Noctilux Delight!

Hey Mark

Hey Mark

gripper2111 said:
Charlie,
Great shots, I really love the Noctilux, they certainly nail it when nothing else can. I have only shot with it on film but now I am back with the Leica M8 I am lusting after one again.... I've only had the M8 for a couple of days but loving it so far.

Mark
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Thanks for the comment on my photos. So you're back with an M8. It's funny how myself and other friends/photographers I know have come back to the M8 after all the fuss about what it's not good at, has calmed down. Is this your first M8? If so, you won't regret it and I might go as far as to say you will find it difficult to shoot with anything else after a while. I love it! I mainly use the Noct but I also love the 75 cron and the 24 f/2.8.

Good luck with your new camera. As a friend of mine once said. The M8 is like dating Pamela Anderson. If you make her try to cook, do the washing and take care of the kids you may run into some problems however, if you just let her do what she's good at, you will end up a very happy man indeed.

-charlie
 
Ascender said:
As a friend of mine once said. The M8 is like dating Pamela Anderson. If you make her try to cook, do the washing and take care of the kids you may run into some problems however, if you just let her do what she's good at, you will end up a very happy man indeed.

-charlie
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Which is what, exactly? ;)
 
Hi Charlie,

Yes this is my 1st M8. I previously had an M6ttl and an M4 and an assortment of lenses and sold them a few years back - in hindsight not a great move but there you go! I also just sold my R system which is what got me into the M8. No regrets at all and I'm loving having an M again. As for the Pamela Anderson reference, that made me laugh, I totally agree... I was in Vegas last week and before heading off to Zion to take some pics I saw Elton John in concert at Ceasars Palace, Pamela makes an appearance via video towards the end of his show doing what she does best - and it ain't cooking!!

I'd like to try the 75 cron at some point that's for sure - maybe the noctilux one day... My 85 1.2 lives on my Canon.

Cheers


Mark
 
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Hi Mark,
Funny, I saw that show in Vegas and it was fantastic. My wife dragged me along and I ended up thinking it was one of the best concerts I'd ever seen plus I got to hang out with my better half for a couple of days away from the kids.

I too sold a lot of great film stuff five years ago and ended up regretting it bitterly (among them some rare Leica M & R lenses ... didn't care about the bodies much). So recently I've been buying up a lot of old film cameras and good glass. I just managed to finally aquire what I consider to be the holy grail of the M series ... one of the 50 three lens Titan M7 sets complete with documentation, case and original packaging. It took me a while to hunt it down but I finally found one with the help of my friends in Solms. I also have the very first M7 ever made which was code named 'M6-A'. The reason being that it's a prototype, one of 20 made for testing out in the field, they didn't want anyone to know that they were updating the M6 which is why it has that code name. It also has the serial number '0000001'.

I also like the 85 f/1.2. What a fantastic piece of glass that is, truly magical.
Congratulations on your M8 again. I always come back to the M8, it's just so damn good once you stop trying to make it do what i's not good at ;-). I use DSLR's and they are good for certain things but my heart belongs to Leica.

-charlie
 
Charlie,

Elton's still got the magic, i've seen him a number of times and he never fails to entertain.

Your M collection sounds great, I have always lusted after the Titan M7. I did see a Noctilux 1.2 on ebay yesterday - only $16K!! I may go for a 50 cron as a second lens for now and maybe a Noctilux when I can sneak it past the wife...

I to shoot a lot of DSLRs for work but have always missed the M series so it's great to have the M8 back in the bag - just need to get out a shoot some!

Regards

Mark
 
gripper2111 said:
Hi Charlie,

Yes this is my 1st M8. I previously had an M6ttl and an M4 and an assortment of lenses and sold them a few years back - in hindsight not a great move but there you go! .... Cheers


Mark
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Mark - I beg to differ! The M4 is still in good hands, and doing excellent work. :D
 
Chris,

Great to hear it! Took me a while but finally got back into the M series. Glad it went to a good home. Have you tried the M8 or you still using film? More of a bummer I sold all my lenses, now looking to buy some back again. All good fun though.

Regards

Mark
 
Hi Mark

No M8 on my horizon - that would be a step too far for me. I'm happy putting film through the M4 with 35, 50 and 90 lenses, and a Pentax dSLR serves my digital needs, along with a host of nice Pentax glass (some old, some new), along with a Ricoh GX100 recently acquired. Did you keep the DMR kit?

But to get the thread back on track, let's have more Noctilux images!
 
Hi Chris,

Sold the DMR, that's what got me back to the M. The GX100 is a nice little camera, I have one I travel with almost everywhere.

And as you said lets see some more images from the Noctilux - like I need any more temptation!!

