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Help Me to Find My First M Lens


Sammm

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2 minutes ago, Sammm said:

ok.  I bought an used Noctilux 0.95.  However, I haven't got a chance to try it out as I don't have an M body and need an M to L adapter to try it on my SL2-S.  Wish me luck!

Good reason to buy a M body.  Is it aspherical or before the ASPH version.? 

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20 minutes ago, Sammm said:

I am an M newbie.  Isn't all Noctilux 0.95 ASPH?  Mine says ASPH on front of the lens.

The ASPH was introduced in 2008, Leica has made some changes to the lens to optimize it for digital. Here’s a history lesson:

https://leica-review.com/leica-noctilux-50mm-lens-history/

I can’t seem to get the link to work.

Edited by madNbad
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22 minutes ago, madNbad said:

The ASPH was introduced in 2008, Leica has made some changes to the lens to optimize it for digital. Here’s a history lesson:

https://leica-review.com/leica-noctilux-50mm-lens-history/

I can’t seem to get the link to work.

Thank you madNbad!  The link works.  It was informative.  I still can't come up with the courage to buy an M body.  Let's see how much I like the lens with the SL2-S first.

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On 9/6/2022 at 3:16 PM, madNbad said:

The ASPH was introduced in 2008, Leica has made some changes to the lens to optimize it for digital. Here’s a history lesson:

https://leica-review.com/leica-noctilux-50mm-lens-history/

I can’t seem to get the link to work.

There was no pre-aspherical 0.95 Noctilux.  That was the f/1.0 version.  All f/0.95 Noctiluxes are ASPH.

I tossed up between the f/1 and f/0.95 versions at the time the new version was released.  When I read the excellent LFI article, and I saw the focus shift, I was convinced that the 0.95 was the better choice.  With the subsequent release of the M(240) and SL, with the option of an EVF, the focus shift issue would seem to be less of a problem.

You will read a lot of angst about focusing wide open - to me it’s not an issue.  I get more keepers from my Noctilux that I got from my APO Summicron-M 75/2 ASPH (with its short focus throw), and the excellent 75 Summilux-M has an even shallower depth of field wide open than the Noctilux.  

I wouldn’t rush to get an M camera just to use your new lens - it’s fantastic on my SL, so it should work well on your SL2-S

The LFI article goes into some detail about the quality of the out of focus areas.  It’s a lovely lens, in my view.  Get out and enjoy it!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you all again!  I've finally got the M-to-SL adapter and tried out the lens on the SL2-S.  I have a mixed feeling as this lens is definitely not that sharp and has a lot of CA wide open.  Edges are also a bit soft even stopping down.  I could never get the entire photo sharp edge-to-edge.  I guess this is the M or Noctilux magic.  My SL and GFX lenses are not like that.  Having said that, I really like the vintage look of the photos.  Just hope that it can be a bit sharper and still retain the vintage look.  I guess maybe I should be looking for a second lens that is sharp and can still retain this vintage look.  Haha...

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3 hours ago, Artin said:

Something does not sound right there ? That lens should be plenty sharp wide open, with only the edges trailing behind. Stoped down to 1.4 should be quite excellent throughout the full image and it was well controlled CA. It does have LOCA wide open that pretty much disappeared by F2. 

If you are coming from the SL lenses, then the noctilux will not be that sharp, relatively speaking.  The 0.95 is the sharpest noctilux 50, but it is no APO.  CA is very noticeable as well.  Noctilux are not pixel peeper lenses... they also take some practice.  At 1m you have 2cm depth of field.  If you subject moves slightly or if you tilt the lens when hitting the shutter, the focal plane will not be where you expect.  I can't say anything about SL technique, but i often found that with the M you just get the focus close and then you let your body lean back and forth to hone in on the focus (as is a common noctilux focus technique).  My hit rate improved after a few months of regular shooting.  I know many who regretted buying the noctilux after the first weekend, only to sell it and buy it again a year later!  Again, it takes practice and the look grows on you... other lenses start to look too sharp!

I do agree that stopping down, the contrast should improve and the lens should sharpen up.

As for vintage look with a sharper image, I suggest the 50mm summilux pre-asph, but again, if you are used to SL lenses, you may never be satisfied with sharpness of the older stock of M lenses (some summicrons excepted, perhaps) - part of that vintage look is the smoothness, softness vignetting, etc.  Film was not perfect, lenses were less perfect!

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