Review: Leica Noctilux 50mm f1.2

[maartenmoerman]

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6 hours ago, stephengv said:

Wondering how will this compare with the Zeiss Sonnar C haha

I'm more wondering how it compares to the canon 50/1.2 in LTM, anybody happens to have MTF charts of that one? Can't find them...

[Overgaard]

7 hours ago, insideline said:

I watched on-line today via Leica's live launch presentation, the new lens appears to render almost opposite of my 1.2 with my original rendering best wide open with the magic being lost with every opening of the aperture. I will admit I am interested. 

Where did you find the online presentation. Missed that completely and doesn't seem to be on the Leica youtube or Vimeo. 

[padam]

1 hour ago, maartenmoerman said:

I'm more wondering how it compares to the canon 50/1.2 in LTM, anybody happens to have MTF charts of that one? Can't find them...

No MTF charts on any Canon LTM lens but it is definitely a softer lens than this one, I think something like the "Japanese Summilux" Canon 50/1.4 LTM is a little more comparable in terms of wide-open sharpness.

"b) The six elements Noctilux-M 52 mm f/1 Asph prototype, featuring 2 aspherical surfaces and designed by Helmut Marx and Paul Sindel in 1959, whose aim was to beat the optical performance of the non aspherical 7 elements in 5 groups and 11 diaphragm blades Canon 50 mm f/1.2, designed by Ito Hiroshi in April of 1956, a very good ultraluminous lens for the Japanese brand cameras sporting M39 mount, with a Planar design and whose selling price Canon had managed to reduce to half in 1957, streamlining production stages, in addition to having been extensively used by David Douglas Duncan in his essays on Pablo Picasso.

Helmut Marx and Paul Sindel knew that though being a very good lens, the performance of the Canon 50 mm f/1.2 at widest aperture was poor in terms of resolving power, sharpness and contrast, because the Japanese firm had to sacrifice a certain degree of performance to be able to achieve such a huge maximum diaphragm, so Ito Hiroshi had decided to optimize the f/1.2 aperture to get beautiful portraits with soft and center emphasized images.

Anyway, Helmut Max and Paul Sindel were not able to achieve the great image quality at widest aperture they wanted with the Noctilux-M 52 mm f/1 Asph prototype from 1959 (which didn´t go into series production either) and realized that the only way to achieve it was with a maximum aperture of f/1.2."

Source: http://gmpphoto.blogspot.com/2019/11/noctilux-m-50-mm-f12-asph-beginning-of.html

Edited January 29, 2021 by padam

[keithlaban.co.uk]

I'd love to see a comparison between this lens and the Voigtlander 50mm f/1.2 Nokton Aspherical.

[maartenmoerman]

51 minutes ago, padam said:

No MTF charts on any Canon LTM lens ............

.......

....

Anyway, Helmut Max and Paul Sindel were not able to achieve the great image quality at widest aperture they wanted with the Noctilux-M 52 mm f/1 Asph prototype from 1959 (which didn´t go into series production either) and realized that the only way to achieve it was with a maximum aperture of f/1.2."

Source: http://gmpphoto.blogspot.com/2019/11/noctilux-m-50-mm-f12-asph-beginning-of.html

 

Thanks! That helps in insight!

[Milan_S]

Great review Jono

I was fortunate to be beta tester and Leica asked me to do the official release photos taken with the lens.

Shot on the M10-R

 

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[shirubadanieru]

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34 minutes ago, Milan_S said:

Great review Jono

I was fortunate to be beta tester and Leica asked me to do the official release photos taken with the lens.

Shot on the M10-R

 

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when's your review coming out? hehe  & how's the rendering fidelity to the original f1.2? Would love to hear your thoughts!

Edited January 29, 2021 by shirubadanieru

[Rennrocky]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb Milan_S:

Great review Jono

I was fortunate to be beta tester and Leica asked me to do the official release photos taken with the lens.

Shot on the M10-R

 

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

You know the old and the new. What is the difference ?

[adan]

I look at it this way.

A retro-rival Leica lens that costs LESS than the current equivalent? That's got to be worth something.

[LocalHero1953]

23 hours ago, jonoslack said:

nothing is quite sharp, even in focus at the centre, by the edge of the frame it's very soft and there is quite a lot of vignetting

There can't be many positive lens reviews that have this line😁!

[jonoslack]

22 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Thanks, Jono - very informative, as always, especially through your images.

How did you find handling on the SL compared to the M: did you develop a preference? 

HI There

I really like the handling on both, I shot it mostly on the M though (but that's more because that's what I do with M lenses). My only criticism is that I prefer a shorter focus throw.

All the best

Jono

[jonoslack]

21 hours ago, steamboat said:

I’d buy this in a New York minute if the minimum focus is 0.7M. I assume minimum is 1-metre? Sorry if I missed that in your report Jono.

