.

Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH on Leica M10-R

If there is anything I want to pick at, I find the chrome ring at the front distracting, and sometimes I wish that Voigtlander had simply blacked it out, giving a much less attention-grabbing look. There is also no 'hard stop' on the focusing ring when one moves from 0.7 meters and closer, something the user should note.

Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH on Leica M10-R

That said, the focusing ring has an excellent balance between resistance and smoothness, and coupled with the assuring clicks on the aperture ring, this piece of optics has been built with care for the optical design and its handling. Due to the compact size of the lens, the Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH feels very well balanced on the Leica M body.

A typical concern would be the size of a fast and wide lens, and this is hardly an issue in the case of the Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH.

Using the Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH on the Leica M body was enjoyable with the compact setup. While I am sure some will prefer using the optional LH-6 hood for protection and minimizing flare, I would gladly go without it for this lens's portability.

Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH on Leica M10-R

Conclusions

End of the day, I am primarily a 35mm focal length user, but I can appreciate the extra story-telling room a 28mm focal length can give.

The Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH is the fourth lens in the Voigtlander Vintage ƒ1.5 line. Like the Voigtlander 35mm ƒ1.5 ASPH, the Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH is a piece of optics that does well in all the three categories that matter to the photographer: image quality, potential speed and of course, build and handling all in at a price of USD799, around one-tenth of the Leica Summilux-M 28mm ƒ1.4 which is a benchmark lens in my opinion.

While I am sure that there will be fervent supporters of buying the Leica Summilux-M 28mm ƒ1.4 for the deep pockets, the Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH is an excellent alternative for Leica M-mount and is definitely worth considering.

Voigtlander could have maybe scored even higher marks by including the hood like what they did with the Voigtlander 50mm ƒ1, but this is me being fussy for a piece of a well-built, high-quality piece of optics that has an excellent performance-to-price ratio.

Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH on Leica M10-R

Thank you for reading.

The Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH is available in limited quantities at Riceball Photography Singapore.

Disclaimers:

All product photos and samples here were photographed by me unless otherwise stated. I believe any reviewer with pride should produce their own product photos.

2. All images were shot with the Leica M10-R, and the raw files were edited in LR CC Classic to my preferences.

3. This review is not sponsored, and the Voigtlander 28mm ƒ1.5 ASPH was returned to Riceball Photography.

4. I do not do affiliate purchase links to keep myself neutral. I write as a passion and a hobby, and I appreciate that photography brands are kind enough to respect and work with me.

5. The best way to support me is to share the review, or you can always help support me by contributing to my fees to WordPress for the domain using the Paypal button at the bottom of the page.