New Noctilux page about all six types 1966-2010 at overgaard.dk

[Overgaard]

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Just finished my new Noctilux page with sample photos of some of the Noctilux types, and an overview of the types and the gossip about the lens.

 

leica.overgaard.dk - Thorsten Overgaard's Leica Pages - Leica 50mm Noctilux-M ASPH f/0.95 - Leitz 50mm Noctilux-M f/1.2 and the Leica 50mm Noctilux-M f/1.0 samples and article

 

Have fun and please join in if you have comments or further knowledge on these lenses. Thanks.

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[Eastgreenlander]

Thanks Thorsten. Interesting read. I ordered a noct 0.95 thru my danish dealer and they will be sending it in the beginning of next week. Too bad shipping to my settlement here in Greenland takes over two weeks. We have alot of sun this time, any idea what ND filter to use?

[Realphotos]

Great work Thorsten. Quite revealing, and frankly very surprising, to see the colour fringing on the .95 at wide apertures. I thought this was a problem only for wider lenses! I just posted a comment about my Lux24. Lets hope between a Leica firmware fix and/or a software fix we can find a workaround.

[zlatkob]

Lets hope between a Leica firmware fix and/or a software fix we can find a workaround.

I've found the chromatic aberration fixing feature of Adobe's Lightroom and Camera Raw to work very well generally (though I don't have a Noctilux). It requires manual adjustment of the red/cyan slider or the blue/yellow slider. The same software has a "defringe" setting for highlight edges or all edges which quickly gets rid of most of the fringe.

[ho_co]

Thorsten--

Nice work as usual.

 

But isn't it Walter (not Werner) Mandler?

 

And Erwin Puts (not Putts)?

 

[Realphotos]

I've found the chromatic aberration fixing feature of Adobe's Lightroom and Camera Raw to work very well generally (though I don't have a Noctilux). It requires manual adjustment of the red/cyan slider or the blue/yellow slider. The same software has a "defringe" setting for highlight edges or all edges which quickly gets rid of most of the fringe.

 

Thank you for your comment. My two examples are not perfect but I see in my first attempt to do as you advise as you move the sliders the image seems to move left or right as though one coloured image is sitting on the other and they are misaligned. This seems like the test the optician does with the half red and half green and he asks what seems clearest? He's quickly "seeing" whats in front or behind your retina. I need to find some other fringed examples but is there a rule of thumb process. Re sliders + or - and re edges.

Not withstanding I was rushing on my walk so puffing and handholding the shot I was surprised at the poor resolution on the sides of the photos but this two misaligned layers helps explain. Then the question is do you put the m9 away and get the M7 (or even the M8)

[ho_co]

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In your comprehensive article on the Noctilux lenses, you say: "Peter Karbe is also the mastermind behind the 50mm Summilux-M ASPH f/1.4 (which is actually an APO lens on top of it all)...."

 

Are you certain that the 50/1.4 is apochromatic?

 

To my knowledge, this claim first appeared on David Farkas' blog, where David says that Peter Karbe told him of the lens' apochromaticity in private conversation. The statement has been repeated on the Web many times since.

 

But Erwin Puts says (in the section "Annex 1, July 2004") at Summilux1.4/50 asph: "The color correction is excellent, but not of APO calibre."

 

I'm sure both David and Erwin are telling the truth as they know it, and am curious how to bridge the gap.

 

I don’t find any reference in Leica’s literature to support the claim. Was the lens perhaps redesigned in the four years separating Erwin’s and David’s remarks?

 

Thanks for any insight you can offer.

[lars_bergquist]

There is no 'apochromatic standard'. The term was originally coined in the years when lenses -- including microscope objectives -- were corrected for blue and green only, because red sensitive plates and films did not exist. So 'apo' meant just that the optic was well corrected for all three colours *on the optical axis*. More was not needed because microscopy drove the competition for optical quality, and the angle of acceptance of micro optics is always very small.

 

Several lenses by several manufacturers have carried the 'apo' designation during past decades. Nearly all of them have been based on the above, very lax criteria. Leica won't use it unless the lens is apochromatic across the whole, or nearly the whole field. So most any other manufacturer might well have called the Summilux ASPH an apo lens -- but not Leica!

 

As usual, Leica are their own most severe critics.

 

The old man from the Box Camera Age

[pgk]

There is no 'apochromatic standard'.

I love the wiki definition - 'better correction than an achromat'!

 

I still haven't found an explanation of purple fringing which really convinces me that it is fully understood and the precise causes are thoroughly known. Much of the info on the web is the usual reiteration and surmise but without real detail. There are references to it being both a lens chroma and microlens problem (or a mix, or...). Does anyone have any further or trusted data on this phenomenon?

 

Another interesting piece Thorsten.

[Martin K]

Thanks for a very interesting and readable piece on the Noctilux saga. I just think that Mandler did not design the initial f1,2 version. That lens was designed by Dr Helmut Marx and Dr Paul Sindel - the patent was granted on 25 April 1964 (No, 1 447 227)

Kind reghards from Pretoria, Martin

[Overgaard]

Thanks Thorsten. Interesting read. I ordered a noct 0.95 thru my danish dealer and they will be sending it in the beginning of next week. Too bad shipping to my settlement here in Greenland takes over two weeks. We have alot of sun this time, any idea what ND filter to use?

