I always thought I was a 35mm person, until I started using the Leica Q. The lens on that camera was remarkable. It took a while to get used to the focal length, but damn, I was blown away. However, it almost felt too easy, like I didn’t have to put in any effort to nail the shot. I kept wondering: how can I get this feeling on my Leica M11? Enter the Voigtländer Nokton Vintage 28mm f/1.5.

Why Did I Pick the Voigtländer?

Once I became a Leica M user, the tactile experience, how the camera feels in hand and the simplicity became everything. Weight and balance were the absolute deciding factors in choosing the Voigtländer. I considered three main competitors:

Zeiss Biogon ZM 28mm f/2.8: I’ve heard nothing but great things. Zeiss produces beautiful images, and the size and weight (220g) fit my style perfectly. The only downside? I really wanted to shoot at least f/2.0. I decided to skip it for now, though I’m still curious about it.

Thypoch Simera 28mm f/1.4 ASPH: This lens has the goods. Every shot I’ve seen from it is gorgeous (if you haven't seen Hunter Hart’s review, you should). But there’s a huge "but". At 330g, it’s just too heavy. I know from experience that I won't pick it up. I previously owned the Voigtländer 35mm f/1.2 III (332g) and the 50mm f/1.2 II (322g), and I never used them on my M, they only lived on my Leica SL2-S until I eventually sold them.

Voigtländer Nokton Vintage 28mm f/1.5 ASPH VM: This lens comes in two flavors. Type I (Aluminum) weighs 250g and comes in matte black or silver. Type II (Brass) weighs 330g and comes in black or silver lacquer.

While the Type II is undoubtedly the "nicer" option (I love a good brass lens with a lacquer finish), it’s just too heavy. I opted for Type I specifically for the weight. 250g is the upper limit of what I want on an M system, and luckily the matte finish pairs perfectly with the Leica M11.

Rendering

Nothing can really beat the Leica Summilux 28mm f/1.7 ASPH I was used to on the Q. I believe the Thypoch would be closer in this regard, it just renders the bokeh a bit smoother than The Voigtländer.

The bokeh on the Voigtländer can be a bit busy or "soap-bubbly." For some, that’s a dealbreaker, for me, it’s not a major issue. However, if you hate busy backgrounds, you’d likely prefer the Thypoch Simera.

Compared to Leica glass, Voigtländers tend to vignette more. I suspect the Leica Q does a lot of internal "magic" to hide this. Again, it’s not a big deal since it’s easily fixed in Lightroom. I usually create presets to "undo" vignetting when necessary, though I often keep the natural vignette to keep focus to the subject.

Build Quality & Size

The new f/1.5 series is incredibly well-made, especially compared to the older Nokton 35mm f/1.4 II. The focusing is smoother, and the aperture ring feels more solid, it’s clicky and doesn’t shift accidentally. These smaller details matter, and Voigtländer nailed them here.

That said, I’ve never liked Voigtländer’s "cut-off" style focus tabs. If they fixed this, I would use their lenses almost exclusively. My finger still slips off because it doesn't have that deep crescent shape Leica uses. Whether it’s my technique or not, it just isn’t as good.

Please fix this, Voigtländer. You’d have a happy full-time customer if you switched to a Leica-style tab.

As for the size. It was difficult to judge from images & videos, but it's a bit too long and becomes front heavy in this case. Might be less of a problem on Leica M240/M10 but it's slightly annoying to me.

Final Thoughts

I’ve never been a pixel-peeper. I don’t even like overly sharp lenses. Buying this was a bit of a gamble, and I’m still not 100% sure if I’ll keep it since I already own a Q2. But having that extra width available for the M11 is great. While the Q2 produces an image I still slightly prefer, the Voigtländer definitely holds its own. So for now, it's staying in my kit. I still wish it were smaller and lighter, as it's a bit too hefty for my tastes. I'd be happier with a 28mm f/1.8 equivalent that trimmed the size/weight without sacrificing too much else, the lens is otherwise excellent.