Fast 50mm M9 options without breaking the bank?

Roel said:
Took my 40mm 1.4 Voigtlander to a tech guy and some of the internals were loose (and the 35mm had lens separation...grrr). Will wait and see what the VC 40mm performance will be after the repair. It is nice small and light so it could be a good solution...
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How did your 40mm Nokton work after servicing? I mostly used mine with film and there it was excellent. But on the Leica M(240) at wider apertures there was corner smearing and color shading. I suspect it's the compact design that just isn't optimum for digital sensors. Interestingly the 40mm Rokkor did much better on the 240.
 
Derek Leath said:
Can you see through the viewfinder OK with this lens on the M9?
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I have the 1.1, and i can look quite well through the viewfinder. You can see the lens, but it's not really in the way of composing (imho). Ken Rockwell has a review on it where he posts an image through the viewfinder, i use a different hood then the original, a cheap ventilated ebay hood which let me look through it. Don't believe what Ken Rockwell says in his review though, well, you can believe it, but i don't really agree with his opinion on this lens.
 
maartenmoerman said:
I have the 1.1, and i can look quite well through the viewfinder. You can see the lens, but it's not really in the way of composing (imho). Ken Rockwell has a review on it where he posts an image through the viewfinder, i use a different hood then the original, a cheap ventilated ebay hood which let me look through it. Don't believe what Ken Rockwell says in his review though, well, you can believe it, but i don't really agree with his opinion on this lens.
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Yeah he got a bad lens (it happens, maybe it was dropped) because my Nokton 50 1.1 is extremely sharp.
 
Roel said:
... I have a M9 coming which i will use besides a M9M and am looking for a good fast option. I have a 50mm summicron v3. and 35mm summicron v4.

Which 50mm would be a good compliment to shoot faster than f2 (and be less money than the summicron). So this would be an option to 'only' use between F1.4 and f2 and should be sharp and contrasty enough. ...
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I would agree with those who have already said you really don't need anything else. f/2 is plenty fast enough for a wedding.
f16sunshine said:
Yes on the Nokton f1.1/50mm! ...
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I've owned two or three examples of the CV Nokton f/1.1 and could never warm up to it. It's very soft wide-open through around f/2, which means (to me) those faster speeds are completely worthless!

I have to date yet to own one, but every review I've seen on the CV 50mm (or 40mm, for that matter) Nokton f/1.2 indicates it would be worth a look if you're still inclined to more speed than f/2.
 
BillBlackwell said:
It's very soft wide-open through around f/2, which means (to me) those faster speeds are completely worthless!.
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Mine is very sharp wide open, and lensrentals.com found it to be sharper than the Noctilux .95.

If you had 3 which weren't sharp it sounds like your RF calibration on your camera(s) is off. A slightly out of focus picture can be confused with an unsharp lens. At 1.1 focus needs to be perfect.
 
Nokton shot at 1.1:



100% crop. I focused on the filter ring text:



This lens is sharp wide open (and everywhere else). If you can't get a sharp image you are missing focus.
 
Very impressive, Huss!

You almost make me want to find another example and try it again. I believe this speaks to the limitations of an RF (and I used a 1.25 mag finder), and most probably my eyes, with a lens this fast. There are other issues I had with the Nokton f/1.1 I won't get into here, but your example certainly has no issue with the first!
 
BillBlackwell said:
Very impressive, Huss!

You almost make me want to find another example and try it again. I believe this speaks to the limitations of an RF (and I used a 1.25 mag finder), and most probably my eyes, with a lens this fast. There are other issues I had with the Nokton f/1.1 I won't get into here, but your example certainly has no issue with the first!
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Bill I think your rangefinder needs calibration. I use this lens on my M5 (because it balances so well on larger bodies) and it nails focus like this.
If the rf is a tiny bit off, you may not notice that at 2.8 etc, but it will make the lens seem soft at 1.1 etc.
I haven't experienced focus shift with this lens, perhaps because I use it wide open or stopped down, never really in between. Not saying it doesn't do it, I just never noticed it.
 
FYI I also use the new CV 40 1.2, and that lens is just fantastic. I prefer it to the 50 1.1.
It is almost permanently mounted on my M7. I just prefer the way the images look.
 
I've never seen any focus-shift with the Nokton 50mm f/1.1.

In fact it is a classic lens in the tradition of the Xenon and Summarit 50mm f/1.5 and the Summilux f/1.4 v1, only a stop faster ...

No aspherical elements. A lovely, but very underrated lens in my opinion.


Erik.
 
BillBlackwell said:
Very impressive, Huss!

You almost make me want to find another example and try it again. I believe this speaks to the limitations of an RF (and I used a 1.25 mag finder), and most probably my eyes, with a lens this fast. There are other issues I had with the Nokton f/1.1 I won't get into here, but your example certainly has no issue with the first!
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Well, the build quality is good, but the quality assurance is not so. Mine developed a loose/wobbly first ring (next to focus), and i needed to retighten the 4 screws with some nail polish. And now the front ring is loose/wobbly, the element is still fix, but the filter ring is loose, so my hood is loose. If you google, you will find more people with similar problems. Other then that, i find it a great lens. I shot it on M9 (sold now), color rendition is great, shoot it on A7, works great with focus peaking, and shoot it in M6. On M6, i never shoot at 1.1, as that is just too hard for RF focussing, my M6 is recently calibrated, and proper, but at f1.1 it's just way too hard to nail focus. On f2 and higher it's a great & sharp lens.
 
Based on lenses I own (or have owned):

50/1.4 Summilux - dead nuts perfect. If you can afford it forget anything else. I don't care what anyone says, earlier Summiluxes don't hold a candle to current fast lenses. Unfortunately I sold mine sometime previous when I needed money.

Zeiss 50mm/1.5 - I love this lens. Not as good as above but close, and nice rendering. It's tough to nail focus with a lens this fast. One shot an inch before, one an inch after, and one according to focus and you've got it. Easy with digital.

50/1.5 VC a nice lens, lots to like. Just don't like as much as the Zeiss.

50/1.1 VC a great lens wide open that everyone hates. But for the price you can't beat it. Not sure what's to hate.

50/2 Summicron - current. Another fantastic lens that beats the pants off everything else. All 50 Summicrons are nice but this is the best.

Canon 50/1.5 & 1.4, nice lenses but come on, '50's technology. Like the older Summiluxes, good on film - no so much on digital.
 
The composition and the B&W dev skill are so nice no matter what lens you used.

Erik van Straten said:
The Summilux 50mm f/1.4 v1 is better at f/2 than the Summicron 50mm f/2 v2 at full aperture.

The Nokton f/1.1 is fine but it cuts off a large part of the viewfinder image.

Leica M5, Summilux 50mm f/1.4 v1, 400-2TMY @ f/2.

Erik.

26684172486_cd5ddfc129_c.jpg
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