[Leica] Is the Noctilux for night photograpy?

[AlastairF@bhs.grampianshealth.org.au]

My question concerns the Noctilux. I do a lot of night photography. I
shoot at F 5.6, use color slide film (Velvia and Kodachrome 64) and get
good results with a 35 mm 1.4 Summilux and and the 21 mm.

How well will the Noctilux perform at 5.6? Will it better or worse than
a 50 mm 1.4 summilux?

My feeling is that the Noctilux is best when wide open.

I have borrowed a Noctilux and have found it difficult to focus. The 35
mm and 21 are fairly easy to focus.

Any comments will be appreciated.
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doug,

A name favoured here in Australia ;-)

The Noctilux is wonderful with Kodachrome. It gives a "glow" at night around
dusk, which is really special, and it handles bright light sources with the
grace of a beautiful monarch. Great combination. Now about f5.6; well can't
say that mine is used at that setting much. I did use it during the day with
400 asa film recently, stopped down to f11 and f16, and  the results were
fantastic --- but I did not have the summicron with me on that trip, so
there was no comparison other than the 35 summilux asph, and to be honest,
at f11/16 the results seemed similar to this little easter bunny;

speaking of easter and full moons, I'm hoping to be off to the "walls of
china" in Mungo National park this easter, and will give the R8 a thrashing
with a few rolls of kodachrome. 

Oh and I've forgotten to tell all my friends, that my 70 to 180 zoom came
back after 3 months in Germany all spick and span with no dust or internal
problems. I can tell they opened it as there is a minor mark on the rim that
holds the front element in. As some of you will know, it was jamming on 70mm
in Japan recently --- a very heavy 70mm lens to carry through Japanese Alps
;-)

The zoom feels good, so we can only cross our fingers and hope that the
jamming problem will not recur --- of course, I have no idea what went
wrong, and Leica are not about to tell me ;-) Do love the lens though.

cheers all