glenerrolrd
Workshop Member
On saturday night I finally had the opportunity to test the M9 and my Classic Noctilux(sounds better than the old model). Over the past two years I have shot on Times Square a half dozen times with various lenses and the M8. I always enjoy it ..who cares if the place has been photographed a million times.
The bottom line was the combination was just beautiful together. The high ISO performance was about +1 stop better than the M8 . Which meant that at ISO 1000 I could shoot at 1.4 verse 1.0. Why do this ? Because I enjoy the bokeh of the original Noctilux and the way it renders colors . The M9 produces a smoother bokeh than the M8 and the color saturation reminds me of the DMR.
The "Classic" Noctilux isn t that sharp closeup and wide open ..no floating elements but on Times Square the subject is typically 15-20 ft away with a 50MM. There is no doubt that the 50mm asph would produce improved resolution and for a few of the images would be better. But then the bokeh would be worse because it would look sharp.
This isn t a test ..I know better ...but simply my examples processed in LR2 the way I normally do it . Without a doubt the processing can be better with C1 as the CA shows in places . But you can see how smooth the out of focus areas are and how it creates a special rendering.
The bottom line was the combination was just beautiful together. The high ISO performance was about +1 stop better than the M8 . Which meant that at ISO 1000 I could shoot at 1.4 verse 1.0. Why do this ? Because I enjoy the bokeh of the original Noctilux and the way it renders colors . The M9 produces a smoother bokeh than the M8 and the color saturation reminds me of the DMR.
The "Classic" Noctilux isn t that sharp closeup and wide open ..no floating elements but on Times Square the subject is typically 15-20 ft away with a 50MM. There is no doubt that the 50mm asph would produce improved resolution and for a few of the images would be better. But then the bokeh would be worse because it would look sharp.
This isn t a test ..I know better ...but simply my examples processed in LR2 the way I normally do it . Without a doubt the processing can be better with C1 as the CA shows in places . But you can see how smooth the out of focus areas are and how it creates a special rendering.