Re: [Leica] NOCTILUX-M f/1/50 mm

[Guy Bennett <gbennett@lainet.com>]

Contrary to appearances I'm not trying to evangelize. The below are just
comments on the typical "shortcomings" of the Noctilux such as I've
experienced them thus far. Your own milage may vary.


>Unless you are shooting in light that allows photography at f 1.4 or
>smaller aperatures;


Not necessarily so. I've used the Noctilux in normal daylight outdoors,
stopping down to 5.6, heck, even 8 at one point, and the lens performs very
good.


>unless you want anything vaguely like normal bokeh;


IME, the bokeh is close to that of the 50 Summicron, the other 50 I use,
and which I consider to have the most beautiful bokeh I've ever seen, short
of the Summarit wide open...


>unless you want a 50 without vingetting;


Once again, according to Erwin ("Leica Lens Compendium," pp. 126-127 and
pp. 118-124), even the Summicron and the Summilux 50s vignet wide open, the
first by some 1.7 stops, the second by more than 2 stops. In real life
shooting conditions however, the vignetting in all lenses is meaningless
and invisible most of the time. I've put about 12 rolls through the
Noctilux thus far. I've noticed vignetting on 3-4 shots, all done indoors
against a light colored, evenly lit background. In all other cases the
vignetting goes unnoticed. Check out Tina's Noctilux shots among the FOM2's
first year's finalists, Ted's work on his website and anything Rei has
posted thus far and get back to me about the vignetting you've seen there.


>unless you want a lens that won't cause you back problems;


By Leica standards, it's a heavy weight, I know, but it honestly hasn't
bothered me one bit. I've got one chrome M6 and a slew of chrome lenses and
am used to that weight (and the Elmarit 90 in chrome ain't light). The
Noctilux hasn't felt too heavy to me yet.


>and unless you want a 50 that doesn't  cause cataracts of the viewfinder.


Here too, in my shooting experience with this lens this problem has not
been a problem. As long as you're aware of the general background, it's not
difficult to just compose as you normally would and get the shot you
expect, and if that's the case, then the problem is just about meaningless.


>BUT, if you are always shooting in virtually no light, and absolutely
>must get the shot, THEN you will never want to remove the Noctilux from
>you M6.
>
>B. D.


And it's good in those conditions too. I realize that it ain't the 50 for
everybody, but it's a hell of a good performer, and not only in little to
no light. I would recommend to anybody considering this lens to do what I
did: go out and rent one for the weekend. Shoot with it in a variety of
lighting conditions, use the lens and form your own opinions. I was hooked
and bought the lens shortly after. I bet that many others would too.

Guy
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