Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/02/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]BOB KRAMER wrote: <<<<<<Not to mention that I have yet to see a sharp image... er... excuse me... yet to see a sharp *photo* :-) taken with this lens. The plane of focus appears to be non existent!>>>>> Hi Bob, Well it isn't that, we who use them regularly in our work in colour as well as Black & white don't get sharp pictures, we do. And regularly. Actually I'd have been dead in the water for magical low light moody colour material without it. One thing it does very very well that allows you to blow away art directors while using available existing light shooting Kodachrome 64! They think your crazy and question your common sense, not to mention your mental state. UNTIL! They look at what they thought you weren't shooting in a serious manner. The Noctilux for cost and I agree isn't for the Sunday shooter, it's alot of bread to shell out for a lens you may not use wide open or you don't like the look of the subject separation from the background. However it isn't a lens for everyone until they use it for sometime to become accustomed to it's handling and for shooting mainly wide opn or near that for a high percentage of their picture taking. If one isn't prepared to work in twilight zone lighting for magical moment photographs then they'd be foolish to buy one. But I can assure you that we who work with them on a regular basis wouldn't part with it for hell or high water. <<<<<Using this lens wide open, the question isn't "Do I want the eyelashes to be in focus?", it is "*Which* eyelash do I want to be in focus?".>>>>>>> Naw that's what sorts out the same old pictures to where people who pay you say, "Jeeeeesh how did you do that and it looks incredible!:) <<<<Combine this problem with the high lens cost, the inevitable even if minor optical compromises that result with this fast a lens, and the lens size and weight, and I just don't feel a burning desire to own it.>>>>> Naw the depth of focus/field isn't a problem, it's an asset if you make it work for you. :) To each his own, but the different picture possiblities with it and cost are not a problem, as it's only a tool allowing the photographer to shoot where others fear to tread without using a twinkie flash! (sorry guys I had to get my anti-flash fix) :) The Noctilux opens a whole new world of picture taking and shouldn't be cast aside because one doesn't know how to use it nor the funds to purchase as it's only limited by your imagination to see. ted Ted Grant This is Our Work. The Legacy of Sir William Osler. http://www.islandnet.com/~tedgrant