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CV 35/1.2 Nokton

iiiNelson

Well-known member
So I've been looking into this lens as a specialty lens for my M9 down the road. I love the rendering and sharpness but my concern is for color images. Does the coloring from this lens always provide the "muted" look or is that what people are doing in PP? If nothing else this could be the ultimate B&W lens but I'm trying to justify not needing to save $5K for a 35 Summilux FLE which seems to be potentially inevitable...
 

Double Negative

Not Available
This lens might be a little less contrasty at/near wide open. It can be fixed up in post no problem. I don't consider this a bad thing; especially if you use it in low light (high contrast) situations.

It's a fantastic lens; I love mine. Works great on film, M8, M9. I coded mine as a 35 Lux.

Samples, mostly from M8
 

mathomas

Active member
I have had one for a few days now. For me, the jury is out. It doesn't seem to provide high-contrast or "pop" in the colors when wide-open, like say, a Zeiss. But that's OK with me (much easier to add contrast than remove it). I just processed some Thanksgiving pix with the M8 and Nokton, and I had to bump the contrast on pretty much all of them (but not the saturation).

I'm still struggling with focus issues at larger apertures. Mine seems to back-focus a bit wide-open (as opposed to my Sonnar, which does not), so I'm learning to adjust for that.

I need to get out for an M2-day with it and see how I like its signature on film.

To be brutally honest, my little VC 35/1.4 SC is looking pretty great right now at 1/2 stop slower, cheaper, and much tinier.

If it helps, I've attached one of the better results (at least it's in focus, not calling it a great photo) from Thanksgiving. The first has a few minor adjustments (exposure, rotation, sharpen), but no contrast or saturation adjustment. The second has contrast and vignetting added to the first (again, no saturation). The lens has a UV filter on it, but is not coded.
 
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It is not a contrasty lens & that's a plus. You can always boost contrast & saturation, but it's hard even with LR/ACR Recovery & Fill sliders to retrieve all the highlight & shadow detail in sunny-day shots with contrastier lenses like 35 Lux Asph. I'm selling mine (got a 35 Lux FLE) but will miss the lower contrast (but am happy to part with the weight & CA).

This lens is IMO one of the great bargains for Leica – if you don't mind carrying it around. (Other great bargain: 40 Summicron.)

Kirk
 

thrice

Active member
Mine arrived today :D

It sure is gorgeous, not that big without the hood. Did a quick focus check and seems spot-on. 12 aperture blades :shocked: very nice build, focus is smoother than 50/1.1 nokton. It's fun to look at the lens and see all the strange ways the light reflects through the lens since there are 3 aspherical surfaces.

I'll actually get around to using the lens in earnest tomorrow night for some live music.
 

thrice

Active member
Colour shouldn't be a problem hiredarm, I shot these wide open today (very bright midday sun in Western Australia) in the very bland park near my house. Great for high contrast light!

Images are untouched except for a little recovery slider (+23) a little contrast (up from 25 default to 50) and changing the tone curve from mild contrast to linear.

Sorry they suck :p






Worth noting these were shot uncoded so once it is coded the vignetting should go down a tad. Oh, and I used an 8x (3 stop) ND filter to shoot wide open.
 

exile

New member
I'm still struggling with focus issues at larger apertures. Mine seems to back-focus a bit wide-open (as opposed to my Sonnar, which does not), so I'm learning to adjust for that.

If it helps, I've attached one of the better results (at least it's in focus, not calling it a great photo) from Thanksgiving.
Hi Mike,

It looks to me like there is still some backfocus on this image - Mary's left hand looks sharper than her face. If you are sure it is the lens, rather than the camera, can you send it back?
 

Jan Brittenson

Senior Subscriber Member
I just got one of these - looks like a very nice lens from just clicking away a little bit. Chimping shows it's very good optically. Mechanically it's great; smooth damped focus, nice aperture control, the barrel is very ZM-like. It looks, feels, and shoots like a modern lens. (Though I personally slightly prefer the Leica style rubber focus ring over the zebra style, but it's a pretty trivial preference.) At what these sell for it's an absolute steal. Pure and sheer optical piracy! The drawback is, yes, its size. It's really quite big and I wouldn't want it for my main 35. I probably wouldn't always keep it in the bag. But it's a perfect complement to a Summicron 35 ASPH; 1.5 stops faster and a more gentle look, I'd say almost romantic. (In a good sense.)
 
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