Mark
 
Krosya said:
Which is what, exactly? ;)
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Making money, of course! :D

On topic, I truly miss my Noct. I had one in the early 1980s, but foolishly sold it along with the rest of my Leica gear at the height of the Japanese collecting bubble. I was working on a personal (unassigned) feature documenting Cook County (IL) Hospital ER on summer nights - it was invaluable, the hospital was a real cave back then.

I'm sure I'll never be able to afford one again.
 
does eric want to trade a nocti for an m8?


also - ken - are any of those shots from cook county online?
im in wicker park myself. would love to see those.
thanks

jesse
 
Ascender, this shot is just amazing - it really looks like a painting, classic 18th century sort of stuff. That one shot alone makes me lust after a Nocti! Although how much of that image character is due to the Nocti do you think?



Ken Ford said:
I was working on a personal (unassigned) feature documenting Cook County (IL) Hospital ER on summer nights - it was invaluable, the hospital was a real cave back then.
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I'd love to see some shots Ken, I'm a medical student and have been pondering a similar project. I'm about to start an ICU/Ortho/Anaesthetics rotation and really want to get some pics from theatre as well, just gotta sneak the camera past hospital admin types... and the scrub nurses.
 
Thanks Benno...

Thanks Benno...

benno said:
Ascender, this shot is just amazing - it really looks like a painting, classic 18th century sort of stuff. That one shot alone makes me lust after a Nocti! Although how much of that image character is due to the Nocti do you think?


The fact that you use words like 'amazing' to describe anything I've done outside of music makes me so happy ... thank you.

I would say that a lot of what you see has to do with the Noctilux itself. There is something quite unique about the way it portrays it's bokeh. Yes, I know it's an f/1.0 but I really don't think that, that's all there is to it. Yes there were pretty muted colours to begin with but I've used it before in very low light where the colours were totally different and the results were similar to what you describe, an almost 18th century painting kind of feel. I went from not thinking very much of that lens to it being almost my favorite lens period. I cannot wait until Leica finally decide to go FF and it can become a true 50 as the true focal length is my favorite by far. I didn't really understand it's strengths until recently and it kind of stayed unused in my cupboard for the longest time until the M8 came out then I was able to experiment with it more. It has a wacky kind of bokeh when used in daylight which you either love or hate, I personally prefer the sexiness of the sumilux pre-aspherical or even the aspherical to the Noctilux in such conditions but it is that same wacky rendition in, my opinion, that gives it that renaissance feel. Honestly, I cannot say enough great things about that lens, there is a liberating feeling when it is attached to the M which is so empowering. Basically, if you can see it, you can shoot it. Perhaps I'm being a bit unfair with regards to it's normal daylight performance, perhaps I've been reading too many authoritative opinions ( you know what they say about those opinions, they're like a-holes ... everybody's got one). It's just that I do believe the 50 Sumilux to be the best lens ever made ... period so I guess it has a lot to go up against.

Been also shooting a lot with the Nikon D3 recently and some great Zeiss MF Primes (mainly because the Nikon one's are in dire need of a full, home makeover) which I consider to be not quite as majestic but certainly in the same league as the Leica glass and I tell you, the Zeiss 50 Macro f/2.0 is causing oooohs and aaaahs every time I show the images to people.

So once again Benno, thanks for the compliments and if you have the opportunity to get one, then don't hesitate. I know that there are rumours about a new Noctilux coming out later this year and they may very well be true however, this should not in any way undermine the value of the current Noctilux. Newer isn't always better which is why I mentioned that I preferred the pre-aspherical 50 sumilux to it's later counterpart. Great glass is great glass no matter what has come before or what comes after it ... they have a certain character in the same way that the Noctilux just has and will always have it's own, unique thing.

-charlie
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Ascender said:
Ned,
I really love the images on your site. There's one in the Belgrade & Nis series of a woman carrying a red shopping bag with her child. This conjures up such emotion in me and I love it. I don't know why it does this as there are arguably, technically better images on your site like the one of the guy laying on the side walk with the shadows of onlookers (is he dead?) which is a superb capture. However photographs have an uncanny habit of triggering different things in different people which is I guess why we do it. That image has some reference to me, perhaps my childhood and is probably one of the reasons why it caught my eye. If you're interested in selling a print to me let me know. I would also buy the Montreal one as I think it's brilliant.

-charlie
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Thanks Charlie!

I will be glad to give you a print of your choice, as a present. Please contact me via PM if you wish.

Regards
 
ali_baba said:
also - ken - are any of those shots from cook county online?
im in wicker park myself. would love to see those.
thanks

jesse
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Sadly, no. A large portion of my negs and chromes and the entire clip file from the first paper I worked for were destroyed when my Grandparent's basement flooded some years ago. I found out they pitched the wet boxes after the fact.

It still makes me sick to think of all I lost.
 
I had the good fortune to get to use one at a recent Leica Workshop in South Beach. Here are a couple of my favorites:
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