Voigtlander Nokton 75mm f/1.5 Evaluate

By Spencer Cox No Comments
Published On July 29, 2025

Our Recommendation

I loved utilizing the Voigtlander Nokton 75mm f/1.5. The construct high quality is phenomenal, and it performs very properly optically, too. However, it’s positively not the lens for everybody, with the primary cause being the shortage of autofocus. Even although immediately’s cameras have good instruments to help with handbook focus, a 75mm lens used at f/1.5 has a extremely shallow depth of subject. You’d have to be very devoted to the artwork of focusing manually in an effort to select this lens over among the alternate options.

There’s additionally the value. I believe that $900 is an affordable worth for what you get with the Nokton 75mm f/1.5, however there are lots of different lenses round this focal size out there for much less. Those embrace the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.8 S ($850), the Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 ($650), and the Canon RF 85mm f/2 Macro ($650). If you actually need a quicker aperture, lots of DSLR-based 85mm f/1.4 are promoting for excellent costs immediately as properly. In the third-party realm, there’s additionally the Meike 85mm f/1.4 AF out there for Nikon Z and Sony E at $470.

I wouldn’t say that any of those lenses essentially beats the Voigtlander Nokton 75mm f/1.5, however the competitors actually is steep. I might solely choose the Voigtlander if all three of the next statements are true in your pictures:

1. You don’t thoughts, or ideally favor, handbook focus
2. f/1.8 isn’t vibrant sufficient in your wants
3. You’re keen to pay for extra sharpness than what you may get with third-party (or tailored) 85mm f/1.4 lenses

As you may see, the true worth of the Voigtlander Nokton 75mm f/1.5 relies on your scenario. It’s actually a distinct segment lens – much more so than the Voigtlander APO-Lanthar 50mm f/2 that I reviewed beforehand – however undoubtedly good at what it does.

Here’s how I’d sum up the professionals and cons.

Pros:

• Great optical efficiency in virtually each regard
• Beautiful background blur, with tender and unobtrusive bokeh
• Excellent all-metal construct high quality with tight tolerances and a very nice really feel
• Reasonable in weight, dimension, and worth

Cons:

• Not climate sealed, and focuses externally (although in observe, the good construct high quality means I’d be keen to make use of the lens in hostile climate)
• Aperture should be managed by way of the aperture ring on the entrance of the lens, not by way of a dial on the digicam
• Manual focus usually takes extra time and could be much less exact than autofocus

All in all? I don’t suppose that I might get this lens myself, even when I did lots of portrait pictures, however it’s nonetheless an important piece of glass. If you’re a fan of handbook focus, it could possibly be excellent for you. It simply relies on what you worth most in a lens.

Conclusion

The Voigtlander Nokton 75mm f/1.5 is on the market by our normal associates, though it isn’t listed on Adorama in the mean time. So far, the bottom costs we’ve seen have all been on Amazon ($900 for Leica, $800 for Sony, and $700 for Canon; sadly, I’ve but to see the $900 Nikon model go on sale). It’s out there on the next webpages:

Thank you for getting your tools by the hyperlinks above, whether or not it’s this lens or the rest! When you do, Photography Life will get a small share of the sale with out costing you something additional. It goes a great distance to assist us check extra tools.

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