Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/11/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Dragi Anevski wrote: > B.D. > > It does not make me dizzy. On the contrary I think that this lens seems > to help a lot when composing: How can a lens help with composing on a rangefinder, since you don't know what's going on through the lens? > 1. On all pictures, the out of focus areas are blurred and you don't > mind e.g. the red parts in the first picture "Ted picking...". Stopping > down would take that effect away. So this could be very useful for > certain pictures. And you do see the background, only that you're drawn > to the in focus area. While I certainly understand that all of this is a matter of taste, the "out of focus" blurrs are quite ugly. For a group that is always talking about the import of bokeh, I would think that most bokeh fans would think that this bokeh is really attrocious. > 2. The darker corners makes you concentrate on the middle, which can be > very effective, as in Rei's pictures. It's not an uncommon technique to > burn the edges, although not everyone would like it to show as much as > in these pictures. Usually we criticize - in fact we try not to use - lenses with this kind of drop off in the corners. This is what's called a serious fault when testing lenses. It's certainly understandable that go get to f1 and keep the central part of the image sharp, the Nocdesigners had to make trade-offs, but those trade-offs are hardly something to praise. > 3. "Cut out and inserted..." That's things you do in photoshop, and I > doubt it would look this good then. At least I've never seen photoshop > pictures looking like this. Believe me, if this had been done in Photoshop it would be far smoother and vastly superior. > > I can imagine that if you only got this kind of pictures, you might get > tired of it eventually. But I've never seen pictures with the Noctilux > wide open, and I was blown away by these. The blurring makes you see the > composition more clearly, it becomes more lines and areas. But that > depends on whether you want that or not. Also one could very well > compose the pictures so that the effect doesn't become as strong if its > too much for ones taste, for instance in the picture on Ted (?) alone by > the fence, you could change the composition to have a different angle > between the lens and the fence. > > I think the pictures look fantastic. Again, we're talking about taste, and mine is certainly no better than yours.:-) But I believe we are also talking about the Emperor and his new clothes here. And it really is time to admit that he's stark nekid...or at least to admit that the Noctilux is a must have lens for the purpose for which it was designed, and quite poor as a general purpose lens. In fact, I will stick my neck out again and ask Dr. Noctilux, otherwise known as Ted "F1 and be there" Grant, what he thinks of the images produced by the Noctilux under the conditions we see in these images. B. D. > > :-) > Dragi > > >> From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net> >> Reply-To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us >> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us >> Subject: Re: [Leica] color noctilux autumn images >> Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 17:04:42 -0500 >> >> I'm going to stick my neck out really, really far, here - (and then run >> off to teach tonight's class, saving me until tomorrow from the flames >> ;-) ) >> >> I don't think that there is any question that Rei is one of the better >> photographers on the LUG, but that lens is a pig. >> >> >> I can see using a Noctilux, with all its glaringly obvious faults, when >> it is the only piece of glass with which one can capture a particular >> image worth capturing. Which generally means something happening in >> virtually no light. >> >> But when used to take this kind of photo, it produces images that can >> literally make a viewer slightly dizzy and nauseaus. As I look at the >> upper several images, I'm not sure whether a lens element is out of >> wack, or vasoline has been smeared across part of the lens. And as I >> look at the bottom image, I get the feeling that a sharp photo of a >> child has been cut out and inserted into a blurry forground and >> background image. >> >> >> Again, I'm not talking about the photography as such - these photos, if >> taken with, say, a Summilux 75 opened up, would have been lovely. But >> this lens, under these circumstances, is an image killer. >> >> Sorry. >> >> B. D. >> >> Mike Gil wrote: >> >>> Rei, >>> >>> Great pictures. I like the one where your daughter is >>> laying on the leaves. The swirling effect created by >>> the Noct makes the picture even better, than it >>> already is. First time I've seen this effect I need >>> to point my Noct down more offen. I think if Smith >>> had a Noct, he would of spent much less time in the >>> darkroom. The darkroom effects created by the Noct >>> seem so natural to the eye. The burnt in corners >>> created by the Noct draws you into the subject. >>> >>> mike gil >>> --- Rei Shinozuka <shino@ubspainewebber.com> wrote: >>> >>>> this is my final set in my latest round of scanning! >>>> >>>> i was motivated by the beautiful autumn we enjoyed >>>> this year. >>>> so here my first color images with the noctilux, 75 >>>> lux, etc. >>>> fuji reala. >>>> >>>> http://www.shinozuka-family.com/200110autumnlux1/ >>>> (3 pages) >>>> >>>> my personal favorites are the second page. >>>> >>>> link to those pages and all my stuff: >>>> http://www.shinozuka-family.com >>>> >>>> -rei >>>> -- >>>> To unsubscribe, see >>>> >>> http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html >>> >>> >>> __________________________________________________ >>> Do You Yahoo!? >>> Yahoo! GeoCities - quick and easy web site hosting, just $8.95/month. >>> http://geocities.yahoo.com/ps/info1 >>> -- >>> To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html