The 50mm f/1,2 Noctilux Image Thread

[T25UFO]

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Dogwoods at f1.2

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[Wonzo]

M10R, Noctilux wide open

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[dsm21]

 

:edited

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by dsm21

[JCR33]

M10P
 

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[Wonzo]

M10R, Lens at f/1,7

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Edited June 4, 2022 by Wonzo

[Wonzo]

M10R, Lens at f/1,7

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[fabior]

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With m10R bp using a nd filter in Amorgos , greece 

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[fabior]

M10R bp noctilux wide open with nd filter in Naxos and Amorgos 

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[Renata]

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[Herr Barnack]

On 2/5/2022 at 9:28 PM, adan said:

Actually, what Leica (Well, the Reddot Forum of Leica Store Miami) says is:

To maintain the unmistakable, dreamlike rendering of the original lens and its hallmark bokeh, Leica strictly adhered to the historical optical calculation and construction, making only minimal changes when carefully adapting to the glass types and production methods available today. The re-issue still contains six elements in four groups with two aspherical lenses, all housed in a relatively compact package with a standard 49mm front filter thread. And according to Leica, performance is almost identical to the 1960s version.

Interesting.

I have the f/1.0 Noctilux (#11-822) and I'm beginning to prefer the rendering of the new copies of the "older" 50mm f/1.2 Noctilux to my more recent version.

In some of the images I'm seeing in this thread, the f/1.2 shot when wide open produces in focus areas that are more sharp than my f/1.0 produces wide open.  I think that difference in sharpness is what's attractive about the f/1.2 lens.

[Al Brown]

Here is an image that will make you think... Just incredible.

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[erudolph]

On 6/9/2022 at 6:44 PM, Herr Barnack said:

Interesting.

I have the f/1.0 Noctilux (#11-822) and I'm beginning to prefer the rendering of the new copies of the "older" 50mm f/1.2 Noctilux to my more recent version.

In some of the images I'm seeing in this thread, the f/1.2 shot when wide open produces in focus areas that are more sharp than my f/1.0 produces wide open.  I think that difference in sharpness is what's attractive about the f/1.2 lens.

Herr Barnack, how do the two lenses compare if you stop your f/1 down to f/1.2?

[Herr Barnack]

12 hours ago, erudolph said:

Herr Barnack, how do the two lenses compare if you stop your f/1 down to f/1.2?

I have not specifically hunted down and studied images made with the new f/1.2 Noctilux - but based on the ones I have seen, the in focus areas seem to be a bit sharper than the in focus areas produced by my f/1.0 Noctilux.  The f/1.2 lens also appears to have less exposure vignetting than the f/1.0. 

The f/1.0 Noctilux can be enigmatic at times - shooting at f/1.0 produces unexpected surprises, depending on lighting, subject color and other factors.  This lens takes a fair amount of work to get to know it and to produce predictable and consistent results, at least in my experience.

The f/1.2 Noctilux seems to be more predictable and a bit sharper than the f/1.0 version, based on what I have read and seen.  The f/0.95 50mm Noctilux seems to be more predictable and somewhat sharper than the f/1.2 version.  This is based on what I have seen produced by all three lenses both on this forum and in the pages of LFI magazine.

The f/1.0 Noctilux produces a more nostalgic, old school rendering while the f/0.95 produces a more modern, technical rendering.  The new f/1.2 falls somewhere between the two, leaning a bit more toward the f/0.95 side of the continuum. 

I don't think it's possible to go wrong with any of the three 50mm Noctilux lenses.  The choice comes down to whether you want a more artistic rendering, a more technical rendering or somewhere in between. 

Edited September 8, 2022 by Herr Barnack

[Jared]

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I know, I know, it’s a cat picture. Still, I think it does a good job showing how the lens performs wide open near minimum focus distance. It is surprisingly (to me) sharp right at the center of the field, but resolution falls off rather dramatically as you move even a small distance from the center. In this case I got around the “problem” by putting the cat’s near eye close to the center of the frame, then cropping for the composition I wanted.

One quirk I have noticed when shooting the lens wide open is that astigmatism is much worse 1/3rd of the way to the edge of the frame than it is at the actual edge of the frame. So, center of the frame can look quite good, but if you compose using an off-center subject you may want to stop down to f/2 or more. Of course, that kind of defeats the point of spending all that money on a “character” lens. So, either choose compositions with a central subject, or expect a somewhat soft subject, or do as I did with the sample provided and shoot with your subject in the center and recompose in post by cropping a bit.

 

Edited September 8, 2022 by Jared

[JCR33]

M10P

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[Elderin]

Ich mag die Fotos. Vielen Dank. Tolles Rendering. Es sieht aber so aus als passe der Fokus nicht 100 Prozent. Ich denke da liegt ein Frontfokus vor.

Da wo der Fokuspunkt liegt ist es erstaunlich gut. Nicht super scharf aber viel besser als es in den meisten Tests daher kommt.

[Elderin]

Am 19.3.2021 um 19:43 schrieb Sid Bolan:

 Jono Slack's review suggested that, at 1.2, nothing is quite sharp, a view that seems to be supported by most of the sample images I've seen. Is everyone having the some experience?

Not true. Wozo lens is not calibrated well to his camera. i shot the lens on a SL2s and got much sharper results wide open.

[Sid Bolan]

17 hours ago, Elderin said:

Not true. Wozo lens is not calibrated well to his camera. i shot the lens on a SL2s and got much sharper results wide open.

As I can see in many of the excellent photos here, JCR33's street smoker in particular. In the end I opted for the Noctilux f1.0 v.3. I love everything about it, excepting its size and weight, but I think I would have been just as happy with the rereleased f1.2

[Wonzo]

M10-R, f/8

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[darylgo]

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