Noctilux 0.95 purple fringe

[bybrett]

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I do not have Capture 1 Pro and will have a look at it.

I do have the Noctilux 1.2, the first version of the Noctilux f1.0 as well as the 58 Noct Nikkor 58/1.2 as well as the 50/1.4 aspherical and I have tried out the 24/1.4 asph at a Leica shop in town.

The strongest purple fringe is visible with the 0.95 at full aperture as well as at f 1.4. The f 1.0 and the f 1.2 show a lesser fringe of the same subject at full opening. The two 1.4 lenses do not show anything close to these fringes - if anything at all - with the same subjects (bare tree branches against sky) and full opening.

Why does pixel overfill not show with some lenses when other lenses do? Is the light volume at f 1.4 not identical from lens to lens?

I am really in a pickle and have e-mailed Leica asking this question. I am eagerly awaiting the reply and in the meantime ordered ND filter for my old Noctilux f1.

Teddy

 

The Noctilux at f0.95 shows more purple fringe on M9 than M8. If you stop down to f2.8 you get less purple fringe on M9.

[gravastar]

The lenses that have the best micro-contrast/frequency response are most affected because the level difference between adjacent pixels is the highest. This includes most of the newest designs. In my experience the Summilux 24 and Summilux 50 asph show quite strong purple fringing as well.

 

Yes, I was quite surprised to see the fringing on the 24 Summilux. It's particularly noticeable around reflections in the chrome metalwork of guitar machine heads where the contrast is high. That said, it doesn't otherwise detract from what is a superb lens. Know your tools, accept and work within their limitations. If anyone doesn't want their purple 0.95 Nocti I'll take it off their hands for a reasonable price .

 

Bob.

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[faraz]

Here is another example of this phenomenon:

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[Shade]

PF IMHO are just inevitable in digital when used with fast lenses. You can solve this problem stopping down.

 

I'm not sure any filter will help.

[ho_co]

Note that the fringes appear where a normal part of the image meets an overexposed part (and usually a grossly overexposed part).

 

Use any of these high-speed lenses in situations that don't include blown-out highlights.

 

Check your RAW converter. Current versions of the Adobe products avoid these effects better than the versions of five years ago. Capture One is better still. Adobe may or may not catch up.

 

Some of the threads already mentioned make suggestions for correcting in post.

 

In other words, as said above, know your tools--lens, exposure, RAW processor, image processor.

 

It's a problem that is apparently inherent to the digital technology, and it'll change with the next M sensor (see post above about M8 vs M9). For example, from what I read, the 10.5 mm Nikkor has pretty bad purple fringing with some camera models, and negligible purple fringing with others.

[Double Negative]

Definitely a digital thing, but why push it? Fast lenses exhibit this more than slower ones. Choosing one of THE fastest lenses, no matter how good - is asking for some trouble IMO.

 

Use a slower lens and/or stop down some...

[Theodor Heinrichsohn]

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After a lot of soul searching I decided not to purchase the 0.95 Noctilux. Reasons:

 

1. I have the 1.2 and the 1.0 (first version) Noctiluxes

2. I believed that the 0.95 new one would not show the red fringe effect. Using the lens at f4 defeats the purpose for me. I wanted the lens for its extremely narrow area of sharpness at full opening and its out of focus effect.

3. The cost was - for me - to high for the very small difference in performance between the lenses that I have, the Noctiluxes on one hand and the 50/1.4 asph on the other.

4. The majority of my photos are with the M9 and the M8u. I had not notices the red fringing with either slide or negative films.

 

Therefore I returned the lens and am sure that one of the persons on the long waiting list will be happy with it.

Teddy

[Vlad]

Purple fringe in an extreme contrast case. Noct ASPH f0.95, wide open. Shot with an 3 stop ND filter.

 

[stephan_w]

just got mine and have the same problem

 

This is crazy. I would understand it if this was for an old design, but how can Leica sell a combination of their newest products with such a major design flaw?

 

Also, I cannot see any improvement over the old Noctilux, in contrary it looks worse to me in certain circumstances.

 

I'm so disapointed and will give the lens back for adjusting or whatever.

