[Leica] Help with Nocti

[henningw at archiphoto.com (Henning Wulff)]

I'm with you on the close focussing. That's the one thing that bothers me on 
the f/1, and I also looked for it on the f/0.95. A close focussing distance 
of .7m is just fine for the majority of my use for a 50, and is just 
wonderful on the 75's! On the wides it's sometimes a bit limiting, but 
generally OK.

I'm glad I kept my f/1. I like a lot of the pictures I take with it, and 
while big, it's a lot smaller than the 0.95, or REALLY a lot smaller than 
the gigantic 0.95 SLR Magic lens. The Leica 0.95 has really great optical 
perfomance, but between the size and lack of closer focussing it's not worth 
it to me at half the price. I have a couple of smaller 50's with a .7m close 
focus, and I use them about 60% and the Nocti 40% when shooting 50mm. I'm 
glad I kept the f/1, as I bought it for less than you can get a current 
Summicron used now, and current Nocti prices are just silly.

Henning


On 2012-01-22, at 5:45 PM, John Collier wrote:

> Hi Mark,
> 
> I agree, it's perfectly ridiculous that 0.3 of a metre would make a 
> difference. However, after a year of shooting, it did. I loved the results 
> but I always found myself having to back up from my intended framing. I 
> started out with SLRs back in the day and my first M was an M2 with a 50 
> Summicron that focused to 0.7m. I never had any close focus issues so 0.7 
> m must have been my working zone with the SLR 50 mm as well. Even with 35s 
> I seldom "bump" into the 0.7 meter limit.
> 
> So, after a year of shooting, I did what I felt was best and changed the 
> lens rather than my shooting style. I next tried the 50 Summilux Asph, had 
> issues and finally ended up with a late non-asph Summilux which focuses to 
> 0.7 m. When the new Noctilux came out, the first thing I checked was the 
> close focus limit and, dang, still 1 m. I now use a 75 Summilux -- thanks 
> Henning for letting me try yours -- and am delighted as it focuses to 0.7 
> m and has an even narrower depth of field than the Noctilux.
> 
> John
> 
> On 2012-01-22, at 6:27 PM, Mark Rabiner wrote:
> 
>> That John sold his Noctilux becuae it went to 1 meter instead of .7 of a
>> meter is a what I've been hearing on the lug now for a decade with a bit 
>> of
>> wonder. One could carry a Summicron in ones pocket for such critical close
>> situations could one not?
>> 11.8 inches is the difference.  But the real issue would be the difference
>> in size of minimum magnification. The smallest area you can shoot would be
>> and why this could not be settled with a tiny bit of cropping when 
>> printing
>> or Photoshopping the  digital image.
>> The 50mm collapsible and rigid Summicrons  in the 50's and 60's both 
>> focused
>> to one meter. Not the key issue I don't think.
>> Many people when they are in a 2 to 3 foot shooting space mind set reach 
>> for
>> their SLR DSLR with maybe a macro lens on it. Put one of those in the 
>> bottom
>> of your camera bag and you're covered when you need to get close and don't
>> want to crop.
> 
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Henning Wulff
henningw at archiphoto.com