Peter Klein
New member
Tom: The first thing to ask yourself is, are you a 50mm person or a 35mm person? In other words, which is "normal" for you on a film camera (or a full-frame digital camera like the M9)?
For me, 50 is normal on film, and 35 is "normal" on my M8. I generally want my fastest lens to be of my "normal" focal length.
The next question is whether you are an "available darkness" hound, or just dabble in it occasionally. This will affect whether you choose a more or less expensive fast lens. How much is that extra stop worth to you?
Finally, do you want to use a fast lens all the time for its narrow depth of field and special character, or would you use it only when the lights are low?
The "older" 35/1.4 ASPH does have significant focus shift. So I tend to use it at f/1.4, f/2 and f/8, skipping the stops in between. You would probably find the older Noctilux has a similar pattern.
On an M9, if you're a "50mm" kind of person, the new 50/1.4 ASPH is probably the perfect lens. There is very little you can't do with a good f/1.4. But if you MUST have f/1, obviously only the Noct will do.
If you have an M8, then things are more complicated. The new 'Lux ASPH has minimized the focus shift issue. The Voigtlander 35/1.2 Nokton also has (for all practical purposes) no focus shift. It's a lovely lens, sharp enough but not scary sharp like the 'Lux ASPH, and with a fingerprint somewhere between classic smoothness and nice bokeh vs. modern clinical sharpness. It is, however, big and heavy, less contrasty than the Lux, and prone to color fringing around transition zones between very bright and dark areas (like foliage against a bright sky).
If you have an M8 or are a "35mm" person full-frame, then the new 'Lux ASPH with the floating element is probably your best bet. Another possibility is more than one lens--your 35 Summarit for most photography, and the VC 35/1.2 for available darkness. That's what I do--I use a classic 35 Summicron
v. IV outdoors, and either the old 35/1.4 ASPH or the Voigtlander 35/1.2 indoors.
I try to steer clear of "Noctilust." With film, I've used a 50mm Summicron outdoors, and a Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton indoors. If I had the M9 and another $5K to spare, I'd probably go for the 50/1.4 ASPH, and sell a bunch of other 50s I have. If you want to experiment with "character" lenses, there are cheaper ways to do it than a Noctilux. I'm rather partial to my $30 Russian Jupiter-8, which makes a nice Sonnar. Then there's the Summitar...
As my wife says: "There is no perfect lens. Just buy what you like." (And then I worry about price...)
--Peter
For me, 50 is normal on film, and 35 is "normal" on my M8. I generally want my fastest lens to be of my "normal" focal length.
The next question is whether you are an "available darkness" hound, or just dabble in it occasionally. This will affect whether you choose a more or less expensive fast lens. How much is that extra stop worth to you?
Finally, do you want to use a fast lens all the time for its narrow depth of field and special character, or would you use it only when the lights are low?
The "older" 35/1.4 ASPH does have significant focus shift. So I tend to use it at f/1.4, f/2 and f/8, skipping the stops in between. You would probably find the older Noctilux has a similar pattern.
On an M9, if you're a "50mm" kind of person, the new 50/1.4 ASPH is probably the perfect lens. There is very little you can't do with a good f/1.4. But if you MUST have f/1, obviously only the Noct will do.
If you have an M8, then things are more complicated. The new 'Lux ASPH has minimized the focus shift issue. The Voigtlander 35/1.2 Nokton also has (for all practical purposes) no focus shift. It's a lovely lens, sharp enough but not scary sharp like the 'Lux ASPH, and with a fingerprint somewhere between classic smoothness and nice bokeh vs. modern clinical sharpness. It is, however, big and heavy, less contrasty than the Lux, and prone to color fringing around transition zones between very bright and dark areas (like foliage against a bright sky).
If you have an M8 or are a "35mm" person full-frame, then the new 'Lux ASPH with the floating element is probably your best bet. Another possibility is more than one lens--your 35 Summarit for most photography, and the VC 35/1.2 for available darkness. That's what I do--I use a classic 35 Summicron
v. IV outdoors, and either the old 35/1.4 ASPH or the Voigtlander 35/1.2 indoors.
I try to steer clear of "Noctilust." With film, I've used a 50mm Summicron outdoors, and a Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton indoors. If I had the M9 and another $5K to spare, I'd probably go for the 50/1.4 ASPH, and sell a bunch of other 50s I have. If you want to experiment with "character" lenses, there are cheaper ways to do it than a Noctilux. I'm rather partial to my $30 Russian Jupiter-8, which makes a nice Sonnar. Then there's the Summitar...
As my wife says: "There is no perfect lens. Just buy what you like." (And then I worry about price...)
--Peter
