Noctilust - who has it?

ampguy

ampguy

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Prices are down, inventories are high. Who else wants one?

I plan to get one again for a project on following a wild cat during it's nocturnal adventures and capturing the images to film.

I realize I could get a 5D or whatever the high-iso DLSR of the month is and a 1.2 lens, but I think I could stalk the wildlife better with an RF.

What do you think?
 
ampguy said:
Prices are down, inventories are high. Who else wants one?

I plan to get one again for a project on following a wild cat during it's nocturnal adventures and capturing the images to film.

I realize I could get a 5D or whatever the high-iso DLSR of the month is and a 1.2 lens, but I think I could stalk the wildlife better with an RF.

What do you think?
Click to expand...

Depends on how wild it is...

Tashi delek,

R.
 
I have had one in the past and enjoyed it immensely. Until Leica doubled their Noctulix prices a few years ago it was next to impossible to sell for more than ~$2,000. It was often possible to buy a like new example for $1,500 (and these would sit for months waiting for the "right" buyer).

Prices on the Noctilux got so ridiculous I decided to sell mine – then I bought and sold three others while the prices skyrocketed (made money on every one).

It's like this – I refuse to spend $4,000 or $5,000 (considered a "bargain" today) on a lens which is only artificially inflated. When the dust settles, prices will return to the $2,000 range and back to sitting on dealer's shelves waiting for the "right" buyer.

When (or if) that happens I’ll buy another one.
 
Having owned 6 Noctiluxes, including the f1.2 cured me. What I have now is a bad case of Summilust! I have spent 4 days shooting with the Summilux 21mm f1.4 Asph - and that is one hell of a lens!
I wouldn't mind a faster 50 - but it should be a bit smaller and much cheaper than the "hyped" Nocti's. For a while it was the flavor of the month on Ebay - but I suspect sanity has set in.
If I had $5-6000 to blow on a piece of glass - I would not get a Nocti - but the 21 Summilux instead.
 
Thanks Bill, yes the values do go up and down.

Tom - I'm sure that 21/1.4 is a great lens. I need 50 length or longer, and faster. I have the 75/1.4 lux. I can't get close enough with 21mm, not even with the crop of an M8.
 
My fastest M lens is f/2. Id love to try something faster than f/1.4 but ideally something older than the new CV/ZM lenses. I just cant afford a fast Leitz lens. :-(
 
Tom A said:
Having owned 6 Noctiluxes, including the f1.2 cured me. What I have now is a bad case of Summilust! I have spent 4 days shooting with the Summilux 21mm f1.4 Asph - and that is one hell of a lens!
I wouldn't mind a faster 50 - but it should be a bit smaller and much cheaper than the "hyped" Nocti's. For a while it was the flavor of the month on Ebay - but I suspect sanity has set in.
If I had $5-6000 to blow on a piece of glass - I would not get a Nocti - but the 21 Summilux instead.
Click to expand...


The nocti is the prefect lens for some occasions and a very expensive piece of bling most of the time. That 21mm 'lux sounds mighty tempting though, will you be showing us some shots?
 
Oh, yeah. I had it bad. So, I bought:
50f1 Noctilux
50f1.2 Noctilux
50f1.1 Nikkor, internal and external mount
50f0.95 Canon

Finally, I got over it. No desire for 50f0.95 Noctilux.

No cat to shoot either, but if I had a golden retriever, I'd have rolls and rolls of curly golden bokeh...

....Vick
 
There is another thread with lots of examples of photos shot with this lens and other 1.2, 0.95 lenses wide open. It's an aesthetic that's just not for me. Those photos give me headache, make me dizzy like my vision is failing. I shoot in low light a lot. mostly at f2.0 (Summicrons), sometimes at 1.4 and even 1.2 (Nikon AI 50mm). But I find you have to be SO careful so as not to get all that distracting blurry mush. So, no, not for me!

Beyond that, not sure how you can use a 50mm lens to stalk and photograph a wild cat at night. Sounds like a job for a very fast, very long lens on an SLR on a tripod. But maybe there's something about your project I'm not getting...
 
ampguy said:
Prices are down, inventories are high. Who else wants one?

I plan to get one again for a project on following a wild cat during it's nocturnal adventures and capturing the images to film.

I realize I could get a 5D or whatever the high-iso DLSR of the month is and a 1.2 lens, but I think I could stalk the wildlife better with an RF.

What do you think?
Click to expand...

I think you're kidding, right? And my husband wants a Porsche so the kids won't feel ashamed in the carpool line.

Dude, just buy the lens. This wild cat story won't fool your wife. :)
 
If you find a way to tell the cat to sit down and stop moving until you have focused the Noctilux it might work ... Your 75/1.4 with Tmax 3200 might be a better (and cheaper) approach ;)
 
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