[Leica] Noctilux - 1st impressions

[Guy Bennett <gbennett@lainet.com>]

I recently got a Noctilux, and having had a couple of weeks to use it, I
thought I'd share some first impressions. To date, I've put about 5-6 rolls
of film through an M6/0.72 mounted with the lens, which I've used in a
variety of contexts and situations, ranging from relatively bright to
virtually no light. The negs are impressive, but haven't had time to make
any prints yet...

First of all and contrary to what I expected, it doesn't feel that big or
that heavy, though I know that as M lenses go, it's one of the
biggest/heaviest. I have a bunch of chrome lenses, and they can get pretty
heavy, esp. the 90 & 24 Elmarits. Being used to their weight, I haven't
found the Noctilux particularly heavy. It does block a bit of the VF, but
that hasn't been a problem thus far. One just composes as one normally
would. If you're aware of the general background, the bit covered by the
lens protruding into the VF area isn't that troublesome. At least it hasn't
been for me.

Build quality is great, as it is with every other Leica lens I have. Focus
and aperture rings are smooth and tight. The focus throw is a bit long, and
that has felt slow to me on a couple of occasions. For that reason I find
myself trying to anticipate the distance between camera and subject and
adjust the focus roughly before even lifting the camera to my eye. That
makes focusing a bit quicker. The one thing that really bothers me - and I
guess that this is my main criticism of the lens - is the plastic
extensible hood: it feels flimsy to me, and I'm not particularly convinced
of its effectiveness. It seems that if you're not careful, you might even
break it if you pull it out too quickly or roughly. I don't mind the
plastic hoods on other lenses (Summicron 35, Elmarit 24), but this one I
just don't like. Does anyone else feel the same way? What were the previous
clip on hoods for earlier versions of the Noctilux like?

As for images produced with the lens, they remind me of those produced by
the Summicron 50, which is a fantastic performer. They have a beautiful,
creamy bokeh (I should say that I never stop down beyond 4-5.6) that makes
the subject just pop out against the background. The great thing is that it
is obviously a hell of a lot faster than the 2.0 of the Summicron. I've
used the lens a lot wide open, and the shallow DOF and out of focus
background produce a really unique quality. Thus far, I haven't had a
problem with getting the focus where I want it.

I've so far used both 400 and 1600 speed film with it, and in both cases
have managed very easily handholdable speeds indoors in low light. Last
Friday night I shot a roll of Neopan 1600 at a poetry reading at a local
literary center. The room in which the readings are held is entirely black:
walls, windows, everything is painted black. I sat in the front row about 6
feet in front of the readers, who stood at a podium illuminated by
spotlights: the negs are stunning. Incredible detail (hair, fabric in the
clothing, etc.), dark shapes that were not visible to the naked eye are
there on the negs, just barely coming out against the almost black
background. These pix were made at 1.2/1:4 at about 1/60th.

Anyway, just some initial thoughts on the Noctilux, which is a really
exciting lens. You definitely have the impression you can use it anywhere
for any kind of shooting.

Guy
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