I recently picked up a couple of Voigtlander lenses for my X-Pro3, the 23mm f1.2 and 50mm f1.2, and honestly they are so freaking good. Technically they aren’t perfect by any means but these are exactly what Fujifilm needed and honestly I think Fuji should have made them.
I will definitely do more detailed posts about each lens as I use it and get to know them, but I do want to share some quick first-impressions and thoughts.
I don’t think these lenses are made for the “SLR” style Fuji bodies. I mean they would work fine on the XH, XT, and XS line of cameras but where I think these really shine is on the X-Pro and XE line.
Build, size ,and weight are perfect. Seriously. These things are the perfect size for the rangefinder style Fuji bodies. They are small but all metal and feel dense. The aperture ring clicks beautifully and the focus ring has just the perfect amount of tension. Really these lenses feel so freaking good and match the X-Pro3 perfectly.
The optics are not perfect...but beautiful. I have used several Voigtlander Nokton lenses in the past so I had a pretty good idea what I was getting into with these. From f2 and up they are sharp and beautiful. Faster than f2 should be considered a “boost mode”. You get a bunch of light but add some softness and blooming (which I think looks pretty cool).
Fuji should have made these lenses. They fit the body so perfectly that I seriously think Fuji is missing the mark by not making small, fast, manual focus lenses for their rangefinder style bodies. Who knows, maybe they will.
I will definitely post more about these lenses later, but I wanted to get my initial thoughts out. I have only had them for less than a week, but below is some of the first images I made with these lenses.
Voigtlander 23mm f1.2 Nokton
Voigtlander 50mm f1.2 Nokton