 

Btw, as Leica now has a cooperation with Adobe Lightroom, where are the adequate lens-profiles which, maybe, can reduce such a mess?

[vanhulsenbeek]

There are some good answers in this thread, like Howard Cornelsen's, 01-04-2010. Purple/Blue fringing can happen in extreme situations and has more to do with the sensor than with the lens. Digital has it's limits too!

 

No design flaw, just light- and sensor physics. Nothing to adjust on the lens, just get rid of it in post. Questions to that end belong in the Digital Post Processing Forum.

 

When the much acclaimed Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens came out, Chasseur d' Images published a review and showed the shocking purple fringing that lens caused.

 

Too much light and to much contrast and there you go.

Edited November 28, 2010 by vanhulsenbeek

[Jeff S]

NX095, part 2

 

Jeff

[BerndReini]

Yes, it is normal. In the sense that it happens with very fast lenses wide open in combination with a digital sensor. This is a very common phenomenon with small sensor point and shoot cameras. Some Leica lenses are pretty well corrected and this happens lens. If you subscribe to Reid Reviews, you will see that this is something Sean tests with lenses and the Zeiss M lenses actually have less purple fringing than most Leica and Voigtlaender equivalents (they are usually also less sharp when wide open compared to the Leica lenses.)

 

Unfortunately, this cannot be completely corrected with a Raw Converter, although as has been said above, some do a better job than others.

 

I saw this also in Steve Huff's review of the new Noctilux, but I can tell you that the old Noctilux f1 has the same problem.

[stephan_w]

Sorry, I don't agree or may i just don't get it yet. I made direct comparison shoots with the old Noctilux, version 1, so please tell me why the purple fringes are absent there. Why are they absent on the Summilux? Same light, same situation?

[vanhulsenbeek]

Can we see your pictures?

[thighslapper]

I assume part of the noctilux problem is the well documented chromatic aberration that affects lights at night etc and afflicts all fast aperture lenses wide open .....

 

and part is the high contrast aberrations that are generated by the sensor.... as in this thread:

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/144789-aberrations.html

 

both are these are facts of life with fast lenses and digital sensors..... you have to either live with them and process them out on the odd occasion when it occurs or only take pics stopped down and in low contrast situations......

[microview]

Sorry, I don't agree or may i just don't get it yet. I made direct comparison shoots with the old Noctilux, version 1, so please tell me why the purple fringes are absent there. Why are they absent on the Summilux? Same light, same situation?

 

FWIW Sean Reid's reviews suggest earlier 35 Summilux has less CA than the new version at f1.4.

[Nikkor AIS]

It's funny because I never saw this problem with the Canon 50 1.0 AF and the Canon 5D2 I used to own. I got plenty of sample images and I never saw it once. Perhaps it's the M9 sensor that is the issue with the 50 .95. ,

 

I also dont get his with my with my 50 1.0 Noctilux using leica film M.

Has anyone tried the 50 mm .95 version on Leica film body.

 

I woud be curious to see if the purple fringe is the same as it is with te M9.

 

 

Gregory

[EJohnE]

As one of the relatively impoverished peasants, I can't help feeling some smug schadenfreude reading this thread.

 

John.

[BillCB]

Right on, Woody - seems to be a non-issue with C1.

Bill

 

 

 

The purple fringing is due to overfill of the pixels of the sensor with these high speed lenses.

 

There is a simple fix........use capture one pro as your raw converter and click on the purple fringing tab. The problem disappears immediately.

 

Capture One is still the best raw converter out there IMHO. Not a good DAM but a superb converter.

 

Woody

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[vanhulsenbeek]

To sum up:

 

Purple/Blue fringing is a sensor problem due to overfill of the pixels of the sensor. It is characterised by a monocolor fringe: purple-blueish

 

Chromatic Aberation (CA) is a lens problem due to uncorrected - possibly incorrigible - secondary lens faults. It is characterised - e.g. with a powerline in the sky, or tree twigs - a purple-blueish fringe on one side and a greenish finge on the other side of the object. Twincolor!

 

Both problems can indeed be corrected in post processing , and C1 does that very well.