My new toy: Nokton 1.1/50

[drdannn]

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My experience with the Nokton 1.1 : I rented it from LensRentals.com ( great place to try before buying ) !!! I found that the only redeeming feature of this lens was between 4 and 12 feet. It is very difficult to get a spot on focus, but when you do, the DOF in both directions is amazing. The downside, for me, was multi-fold : The size and weight are reminiscent of carrying around the DSLRs' that I used to lug. This lens weighs over a pound ! I found that clarity with infinity focus at any aperture was impossible. Actually crisp, distance focus from 25 feet to infinity was never good either. My Zeiss 2.0 Planar is far, far superior. My Leica 35 Sumarit, and 75 Cron is far superior IMO. The long and short of the story is that I returned the lens to LensRentals.com . I am happy I spent the money to rent it, saving me $1000.00 on having to buy it and sell it on eBay for whatever I could get. My next rental will be the Voigtlander 35 or 40 1.4. That will cost about $50.00 for a 6 day rental. Just my 2 cents here, and passing along a good place to rent before you buy. DF

[Double Negative]

My experience with the Nokton 1.1 : I rented it from LensRentals.com ( great place to try before buying ) !!! I found that the only redeeming feature of this lens was between 4 and 12 feet. It is very difficult to get a spot on focus, but when you do, the DOF in both directions is amazing. The downside, for me, was multi-fold : The size and weight are reminiscent of carrying around the DSLRs' that I used to lug. This lens weighs over a pound ! I found that clarity with infinity focus at any aperture was impossible. Actually crisp, distance focus from 25 feet to infinity was never good either. My Zeiss 2.0 Planar is far, far superior. My Leica 35 Sumarit, and 75 Cron is far superior IMO. The long and short of the story is that I returned the lens to LensRentals.com . I am happy I spent the money to rent it, saving me $1000.00 on having to buy it and sell it on eBay for whatever I could get. My next rental will be the Voigtlander 35 or 40 1.4. That will cost about $50.00 for a 6 day rental. Just my 2 cents here, and passing along a good place to rent before you buy. DF

 

It's clearly not a lens for everyone. Some mind the weight and size, others don't so much.

 

Comparing this lens to either Zeiss or Leica would be unfair - the latter two are clearly superior to CV lenses. I love them and all, but let's be real here. However, they fill a unique niche at an attractive price point and more than capable! As for the 2/50 Planar, that lens is close to perfection. About on par with its Leica counterpart - the 2/50 Summicron.

 

FWIW, both contrast and sharpness increase dramatically from f/1.1 to f/1.4 and especially f/2. The optimum aperture is probably around f/2.8. Anything beyond f/8-11 you get diffraction degradation. A lens like this is made for close up stuff, not landscapes - there are better lenses for that.

 

Keep in mind also that a rental lens just might not be the best way to test a lens - it's been through a LOT of hands and subjected to a LOT of shipping with a LOT of different environments (hot, cold, dry, humid).

 

If you don't like the lens, that's cool. Like I said, it's not everyone's cup of tea. I'm not sure how I feel about mine yet as I haven't had it all that long... But one thing's for sure - when there's next to no light, this thing is great so far. I have an 8x ND coming, so we'll see what happens in the daylight.

[drdannn]

It's clearly not a lens for everyone. Some mind the weight and size, others don't so much.

 

Comparing this lens to either Zeiss or Leica would be unfair - the latter two are clearly superior to CV lenses. I love them and all, but let's be real here. However, they fill a unique niche at an attractive price point and more than capable! As for the 2/50 Planar, that lens is close to perfection. About on par with its Leica counterpart - the 2/50 Summicron.

 

FWIW, both contrast and sharpness increase dramatically from f/1.1 to f/1.4 and especially f/2. The optimum aperture is probably around f/2.8. Anything beyond f/8-11 you get diffraction degradation. A lens like this is made for close up stuff, not landscapes - there are better lenses for that.

 

Keep in mind also that a rental lens just might not be the best way to test a lens - it's been through a LOT of hands and subjected to a LOT of shipping with a LOT of different environments (hot, cold, dry, humid).

 

If you don't like the lens, that's cool. Like I said, it's not everyone's cup of tea. I'm not sure how I feel about mine yet as I haven't had it all that long... But one thing's for sure - when there's next to no light, this thing is great so far. I have an 8x ND coming, so we'll see what happens in the daylight.

Hi, A ND x8 filter might just be the trick to take it beyond 'close up'. Let me know what happens ! I loved the lens for close up, night. It was not too long ago that I lugged around DSLR cameras, so I am loving the portability of the M8, and the challenge. Next I am trying out the CV 40mm 1.4. I'll report on that too. Best, Dan

[Double Negative]

Hi, A ND x8 filter might just be the trick to take it beyond 'close up'. Let me know what happens ! I loved the lens for close up, night. It was not too long ago that I lugged around DSLR cameras, so I am loving the portability of the M8, and the challenge. Next I am trying out the CV 40mm 1.4. I'll report on that too. Best, Dan

 

Will do - it should be in the mailbox tomorrow. I have a step-up ring so I can use it with the 1,2/35 Nokton as well.

 

I used to drag around 25lbs. of Canon DSLR gear as well. Ever since I got back into RFs (and the M8/M9 especially) a little over two years ago - that gear has seen less and less action.

[michali]

Last week I purchased a Nokton 50mm f1.1

 

My dealer had loaned me an almost new Noctilux f1 for a weekend and to be very honest IMO the results from the Noctilux were not worth the several thousand $ more than the Nokton. So I used the money I was going to spend on the Noctilux to buy another M9 body, as well as the Nokton for use mainly for night photography from time to time.

 

My standard lens is the 50mm f1.4 Summilux Asph, but I'm not even bothering to compare the two.

 

I took some comparative shots with the Nokton into direct sunlight & in full sunlight with & without an ND filter. I also ran a comparison with my Nokton 35mm f1.2, as expected it's quite a lot less sharp wide open than the 50mm but less noisy.

 

Not great photos, but I took them mainly to satisfy my curiosity as to how this lens performs.

 

I know it's not a Leica Lens etc. however for the amount of occasional use it's going to get and for what I paid for it new (EUR794- incl. tax & shipping), I'm not at all disappointed!

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[Bo_Lorentzen]

Mike, cool "test".

 

Nokton owner here, and I tend to agree with a lot of the statements, the lens is not a landscape lens really. but for me its working nicely on the street, up close, and for portraits, one of the great things about the scatter in the lens is that even stopped down to 5.6 it is a bit soft and handle wrinkles very nicely in portraits, sometimes perfection is not that highly rated.

 

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