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50mm Noctilux F1.0


IWC Doppel

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As a longtime believer in the virtues and benefits of the lens hood, it is a great relief to at long last have a proper lens hood on my 50/1.0. The built in telescoping abomination that the V4 Noctilux was saddled with is at once curious, frustrating, comical, worthy of mockery and tragic. :rolleyes:

 

Agreed...

 

I think I may have mistakenly posted elsewhere that I've a v.4 but mine is actually a v.3 with no hood. I've been using it on the M9 sans hood even outside in bright daylight with few problems from flare. Sometimes one is needed for stray light and protection.

 

Only just recently have I been able to track down the original 12544 hood in excellent condition, but not surprisingly for a non-excellent price! The hood is a bit of a beast, making a big lens even bigger, but is very effective. I still only use it occasionally where I'm worried about flare or in an environment where I may damage the lens.

 

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I have no hood for my v2 noctilux- I have seen a few on ebay but the idea of paying 400 USD + for a lens hoods makes me feel quite ill. I have even seen hoods for the 1.2 nocti asking over 2K USD?? For a lens hood! Carazey....

 

does anyone know of a good alternative hood? I have done OK without one but want one more for protection than anything else...

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I have no hood for my v2 noctilux- I have seen a few on ebay but the idea of paying 400 USD + for a lens hoods makes me feel quite ill. I have even seen hoods for the 1.2 nocti asking over 2K USD?? For a lens hood! Carazey....

 

does anyone know of a good alternative hood? I have done OK without one but want one more for protection than anything else...

 

Yes, it cost me an outrageous $400 USD for the v.3 hood, high-impact (I think) plastic.

but to protect a lens worth fifteen times that value!

 

 

I should add that the design of the vented hood is extraordinary, with virtually no further compromise to the the view through viewfinder with the hood in place.

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actually I got it wrong- check this out for a lens hood:

 

Leica Metal hood #12503 Germany for Noctilux-M 50/1.2 50mm f/1.2 | eBay

 

at least postage is FREE!

 

But that's for the 1.2 Noctilux which for most intents and purposes is a collector's lens. Schouten here in Holland sells one for 15,000€.

 

Still a lot for a hood but if one can buy a lens like that then perhaps shelling out 3,000€ is likely peanuts.

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I used a v.2 50mm Summilux then bought a v.3 and sold the v.2 as I prefer the 0.7M closest focus and shorter focus throw of the v.3. I also use a Summilux 50 ASPH and an E58 Noctilux. I like the rendering of the Noctilux best but use the v.3 Summilux the most just for the convenience.

 

I bought my Noctilux a number of years ago and waited a long time to get an E58 version and it's definitely a unique 50 but I don't use it that much. However last night I put the Noctilux on my new NEX-7 and I'm going to see how difficult it is to shoot a 75mm lens at f1 tomorrow...

 

First one below is the v.2 Summilux and the second two are from the Noctilux.

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But that's for the 1.2 Noctilux which for most intents and purposes is a collector's lens. Schouten here in Holland sells one for 15,000€.

 

Still a lot for a hood but if one can buy a lens like that then perhaps shelling out 3,000€ is likely peanuts.

 

And the 15,000 € is withou VAT for buyers in the EU. So if you are in the EU add another 3,000 € for VAT :eek:

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So this is a macro shot at f1 from my E58 Noctilux on a Sony NEX-7 using a helicoid adapter. Focus is on the eyes of course. ;) This little critter guards the table in my living room.

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  • 5 months later...

A part of the f/1 Noctilux magic for me is how it renders rich, colours that I haven't seen from other lenses. Plenty of lenses will give bright colours but not the richness (I don't quite know how else to describe them) of colours from the Noctilux.

 

I don't have a pre-asph Summilux so I won't touch on that but, for what it's worth, the lens that produces pictures that most resemble the Noctilux is, for me, the classic 80 f/1.4 Summilux-R that was also designed by Walter Mandler.

 

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A part of the f/1 Noctilux magic for me is how it renders rich, colours that I haven't seen from other lenses. Plenty of lenses will give bright colours but not the richness (I don't quite know how else to describe them) of colours from the Noctilux.

 

So very true and so very hard to describe.

I think it paints rather than photographs images.

 

 

btw I like the 3rd photo best

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A friend (professional photographer and cinematographer) has loaned me a 1.0/50 E60 V3 Noctilux indefinately. Two years now and he doesn't want it back:). He thinks that it is the most extraordinary lens and has certainly used many in his career.

 

MarkP, your photographs are a pleasure to the eye, but... about the second one with the rocky seashore. How did you manage to keep all the tones of the black with a center-weighted metering camera?

 

Paul

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MarkP, your photographs are a pleasure to the eye, but... about the second one with the rocky seashore. How did you manage to keep all the tones of the black with a center-weighted metering camera?

 

Paul

 

Paul,

thank you so much for your very kind comments.

 

 

I've gone back to look at my original and final photoshop files to answer your question in detail.

It was a combination of the exposure, ability to pull out details from the shadows in M9 files, and the processing.

 

This was a very dynamic and dramatic scene with respect to the range of light with brilliant white clouds, blue sky, grey & blue water with moving waves with white crests & foam, the side of the cliff in shade, and deep shadows in the rock crevices. I only took one photograph at this spot and metered for an average grey. No filtration. There were a very few brilliant highlights in the clouds which were blown to >255 and not recoverable, and otherwise the exposure was just fine.

 

This photograph was processed in photoshop with a separate layer for the as it's just too hard to get the luminance right only with global adjustments and local dodging & burning adjustments without compromising the whole image. Perhaps a poor man's HDR, but I think the challenge is in ensuring that the photograph still maintains a 'realistic' range of luminosity and tone that is familiar to one's eye unlike much HDR work.

 

Regarding the darker rocks there was a fair but of local dodging & burning to get the texture right but their being wet and slimy already gave me that velvety look I wanted in the final print.

 

The file was treated with a gentle high pass soft-light and then overlay which sharpens it a bit, increases micro-contrast, and gives it just a bit of pop in a much more subtle way than using clarity or sharpening. Certainly gives more depth and definition to the shadows.

 

I used the Gausian noise filter (~1.3-1.6) to put a bit of texture into the photograph and in particular to fill what would otherwise just be a white hole in the print where the blown highlights are. Makes the final images just a bit more 'filmic' (pardon the neologism).

 

Finally, a quad-tone was applied to the final file. I find that the right duo-/tri-/quad-toning (ie, when it doesn't really look toned) markedly further separates out the overall tonal range & depth, and also makes the photograph appear just a bit warmer and 'organic'. I've moved away from pure monochromatic B&W and more to toned B&W (is that an oxymoron?). If you look carefully at many fine photography books the images are often indeed toned.

 

I should add of course that it helps significantly being able to recover so much detail from the shadows in M9 files (even more so now with the Monochrom).

 

You would recall the Ansell Adams comment that the negative (or DNG) is the score but the print is the symphony. In other words some files take a lot of hard work to process into good photos (this is one of my favourites) :)

 

 

I hope this too-long post answers your question - hard to stop once I got started :rolleyes:.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm enjoying the experience, but I haven't quite bonded or got it yet :cool:

Any post processing tips or thoughts ?

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Any post processing tips or thoughts ?

 

You will bond in time so just one suggestion - Practice.

 

There is a learning curve with this lens. Stick with it, don't take it off your camera, expect some rubbish shots to begin with.

 

The rewards are worth the effort.

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  • 8 months later...

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