Noctilux question

[bsmith]

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All color issues aside, does a Noctilux benefit from 6 bit coding to help correct vignetting ?

Or are there no benefit to a Noct with 6 bit coding other than exif data info ?

Thank you for any info

[gravastar]

I'd suspect the Noctilux and 6 bit coding presents a dilemma. The light fall off in the corners is quite significant. In many cases it adds to the appeal of the picture and you would not want to compensate for it.

 

Another aspect is you are most likely to be using the Noctilux at high ISO and compensating for the fall off could lead to excessive noise in the corners. Also the Noctilux is a lens whose flare and color contrast performance is not maintained if there are light sources in the picture and you use filters, the Canon 50mm 0.95 has a similar problem with filters. Since the lens is quite often used with low level tungsten illumination that could make the use of an IR cut filter necessary.

 

I don't know how well the lens will tolerate an IR blocking filter, I'm waiting for 60mm ones to arrive. The excellent flare performance of the Nokton 35mm 1.2 seems little affected by a 486 filter so I'm hoping the same will apply to the Noctilux.

 

Bob.

[rfleica]

i do recall on at least one other thread (not sure which forum) indicating that the well-known Noctilux edge fall-off on 35mm full frame was barely present on the "cropped" sensor of the M8. other forum members may be able to shed more light on this (no pun intended).

[j. borger]

No need for coding .. i see no vignetting with my Noctiluc on the M8 .. not even with a ND filter mounted.

[Guest guy_mancuso]

I'm planning on getting one and for the time being until a 60mm cut filter is out will get a 62 with step ring

[gravastar]

No need for coding .. i see no vignetting with my Noctiluc on the M8 .. not even with a ND filter mounted.

 

That's excellent news

 

I've measured up to one stop of light fall off at full aperture when the lens is used on the R-D1 with it's 1.6 crop factor. That was estimated by measuring the width of the histogram when photographing a uniformly lit surface.

 

Bob.

[j. borger]

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That's excellent news

 

I've measured up to one stop of light fall off at full aperture when the lens is used on the R-D1 with it's 1.6 crop factor. That was estimated by measuring the width of the histogram when photographing a uniformly lit surface.

 

Bob.

Well .. i did not measure anything ....... just never feel a need to correct for it.

It shows less vignetting on the M8 compared to the R-D1 .. i am pretty convinced of that!

[marknorton]

I'm planning on getting one and for the time being until a 60mm cut filter is out will get a 62 with step ring

 

Guy, it might not matter too much but I don't think you'll be able to use the Nocti lens hood if you are buying the version with the pull out plastic hood.

[gravastar]

Guy, it might not matter too much but I don't think you'll be able to use the Nocti lens hood if you are buying the version with the pull out plastic hood.

 

Sacrilege I know .....

 

You can non destructively remove the pull out lens hood from the Noctilux. Just in front of the aperture control ring there is a collar with three small screws. The collar has a white dot as an indicator for the aperture ring. If you carefully remove the screws you can slide off the collar and attached hood. Make sure before you do this you know which aperture value the dot is lined up with. You can then remove the screw that hold the hood guide rail and remove the rail and hood from the collar. Now put back the collar and three screws but without the hood or rail. To help align the collar/aperture mark and lens barrel you will find that you can see at the bottom of the screw holes the indents in the lens barrel previously left by the sharp screw points.

 

Keep the hood, guide rail and attachment screw somewhere safe and you can return the lens to it's original condition if needed.

 

After doing this I used a B+W 60-62mm step up ring and a B+W 62mm screw in hood to hold filters etc. This gives me a much more efficient hood for use with the R-D1. Also by changing the step up ring, if need be, you can choose a suitable hood for the M8. B&H have the 60-62mm stepping ring.

 

Bob.

[marknorton]

Interesting, Bob, thanks for the tips.

[ho_co]

Mark & Bob--You two are brothers under the skin! Mark disassembles Digiluxes and shows us how to do the same; Bob disassembles lenses to remove parts he doesn't like and tells us how to do it. I love it!

 

I don't have a Noctilux, but I had no idea its hood was plastic! Wowsers--I'd remove it too. Thanks for the directions!

 

--HC

[truando]

This is a shot with the M8 and the nocti @ 1.0 - I can't see any vignetting.

 

Also, I never use the hood, the nocti is very flare resistant.

 

Besides, I like a small amount of vignetting on the nocti, I think it fits the bokeh and adds character to this unique lens.

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[marknorton]

Great shot, demonstrating the extra-ordinary abilities of the lens at f1 to render a sharp foreground against a wonderfully soft backdrop.