 

I would get a 3 stop ND filter as that worked well for me with the f/1 Nocti in California - and yet it's not so dark that it prevent use in low light. Some use a 6 stop ND filter but then you would have to take it off whenever you move inside in daylight to get enough light. So the 3 stop ND filter is appropriate and works well by only removing in the evening and night.

[Overgaard]

Thorsten--

Nice work as usual.

 

But isn't it Walter (not Werner) Mandler?

 

And Erwin Puts (not Putts)?

 

 

Ups, you're right. Thanks (and corrected)

[Overgaard]

In your comprehensive article on the Noctilux lenses, you say: "Peter Karbe is also the mastermind behind the 50mm Summilux-M ASPH f/1.4 (which is actually an APO lens on top of it all)...."

 

Are you certain that the 50/1.4 is apochromatic?

 

To my knowledge, this claim first appeared on David Farkas' blog, where David says that Peter Karbe told him of the lens' apochromaticity in private conversation. The statement has been repeated on the Web many times since.

 

But Erwin Puts says (in the section "Annex 1, July 2004") at Summilux1.4/50 asph: "The color correction is excellent, but not of APO calibre."

 

I'm sure both David and Erwin are telling the truth as they know it, and am curious how to bridge the gap.

 

I don’t find any reference in Leica’s literature to support the claim. Was the lens perhaps redesigned in the four years separating Erwin’s and David’s remarks?

 

Thanks for any insight you can offer.

 

I'm referring to the interview with Karbe which is quoted at leica.overgaard.dk - Thorsten Overgaard's Leica Pages - The Leica History - Page 1 where it says "the 50 lux ASPH is an APO lens, containing an APO correction element. But, he thought the idea of an APO 50 was a bit silly so they never put it on the lens or in any marketing materials."

 

It's just an interesting little extra piece of history on the lens - but doesn't make it an official APO lens of course.

[Ario Arioldi]

Ups, you're right. Thanks (and corrected)

 

Thorsten,

I believe that tne Noctilux 1.2 was designed by Prof. Helmut Marx.

Cheers,

Ario

[Jamie Roberts]

Hi Thorsten,

 

Very informative. Your second portrait picture (the woman alone) from the .95 Nocti, by Joseph V Hughes, is resized incorrectly and is being squished horizontally by your web page design ( you can see it in her face).

 

It looks like the Nocti has a lot of distortion, which of course it doesn't

[Overgaard]

Hi Thorsten,

 

Very informative. Your second portrait picture (the woman alone) from the .95 Nocti, by Joseph V Hughes, is resized incorrectly and is being squished horizontally by your web page design ( you can see it in her face).

 

It looks like the Nocti has a lot of distortion, which of course it doesn't

 

Thanks. Fixed (was cropped after designing but is now correct proportions)

[Overgaard]

Thanks for a very interesting and readable piece on the Noctilux saga. I just think that Mandler did not design the initial f1,2 version. That lens was designed by Dr Helmut Marx and Dr Paul Sindel - the patent was granted on 25 April 1964 (No, 1 447 227)

Kind reghards from Pretoria, Martin

 

Thanks a lot for this lead. I see in the LFI 2/2010 issue that Leica Camera credit Marx. How does Paul Sindel come into the picture?

[ho_co]

I'm referring to the interview with Karbe which is quoted at leica.overgaard.dk - Thorsten Overgaard's Leica Pages - The Leica History - Page 1 ...

Thorsten--

Your reference is derived from the blog post I mentioned above, David Farkas Photography Blog: Photokina 2008 - Day 2 - Taking it easy and getting an education.

 

Thanks to you and Lars for the clarifications in regard to the term "apochromat."

 

 

Summary as I see it:

1) Nowhere does Leica claim that the current Karbe 50/1.4 has apochromatic correction.

2) Never was the lens called an apochromat before David's published recollection of his private conversation with Peter Karbe.

3) All later references to the apo qualities of the 50 Summilux M 50/1.4 ASPH derive from David's blog reference.

 

I don't want to be pedantic, but I do like to see supporting documentation when "new" facts are introduced. You might consider adding a link to David's blog to your citation, and perhaps adding ellipses to your quote. (Your work shouldn't be compared with Helene Hegemann's. )

 

 

Sigh. Where are those Kern 50/1.9 Apo-Macro-Switars when you need them?

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Martin K]

Thanks a lot for this lead. I see in the LFI 2/2010 issue that Leica Camera credit Marx. How does Paul Sindel come into the picture?

 

Emil G Keller in his book "Leica im Spiegel der Erinnerung" mentions the original Noctilux, has a picture of the patent and the two gentlemen listed on the patent as the designers. More than that I do not know . I guess Paul Sindel was one of the coworkers of Marx in the optical design department of Leitz.

Regards, Martin

[thrid]

Shouldn't that say "Queen of the Night" like in Mozart's The Magic Flute?

:-)