Why did you sell your noctilux 50mm?

[chasdfg]

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I started that thread 4 years ago (almost to the day, coincidentally). My thoughts and the responses in that thread helped me decide to keep the Noctilux v4, until sometime last year when I had a change in priorities. I've since sold it.

Alternatives such as the Voigtlander f1 Asph definitely helped me sell it, because I knew I could get something remotely similar if I wanted such a lens again. I went through a Nikon phase and purchased a Nikon 5cm f1.1 and a 58mm f1.2 for the money I sold the Noct f1 for and neither lens can give me the look (not that I expected them to, but what you can get for Noctilux money is sobering), but they do satisfy the itch for me when I want to use a fast 50mm. As has been said by many before, the Noct f1s colours are different (to use "cliche" words - pastel, natural), the 3d pop from the Noct f1 is different (I lack the technical knowledge to explain how or why) and the bokeh rendering is unique.

I can also safely say that I sold mine because I had close to a decade of use (or lack of use, but I did put it through its paces) and because I made hundreds of images with it (if it was thousands of images, it would be in low thousands - it wasn't the best lens to carry around all day). I used the lens a lot in phases. I would have moods where I would take it out and snap a lot with it and then get put off by the weight. Slight digression - I would pick this lens over a 75lux because 50mm is more useable as a daily lens. If one had this lens as a main 50mm, it could work. Anyway, before I sold the Noct f1, I went through many of the pictures I took with it again and those pictures only reminded me of how special a lens the Noct f1 is. In the end I felt I had a good run with it and was ready to let it go.

Some other lenses may get you closer to it, but if this is the lens you want, you may well have to pick one up or borrow it to scratch that itch. There's no true alternative to the Noct f1 and it remains my favourite Leica lens.

 

Edited May 9 by chasdfg

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[Steve Ash]

Am 7.5.2025 um 19:26 schrieb username:

..do you happen to have any portraits online that you shot with that lens, if I may ask?

I really like the projects on your website by the way, top work 👍

Summilux 75

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[username]

Lovely 💕

[username]

Thank you for your feedback @Stuart Richardson and for digging up some images - I appreciate it!

Yes, I think it's the "gentle-ness" that makes me enjoy images shot with that lens very much.

I bought it as a companion for the (also Mandler-era) 35mm Summicron; brought it straight to Leica for a CLA and adjustment of focus though.. can't wait to finally shoot the lens this summer 🙂

[Derbyshire Man]

5 hours ago, chasdfg said:

I started that thread 4 years ago (almost to the day, coincidentally). My thoughts and the responses in that thread helped me decide to keep the Noctilux v4, until sometime last year when I had a change in priorities. I've since sold it.

Alternatives such as the Voigtlander f1 Asph definitely helped me sell it, because I knew I could get something remotely similar if I wanted such a lens again. I went through a Nikon phase and purchased a Nikon 5cm f1.1 and a 58mm f1.2 for the money I sold the Noct f1 for and neither lens can give me the look (not that I expected them to, but what you can get for Noctilux money is sobering), but they do satisfy the itch for me when I want to use a fast 50mm. As has been said by many before, the Noct f1s colours are different (to use "cliche" words - pastel, natural), the 3d pop from the Noct f1 is different (I lack the technical knowledge to explain how or why) and the bokeh rendering is unique.

I can also safely say that I sold mine because I had close to a decade of use (or lack of use, but I did put it through its paces) and because I made hundreds of images with it (if it was thousands of images, it would be in low thousands - it wasn't the best lens to carry around all day). I used the lens a lot in phases. I would have moods where I would take it out and snap a lot with it and then get put off by the weight. Slight digression - I would pick this lens over a 75lux because 50mm is more useable as a daily lens. If one had this lens as a main 50mm, it could work. Anyway, before I sold the Noct f1, I went through many of the pictures I took with it again and those pictures only reminded me of how special a lens the Noct f1 is. In the end I felt I had a good run with it and was ready to let it go.