 

Perhaps they should do a cut-price version without an aperture ring as I don't think I've ever seen a shot at anything smaller!

[marknorton]

Mark & Bob--You two are brothers under the skin! Mark disassembles Digiluxes and shows us how to do the same; Bob disassembles lenses to remove parts he doesn't like and tells us how to do it. I love it!

 

I don't have a Noctilux, but I had no idea its hood was plastic! Wowsers--I'd remove it too. Thanks for the directions!

 

--HC

 

HC, it's a Cambridge thing - Bob lives there, I studied there.

[Guest guy_mancuso]

Sacrilege I know .....

 

You can non destructively remove the pull out lens hood from the Noctilux. Just in front of the aperture control ring there is a collar with three small screws. The collar has a white dot as an indicator for the aperture ring. If you carefully remove the screws you can slide off the collar and attached hood. Make sure before you do this you know which aperture value the dot is lined up with. You can then remove the screw that hold the hood guide rail and remove the rail and hood from the collar. Now put back the collar and three screws but without the hood or rail. To help align the collar/aperture mark and lens barrel you will find that you can see at the bottom of the screw holes the indents in the lens barrel previously left by the sharp screw points.

 

Keep the hood, guide rail and attachment screw somewhere safe and you can return the lens to it's original condition if needed.

 

After doing this I used a B+W 60-62mm step up ring and a B+W 62mm screw in hood to hold filters etc. This gives me a much more efficient hood for use with the R-D1. Also by changing the step up ring, if need be, you can choose a suitable hood for the M8. B&H have the 60-62mm stepping ring.

 

Bob.

 

Bob I love ya, just what i needed to hear. i was thinking along the same lines but was not sure it could be done. Damn that just may have cost me 3 k hearing this:D

[robsteve]

I am just waiting for the 60-62mm stepping ring to arrive in the mail, but it looks like you could use this approach on some of the Noctiluxes with the bayonet on hood. You would put on the hood and then screw the filter on after the hood is mounted. The spring of the bayonet mechanism on the hood is enough to allow the hood to move back a mm or two to become flush with the lens threads so even the stepped filters can be screwed on tight.

[gravastar]

Bob I love ya, just what i needed to hear. i was thinking along the same lines but was not sure it could be done. Damn that just may have cost me 3 k hearing this:D

 

Just be careful to make sure the precision screwdiver you use is not too wide and keep it at right angles to the screw heads else there is the danger of marking the edge of the aperture ring. The screws are very close to it. When I put the screws back I first very gently screwed in one until it just touched the lens barrel, then by gently trying to rotate the collar slightly you can feel the end of the screw drop into the depression it had previously made, then I tightened it slightly. That guarantees accurate alignment. I then replaced the remaining two screws and tightened all three. You may also want to put a touch of blue non permanent loctite on the screws when you replace them, they're very small.

 

I suspect you can remove the 75mm f1.4 Summilux hood in the same way although there really is no reason to do so. It retracts sufficiently to allow you to screw into the front of the lens a 60-62mm stepping ring and new hood if needed.

 

One reason for adding the B+W screw on metal hood is not only does it give better protection with the R-D1 and M8 but it will also prevent a 486 filter from being viewed from the side with it's attendant colored reflection. Without the M8 I'm not sure yet which hoods will be the best match for each lens.

 

Bob.

[marknorton]

Bob, can you post a picture of how the lens looks with the hood removed?

[waterlenz]

I am just waiting for the 60-62mm stepping ring to arrive in the mail, but it looks like you could use this approach on some of the Noctiluxes with the bayonet on hood. You would put on the hood and then screw the filter on after the hood is mounted. The spring of the bayonet mechanism on the hood is enough to allow the hood to move back a mm or two to become flush with the lens threads so even the stepped filters can be screwed on tight.

 

 

I tried this with the first-60mm-thread-version of the Noct. No M8 yet so my M3 was used as a 'stand-in' - first shot with flash, second ambient light (overhead fixture). You can see reflected light from the filter hitting the inside of the hood. Third shot is more of a frontal view with less of the red glow. One can see through the filter and read a portion of the 'Leitz Canada' inscription. Shots were done with a Nikon D2H, which also has relatively high IR sensitivity.

Tom

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Hallo,

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[gravastar]

Bob, can you post a picture of how the lens looks with the hood removed?

 

First picture is with the hood removed on an M6 and the second is with a 60-62mm stepping ring and a B+W 62mm tele hood on the R-D1, which is how I use it. In the first picture you can see the removed original hood together with it's guide rail.

 

Bob.

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