My Noctilux Diary

[Krosya]

Who, other than Tina Manley (a very nice woman, by the way) has published/exhibited a body of work that includes Noctilux photographs?

Almost all of my Russia gallery here: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/freakscene/Russia/ was taken with the Nocti. I had a gallery exhibition of some work from there a little while ago.

Marty

Nice photos you have there. However, most (not all), dont seem to have that typical Nocti look to them. In fact many look very similar to what I get with Canon 50/1.2 or even Summitar. It's not a bad thing, but rather an observation - I wonder why yours look so un-Noctilux-like? At least to me. Nevertheless - great photos - you got to see some of the most beautiful places in Russia - rare treat and you captured it very well. I wish I did as well when I was there.

 

[Freakscene]

Noctilux is more than a phase

Noctilux is more than a phase

Great Gallery. Most of the time I get a little bored going through a set of images. With yours, I wanted more. I Went back again and took a long look

Thanks, lewis44, I really appreciate it. I photograph for myself these days and have often been told that I have an eccentric or quixotic visual sensibility, so it's really nice to receive positive feedback.

Nice photos you have there. However, most (not all), dont seem to have that typical Nocti look to them. In fact many look very similar to what I get with Canon 50/1.2 or even Summitar. It's not a bad thing, but rather an observation - I wonder why yours look so un-Noctilux-like? At least to me. Nevertheless - great photos - you got to see some of the most beautiful places in Russia - rare treat and you captured it very well. I wish I did as well when I was there.

Thanks to you also Krosya. I was lucky enough to have spent some time at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. I'd love to see more of Russia.

I think of the Nocti simply as a great 50 mm lens. Having f1 is a bonus that has saved me numerous times. So a lot of those Russian photos were taken at f1.4-5.6, which could be the source of the photos looking less typically Noctilux-like. When I do use the lens at f1, I am careful about the background (most of the Russian images shot at f1 have plain walls or other regular backgrounds) and try to keep most of the bokeh in the foreground. I'll fire a frame when I see a good image, but I may reject something like the image of the guy playing bocci in Italy below on the basis of bokeh. If I'm concerned about vignetting (that's rare) I'll use the Noct-Nikkor 58/1.2.

The images from my Japan gallery show much greater use of f1. It was winter and I was busy and so the only time available for photography was in the evenings when most of those photos were taken. By necessity I was working with Neopan 1600 and f1.

I just use it as I think it works best. I'm really glad you like the photos.

Marty

 

[amoz]

I think you have a good eye, deepwhite (it shows even in so-called test shots). And you don't lack the energy or the analytical mind to really get to know the lens. Keep it up!

 

[JonasYip]

Nice diary, deepwhite.

I had a Noct for years and kept thinking I'd make use of the "signature"... but really I hardly ever used it beyond the "test shot" phase and eventually sold it. Mostly I found myself using the 50 lux that I also had (still have).

Of course, every once in a while I wish I still had it around...

j

 

[urban_alchemist]

Oh dear. Here we go again. Somebody writes something about the Noctilux, and a troupe of naysayers descend to spew bile for whatever reason.

I have a Noctilux. I love it. I use it. Often.

It is wrong for many situations. Like taking a sports car to the Sahara. Or wearing jeans to a wedding.

It vignettes. It has incredibly narrow depth-of-field. It has a strange focus pattern. It is, objectively, crap.

And yet that is exactly what makes it wonderful.

The focus-ring is incredibly long. So you have to learn it. The DOF is incredibly shallow, so you have to be very precise. It is heavy so you have to be strong. But...

You don't always do the easy puzzles in the newspaper, do you?

I love this lense. It is idiosyncratic. It is far from perfect. It is a beast. It does not suffer fools. And yet learning its ways and adapting them to new situations is an absolute joy. I use it mostly for street photography, and once you attune yourself to its handling, it really is a viable option...

It may be expensive, but if you can afford it, what's the problem?

As my grandfather (and many others) used to say: if you've got nothing nice to say, don't say anything...

Make love, not war. :angel:

Fuji Neopan 1600 (wonderful for no-light situations):

Fuji Pro 800Z - I love the colour-handling of the Noctilux: oh so creamy...

And even poor old Superia 400 - who says the Noctilux can't render colours?

 

[CK Dexter Haven]

Very nice shots, UrbanAlchemist. Especially the B+W stuff.

 

[urban_alchemist]

Thanks!

Neopan 1600 has become, hands-down my favourite film for the Noctilux.

Unfortunately, the supplier in Israel's out of Neopan 1600 so I'm back to colour with the Noctilux for the moment (even though unfotunately, it's Superia 800 - they don't have Pro 800Z either... grrrrrrrr!)

 

[marke]

Fuji Neopan 1600 (wonderful for no-light situations):

OMG, I love this shot! I'm not going to tray and explain why. I just LOVE it!!!

Thanks for making a moment of my day a lot richer, urban alchemist.

 

[urban_alchemist]

🙂

Fuji Neopan 1600 (wonderful for no-light situations):

OMG, I love this shot! I'm not going to tray and explain why. I just LOVE it!!!

Thanks for making a moment of my day a lot richer, urban alchemist.

 

[lemalk]

urban_alchemist - those are some really fantastic shots.
I don't own a Nocti (yet) - but the vibrancy and "life" of these shots (not static test shots as some have pointed out) makes the case for this special lens.

And deepwhite - your shots are a great visual poem, quiet, solitary and very, very special. It reminds me of the journey we all take as photographers and artists in trying to capture moments and feelings.

