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Willowy Wind & The Light Giant

Some places are illuminated by such low levels of light they simply cry out for the application of the Light Giant, the Voigtländer Nokton 17.5mm f0.95.

These tableaux of the famous Wind in the Willows stories were one such subject. Light levels were very low, some near dark being light by the equivalent of a small, feeble candle.

Enter the the Light Giant, the Voigtländer Nokton 17.5mm f0.95. This specialised manual focus lens has an incredibly fast maximum aperture, which allows image and video recording in very low light conditions with a very shallow depth of field used at open apertures. Very well constructed it is, however, heavy at 540g and quite large for an MFT lens at 80mm long.

Depth of focus is quite shallow despite the 17mm focal length, especially when the lens is being used quite close up (it can focus down to as little as 15cm). As can be seen in the picture below.

Light levels in some of the tableaux were near dark (as in the one below) and required exposures of a 1/15th at ISO 1600 using f0.95 as ever. The IBIS anti-wobble earned its keep at these slower shutter speeds.

This 17.5mm lens has its own signature way of rendering vibrant colours as can be seen from the set of pictures shown here and which it shares with its Nokton f0.95 MFT siblings, the 10.5mm, 25mm, 42.5mm and 60mm. 

This a specialist lens for specialist application and not something to be carried about for long periods as it hangs h-e-a-v-i-l-y off the front of your camera and thus in turn off your camera strap and thence you.

 

But, when you want the proverbial picture of a black cat, in the dark, in a coal cellar and still want a high quality image then this the optic for you.

✧ Jokul Frosti ✧

A space containing the thoughts, experiences, photos and collected curiosities of a walkabout photographer with a snapshot style.