Generations, Part I of III.

Inspiration, Leica 50mm Noctilux f/1, Portrait

Continuing my exploration of the Leica Noctilux f/1.0 (E60)…

Something  tremendous about the light here – can’t quite elucidate what, specifically.  The image definitely wasn’t taken during the “Golden Hour”, so I’m left wondering whether there is a “Noctilux effect” at play.

(please click on the image to view)

↑Leica M9 and Leica 50mm Noctilux @ f/1.

14 thoughts on “Generations, Part I of III.”

  1. Pingback: Generations, Part I of III. - Leica User Forum
  3. Steve Carmichael's avatar

    As you say, the light is hard to explain. I really enjoy the dark greens which have been lit up. I would be very interested to learn your thoughts on the difference between the Noct and the pre-asph Lux you used to own. Is the character worth all the extra cash?

    Keep up the good work. So many of your pictures are beautiful pieces of work.

    Steve

    1. Peter | Prosophos's avatar

      Steve, the Noct f/1.0 and pre-asph 50 Lux are quite similar in their rendering. It’s a lovely and effortless sort of rendering that looks classic and beautiful to my eye – less “clinical” and “perfect” than the newest 50 ‘lux ASPH and Nocti ASPH (which, of course, pair well with each other for a more modern look). Even the bokeh of the Noct f/1.0 and 50 ‘lux pre-asph is similar at identical apertures.

      As for the extra cash being worth it or not, it should really come down to how badly you desire to shoot at f/1.0 vs. f/1.4 – that’s it, in a nutshell. The differences in light gathering and subject isolation abilities and are not great, but they are discernible.

      I hope that helps. 🙂

      Peter.

      1. Guy Platt's avatar

        Just wondered whether there was a noticeable difference in images from the various pre-asph 50 summilux versions that you are aware of? I know that I mostly see reference to the version immediately preceding the ASPH, but I always wonder about the version 1 summilux which I own but which I hardly seem to use (I do have it on my camera right now though).

        P.S. Is the missing Equipment page because of pending updates or have you done away with it?

        1. Steve's avatar

          Guy,

          Have you seen the most recent issue of LFI? It compares all three versions of the pre-asph in some depth.

          Regards,

          Steve

        2. Peter | Prosophos's avatar

          Hi Guy,

          Other than the version immediately preceding the ASPH, I don’t have experience with any of the other pre-asph 50 ‘lux lenses. The LFI article, as Steve’s suggests, is fortuitous.

          With regards to the My Equipment page, I decided it didn’t really matter, that it was easy enough to figure out anyway since all my daily posts are tagged, and that it seemed a little “showy” – which was definitely not my intention.

  4. Steve's avatar

    Version 1 silver (1959-1961) – soft, can suffer from flare when shooting into the light, “light boundary around circles of confusion”. Bokeh can be ‘swirly’

    Version 2 black (1961-2004) – sharper than V1. A half-way pint between V1 and the current ASPH version

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