Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/11/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>Dear LUG, > >I am hoping to ignite a little passionate discussion on the Noctilux f1 >lens for the M series Leica. Hello Alastair, I did a four month study on the properties and peculiarities of the Noctilux. And after that period I bought one. It is a most difficult lens to evaluate. On first impression it has a number of optical characteristics (some would say 'defects') not seen in modern production lenses out of the Leica stable. At full aperture it exhibits strong light fall-off (more than 3 stops in the corners) and produces clearly visible coma effects starting at =B16 mm from the center of the image circle. The coma however is only visible when the lens is sharply focused on light sources at a distance of more than 10 meters. When the light sources are out of focus they are free of coma. At full aperture the lens does not have the high contrast of the Summicron and Summilux and certainly not the definition of fine details. To give you some reference. The Summilux at f/1.4 is 'better' in these respects than the Noctilux at f/1.4. From f/2.8 the Noctilux, Summilux and Summicron are equal in most respects. The overall contrast of the Noctilux however never reaches the level of the two brothers. The most interesting point of the Noctilux at all apertures and especially from f/1.0 to f/5.6 is the excellent rendition of colour hues and nuances,and a very good micro contrast. The first impression of a Noctilux transparancy is an extremely fine rendition of the textures of the surfaces of the photographed object. It is also the only lens I know of, that suppresses almost any flare encountered, better even than the Summicron-M. Because of this its shadow penetration is excellent. It would do this lens an injustice to classify it as a low light lens only. The higher inherent contrast of the Summilux makes this lens a strong contender in that specific area. The Noctilux however has a very peculiar finger print and an interesting one. Many people assume that one should use a high aperture lens at the limits of handholding capabilities. But at 1/8 of a second no lens can give its best. The Noctilux at 1/60 or better even at 1/125 with the new Ektachromes 100ISO. The Noctilux is one of my favorites for portraits and figure studies on location. I even use a tripod to get the most from its optical potential. Just as a very good French wine you have to learn its character before you can appreciate it. But do not approach the Noctilux as the champion for dark nights only. It has more to offer. Yes it is heavy and expensive. And it obscures part of the viewfinder. And it has an absurdly small depth of field around 3 or 4 metres at full aperture. You have to train yourself to get correctly focused pictures. Yes, the accuracy of the M6 rangefinder is OK. I made careful tests on this point. Greetings Erwin Puts