Using a Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f1.5 on Sony A7 Series (A7R IV, A7S III, A9 II, Alpha 7C etc…) for street photography may seem too much trouble for many photographers in a sense that street photography requires fast reactions.
Why not just use an auto-focusing lens?
You see, I own the excellent Sony Distagon T* FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA, yet I never use it in the street, I keep it for photography jobs. It's a fab lens but compared to the Voigtlander, it’s too big for my liking for street photography, it's not what you'd call inconspicuous, far from that.
Quite a gorgeous lens and so tiny. On the right, the extremely good Fuji X100V.
I also have a preference for 50mm over 35mm for street but that’s something separate which you can read about in my article: Best Lens for Street Photography.
One thing I've learnt is that anything rewarding and worth pursuing will never be easy. When you nail the shot in manual focus, it's a hundred times more satisfying, you feel like YOU have made that shot, YOU chose what would be in focus and not the camera's brains.
It's a bit like driving, I have never enjoyed driving an automatic. When I drive, I want to feel like I'm in control, I want to decide if and when I should change gear.
Back to photography though…
I've been shooting with the mirrorless Sony A7 series since August 2015, so a few years now.
It's been quite a change from shooting with the Olympus mirrorless OM-D system which I used for five years prior to this. I actually used to be an official Olympus Ambassador and we had a real close partnership but with time and more demanding client jobs I needed more power under the hood and full frame was where I found it versus micro four thirds.
I do however think the whole mirrorless argument of smaller size is not as valid with the A7 series, they are still big and heavy compared to other mirrorless cameras. I guess it’s down to full frame.
So for the Sony A7 series, aside from other lenses I own, I chose the Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f1.5 Aspherical as my "every day" lens.
Since this lens comes with a Leica mount, to fit that lens on the A7 series body I chose the Voigtlander VM-E Close Focus Adapter allowing this lens to fit on a Sony E-Mount. It’s a bit pricey for what it is if you ask me.
This adapter allows me to focus on subjects 40cm from me instead of the normal 70cm distance which I find way too long.
The first reason I bought the Nokton 50mm f1.5: Its low light ability and stunning bokeh.
What would be the point of using a camera like the Sony A7 series with such excellent high ISO performance if not to use it in a low light environment? Couple it with a fast lens and it's what I call low light heaven. Many of the photographs in this post were shot at ISO 6400 in VERY dark environments.
After reading many reviews, inspecting many confusing charts and searching for the best deal, it became quite apparent that this lens comes close to the quality of a Leica lens for a fraction of the price. A few Leica owners I know have confirmed this fact.
At f1.5 you won't find this lens at its sharpest and you'll experience quite a bit of colour fringing in high contrast areas but this will be the case with most manual focusing wide aperture lenses when fully open, even the Leica. It’s up to you what matters most… sharpness or other things like overall aesthetics of your photos or maybe the ability to work in dark conditions. Sharpness is over-rated anyway…
The colour fringing if you really care can easily be corrected in post and since I shoot mainly in black and white, it's a lot less relevant. At f2.8 it all becomes very sharp with no real noticeable image quality issues.
For street portraits where you have a bit more time than pure street photography, this is a great lens, even wide open. At f1.5 on a camera with such high definition as say the A7R IV, focusing fast becomes a whole new skill (or head-ache). I sometimes use the A7 series’ focus peaking but I have found that when one uses focus peaking too much one often stops using their eyes properly which after all are the ultimate judge of sharpness.
In short, at f1.5, focus peaking isn't always perfect so don't rely entirely on it as you may get home and realise the shot wasn't actually really that well focused.
Then there's the A7 series’ focus magnification. I find it a lot more useful and reliable than focus peaking but either way, both take valuable milliseconds which you don't always have as a luxury in a street photography situation (to help me use these in a much quicker way I have assigned each to one of the two buttons right next to the shutter button).
So when it comes to actual street photography where speed of focusing can often make or break the shot, I usually have to stop down to f2.8 for a more forgiving depth of field.
This is a small lens for street photography which is perfect and it is really well built, it feels solid. Whilst not weather proof, it does feel like if dropped it would survive. Paired with the A7 series it makes for a mean street photography machine!
I would have liked the focus ring to have been a little better thought-out. It's not got the best grip but it's ok, I can kinda deal with that.
I do like for example the Leica finger focusing grip/tab which allows for faster one-finger focusing control. It also gives you a marker in a way that you can remember that when in a certain position it means you're pretty much focusing at X distance.
That's pretty much it really on the Voigtlander 50mm f1.5 paired with the Sony A7 series, one of the best lenses for street photography.
I love the Sony A7Rs (from the A7RII I began with to the A7R IV) and a big reason is that it reduces massively my use of Photoshop or Lightroom. It just gets it right.
The straight out of camera contrast, colours, tones of black and whites are all I need. I've learnt to take better shots without feeling the need to automatically tweak them or alter them.
It's a lot more satisfying that way.
I hope you enjoyed the photos in this article, all shot with this combo of Voigtlander lens + Sony A7 Series camera!
For more of my London street photography have a look at this short video for some of my best black and white shots from the past decade:
Drop me a comment if you have experience with this lens or camera system or if you would like to know more!
Until next time.