Re: 50 Noct. in bright light

[Nick Hunter <nhunter1@mindspring.com>]

Thanks Paul. I got a chuckle anyway!

>>>    I'm just curious about this. Everything I read about the 50/1 Noctilux
>>> says it isn't for general photography and only for low light use.
>
>
>50mm lenses are very specialized. A lot of people think that the aperture
>rings are there so that the lenses can be stopped down: this is not true!
>The aperture control is there only to "turn the lens off" when it is not
>in use.
>
>The Noctilux is ONLY for shooting at f/1. To shoot at f/1.4, switch to a
>Summilux; for f/2 shooing you should only use a Summicron; that's why
>they made it. Get out your collapsable Elmar for f/2.8, and you need to
>have a screw-mount Elmar for f/3.5.
>
>If f/3.5 is too wide an aperture for your shot, wait for it to get dark,
>so you can start using the faster lenses again.
>
>>> So what
>>> would happen if I mounted a Noctilux on my M3 (and don't I wish I could
>>> afford to!) and took pictures in the noonday sun? Would civilization, such
>as
>>> it is, crumble?
>
>Why take such a big chance? To be safe, noonday shooting with the
>Noctilux should be done with ISO 12 film, pulled 2 stops during during
>processing, so you can use f/1.
>
>- Paul