Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2018/01/04

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Paul, that is indeed very good performance at 1.2.  I have been reasonably
happy with the 1.4 version but it really needs to be at F2 to sharpen up.

Lluis and Frank, in my mind the balance is in what you want out of a lens.
Certainly for street work(carrying a camera/lens with unknown subjects) a
50 or 35 ASPH Summilux is a good trade off between size, sharpness, bokeh,
weight, and price.  When you move faster there has been a trade off in
weight, optical performance especially in the edges, and of course price.
The 0.95 Noctilux is a very good lens but heavy and expensive; you would
need to be making money or really need the light gathering/subject
isolating qualities of 0.95.  For example, I find the Noctilux Gen II sharp
enough for theatre/club shots but with a phenomenal ability to not flare
with the extreme lighting making it worth the weight.

The lenses I mentioned earlier are special in their flaws, they render
subjects in a way that is sometimes exactly perfectly bad.  This image at
F1 with a close focusing helical is what I am talking about; using the
aberrations to make an interesting image.

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/don_dory_gmail_com/
Noctilux+wrapped+leafLUG.jpg.html

All the best.

On Thu, Jan 4, 2018 at 3:18 PM, Paul Roark <roark.paul at gmail.com> wrote:

> It's just a test shot of the canyon behind my house, but (particularly with
> fall colors and some bare trees) it makes a very good test range.  I've
> never had an f/1.2 that could come close to the across-the-board landscape
> usability criteria I'm looking for.  This one seems to do it.
>
> It was after sunset, so the 800 ISO I used is at least as limiting as the
> wide open lens.  (I limit the ISO range of the Sony.  After a while you're
> probably better off doing the amplification at home.)  The image has been
> sharpened, of course, but the signal-to-noise ratio holding up across the
> field is going to allow me to explore lower light levels on the fly,
> hand-held which I'm looking forward to.
>
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
>
> On Thu, Jan 4, 2018 at 12:02 PM, Lluis Ripoll <
> lluisripollphotography at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Excellent image Paul!
> > Lluis
> >
> >
> > > El 4 gen 2018, a les 20:46, Paul Roark <roark.paul at gmail.com> va
> > escriure:
> > >
> > > ?I've worked up my first landscape test shot taken at f/1.2? by the new
> > > Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 for the Sony a7rii.  Wide open it is
> > somewhat
> > > soft across the frame.  However it looks like it sharpens well enough
> in
> > > Photoshop that I think I'll be able to use it for gallery quality 20x24
> > > inch B&W display prints on either matte paper or canvas.   By f/2.8
> it's
> > > excellent.
> > >
> > > So far there is no profile for it in my Photoshop CC, but it doesn't
> seem
> > > to need one.
> > >
> > > What's on my home page now is my first  a stacked image of hand held
> > f/1.2
> > > frames at different distances from the foreground to the sharp ridge I
> > look
> > > at over a little canyon.
> > >
> > > See http://www.paulroark.com/
> > >
> > > I've had older Canon f/1.2 optics and never kept them.  This Nokton,
> > > however, looks like it's made the grade for a spot in my lineup for
> > travel
> > > and hiking: Loxia 21, Nokton 40, Leica-M Macro-Elmar 90.
> > >
> > > Paul
> > > www.PaulRoark.com
> > >
> > > On Thu, Jan 4, 2018 at 10:44 AM, Frank Filippone <red735i at verizon.net>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > >> I bought one of these from Amazon last year ($369).  Only over
> Christmas
> > >> did
> > >> I get to really try it out..
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> I own a Noctilux, 3rd version. Not the new F0.95 version, but the 1.0
> > >> version.  I thought that maybe I could buy this cheapie, and sell off
> > the
> > >> Nocti..   Put several thousand dollars back into the coffers...
> > >>
> > >> I also own a 50mm F1.4 Summilux ASPH, the sharpest lens I have ever
> run
> > >> across.
> > >>
> > >> My Monochrom is back from its stay in Allendale.. So it was the right
> > time
> > >> to try the lens on the Monochrom body and run it against the Summilux.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> The focus seems right on.  There is the possibility to adjust the RF
> > cam,
> > >> but I did not have to do the adjustment, everything worked just fine.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> I shot wide open. why else buy this lens?
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> There is a creamy edge to all of the images taken, from F1.1 to about
> > F2.8
> > >> After that, the creaminess disappears.  It is a pleasant effect.  Soft
> > >> renditions of an earlier time and place.  But if you think this is in
> > the
> > >> less well focused areas, you are wrong.  It is creamy all over.
> Focused
> > >> areas or not...  May will love this for portraiture.  Maybe for some
> > >> landscapes.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> But it you LOVE sharpness, and pursue tit with lenses like the 50 ASPH
> > Lux,
> > >> this lens is so different it takes some time to comprehend.  I am not
> > there
> > >> yet.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Do I like what I shot?  Depends, as a shot of my Son worked out real
> > well.
> > >> But a shot of my future DIL was way more interesting ( technically?)
> > but it
> > >> showed every pore on her face...   The shot of her with the 7
> artisans,
> > was
> > >> much smoother.  Of course, it also means there was nothing sharp.  So
> I
> > >> like
> > >> everything smooth or everything sharp?
> > >>
> > >> Not so sure yet..
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Next thing to try out is the 7 Artisans against my Nocti.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Maybe this week...
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> BTW, the Techart Leica M to Sony A7II (and other) AF adapter worked
> real
> > >> well..   That was a real win.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Frank Filippone
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Red735i at verizon.net
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> _______________________________________________
> > >> Leica Users Group.
> > >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> > >>
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Leica Users Group.
> > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Leica Users Group.
> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>



-- 
Don
don.dory at gmail.com


In reply to: Message from red735i at verizon.net (Frank Filippone) ([Leica] 7 Artisans 50mm F1.1 Lens)
Message from roark.paul at gmail.com (Paul Roark) ([Leica] 7 Artisans 50mm F1.1 Lens)
Message from lluisripollphotography at gmail.com (Lluis Ripoll) ([Leica] 7 Artisans 50mm F1.1 Lens)
Message from roark.paul at gmail.com (Paul Roark) ([Leica] 7 Artisans 50mm F1.1 Lens)