Some other lenses may get you closer to it, but if this is the lens you want, you may well have to pick one up or borrow it to scratch that itch. There's no true alternative to the Noct f1 and it remains my favourite Leica lens.

 

Ouch!

I'd also be interested to see some comparisons of Noctilux at f1.4-f2.0 vs summilux 50mm. Some people say the rendering on the summilux is better, this drives down the utility of the Noctilux in my mind.

[evikne]

23 minutes ago, Derbyshire Man said:

Ouch!

I'd also be interested to see some comparisons of Noctilux at f1.4-f2.0 vs summilux 50mm. Some people say the rendering on the summilux is better, this drives down the utility of the Noctilux in my mind.

I did a comparison between the Noctilux f/1 and Summilux v3 some years ago. Unfortunately, some of the images seem to have disappeared from the forum page, but there is a downloadable zip file a little further down.

Edited May 9 by evikne

[Kiwimac]

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I bought the f1 with the sliding hood in Singapore circa 2004. Paid peanuts for it brand new - about $2,500. 
 

I was shooting film on an M6TTL then. 
 

Cut to 2006 and I’m running my own photography business. There’s no apparent sign of Leica releasing a digital M and I need digital gear. 
 

I trade the lot - M6, Noctilux, MATE, 35 Summicron and 90mm - for less than it cost me to buy a Nikon D3S and a couple of f2.8 zooms. 
 

Shortly thereafter the digital M becomes reality and the lens prices start going up like a rocket. 🙁

[Derbyshire Man]

52 minutes ago, Kiwimac said:

I bought the f1 with the sliding hood in Singapore circa 2004. Paid peanuts for it brand new - about $2,500. 
 

I was shooting film on an M6TTL then. 
 

Cut to 2006 and I’m running my own photography business. There’s no apparent sign of Leica releasing a digital M and I need digital gear. 
 

I trade the lot - M6, Noctilux, MATE, 35 Summicron and 90mm - for less than it cost me to buy a Nikon D3S and a couple of f2.8 zooms. 
 

Shortly thereafter the digital M becomes reality and the lens prices start going up like a rocket. 🙁

Ask me about analogue synths. 

[Derbyshire Man]

10 hours ago, evikne said:

I did a comparison between the Noctilux f/1 and Summilux v3 some years ago. Unfortunately, some of the images seem to have disappeared from the forum page, but there is a downloadable zip file a little further down.

Thanks, that was very helpful!

[Derbyshire Man]

1 minute ago, Derbyshire Man said:

Thanks, that was very helpful!

You may have said this before but do you still have the noctilux and would you be brave enough to take it on holiday as your only 50mm, or walk around with it as your only 50mm or has the size become so intimidating that it's a high days and holiday days lens?

[evikne]

38 minutes ago, Derbyshire Man said:

You may have said this before but do you still have the noctilux and would you be brave enough to take it on holiday as your only 50mm, or walk around with it as your only 50mm or has the size become so intimidating that it's a high days and holiday days lens?

I used the Noctilux almost exclusively for a whole year, and almost only wide open. I used it as my everyday lens. Then I started using it less and less, and eventually I sold it. I don't really think the weight and size was the biggest problem. But I probably got a little tired of the rendering because I was using it so unilaterally, and because the 50mm Summilux v3 took over. I still think the Noctilux had a nicer bokeh than the Summilux on comparable apertures. I miss it sometimes, but not as much as my 75mm Summilux, which I also sold once I needed the money.

[evikne]

I used to be a wide open shooter. I originally came from Canon, where the 85mm f/1.2 was my everyday lens (!) along with several other fast L lenses. When I migrated to Leica, the Noctilux f/1 was the closest equivalent (I couldn't afford the f/0.95).

Now my photographic tastes have evolved and I'm not so dependent on bokeh anymore. So I wouldn't go back to Noctilux again, even if I could. But I'm glad we had those couple of years together, it gave me a lot of amazing images that I wouldn't have been without.

[Kiwimac]

I’m not sure whether I’d buy that lens again. 
 

