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Noctilix 0.95 ASPH - got to a conclusion at last...


proenca

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So after a two and week vacation, I'm finally at ease with my new Noctilux 0.95 ASPH : I'm going to sell it for a 35 1.4 ASPH and a MM :)

 

Still undicided if the MM is the way to go or not, I have to say I'm impressed with the MM high ISO ability and fine tones but one thing is for sure - I'm currently more and more in love with black and white photography - finally, at a couple of years of having the M9, I'm getting bw pictures that I love - due most to the fact that while I might have changed a bit as photographer, I did sharpened up quite my skills in post processing - and I keep them now... to a minimum. Carefull focusing, most carefull composing are the big differences - and instead of spending an hour or so with each picture, I spend much less because I know what I want - instead I go surely for what I want and spend quite some time doing fine adjustments.

 

Also, I just got newfound love for a much ill-loved lens that I had on my stable and was the lens I most enjoyed using on my trip - Leica 35mm Summaron f3.5. The smooth transition, the soft contrasts are just PERFECT. I felt sometimes almost not at ease since I was using it ALL The time and the Noctilux was just being on the bag.

 

Funny how a 300 usd lens can kill a 10000 usd one. Not as sharp but still quite sharp. Bokeh is glorious.

 

While I'm super impressed with the 0.95 ASPH ability to isolate subjects, to be pin sharp at 0.95, it lacks personality.

 

I dearly miss my old 1.0 Noctilux. It was like a wife : superb when everything works but was lot of hit and miss. You REALLY have to put an effort so everything falls into place, and sometimes it wont happen unless you predicted backfocus, frontalfocus, tiny razor minuscule focal plane... but .. when everything was right - oh boy. Tell me about personality. The crazy bokeh. It was ( still is ) a superb lens.

 

The 0.95 however, its an "easy" lens : pin sharp pictures at 0.95 ? easy peasy. the bokeh is controlled, smooth but... very precise. No crazyness here. No personality. Its just a smooth soft bokeh. Nothing special.

 

Am I "worthy" of the MM ? still pondering about this. Out of my trip, 90% of the pictures are black and white... and wife loves them. Still trying to get my "trademark image", ie, to process my files in a consistent way and look - I belive that is important, to have a consistent look.

 

Most of my files just have a touch of exposure correction, playing a bit with shadows and highlights, touch of clarity and channel mixing. No dramas in pp.

 

Will the MM move me in a new direction ? I dont think so, it will continue to do what the M9 is doing to me now in its monochrome newfound love. Anyway, thats what I'm looking for - one thing is sure - whatever the M10 is, my target is now a MM.

 

Anyway, sorry for the long rambling, here are few pictures I took :

 

Normandy, the Mont Saint Michel :

montstmichel.jpg

 

Saint Emillion on the background, wife on the foreground :)

stemil.jpg

 

Chateau Yquem, at Sauternes :

yqem.jpg

 

Chateau Figeac :

figeac.jpg

 

3 pictures panoramic picture of Saint Emillion center :

stemil-pano.jpg

 

Ponpon, a normandy mule ( and uber friendly :) )

ponpon.jpg

 

( between lens speck and flies around the donkey, I just dont have enought courage to start cloning them out - still have 1000 pictures to choose and process :) )

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I like the look, especially the second image. Reminds me of pencil/pen line drawings, I would personally add this to your suite of looks as lots of Clarity (I assume these images have this) can for me look amazing but other times somehow too processed.

 

Good luck with the MM :)

 

By the way which lenses were used for these images ?

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Curious ......

 

I was intending to get an MM specifically to use with my nocti 0/95..... I have a feeling they will be a absolutely perfect pairing....:rolleyes:

 

Same here... I am just waiting to see what Leica will pull out of there magic hat at the Photokina to decide if I will go for the MM or the M10 (maybe)!!!

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