she's a keen weekend photographer ..... no off-topic otherwise I will use aunties as subjects please thanks
ed
OT definitely from me....ED, you work for xxx xxxxx ? My younger bro also works there....
Last edited:
Review: Leica Noctilux M 50mm f0.95
- Thread starter ed9119
- Start date
OT definitely from me....ED, you work for xxx xxxxx ? My younger bro also works there....
sinned79
Senior Member
she's a keen weekend photographer ..... no off-topic otherwise I will use aunties as subjects please thanks
ed
ok tell me more tmr! i dun OT already :x
yeah.. some pixelation
NazgulKing
Senior Member
Did you have to use an ND filter to use it wide open or? :bsmilie:
if you're shooting at f0.95 in bright daylight, you will need an ND filter to keep within the available maximum shutter speeds
Usain Bolt will not run a full marathon well .... An F1 race car will not give you a comfortable ride .... and the Concord was a darned uncomfortable tight fit for any passenger (at least for fat me at 90kg)
The Noctilux occupies a very carved out niche due to its price tag and what one can do with it at f0.95. Its larger than even the Leica R (SLR) 50mm and most other 50mm primes I've come across over the years.
It certainly draws more attention than usual for the last 6 days I've been carrying it around for.
From a user perspective, here are my comments:
- it takes a very patient, thinking and CREATIVE photographer (AND subject ) to shoot up close with the Noct wide open at f0.95 and its accompanying razor thin DoF ... or ANY OTHER 50/0.95 lens out there, for that matter
- the 'throw' between minimum focusing distance to infinity is long ... your focusing fingers need to 'hop' a little to avoid the fingers blocking the viewfinder
- its sheer size intrudes into the bottom right corner of the viewfinder, more with the lens hood extended
- up close at f0.95 re-composing is a challenge because this causes a slight change in focusing distance to point of focus ... I had alot of ears or nose in tack sharp focus while missing the subject's eye for example .... but to be fair, that is an issue faced with ANY OTHER f0.95 lenses
- its heavier than the camera body so you'll have to adjust for center of balance of the outfit to be a little more forward
The Noct will likely work beautifully in a controlled environment in specific applications but on the streets, it gets a little intimidating (even amongst DSLR users
) Stealth shooting is compromised
If girls can dream of owning a Birkin handbag some day in her lifetime ..... why cant boys dream of a Leica Noctilux ?
The number of photographers this week wanting to just hold and pose with the Noct for a shot with them holding it was just ...... you get the picture.....
Rayotei has the Noct currently and he will begin a comparison thread soon
The Noctilux occupies a very carved out niche due to its price tag and what one can do with it at f0.95. Its larger than even the Leica R (SLR) 50mm and most other 50mm primes I've come across over the years.
It certainly draws more attention than usual for the last 6 days I've been carrying it around for.
From a user perspective, here are my comments:
- it takes a very patient, thinking and CREATIVE photographer (AND subject ) to shoot up close with the Noct wide open at f0.95 and its accompanying razor thin DoF ... or ANY OTHER 50/0.95 lens out there, for that matter
- the 'throw' between minimum focusing distance to infinity is long ... your focusing fingers need to 'hop' a little to avoid the fingers blocking the viewfinder
- its sheer size intrudes into the bottom right corner of the viewfinder, more with the lens hood extended
- up close at f0.95 re-composing is a challenge because this causes a slight change in focusing distance to point of focus ... I had alot of ears or nose in tack sharp focus while missing the subject's eye for example .... but to be fair, that is an issue faced with ANY OTHER f0.95 lenses
- its heavier than the camera body so you'll have to adjust for center of balance of the outfit to be a little more forward
The Noct will likely work beautifully in a controlled environment in specific applications but on the streets, it gets a little intimidating (even amongst DSLR users
) Stealth shooting is compromised If girls can dream of owning a Birkin handbag some day in her lifetime ..... why cant boys dream of a Leica Noctilux ?
The number of photographers this week wanting to just hold and pose with the Noct for a shot with them holding it was just ...... you get the picture.....
Rayotei has the Noct currently and he will begin a comparison thread soon
Last edited:
Thanks to ED,
I got possession of the lens yesterday and decided at the spur of the moment to walk down Orchard Road and take some snaps.
I had my M4P with 50Lux and a M9P with the 50Noct, and I interchanged the lens half way to capture some Noct pix on film.
(I am quite a bochap shooter, I use film mainly and black and white, and I am not generally obsessed with grain, or sharpness,
or even gear. In fact for this shoot, I turned off the M9P preview so that i do not get distracted by the camera)
On the film side, the film used was Fuji Neopan 400, at iso 320. This film is quite grainy but developed correctly gives very nice texture.
On the camera, the ISO is 320 and I set it to B&W so that I do as little post-processing as possible.
First impressions: The Noct is huge compared to my Pre-pre-ASPH Lux. Perhaps not the easiest walk-around lens.
I did a test shot at f0.95 to see if I had any problems, sure enough, handshake was a problem as I adjusted to the
weight of the lens, also, due to the paper thin DOF, I had to take several shots.
This was one of the better test shots.
To solve the problem of focusing, especially in a street situation, I set both the cameras to f16 and moved
the infinity mark to the DOF market at 16, the ensured that for the 50Lux, 2.5/2.7m onwards,
it is sharp, for the 50Noct, it would be nearer to 3m onwards it would be sharp.
Using this hyperfocal distance method to shoot means that I worry about shutter speed
to adjust for exposure and more importantly concentrate on the framing and not worry
about focusing itself, so long as the subject was 2.7m onwards.
By now I was getting the hang of the lens, to further improve the
shoot time, I switched to aperture priority on the m9p.
The Finder Blockage is not life-threatening but around 1/4 - 1/5 of the
finder is blocked by the lens. In practical terms, it doesn't affect focusing
but composition-wise, the lower right corner can't be seen or anticipated.
I got possession of the lens yesterday and decided at the spur of the moment to walk down Orchard Road and take some snaps.
I had my M4P with 50Lux and a M9P with the 50Noct, and I interchanged the lens half way to capture some Noct pix on film.
(I am quite a bochap shooter, I use film mainly and black and white, and I am not generally obsessed with grain, or sharpness,
or even gear. In fact for this shoot, I turned off the M9P preview so that i do not get distracted by the camera)
On the film side, the film used was Fuji Neopan 400, at iso 320. This film is quite grainy but developed correctly gives very nice texture.
On the camera, the ISO is 320 and I set it to B&W so that I do as little post-processing as possible.
First impressions: The Noct is huge compared to my Pre-pre-ASPH Lux. Perhaps not the easiest walk-around lens.
I did a test shot at f0.95 to see if I had any problems, sure enough, handshake was a problem as I adjusted to the
weight of the lens, also, due to the paper thin DOF, I had to take several shots.
This was one of the better test shots.
To solve the problem of focusing, especially in a street situation, I set both the cameras to f16 and moved
the infinity mark to the DOF market at 16, the ensured that for the 50Lux, 2.5/2.7m onwards,
it is sharp, for the 50Noct, it would be nearer to 3m onwards it would be sharp.
Using this hyperfocal distance method to shoot means that I worry about shutter speed
to adjust for exposure and more importantly concentrate on the framing and not worry
about focusing itself, so long as the subject was 2.7m onwards.
By now I was getting the hang of the lens, to further improve the
shoot time, I switched to aperture priority on the m9p.
The Finder Blockage is not life-threatening but around 1/4 - 1/5 of the
finder is blocked by the lens. In practical terms, it doesn't affect focusing
but composition-wise, the lower right corner can't be seen or anticipated.
Last edited:
Similar threads
