[Leica] Have 35 'Lux, want 35/1.2 Nokton. Crazy?

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

One leg up you could get on the whole conundrum is to just not sell off your
Summilux right off the bat. Wait.
Have both the Nokton and Summilux at the same time.
That way you can shoot the same tree or bird or person with it at the same
shoot. Then make a print from both. Or just output to your highest output
you'd ever use. And see the difference.
Me I have more than one versions of the same focal length for sure.
The fast one you don't use for long hikes
The slow one you don't use for coal mines at midnight.

Or a new design you use for stuff that has to be sharp and an old one for
stuff which needs "character".


If a good period of time goes by and one of them feels superfluous than you
wont feel bad about letting it go.
Its stood up against your other stuff in real time and didn't make the cut.

But if it was me id not sell it anyway.
Because a year is not long enough.
And two years from now you'll want that edge wide open from Leica.

....................
Mark William Rabiner



> From: Peter Klein <pklein@2alpha.net>
> Reply-To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org>
> Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2008 14:32:49 -0700
> To: <lug@leica-users.org>
> Subject: [Leica] Have 35 'Lux, want 35/1.2 Nokton. Crazy?
> 
> Has anyone here used both the Leica 35/1.4 Summilux ASPH and the CV 35/1.2
> Nokton?  And had to decide between one or the other, or both?
> 
> I have the Summilux, and I've never tried the Nokton.  Yet the pictures I
> see on the Net taken with the 35/1.2 Nokton make me want it. Not as a
> replacement for the 'Lux, but as an adjunct.  I'm not sure if the desire is
> based on some real photographic need, lens buying addiction, or perhaps
> misplaced Noctilux envy.
> 
> Anyway, here are my random thoughts on the matter:
> 
> With film, I have always been primarily a 50mm kind of guy. Which makes me
> a 35mm kind of guy with the M8.
> 
> I love available light. It's a significant part of my photography. Now, the
> half-stop between f/1.4 and f/1.2 doesn't make a huge difference in shutter
> speed. But the difference between 1/15 and 1/22 second, or 1/30 and 1/45
> might be significant in reducing motion blur on a marginal shot.
> 
> The Nokton does not have appreciable focus shift as you stop down,
> according to Sean's test. The Summilux does. I've learned to get around it,
> but it's annoying to have to think about one more thing.
> 
> The Summilux is unbelievably sharp and contrasty even wide open. It has
> fairly harsh bokeh. The Nokton is a little less sharp and contrasty, but it
> seems more than adequate wide open, and the bokeh and contrast are more
> gentle.
> 
> I'm not sure I want to carry a lens that weighs more than a pound around my
> neck. So the Nokton would be something I carry mostly when I know I'm going
> to need it.
> 
> I also have a classic design 50/2 Summicron v. 4, which I use when the
> light is good. I prefer its bright-light rendition to the 'Lux's. So I've
> already got two 35mm lenses.
> 
> Oh great, I'll have to buy another big, expensive IR cut filter.
> 
> If I got the Nokton, it would be hard to justify keeping the Summilux. Yet
> how could I sell the Summilux?  It's the best lens I've ever had, by the
> standard of sharpness and clarity.
> 
> I'm an idiot.  I should stick with what I've got.
> 
> And yet. . .
> 
> Repeat entire circular thought process over and over.
> 
> So, as the cowardly Lion said:  "Talk me out of it." Or not...
> 
> --Peter
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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