A Bokeh Monster on Fuji GFX 50R
The Voigtlaender 50mm 1.2 VM on Fuji GFX 50R
The one beautiful thing with mirrorless cameras is adapting lenses. It opens a wide field of vintage and extreme looks that I am always interrested in. Especially when you already own them, like the incredible Voigtlaender 50mm F1.2 for Leica M. It is a stellar lens for the leica system, so I thought I give it a try and see if this even works on medium format.
I made a couple of test shots during the last weeks and then even tried in real world conditions – at a portrait shooting, cause thats where I see the main usage of this lens.
I already tested some Leica M Mount lenses – you can find the article here:
Why adapting when there is a 55mm F1.7?
Valid question. In short: because I already had the Voigtlaender, and 1.2 on Mediumfomat sounded completely crazy, so I tested it. Keep in mind that Leica M lenses do not have autofocus, the Fuji GF has. Also Fuji GF lenses are constructed to perform on a medium format sensor (perfect corner-sharpness, well corrected), while the Voigtlaender isn’t – it is designed for a much smaller sensor.
But lets start with a photo I took with that combo.
Ervin (from Addicted to Models) – Fuji GFX 50R + Voigtlander 50mm F1.2 at F1.4
You can definitly use that combo for portraits. Center sharpness is quite good, if not excellent. The Bokeh gets a little bit funky at corners. And its quite a challenge to nail the focus at F1.2. But if you do – it looks kind of special, in a cool way.
RAW vs Edit
This time I decided to shoot a classic white backbround photo in the studio – but without studio lighting. So its just natural light.
Gina (Most Wanted Models) – Fuji GFX 50R + Voigtlander 50mm at F1.2
Lots of vignetting, a red cast on the one side, and a blue one on the other. But contrast ist already good at F1.2, lots of details, good sharpness. Lets look at the corrected version…
I did nothing special here. Little bit of colour correction and lots of brightness. I did not touch the red and blue casts, also I did not retouch the background seperatly (what I usually do). Lets zoom in, to see more details…
I can see two things here: wonderful details, good sharpness, but at F1.2 lips are sharp, eyes are already out of focus.
That leaves me with my final thoughts. Yes, you can definitly use the Voigtlaender on Fuji GFX. Does it make sense? Depends. If you also have a Leica M System and already have that lens, or plan to get one, then get yourself the adapter and use it on both systems.
If you dont have Leica M, and are looking for really good image quality across the whole image, get the 55mm F1.7 from Fuji. I dont own this lens, but any GF lens I have is stellar. Plus – you get autofocus.
Pro vs Cons
The pro for using the Voigtlander lens would be:
- F1.2
- compact lens
- unique look (kind of swirly bokeh)
- center is very good
- can be used on another system
- cheaper (Fuji Gf lens is double the price)
cons:
- No autofocus
- corners funky – need lots of correction work
- hard to nail focus
- Use at F1.2 makes not always sense
Finally my favourite picture with this lens setup. You can definitly create special images with this combo.
Angelina, Fuji GFX 50R + Voigtlaender 50mm at F1.2
