Re: [Leica] Noctilux fever

["Robert G. Stevens" <robsteve@istar.ca>]

Mark:

Look at my Noctilux pictures on my home page:

http://home.istar.ca/~robsteve/photography/index.htm

The Lady with the Cuban Cigar (Montecristo) was shot at 1/30th at F1 using
Tmax P3200 at EI 1600.  This could have been done with a slower lens, but
would have more camera shake.  The Noctilux also gives a smooth rendition
of her skin.  The two pictures of Boyd and Bruce were taken in a dimly lit
boathouse with harsh light coming in the windows behind Boyd and Bruce.
There is no flare and great detail in the shadows and highlights.  You can
count the hairs on Boyds head and even do a thread count on his black
sweater. Now thats shadow detail while maintaining the highlights.  Shot
with Tmax 100 at 1.4.  The Noctilux is superior here in flare suppression
and shadow detail than the Summilux.  The bottom picture of the baby on the
lawn chair was on APX25 and at F1.  It is very sharp with a great blurred
background and illustrates the effect of shallow depth of field and slow
fine grained film.


As for the cost of a Noctilux, good used ones can be had for about $1,600,
which is not much more than the cost of a new Summicron.  Most of the used
Noctiluxes are like new because, as Mark says, some owners never use them
to their potential and eventually sell them after they sit unused for a while.

Regards,

Robert Stevens



At 11:02 PM 1/15/99 -0700, Mark Rabiner <mrabiner@concentric.net> wrote:

>What's the point of having all that money to buy exotic toys with if I
>don't have anyone to share it with. I say share with us the photos that
>you got with your Noctilux that I could've have got with my 
>Summicron or lux and I'll quietly save up the bucks to do the same.
>SHOW US THE PHOTOS
>On a parallel thought people are saying a Noctilux is cool for being
>able to shoot slow films in dimmer conditions. I beg to differ.
>According to my impression of Erwin and others the Noctilux is for
>shooting at night. Show us night shots, not the Gobi desert at high noon
>with tech pan.
>Thirdly, if you had a Noctilux and were out at night shooting with it
>and you ran into some situations where you were able to stop down and
>get some depth of field, you wouldn't get any problem from me. When I
>get one, after I've gotten every other piece of M equipment made and
>half the R, I'll be doing the same.
>Mark Rabiner
>
>
>
>