35mm f/1.2 Nokton: Anyone used?

S

Stephanie Brim

Mental Experimental.
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I'm curious about this lens. I'm pondering a Bessa at some point and I need a super fast lens because I take a *lot* of shots in low light. Good? Bad? Lens of the Gods?
 
This lens is usually either compared to the Summilux 35/1.4asph or the Noctilux 50/1.

Compared to the Summilux, some folks say the Leica lens is smaller and sharper (but slower). Compared to the Noctilux, this lens more depth of field, is perhaps a little better for interiors (due to wider angle), some say better bokeh but a little slower.

See this thread on p.n http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=007RQS

I want one, but it is only due to uncontrollable gear lust. My 40/1.4 is small and sharp (though maybe the aspheric element in the 35/1.2 would yield better performance wide open).
 
I want one too. The bokah and general performance in the photos I have seen taken with it is very good which is important in low light photography. Size is not an issue as I wouldn't use it as an all around lens, price is high, but not so compared to the competition (other than the CV 40/1.4 from which I am not as fond of the images I have seen), and I want I really fast 35.
 
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Stephanie Brim said:
I'm curious about this lens. I'm pondering a Bessa at some point and I need a super fast lens because I take a *lot* of shots in low light. Good? Bad? Lens of the Gods?
Click to expand...

Talk to Jeffery Smith at the CVUG mailing list , owned by Stephen Gandy our Sponsor and owner of Camera Quest.
Jefferey owns and uses a 1.2/35mm Nokton. Best body would be a Bessa T, because of the size of the lens and the longer RF base.
Bertram
 
I own a 1.2/35 since a year as the main lens for my Leica M6. I do mainly street photography on Tri-X and Tmax 3200. If I only have one camera and one lens with me it is in 90% of the cases this couple.

What I like:
- Outstanding mechanical quality. Focussing is much smoother than with my Summicron 2/50. Very good metal hood.
- The lens is sharp, but does not give too much contrast. For street photography that is fine, for landscapes I would not use it.
- The lens is expensive, but compared to Leica lenses it is still a snap.
- At 35mm you can really use it at 1.2 because there is still something like a very small depth of field. But you need to focus very carefully. I bought a Leica screw-in loupe to enlarge the finder view, guess why.

What I dislike:
- It is huge and heavy. When you carry the camera body and lens for a while you will remember that you carried it.
- The lens is so big that the bottom right corner of the finder shows you the lens - about 20% of the finder view is blocked. As I keep both eyes open I know what happens outside the visible field, but this is annoying.
- The lens is so big that the lens release button of my M6 is almost covered by the lens. Maybe it does not want to leave the Leica in order to be used forever? You can change the lens as long as you do not wear gloves.
- The black paint shows some wear after very short use so that even a quite new lens will tell you that there is brass underneath the paint.
 
M like Leica M6 said:
- At 35mm you can really use it at 1.2 because there is still something like a very small depth of field. But you need to focus very carefully. I bought a Leica screw-in loupe to enlarge the finder view, guess why.
Click to expand...

Is your Leica a .72? Do you have difficulty (need to focus more carefully) focusing because of the speed? I did not think this would be an issue.
 
It's just a normal M6. At 1.2 you have to focus carefully, because the wider you open a lens the less depth of field you have. At other values like 2.0, 2.8, 4.0 etc. it is exactly the same as with a normal 35mm lens. Not a big obstacle, though. Try the lens yourself.
 
I understand the DOF issue with a wide lens. I would have been surprised if you felt that a 35/1.2 lens tests the focusing range of the Leica .72 rangefinder due to its EBL.
 
Err.... what is "EBL"? Sorry, I am german and do not know that abbreviation.
 
Ah, I see. Well, the camera should be precise enough to handle a fast lens. But this will be more important with lenses like a 1.4/75 or so.
 
I'll either end up pairing this lens with a Bessa R2 or a Leica M3; I haven't decided which yet. The higher magnification finders on the M3 should make focusing easier. Course, the only real problem with that is the fact that the M3 finder doesn't have brightlines for 35mm. Maybe I should be looking at an M2 instead.
 
I had one for review (for Shutterbug in the USA) and a friend (Genie Anderson) reviewed the same lens for Black and White in England. We agree: lovely lens, but huge and heavy. I'm happy enough to stick with my tiny pre-aspheric 35/1.4 Summilux but if the fastest lens I had was the 35/1.7 or 35/2.5 I think I'd go for one as a specialized complement to the slower lens.

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)
 
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