Hi there

My feelings exactly - I think I did say, but yes, it certainly is 1m - there is some consolation using with the SL2 or M10-r in that you can crop that much without losing that much (except the squashy corners!), which isn't a bad thing

Best

Jono

[jonoslack]

21 hours ago, darylgo said:

Thanks Jono for the great images and review.  Can you compare it to the f1?   I don't see chromatic aberrations on the window picture,  was it evident in other images? 

Hi There - thank you

I'm sorry I can't compare it to the f1 - I did have one about 7 or 8 years ago, but I sold it! I have to say I haven't had much of a problem with CA - there is some fringing, but nothing too dramatic and easy to fix. I wonder if the original is that good - I guess it may be modern glass sorting it out.

Best

Jono

[jonoslack]

21 hours ago, UliWer said:

This is a very interesting and (for me) new information. Do you have any source for it? I am not asking because I have any doubts, just to hear more about the prototype.

(Perhaps the rumor that there will be also a new version of the Summaron might be read in a different light then...).

Hi There 

It came from a presentation that Dr. Wofgang Vollrath during the LHSA meeting at Wetzlar in 2018 (and which I shamefully missed, even though I was there!). It comes from the Leica Barnack Blog and a great article by José Manuel Serrano Esparza you can find it here: http://gmpphoto.blogspot.com/2019/11/noctilux-m-50-mm-f12-asph-beginning-of.html

Well worth a read.

best

Jono    

[wizard]

vor 19 Stunden schrieb wlaidlaw:

... which given it is a late 1980's design before digital cameras were a pixel in Leica's eye, is no surprise. You can definitely see softness in the corners at bigger apertures. 

And all of that will be even worse with the "new" Noctilux 1.2/50mm, as its optical design closely resembles the old one. Qualitywise, you will definitely see no improvement over your vIII Summilux. Rather the opposite, I would assume.

[jonoslack]

18 hours ago, farnz said:

Dammit, Jono, @jonoslack your interesting and to-the-point review and exquisite pictures have got me salivating again!   (I'm sure I must be able to spare a kidney.)

I love my f/1.0 Noctilux but the f/1.2 looks to be very close.  Did you happen to notice a similarity with the f/1.0's pastel colour palette in your pictures with the f/1.2?

Pete.

HI Pete - lovely to hear from you.

I haven't had an f1 for about 6 or 7 years, so I'm really unsure - It's much nicer than I remember the F1 (but I was always irritated by the plastic lens hood - silly things can be a big influence!).

Buy one! 😂

All the best (and from Emma as well)

[mole73]

Thanks Jono, your review is very informative (as always)!

Could you describe (in small words)  how the new Noctilux 1,2 compares to the Summilux II pre-asph. version? 

Thank you!

Robert

[fabior]

thanks Jono for your thorough test of noctilux. Seeing the photographs taken at smaller apertures such as f4, one gets the impression that the out of focus is still very accentuated; (I mean the photo with the red vase and the flowers) is an impression of mine or really the quality of the out of focus at closed apertures is greater than other 50mm leica at the same aperture. My references of 50mm are the other two noctilux, the summiluxs M second version and the SL. I am very tempted to buy it !!

[wlaidlaw]

20 minutes ago, jonoslack said:

HI Pete - lovely to hear from you.

I haven't had an f1 for about 6 or 7 years, so I'm really unsure - It's much nicer than I remember the F1 (but I was always irritated by the plastic lens hood - silly things can be a big influence!).

Buy one! 😂

All the best (and from Emma as well)

Jono,

I remember that f1. It was the one I swapped with you, as the focus barrel was too short and fat to get my arthritic thumb round comfortably. I also felt that the f1 with its extreme aperture shift, is a one trick pony on a rangefinder camera, as it aperture shifts out of focus when you stop down. Oddly nowadays, It would be far more usable on an M with live view, where you can focus on a zoomed image, getting round the aperture shift problem. As a more flexible lens and also one which with its longer barrel is more comfortable for me to hold, the 0.95  Noctilux is more practical, if only it was a bit lighter. I have ended up using that more on my SL, where it is better balanced and low light accurate focusing is easier, without having to mount an EVF, where I might well want to have a flash. 

Wilson

 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[insideline]

7 hours ago, Overgaard said:

Where did you find the online presentation. Missed that completely and doesn't seem to be on the Leica youtube or Vimeo. 

I received an invitation from Leica who appears to be using a web forum site by the name of Eventbrite. I registered for the 2PM Mountain time live presentation and the two commentators who appeared to be Leica employees gave a one hour presentation on the new 1.2 Noctilux along with a few other vintage lenses used on the new M10-R body. I would look up Eventbrite for Leica's Noctilux presentation from yesterday and it should come up.