For all who have sold the 50mm f1.1..

Really good lens with a great price tag but I'm more a 21 and 35 shooter so it was sitting at home more often than not otherwise I'd have kept it.
 
I enjoyed it, but kept turning to my 1.5 Sonnar instead. The 35/1.2, on the other hand, is unique, and is likely to remain in my collection for a long time.
 
mabelsound said:
I enjoyed it, but kept turning to my 1.5 Sonnar instead. The 35/1.2, on the other hand, is unique, and is likely to remain in my collection for a long time.
Click to expand...

Hmmm.. I currently have two 50's (a 1st version f2.8 elmar and a zeiss sonnar). I had been planning to sell one to buy the voigtlander, but perhaps I should hold off.

It is funny how easy it is to end up with three 50's. Even funnier when it is in the pursuit of one 50.. :rolleyes:
 
andredossantos said:
I'm probably going to get one after the new year. I've heard it lacks character but I'd like to try myself and put it through it's paces. I don't need for every lens to have character and my primary use for the lens is to shoot inside the subway where you need speed, period.

Ampguy: I will admit I'm totally ignorant about T-stops and I don't want a technical explanation or anything but has the Nokton been shown to be actually a f/1.4 lens? How has Voigtlander not caught crap for misrepresenting the lens?
Click to expand...

When you include the Noctilux's vignetting the Nokton 1.1 is as fast as the Noctilux on full frame. There are measurements on my flickr stream.

And, the Summilux pre-asph distorts significantly, and costs beyond US 1300 on the used market these days.

If you want a general purpose, affordable 50/1.4 or faster, the Nokton is the only choice.

Roland.
 
ferider said:
When you include the Noctilux's vignetting the Nokton 1.1 is as fast as the Noctilux on full frame. There are measurements on my flickr stream.

And, the Summilux pre-asph distorts significantly, and costs beyond US 1300 on the used market these days.

If you want a general purpose, affordable 50/1.4 or faster, the Nokton is the only choice.

Roland.
Click to expand...

I think you're quite right re: the general purpose element, and the reason for my main atraction to the Nokton f1.1. It's great appeal for me is mainly one of having a lens I can shoot in any light with, satisying both the lowlight junkie within me, and the demands of general shooting. In fact, twinned with an ND filter, I could avoid kicking my TriX habit.. :)
 
Last edited:
for me it was simple!
I wanted something to shoot at night, and budget was limited. Wanted something in the 50s... Noctilux!!!... yeah, right!, Nokton? ok, i can pay that
Im happy with it and still need to learn to use it... focus is tight at 1.1 (imagine at 0.95!)
 
Very nice use of this lens, RW! The "Noche en blanco" shots and "Campeones" are quite impressive...

So much it makes me want this lens... But I already have a fast Canon 50mm. Better go back to your blog... :)
 
Love mine. Sharp wide open and NO focus shift at all.
I don't use it every day because 50mm is not my favorite focal length, but I have the Nokton 35 1.4 for my fast 35.
It's big for an RF lens but not that big in general, so it's not a burden when I'm using it for a specific purpose.
 
i plan to buy another and use it as my only 50 (75 on the rd1), probably sell (or trade) the little 50/2.5 then also.

i find it interesting that many folks compare this lens unfavourably to the cv 35/1.2 when i didn't care for that lens at all.
 
photogdave said:
Love mine. Sharp wide open and NO focus shift at all.
.
Click to expand...

Here we go again - focus shift is either there or its not. It's not a sample variation, as far as I know, but based on the optical design. I think there were several serious tests posted to conclude that THIS lens does have it. Is it possible that you didnt notice it? Or am I not understanding whole concept of the focus shift?
 
Krosya said:
Here we go again - focus shift is either there or its not. It's not a sample variation, as far as I know, but based on the optical design. I think there were several serious tests posted to conclude that THIS lens does have it. Is it possible that you didnt notice it? Or am I not understanding whole concept of the focus shift?
Click to expand...
I think it has to do with people reporting focus shift when they don't know what it is.
 
not to fan the fire of conspiracy theories...but i find it odd how so many of the newer cv lenses have 'focus shift'...
 
What DN said.

And it's not only 400% pixel peeping. 20 years ago, desired focus was between 1/3rd and 2/3rd of the DOF range. Now, when a lens actually behaves like that, it's due to "undesired focus shift". And why is center focus so important ? And how about infinity ? Etc.

In practice, all that matters is that the focus point is well within the DOF range.
 
back alley said:
not to fan the fire of conspiracy theories...but i find it odd how so many of the newer cv lenses have 'focus shift'...
Click to expand...

Maybe it's just the nature of many hobbyist photographers to stress-test lenses and worry excessively over minute shortcomings.

After reading critical reviews of these two CV lenses and then using the real thing, I'll just look at a range of Flickr sample images when evaluating a possible lens purchase from now. The actual quality of the CV lenses far exceeded my expectations based on critical online reviews.

Not sure if it helps the OP, but I wonder if the reason a lot of people try out the fast CV lenses and sell them later is just that they're affordable enough to be an impulse purchase and easy to sell on when they find out that a lens the size and performance of a Noctilux is not what they need. Something to be happy about, not worry about.
 
Focusshift is there but not at 1.1 and 1.4. It is there at 2.0 and 2.8. at 4 and 5.6 normally you won't notice it, if you don't shoot batteries at 1 meter or less. ;-)

For me it is a great lens wide open, for available light street-photography and for portraits but it is not the sole 50.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom