Photography Gear, VancouverMorten Byskov - 5050 TravelogJuly 30, 2024Voigtlander Nokton Vintage Line 28mm f/1.5 Aspherical, Voigtlander Nokton 28mm f/1.5 adapted to Fujifilm X, Nokton 28mm f1.5 and Fujifilm X-Pro2, Nokton 28mm and Fuji XComment

Voigtländer Nokton Vintage Line 28mm f/1.5 and Fujifilm X-Pro2

The Voigtländer Nokton Vintage Line 28mm f/1.5 Aspherical adapted to a Fujifilm X-Pro2 using a K&F Concept adapter

Street Photography With the Voigtländer Nokton 28mm f/1.5 (M-Mount) and a Fujifilm X Series Camera

We wrapped up a 24-day trip to France and Italy at the end of June, and for this trip, I only brought two lenses: the Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f/1.2 and Nokton 28mm f/1.5.

I have grown fond of the Voigtländer Nokton Vintage Line 28mm f/1.5 Aspherical lens, and upon my return, I decided to take it out for a quick street photography session here in Vancouver.

For the France/Italy trip, I used my Leica SL2-S but in this post, I will showcase a few images from my X-Pro2 and Nokton 28mm f/1.5.

On the X-Pro2, you get a full-frame equivalent field of view of approximately 43mm.

Downtown, Vancouver, Fujifilm X-Pro2, Voigtländer Nokton Vintage Line 28mm f/1.5 Aspherical

Build Quality and Handling

The following two paragraphs are copied from my review of the Nokton 28mm f/1.5, where I tested the lens on the Nikon Zf and Leica SL2-S, but the same would apply here.

The Nokton 28mm f/1.5 (M-Mount) feels great on the X-Pro2. The focus ring is smooth, and the aperture ring feels good. I went for the type 1, matte black version, which weighs a mere 8.8 oz, 250 g.

The Nokton 28mm f/1.5 has the benefit of having a focus lever and room for a “normal” focus ring. This means you can focus the lens as you would with a range finder camera, or if you are used to conventional lenses, there is room on the lens barrel to focus the lens as you would without the focus lever.

People gather for a demonstration in downtown Vancouver — Downtown, Vancouver, Fujifilm X-Pro2, Voigtländer Nokton Vintage Line 28mm f/1.5 Aspherical

Zone Focusing

I started my session using the OVF (optical viewfinder) on my X-Pro2 to mimic the Leica M experience with a clear optical viewfinder.

For this to work, I had to use zone focusing and pick f/8 to have plenty of depth of field. This worked well for a few photos, but when I got too close to my topic, the distance was off by a bit, but I still found the images usable in some cases.

After a while, I switched to the EVF (electronic viewfinder) and experimented at different f-stops, from wide open to about f/5.6. I found it relatively easy to focus with the EVF, even without focus peaking, and at the end of the day, this would be my preferred method when using the X-Pro2 with the Nokton 28mm.

The frame lines on the X-Pro2 are not accurate. The crop is a bit tighter than the frame lines in the OVF would lead you to believe.

A demonstration in downtown Vancouver — Downtown, Vancouver, Fujifilm X-Pro2, Voigtländer Nokton Vintage Line 28mm f/1.5 Aspherical

Final Thoughts

In a pinch, the Nokton 28mm f/1.5 is a legit alternative to Fujifilm’s XF 27mm f/2.8 R WR, as long as you do not mind manual focusing. Recently, I also tried the Voigtländer Ultron 27mm f/2 for X-Mount, and I would probably prefer this for an X-Mount camera.

The Ultron 27mm f/2 for X-Mount has electronic contacts that give you EXIF information and other benefits, but not on all X-Series cameras. For more on the Ultron 27mm, check my review here:

Voigtländer Ultron 27mm f/2 - Review

Please keep scrolling for more sample images from the Nokton 28mm f/1.5 on the X-Pro2.