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Leica Noctilux 0.95 Unplugged

zombii

New member
Cool shots Ashwin. On the second shot as I'm scrolling down the page, I'm thinking "did he get one out of focus?" and then got to the bottom of the image and the kid just jumps out. Very nice. The shot of the girls with the Seattle skyline and Mt Rainier as background is cool too.

Matt, Love the martini shot.
 

johnnygoesdigital

New member
Okay, I'm just gonna say it...I love Leica glass, but I just don't get the love affair with the 0.95. I love bokeh, but the ratio of bokeh to subject is too much...imo. I understand that it requires skill to shoot wide open, but when a subject is soft focus and the rest of the image is extreme OOF, for me, it doesn't have the effect that justifies the hype. For street shooting this would not be the lens for me, for tight dramatic portraits...maybe. I think the 1.4 "lux" is more worthy of the hype IMO.
 

David K

Workshop Member
Okay, I'm just gonna say it...I love Leica glass, but I just don't get the love affair with the 0.95. I love bokeh, but the ratio of bokeh to subject is too much...imo. I understand that it requires skill to shoot wide open, but when a subject is soft focus and the rest of the image is extreme OOF, for me, it doesn't have the effect that justifies the hype. For street shooting this would not be the lens for me, for tight dramatic portraits...maybe. I think the 1.4 "lux" is more worthy of the hype IMO.
As they say... "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". When I look at the images I've taken with the Noct I see something special in many of them. Whether it's objectively there or not may be subject to debate but it's a lens I won't part with.
 

johnnygoesdigital

New member
Hi David K,

Perhaps, it's the web images themselves, they're scaled down, with 72 ppi, so i'm not really getting the full flavor. I have never shot with this lens, but would love an outing with strobes and a model. I'm certainly not trashing the lens, just saying that nothing has really stood out that has compelled me to purchase one...except the image of the "Leica Cuban Boxer", but i'm not sure that was a "noct .095". I'm pretty sure it was a 50mm though.
 

David K

Workshop Member
Johnny, I've got a model shoot scheduled for next week and planned on taking a few with the Noct and some lighting. Funny you should mention that's what you'd like to do. From what I've seen posted the lens doesn't seem to be used all that much with strobes...and I can understand why. There are simply better tools for shoots like that. But I have this idea of trying to get some shots with that old Hollywood glamour type lighting and I think that lens might just work. I'll post a couple up after the shoot.
 

leicashot

New member
Okay, I'm just gonna say it...I love Leica glass, but I just don't get the love affair with the 0.95. I love bokeh, but the ratio of bokeh to subject is too much...imo. I understand that it requires skill to shoot wide open, but when a subject is soft focus and the rest of the image is extreme OOF, for me, it doesn't have the effect that justifies the hype. For street shooting this would not be the lens for me, for tight dramatic portraits...maybe. I think the 1.4 "lux" is more worthy of the hype IMO.
I get you mate. I started this thread to show what 'could' be done with the Noct, not that using the Noct will create superior imagery. As much as it takes skill to shoot accurately wide open, there is more skill involved in ensuring that the content within the image is important and useful. Using such wide apertures normally kill this important content. Heck, Salgado and Bresson never took such images and I can only dream of shooting half as well as those guys.

There are two lessons to be learnt from shooting the Noct.
1. Shooting wide open is great at isolating what you see as important.
2. Shooting wide open can be a useless exercise if one is to ignore the basic principals of what makes a great picture 'with' background.

This is why the Noct f/1 is the most bought and sold lens in the Leica range. Most people buy it. Shoot wide open just to see the effect, without realizing that they need to work 'harder', then sell it because the images they've taken are boring. The Noct truly takes a lot of work to master, but not much more than the typical fast lens....only more seems to be at stake due to its super high price tag.
 

johnnygoesdigital

New member
Excellent points, there is a fine line between those two lessons. I am intrigued by this lens, images seems to have an ethereal luminance to them like no other lens. I sense that nocti juice is addicting because I really want to shoot with it now.

David K. Please post those images, I am curious how this lens looks at 5.6 too.
 

leicashot

New member
Excellent points, there is a fine line between those two lessons. I am intrigued by this lens, images seems to have an ethereal luminance to them like no other lens. I sense that nocti juice is addicting because I really want to shoot with it now.

David K. Please post those images, I am curious how this lens looks at 5.6 too.
Honestly, I can't see an Nocti from f/1 onwards. It really just looks like any other lens from f/5.6, and like a Lux ASPH from f/1.4 to f/2.8. Its a hell of a lens to carry around if you're mainly stopping down
 

johnnygoesdigital

New member
Honestly, I can't see an Nocti from f/1 onwards. It really just looks like any other lens from f/5.6, and like a Lux ASPH from f/1.4 to f/2.8. Its a hell of a lens to carry around if you're mainly stopping down
That's another great point, this really is a specialty lens and as photographers we love fast lenses and the ability to isolate a subject. If only the m9 could sync faster than 180, perhaps 800 or more, we could exploit the benefits of .095 with controlled lighting, but that's probably not even fast enough for this lens. Given how fast the .095 is though, it's ability in ambient low light needs no explanation. The front and rear plane of focus almost touch each other, so subject matter is important. The 50mm focal length is ideal in that, it's wide enough and tight enough to effect some interesting photographs. I appreciate all the photographs posted here...thanks to all.
 

jonoslack

Active member
Honestly, I can't see an Nocti from f/1 onwards. It really just looks like any other lens from f/5.6, and like a Lux ASPH from f/1.4 to f/2.8. Its a hell of a lens to carry around if you're mainly stopping down
I quite agree - I'm loving mine more and more for nature subjects - it forces one to consider the composition over everything, and when you've got it right the rewards are certainly there . . . . . but from f1.4 it's just like a lux (no bad thing of course).

I only take it out when I'm planning to shoot just with the Noctilux, so I've got the right mindset, and then (unless something unexpected comes up) I shoot it wide open all the time.

all the best
 

D&A

Well-known member
Are there any ND filters that are more than 3 stops available for the .095 other than stacking?
Yes, there are....6 stop ones, 9 stop ones or some variations of those. I wonder will those variable adjusted ND filters that seem all the rage these days (especially for video) make their way to a Leica 60mm size (and other sizes) and will they intergrate properly with the Leica M metering?

Dave (D&A)
 

leicashot

New member
Guys this is my last post on this forum/website. I will no longer be contributing here. Take care all, and see you around somewhere else.

Kristian
 

jonoslack

Active member
But the thread should be kept alive!
Great shots from all.
Saul's back from france for the weekend.



Noctilux, wide open
 
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