A7 + Nokton 50mm 1.5 ASPH

[Merelyok]

A very brief summary...i've been shooting with a M9 for a couple of years now (mainly street, a couple of photos of family and friends thrown into the mix).

For a want of better high ISO performance in low light, i decided to try out the A7. (The M240 was tempting, but i simply couldn't justify the price - not when i'm saving for a new place)

Long story short, i plonked down the moolah for a used 50mm 1.5 Nokton ASPH and i'm very happy to report that the combination is very, very satisfactory (to me at least!) - even more so than the 50mm Nokton 1.1 that i've tried on the A7. (The OOF areas seem like a pre-asph lux imo, to me at least) The 50mm 1.1 is a little too busy for my liking, but still an excellent chunk of glass for the price.

Some sample shots (Mostly wide open)

 

[Godfrey]

Looks good. I'll have to revisit the Nokton 50mm f/1.5 on the A7. My first impressions were not so great, but I was perhaps being a bit too critical.

G

 

[Merelyok]

Looks good. I'll have to revisit the Nokton 50mm f/1.5 on the A7. My first impressions were not so great, but I was perhaps being a bit too critical.

G

i could be wrong as i've never had the chance to try modern leica glass on the A7....😱 (the 35mm summilux pre-asph that i had was abit soft)

one can dream i guess!

 

[dcsang]

I've considered this lens at length for both my M7 and A7 - nice to see how it performs - looks like a keeper to me.

My concern is I have a 50mm summilux pre-asph already - it's the "oldest" (i.e. owned by me) lens in my arsenal - and I really don't like duplicating focal lengths but I guess I could make an exception.. 🙂

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Merelyok]

I've considered this lens at length for both my M7 and A7 - nice to see how it performs - looks like a keeper to me.

My concern is I have a 50mm summilux pre-asph already - it's the "oldest" (i.e. owned by me) lens in my arsenal - and I really don't like duplicating focal lengths but I guess I could make an exception.. 🙂

Cheers,
Dave

At this price range, there shouldn't be much buyers remorse (it's not like one is plonking down the cash for a Noct!)

I share the same concern but the irony is that i suddenly find myself with 3 50mm lenses! (A good condition 50mm 1.4 LTM Canon that seems more suited on the M9 than the A7 and the 50mm 1.1 Nokton)

Go for it, i don't think you will regret it!

 

[dcsang]

At this price range, there shouldn't be much buyers remorse (it's not like one is plonking down the cash for a Noct!)

I share the same concern but the irony is that i suddenly find myself with 3 50mm lenses! (A good condition 50mm 1.4 LTM Canon that seems more suited on the M9 than the A7 and the 50mm 1.1 Nokton)

Go for it, i don't think you will regret it!

I've played with one briefly on the M7 - the silver/chrome version - which I really liked - I guess we'll see. I believe I saw one available locally via Craigslist.. hmmmm

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Godfrey]

The frightening thing is how many 50mm lenses I now have:

Color Skopar 50mm f/2.5
Nokton 50mm f/1.5 ASPH (LTM)
Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 AI-S
Summicron-R 50mm f/2
Summilux-R 50mm f/1.4

And they all render differently...!

G

 

[Merelyok]

The frightening thing is how many 50mm lenses I now have:

Color Skopar 50mm f/2.5
Nokton 50mm f/1.5 ASPH (LTM)
Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 AI-S
Summicron-R 50mm f/2
Summilux-R 50mm f/1.4

And they all render differently...!

G

Because there's no such thing as too many lenses 😛

 

[Merelyok]

I've played with one briefly on the M7 - the silver/chrome version - which I really liked - I guess we'll see. I believe I saw one available locally via Craigslist.. hmmmm

Cheers,
Dave

The one i have is black, quite a bit lighter than the one in silver (which is brass or nickel - i can't remember), and supposedly built in limited quantities. I might be wrong on the limited edition thingy though.

 

[kbg32]

I think the 50 1.5 Nokton is very underrated or not appreciated much at all. It is the only 50 I have and it performs wonderfully on the digital Ms. Beautiful rendition and sharp as a tack when it needs to be. No surprise that you like it on your A7.

 

[Merelyok]

I think the 50 1.5 Nokton is very underrated or not appreciated much at all. It is the only 50 I have and it performs wonderfully on the digital Ms. Beautiful rendition and sharp as a tack when it needs to be. No surprise that you like it on your A7.

indeed!

Really cute shot btw, has a sorta Martin Parr thing going on there!

 

[kbg32]

Thanks Wilfred. That's my little boy a couple of years ago at a friends birthday party. He is quite the character!

 

[goamules]

Shoot, try em all! In 50mm I have:

Nikkor Tokyo 50/1.4
Nikkor Japan 50/1.4
Jupiter 3
Jupiter 8
another Jupiter 8
Industar 50/2.8
Fed 50/3.5
Elmar 50/3.5
Hektor 50/2.5
Canon 1.2
Canon 1.4
Canon 1.5
Canon 1.8

And those are just off the top of my head!

 

[f16sunshine]

Merelyok, Keith... Super images regardless of gear.
Cheers!

 

[Godfrey]

I think the 50 1.5 Nokton is very underrated or not appreciated much at all. It is the only 50 I have and it performs wonderfully on the digital Ms. Beautiful rendition and sharp as a tack when it needs to be. No surprise that you like it on your A7.

Cute photo!

The Nokton 50/1.5 ASPH (LTM) has been my standard lens on the M9 since I got it. My first round of testing with it on the A7 wasn't all that great, don't know why. Hopefully I'll have a chance to try it out further this weekend.

It's a wonderful lens on the M9!

G

 

[Merelyok]

f16sunshine, thank you!

 

[GaryLH]

The frightening thing is how many 50mm lenses I now have:

Color Skopar 50mm f/2.5
Nokton 50mm f/1.5 ASPH (LTM)
Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 AI-S
Summicron-R 50mm f/2
Summilux-R 50mm f/1.4

And they all render differently...!

G

But that is part of the fun 😛. Tried the Konica 57f1.2 or canon rf 50f1.2 yet?

 

[GaryLH]

Love the first shot
Gary

 

[Archiver]

Looks like a great combination. Nice work, too.

 

[Merelyok]

Thanks Gary and Archiver!