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Noctilux: Why do you love it, or why not?


tom in mpls

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I really like using the new noctilux to achieve subject isolation and separation. With it being so sharp at f0.95, it really creates a look that I find fascinating. It's a look that is similar to the look you get with quick focus drop-off using medium format.

 

Kurt

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Humbling of course to post next to Kurt, especially as he is commenting on humanity and I was in the garden today snapping flowers with my noct.

 

Ian

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I don't love the Nocti because I think the 60mm F1.2 Hexanon is a much better lens overall (I have tried two versions of Nocti):

- at F1.2, Dof is as thin as the Nocti's. Same kind of bokeh effects.

- at F1.2, it's got this lower contrast and vignette look

- at F1.4, sharpness on center is already at max with great contrast. Similar to the 50 Lux Asph.

- from F2.8 on, the sharpest lens I have ever owned besides the 24mm Elmarit.

- much smaller

- much lighter at 400gr

- built is as good as Leica lenses.

- shorter focus throw. Very easy to focus.

- blocks less of the viewfinder.

- minimum focus distance 0.8m

- at 60mm, good compromise between 50mm and 75mm. And matches the 50mm framelines perfectly at mid distances.

- and it is also cheaper. Problem is more finding one.

 

So you see ... many good reasons. ;) Sure the Nocti is a great lens but the Hexanon is superior to me as a go everywhere everyday lens.

retiro boat.jpg

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mobeyone,

Thank you for your vote of confidence. Appreciate it!

 

 

Going back to the OP's question ...

The ultra think DoF together with the floaty feel makes it a pleasant experience to use ...

 

4603147956_0cf3cfd467.jpg

 

4602354983_8baeee3458.jpg

M9; Nocti ASPH f/0.95

Edited by arthury
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A request: please remember to state which nocti you use; if you have used both, which nocti do you prefer?

 

Thanks for everyone who has posted, but on some posts it is not clear to me which lens you are referring to, and it is apparent that many have strong feelings for one or the other.

Edited by tom in mpls
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I tried it for a while, despite loving the result it gives, the 1m min distance is a bit bothersome for me. Even if I can cope with that, the long focus turn gives me longer time to focus. But I guess it's something neccessary for accuracy in such a shallow depth of field.

 

However, it just doesn't suit my shooting style yet.

 

Awkwardly, I find the Nokton 1.1 (which I just bought for cheap), way easier to focus and has a shorter focus turn (I think).

 

It's a great lens nonetheless.

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I don't love the Nocti because I think the 60mm F1.2 Hexanon is a much better lens overall (I have tried two versions of Nocti):

Sure the Nocti is a great lens but the Hexanon is superior to me as a go everywhere everyday lens.

retiro boat.jpg

 

Sounds like the 60 Hex is a combination of Noct and Summicron.

 

Slower than Noct, faster than Cron.

 

Smaller than Noct, bigger than Cron.

 

Wilder bokeh than Cron, less wild than Noct.

 

Sounds like a great all a rounder for you.

 

For me, no substitute for my Noct f/1 on my M9. I don't notice the size and weight at all (my other main kit is a D3x). And I wouldn't want to lose an ounce of the wild bokeh and optical aberrations that it brings to the table. That's why I haven't pulled the trigger on the new one. I am tempted, but sharper and more clinical may not improve my results.

 

I shoot primarily wide open with the 1.4x finder and have no problem with mobile targets including rapidly moving preschoolers.

 

Stopped down it is plenty sharp for all but the most critical applications.

 

Best,

 

Bill

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Are any of you seeing this with your Noctis? I guess I know this means a trip to Leica for the Nocti, but I'll miss it :)

 

my nocti f1 was 0.01mm out on my m8.2. if i adjusted the rangefinder to suit the nocti, some of my other lenses would go out of focus, especially the 90. 0.01mm doesn't sound like much but i was always about 1-2' off focus so i dropped it into leica. the technician removed the lens assembly from inside the case, fitted a 0.01mm shim spacer and reassembled the lens. it was perfect...until i sold my m8.2 and bought an m9. now i think it needs to be adjusted back again. the technician did a wonderful job! it's certainly worth the trouble and wait of sending it in when it comes back spot-on:)

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Sounds like the 60 Hex is a combination of Noct and Summicron.

 

Wilder bokeh than Cron, less wild than Noct.

It can't be compared to the Cron, it is really a very similar lens to the Nocti.

At a same distance, the Hexanon has a thinner Depth of Field at F1.2 than the Nocti at F1due to the slightly longer focal. Add to that the lower minimum focus distance and you can actually get more separation and "wildness" with 60 Hex than the Nocti.

Practically, I once tested both Hexanon and Nocti side to side, it is the same kind of rendering. The shape of blobs differs but the out of focus effect is about the same at a given distance.

The Nocti has a 1/2 stop advantage but by looking at images in this thread, I saw no occurence were light was so dim that only the Noctilux could have made the shot.

Finally, the new 0.95 has probably better imagery, but at 700gr I feel it kind of defeats the purpose of using rangefinders, especially when I can be eight hours in a row walking in Paris with my camera in my hand. 400gr is already too big IMO. ;)

One more picture to show you the look of the Hex wide open as well as bokeh.

chinese ny hexanon.jpg

Edited by yanidel
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Doing the maths, a 60mm f1.2 lens should have greater DOF than a 50mm F1. Close enough to be academic though...

 

Being asph, it would seem the 0.95 would be shallower still, even ignoring the somewhat wider aperture.

 

Some great photos here, but relatively few that really show what these lenses can do. Lots of shots that would have been no worse off at f2.8 or more importantly f1.4. It seems that the stage/music shots are the most convincing to me and the old Noct has a certain charm there.