Great work all around.

 

[urban_alchemist]

I don't want to sound presumpuous, but to anyone who owns this lense and only uses it for the standard test shots, you need to change the way you work. With DOF this shallow (at f1.0), thinking in zones is simply a no-go.

Instead, work in planes. You take high-contrast yard-sticks and focus on them - everything at the same distance will be in focus. Draw a line, and use it.

With the Noctilux, you don't focus on a subject, you focus on a plane - and then when your subject enters that plane... 'click'.

For instance: the third photo, the subject is on a moving swing in near total darkness. There was a bollard next to him that I focused on, and then waited for his face to swing into parity with it.

Give it a try...

 

[historicist]

I'm not a big Noctilux fan myself, mainly because I'm too weak to lug around such a big lens, but a lot of the pictures on this thread are great.

Thinking about it, I think the vignetting really adds a lot of character and atmosphere for pictures, at least for me. My UC hexanon does a simiar thing wide open and I like it for this reason.

The way the bokeh is quite wierd and swirly also reminds me a lot of medium format - my Rolleiflexes give an effect which is quite similar.

 

[furcafe]

Or large format. 1 of the reasons why I like the shallow DoF look provided by the Noctilux (& the 75 Summilux) wide-open is that it reminds me of large & medium format portraits, only in a more convenient package.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/furcafe/2378622135/

As far as focusing, the Noctilux really isn't any more (or less) difficult to focus than a short fast telephoto, e.g., a 85/2 or 90/2. It just takes practice, practice, practice. For minor adjustments, I've found that it's often easier to re-focus by moving my entire body forwards or backwards, especially when shooting moving subjects.

The way the bokeh is quite wierd and swirly also reminds me a lot of medium format - my Rolleiflexes give an effect which is quite similar.

 

[deepwhite]

There's a Chinese old saying:

Throw out the stone, and draw the jade. (I show my humble stone first, so that the others will show their precious jade stones.)

I think I did a pretty good job here. I bring out so many better Noctilux shots!

Keep it coming guys!

 

[deepwhite]

More pics from the same roll.

------

I kept on walking along the street. Around the corner there was a store under re-decoration. There was no one in there, but they left the light on.

I was sad. It was beautiful.

I saw him coming, so I set the focus and aperture manually and waited for him to come into the frame. Yet he stopped behind the post for a while; I just had to act like I was looking around for something else.

Then he moved again. I quickly raised the camera and took the shot. Unfortunately I pressed the shutter too slowly.

Which Way to Go?

------

On my way home, I felt like taking more pictures. So I drove to the most popular area in Taipei (the Hsin Yi District), stopped the car by the roadside and walked around.

I love shooting empty benches. I never understood why. Yet recently I found out that I'm not alone. In fact there's a thread for "benches" here in RFF.

A square before the movie theater. Many people wait here, for friends, movies, or simply don't know where to go.

F1 + ISO400 = Being able to capture some degree of stillness.

I was lucky that there was someone walking by, and raised her hand, at the right of the picture. Or it'd be unbalance (more weight to the left).

I've got this problem with big lenses, like the Noctilux or the Nokton 35/1.2: they block the lower right part of the VF. I'm trying to get around this problem by shooting with both eyes open.

- to be continued

 

[marke]

This has got to stop! I thought my GAS was finally over when I got the Summilux 50, but now I want this lens to find out what I can do. The good thing is, I can't afford it! 🙁

 

[maddoc]

@ deepwhite: I see that your journey with the lens continues, and like the BW a lot !! It looks like you start mastering that lens 🙂

 

[tomasis]

I'd take issue with that statement. Yes, I could have taken each and every one of those photos with a different lense, but the final result would have been different. Losing the stop would have meant a slower shutter, which would have changed the photos drastically in such low-light situations, never-mind the intrinsic signatures of a Noctilux image. In the same way that using a rangefinder will cause you to take a different sort of picture to an SLR, so the Noctilux will take a different sort of photo to a Summilux or a Summicron.

Our lense choice has as much of an effect on the final image as our camera choice: all our photos could also be taken with a disposable point-and-shoot, but please do not try and claim that it would "not have much of an effect" on the final outcome...

very indeed. I'm with you.

I think some people cannot make difference between photos and technical qualities.

IMHO in Leica M we should discuss technical qualities. if we want discuss about photos, we should do in galleries.

 

[deepwhite]

Finally, the last frames of my first roll of B/W with the Noctilux.

------

Coming Home

Mom's Flower Work

Proud

(Yet since it's a pigeon, it's really not being proud; maybe just empty-minded.) 😛

Naked

The Love of My Life

------

I shot the roll in two days. Have learned a lot from it. I've heard that the Noctilux is an interesting lens from f1~f2.8, and it really is! Limiting it to the f1 stop only is a pity.

Also, shooting with the Noctilux @ f2 is very different from with the Summicron 35/2 IV @ f2. So it's really not just about the speed.

------

I'll keep this diary updated once I got new frames. Til then, please feel free to post any Noctilux photos or comment here.

- to be continued

 

[Peter Klein]

I just want to say that I am really enjoying the photos in this thread. Urban Alchemist's shot of the girl and the dog in the nightime alley is pure poetry. These pictures speak much more eloquently than the endless debate over whether the Noctilux is "worth it," "special," "neck jewelry for the status-conscious," blah blah blah.

Whether or not you could take a similar picture with another fast lens is really not the point. In these pictures, the combination of photographer, subject, lens and light worked beautifully.

--Peter