The Voigtländer Nokton 35mm f/1.2 III is a compact, all-metal M-mount manual lens, the smallest and lightest of Cosina's fast 35mm trio.</parameter> <parameter name="long_description">## Voigtländer Nokton 35mm f/1.2 III This is the third version of Cosina's fast 35mm Nokton for Leica M-mount, and it marks a clear break from the two designs that came before it. Where the original Nokton and its Mark II both used a ten-element optical layout, the III was rebuilt around a smaller nine-element, seven-group formula, allowing Cosina to shed bulk while keeping the f/1.2 maximum aperture that gives the line its reputation as one of the fastest 35mm rangefinder lenses available [1][2]. The result is a lens that is roughly 20 percent shorter and about 30 percent lighter than the Mark II, which makes it considerably easier to carry and to balance on a Leica M body than its predecessors. Build and handling follow the pattern collectors expect from modern Voigtländer M-mount glass. The barrel is almost entirely metal with engraved, paint-filled markings, the focus ring turns with firm resistance over roughly 130 degrees from the 0.5 m minimum focus distance to infinity, and the aperture ring uses half-stop click detents across its travel. The diaphragm has twelve straight blades, and the lens is rangefinder coupled, so it focuses through the optical finder on M cameras. It is not factory six-bit coded. Reviewers note that the III balances better on an M10 than the earlier versions, with only mild finder blockage, and that it shows essentially no focus shift, which is useful for rangefinder users who set focus wide open. The 52 mm filter thread is shared across this generation of Voigtländer fast primes, and as with most of Cosina's M-mount lenses a hood is not supplied in the box. The III should not be confused with the earlier Mark I and Mark II Noktons, which are heavier and use the older ten-element design, nor with the Nokton 35mm f/1.2 SE, a Sony E-mount lens that shares the III's optical formula but adds electronic coupling and focuses closer. Sources note that the M-mount III and the E-mount SE differ in how they are optimized for their respective sensor stacks, so corner rendering on a digital body can vary between them. --- ## Optical qualities **Rendering** The III is generally described as a lens built for atmosphere and shallow depth of field rather than clinical across-frame sharpness. The center is good wide open and improves quickly on stopping down, while the midframe and corners are soft at f/1.2 and need to be stopped down well, with f/8 recommended for best even sharpness at infinity. It appears to be a unit-focus design optimized for a middle distance, so at the close end wide open it is soft, again clearing up by around f/2. **Bokeh and transitions** Out-of-focus rendering is a strength. Close and mid-distance backgrounds are smooth, though cat's-eye shapes from optical vignetting become visible with point lights toward the edges, and at long distances the corner bokeh can suffer from the field-curvature effects common to fast rangefinder wide-angles on thick-sensor-stack cameras. **Flare resistance** Flare control is good, and reviewers found it hard to provoke strong ghosting even with the sun near the frame edge, which softens the absence of a bundled hood. **Distortion and vignetting** Distortion is described as pronounced and wavy, correctable with the E-mount version's profile in software, and light falloff wide open is strong at roughly 3.3 EV, easing as the lens is stopped down. **Aberrations** Coma correction is moderate, with astigmatism present until about f/4, and the lens shows spherical-aberration glow at f/1.2. Lateral chromatic aberration is moderate and easily corrected, while longitudinal CA and purple fringing wide open are notable, the latter being singled out as a weak point. --- ## History **Development and Launch** The Nokton 35mm f/1.2 III is the latest member of a line that Cosina has positioned as the fastest 35mm lens for the Leica M system. The design goal of this version was size reduction: by adopting newer optical glasses and a revised computation, Cosina cut both length and weight relative to the Mark II while retaining the established performance level of the previous model. It is sold as the Nokton 35mm F1.2 Aspherical III VM [3]. **Production Evolution** Across the three M-mount Noktons the most significant change is at the III, which moved from the ten-element, seven-group construction of versions I and II to a nine-element, seven-group layout, accompanied by the large drop in weight and length. The earlier Mark I also had a longer 0.7 m minimum focus distance, which was shortened to 0.5 m from the Mark II onward. **Special editions** No major factory special editions of the III are widely documented. Cosina did release an optically related Sony E-mount variant, the Nokton 35mm f/1.2 SE, but that is a separate E-mount product rather than a finish variant of the M-mount III. **Collector Notes** The chief point of confusion is version identification: the III is distinctly smaller and lighter than the heavier Mark I and Mark II, and buyers should confirm they are getting the nine-element III rather than an older ten-element copy. The lens is identified as the VM (M-mount) model and carries the manufacturer code BA355A in retail listings. Because no hood ships in the box, a hood is an accessory worth sourcing separately. --- ## Sources * [1] phillipreeve.net (Bastian Kratzke). *Review: Voigtlander VM 35mm 1.2 III*. https://phillipreeve.net/blog/review-voigtlander-vm-35mm-1-2-iii/ * [2] Adorama (manufacturer specifications and description). *Used Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f/1.2 Aspherical III VM Lens*. https://www.adorama.com/used-voigtlander-nokton-35mm-f-12-aspherical-iii-vm-lens/p/us2000502 * [3] findingrange.com. *Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.2 Aspherical III Lens Review*. http://findingrange.com/2020/08/19/voigtlander-nokton-35mm-f1-2-aspherical-iii-lens-review/

Voigtländer Nokton 35mm f/1.2 III

M mount