The Original 50mm f/1.5 Voigtlander Nokton, complete with umlaut!

The Landmark 50mm f/1.5 Voigtländer Nokton of 1951:
The fastest lens for the Voigtländer Prominent is an enduring classic

By Jason Schneider

In 1950 the venerable German lens and camera maker Voigtländer of Braunschweig launched the Prominent, a beautifully made interchangeable lens rangefinder 35 with a large diameter Synchro-Compur 1-1/500 sec plus B leaf shutter located behind the 3-lobed bayonet mount instead of the focal-plane shutters typically used in its competitors. Designed as a high-grade, lower cost alternative to the Leica and Contax, it featured MX sync via a standard PC socket, a built-in self-timer, and the original model had a detachable accessory shoe. Although it was never a roaring success in the marketplace and was widely criticized for its idiosyncratic control placement, notably a left-handed 270-degree-turn focusing knob where the rewind knob is usually found, it sold well enough to soldier on with minor revisions (such as a two-stroke film advance lever in place of a knob) until 1958. At that point it was substantially upgraded to the Prominent II which added a high-magnification Albada viewfinder with stationary bright frame lines for 35, 50, 100, and 150mm lenses, a fixed accessory shoe, and a more compact film advance lever. Sadly, the Prominent II was phased out only 2 years later so it’s fairly uncommon, and a great user collectible.

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Original Voigtländer Prominent with 50mm f/1.5 Nokton lens

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Voigtländer Prominent II with larger Albada viewfinder with fixed projected frame lines, 50mm f/1.5 Nokton lens


While the Voigtländer Prominent system was never as comprehensive as the Leica or Zeiss Contax accessory range, it did include a creditable line of lenses ranging from the ponderous 24mm f/5.8 Ultragon wide-angle to the sleek 150mm f/4.5 Super-Dynaron telephoto. But by far the most renowned and coveted lens for the Prominent was the 50mm f/1.5 Nokton introduced in 1951. An advanced 7-element 5-group Double Gauss design with an achromatized front group to enhance its performance, (especially at wide apertures), the Nokton was reputed to be the best 50mm f/1.5 lens of the immediate post-WWII era, surpassing the 50mm f/1.5 Leitz Summarit (which was based on a prewar Schneider design) and even edging out the renowned 50mm f/1.5 Zeiss Sonnar.

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Original 50mm f/1.5 Nokton optical diagram showing 7-element 5-group design

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Prominent with massive 24mm f/5.8 Ultragon lens on reflex housing

Voigtländer Vaporware? Was Voigtländer's vaunted 24mm f/5.8 Ultragon merely an enticing prototype that was never actually offered for sale. At least one noted expert has privately floated this idea, so I checked it out. The elusive lens debuted at the first Photokina in 1950 and it was fully functional according to those who handled it. It was also featured prominently (pun intended) in the original Prominent manual, but it's not mentioned at all in the Prominent II manual of 1958, suggesting that it was either discontinued by then, or never put on the market. Bottom line: If any Prominent fancier out there has one of these beauties or has knowledge of its whereabouts, please reply to this post or send me a message.

According to most reviewers and photojournalists at the time the Nokton’s performance wide open at f/1.5 was astonishing, and while I’ve never personally conducted a side-by-side comparison I did own a Prominent with a 50mmm f/1.5 Nokton back in the day and can attest to its impressive sharpness at f/1.5 and f/2 and its outstanding image quality, beautiful vintage rendition, and lovely bokeh. I regret that I never thought to adapt it to Leica mount to see how it compared to the original 50mm f/1.4 Leitz Summilux or the legendary 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor S.C in LTM mount, but I’m confident that the 50mm f/1.5 Nokton would have held its own even among such stellar competition.

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Rear view of 50mm f/1.5 Voigtländer Nokton showing 3-claw Prominent bayonet mount

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Adapter S for converting Prominent-mount lenses to Leica M-mount

If you’re motivated to join the small but passionate group of original German-made 50mm f/1.5 Voigtländer aficionados, it’s pretty easy to acquire a functional Voigtländer Prominent with aforesaid lens at one of the vintage camera shops or online auction sites. Pristine examples with full return privileges aren’t exactly cheap at about $400-$750, and an LTM- or M-mount adapter will set you back an additional $200-$300. Of course, you may wish to consider a more convenient alternative—acquiring a brand new Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Vintage Line Aspherical II, a lens that delivers even greater sharpness, detail, and color fidelity while retaining much of the vintage character of the iconic original. It’s your choice entirely, and choosing both is definitely a valid option as well!
 
If the glass is clean and there is no outgassing of the lubricant I wouldnt clean the aperture blades.

I wonder how a lens without helicoid (and therefore without lubricant) can get oily aperture blades. Where does the oil come from???
 
It looks like a custom conversion, probably best used on a Nikon S-Mount camera. I picked up an adapter for using the Prominent mount lens on the Nikon/Contax: the focal length was close to the Nikon.

The front section simply unscrews- BUT watch for the sprint loaded ball bearing under the aperture ring. It will launch and never be seen again.
So I’m curious why a Nikon S-Mount over a Contax RF? I’m agnostic on the system, just curious what advantage the Nikom brings.

Also, appreciate the tip on that ball bearing!
 
The Voigtlander lens is closer to the 51.6mm focal length that the Nikon is built to. The Contax is 52.4mm. The focus is more accurate on the Nikon.
 
If the glass is clean and there is no outgassing of the lubricant I wouldnt clean the aperture blades.

I wonder how a lens without helicoid (and therefore without lubricant) can get oily aperture blades. Where does the oil come from???
The aperture mechanism still needs grease. There is still a helical around which the aperture actuator rotates. There's grease in there. Even if it has click-stops it usually always has some sort of helical in there. I have never seen a aperture mechanism that doesn't use grease for a rangefinder lens. Some of these mechanisms do however have quite clever designs that make it much harder for the grease to creep from the helical into the blades themselves.

Why? My best guess is that the helical helps suppress lateral motion when manipulating the aperture. The grease further dampens that and makes it feel nice(r) on top of that. Well at least if it's fresh. The blades themselves - especially the pins around which they pivot are incredibly delicate. Yes they are made of metal but they are the thickness of a sheet of paper. Any sort of motion outside of the engineered for motion can easily distort or destroy them. (This is also why one should never, ever force a stuck or reluctant aperture mechanism.)

On top of my head I don't remember the layout of the Nokton 50/1.5 - however the blades were very oily and there was condensation on the two lenses facing the aperture. That was the reason why I got it for a quite reasonable amount of money and decided to take a gamble. I got lucky and it cleaned up just fine.
 
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Oily is still better than rusty 😉
I think that I read somewhere that in the golden age of large format there were lenses that had oiled aperture blades right out of the factory (on purpose, off course).
 
How different is the original lens from the more recent M mount, aspherical version (the one with the skinny knurling)? The newer one is nice for portraits. BTW, I put a very thin strip of gaffers tape on top of the knurling -- looks like a raggedy home remedy but now handles like a dream with some of the most satisfying focusing of any lens I have.

50mm f/1.5 Voigtlander Nokton Asph

_DSC0674 by Brusby, on Flickr
 
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