I know some people - @Overgaard for example - make it work very well for them, but I’m not sure I could be bothered to carry it around when I’m in some place in 40 degree summer heat!

 I’m still slightly astonished that over the last decade or thereabouts we’ve seen  an obsession with out of focus areas rather than in focus areas…🤣

 My preference from all the Leica lenses is the rendering of the Apo 50 and Apo 35. Images taken with them have a quality that I find spellbinding: it’s almost as if the image was captured somehow without a lens at all between the viewer and the scene. 

[Derbyshire Man]

45 minutes ago, Kiwimac said:

I’m not sure whether I’d buy that lens again. 
 

I know some people - @Overgaard for example - make it work very well for them, but I’m not sure I could be bothered to carry it around when I’m in some place in 40 degree summer heat!

 I’m still slightly astonished that over the last decade or thereabouts we’ve seen  an obsession with out of focus areas rather than in focus areas…🤣

 My preference from all the Leica lenses is the rendering of the Apo 50 and Apo 35. Images taken with them have a quality that I find spellbinding: it’s almost as if the image was captured somehow without a lens at all between the viewer and the scene. 

That’s the last thing I want! I’m not trying to capture reality and haven’t been for decades. I do agree though that uber thin DOF is overdone, especially for close portraits. 

[Derbyshire Man]

Just to add, I don’t mean to undermine your quest for a completely transparent oeuvre which is equally valid (or open to criticism!). These things are after all entirely personal.  

[3D-Kraft.com]

vor 11 Stunden schrieb Derbyshire Man:

You may have said this before but do you still have the noctilux and would you be brave enough to take it on holiday as your only 50mm, or walk around with it as your only 50mm or has the size become so intimidating that it's a high days and holiday days lens?

That is exactly the question I am facing right now (soon to be spending two weeks on holiday in Provence).

I anticipate situations where I'd like to benefit from the capabilities of the Noctilux 50/1.0, and at the same time, I want to take as few lenses as possible. So, this will be the only 50mm walkaround lens. I find the size and weight of the 50/1.0 just about bearable, the 50/0.95 would already exceed this limit.

[Rupert Greenwell]

I have had a F1 Noctilux ver 3 I think for some time now, I often think of selling it as it gets so little use. Going through my photos it is very easy to spot the ones taken with this  lens. The colour shots have a definite look but I would not want to use it too often as I would soon tire of the look. The B&W photos which have all been taken with a Monochrom and render very nicely in a more subtle way. I would not tire of these but carrying a Noctilux all of the time is not for me.

    I also have a M 75mm F1.4 and I prefer that lens especially for portraits . The other reason that I am reluctant to sell the Noctilux is how long it took me to find a good one. I sent back to UK Leica dealers about 3 lenses all badly needing servicing and adjustment. Even when I found a good one I had it serviced by Malcom Taylor and it would be a shame to let it go. Malcom described the Noctilux as a " fun" lens , in the days of film he said that you could use it to photograph inside a church at a wedding when there was a ban on using a flash. 

A "fun" lens is I think a good description .

[Derbyshire Man]

18 minutes ago, Rupert Greenwell said:

I have had a F1 Noctilux ver 3 I think for some time now, I often think of selling it as it gets so little use. Going through my photos it is very easy to spot the ones taken with this  lens. The colour shots have a definite look but I would not want to use it too often as I would soon tire of the look. The B&W photos which have all been taken with a Monochrom and render very nicely in a more subtle way. I would not tire of these but carrying a Noctilux all of the time is not for me.

    I also have a M 75mm F1.4 and I prefer that lens especially for portraits . The other reason that I am reluctant to sell the Noctilux is how long it took me to find a good one. I sent back to UK Leica dealers about 3 lenses all badly needing servicing and adjustment. Even when I found a good one I had it serviced by Malcom Taylor and it would be a shame to let it go. Malcom described the Noctilux as a " fun" lens , in the days of film he said that you could use it to photograph inside a church at a wedding when there was a ban on using a flash. 

A "fun" lens is I think a good description .

Without being George Best I can buy a lot of fun for £4k🤣

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