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Doing the maths, a 60mm f1.2 lens should have greater DOF than a 50mm F1. Close enough to be academic though...

Academically, the Dof is thinner at a given distance on the 60 Hex. Yet for the same FOV, Nocti is slightly thinner. Now if you go to minimum focus distance (for portraits), the 60 hex has the smallest possible Dof of the two.

But as you said, in practice it means you will not see a difference between the two.

 

I also agree with your point on what the Nocti kind of lenses can do. Too often, I feel pictures are judged as great because of the Nocti OOF effects and therefore compensate for lousy composition. You'll see many subjects partially in focus where stopping down would have actually improved the pictures. And I am not talking about the many soft noses one can see in Nocti portraits ;)

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What is there to say? I have both the f1.0 and f0.95, and they sum up what I love about Leica photography. The real deal-sealer is that they - as a pair - make shooting a camera, without a flash a possibility in virtually every single situation.

 

Think about it - either camera, when tied to a mirrorless rangefinder allow you to shoot at insanely slow shutter-speeds, in virtually no-light. On an SLR, not only would you need a very fast lense and ridiculously high ISO, you'd also need a shutter speed of 1/30 or above (or a tripod). I can and do shoot wide-open at 1/4 of a second and still get razor-sharp (f0.95) or dreamy but crisp (f1.0) images - all it takes is a deep breath.

 

After that, the fact that each has a completely unique signature is just a bonus. The f1.0 is beautiful between f1.0 and f2.8, but isn't really practical (for various reasons) stopped down. The f0.95 though is an absolute monster - the fastest lense in the world is also absolutely perfect throughout the range. I own a lot of 50s - Summilux ASPH, Summicron, both Noctiluxes and the most recent Elmar, and I find that the f.095 and the Elmar are the perfect complement to each other and by far my most-used lenses.

 

But anyway, enough about that, I'll let the photos do the talking.

 

f1.0

 

2774252445_bb6ff88613_o.jpg

 

2575058918_2a163578f3_o.jpg

 

f0.95

 

4325670514_3e17f08368_b.jpg

 

4370088048_2da94332a7_b.jpg

Edited by mongrelnomad
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784323608_fEWsj-L.jpg

 

 

784313572_gkxra-L.jpg

 

783267153_FCTVA-L.jpg

 

 

All taken with Noctilux 50 1.0 on Lecia M3/M6/ M7 cameras and XP2 film

 

 

While it's true the Noctilux isnt for everybody. And if you dont want to like a lens, it has plenty of unique attributes to give you reason to pause. Still it's signature and renderings is what keeps me interested and inspired.

 

 

769416565_pGoez-L.jpg

 

 

Noctilux 50 1.0 Leica M7 on Ektar.

And I have to respectful disagree about it not being practical to stop it down. I admit that I mostly use the Noctilux @ 1.0 I have no problem going to F4-8 when the situation calls for it.

 

Gregory

Edited by Nikkor AIS
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I tried the .95 Nocti at the Leica Roadshow in Seattle on my M9 and was impressed. The .95 and the new 35/1.4 Summi (probably) are both on my list of lenses to purchase this year.

 

One thing that impressed me about the Nocti compared to the CV 50/1.1 I just sold was how much better it handled on the camera. With the CV I was always aware of its bulk, but with the Nocti, even though it is of similar size, the way it handled mounted on the camera never drew attention to itself in the same way as the CV did - it handled like a much smaller lens than its size would suggest. So, besides the beautiful photos it helped to create, the nice way it handled when mounted on my M9 really impressed me, because normally I don't like 'bulky' lenses. That's what really won me over.

 

Best,

 

Jeff

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...the Nocti, even though it is of similar size, the way it handled mounted on the camera never drew attention to itself in the same way as the CV did...

 

A great advantage of the M lenses vs SLR lenses is the much smaller diameter front element; that great big "eye" looking at the subject is so intimidating. Do you mean that the nocti still looks inconspicuous?

 

I would love to see some pics of mounted nocti's, including "straight on" to see what one's subject would be looking at. Side views would be of help as well.

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Are any of you seeing this with your Noctis? I guess I know this means a trip to Leica for the Nocti, but I'll miss it :)
I got my E58 from an estate sale and sent it to DAG with a 0.85x mag M for a CLA and matching with the body. I actually don't use it all that much but I've never had a focusing issue, these youth orchestra shots were taken on an MP3 and many seem to be fine but not keepers in the context of my project with the orchestra. The shots up in post #37 and below in this post are OK but aren't sufficiently interesting to display. I don't have a problem focusing but so much of my work in this project is done in terrible light so many shots are taken at extremely low shutter speeds, which doesn't help at all. The third one below was taken in decent light with a 90 T-E but good light is rare where this orchestra rehearses. It's a real problem that the Noctilux doesn't solve unfortunately.

ICP_31.jpg

ICP_40.jpg

ICP_3.jpg

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A great advantage of the M lenses vs SLR lenses is the much smaller diameter front element; that great big "eye" looking at the subject is so intimidating. Do you mean that the nocti still looks inconspicuous?

 

I would love to see some pics of mounted nocti's, including "straight on" to see what one's subject would be looking at. Side views would be of help as well.

 

Well, since I've been messing around with mine to check near / far focus before I send it in (and tweaking to see if I have to), I happen to have a boring mirror shot (shot at f1) of the 1.0 Nocti.

 

It certainly shows you how large the Nocti "looks" on the camera (this is from an effective 2 meters)--compared with other M lenses it's massive, for sure. But it's all relative, and from farther away it just looks small, like any other M lens, even though the front element is bigger than the 90 cron and about the same size as the 75 Lux :)

 

In other words, half the size of a Canon 50 1.2L and 85 1.2L, and insignificant compared with a 70-200 zoom :)

 

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