New Leica M Nokton 50mm F1.2

[Sonnar Brian]

50mm F1.2 Nokton, wide-open, Lens Coding Turned off. Lightroom 6.
Leica M9



I lined the top framelines with the upper lcement line.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Coded as the 50mm F1.2 Noctilux, a lens that has known Barrel Distortion.
Leica M9.



Also Wide-Open.

All hand-held.
A quick test, had a few minutes. I will repeat at a later date, but do not think I'll code this lens as a Noctilux anymore,.

 

[pyeh]

That is so interesting, Brian. All this time I thought the M9 codes did not adjust for distortion.
Up to now I've only used my 50/1.2 with film and hadn't particularly noticed pincushion or barrel distortion. I'm going to try your experiment on an M9 now.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I often use the M8 in Raw mode, button dance. I'll also give that a try.

I did that ONCE with the M9. Unlike the M8, it does not drop back to normal operation on a power-cycle. I had to reload the firmware to get it back to normal. Have not used it since.

 

[Bill Blackwell]

There does seem to be more pincushion distortion in the second image compared to the first, but you're also a bit closer to the wall in the first. This might partially be the reason for the differences in color rendition.

Could you try it again standing in the same spot?

Edit: I believe I've stumbled onto a practical solution. I just opened one of the more distorted images and "auto corrected" in the lens correction feature in Photoshop. It corrected itself (the image has very little distortion now) by assigning the 35mm Apo Summicron profile. Applying a -1 correction gives the image a slight barrel distortion.

Before -

After -

 

[Sonnar Brian]

We went out for Lunch in Manassas today, grabbed the M9 with 50/1.2 Nokton with lens coding turned off.

First up- a reference image. I rotated the image 1degree clockwise to get the lines parallel to the frame, and inserted the red squares.


This is uncoded, no distortion corrections applied. I put the red rectangles in for reference. I have lenses with far worse distortion, would describe this one as having slight pincushion distortion, most noticeable at the far edges.

If a 50/1.2 Nokton appears to have severe pincushion distortion: I would expect an inner element is not seated properly.



^ Wide-Open.

At F4:


Another Geometry Test.

 

[Bill Blackwell]

Given that the Leica 50/1.2 Noctilux suffers from pronounced Barrel Distortion, it is probably best to not code the Nokton as the Leica 50/1.2. Applying the geometric correction for a lens without barrel distortion will make it appear to show pincushion distortion.

This is all the more evident given the 50mm Nokton f/1.2 already has a slight pincushion distortion. The verdict is still out as to whether or not I'm keeping my copy. I've been much more satisfied with the 40mm Nokton f/1.2 by comparison; I'm a bit surprised by this given the sterling reputation of the 50mm f/1.2. I can also admit I've been more satisfied with my current copy of the Nokton f/1.1 (compared to the f/1.2), which I've had mixed (mostly negative) feelings about over the years.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Someone did a review of this lens on "YouTube". One of the replies stated that "the colors fall apart in low light, could not compare with a Summilux".

All shots wide-open, on the M9, ISO 2500. Lighting of the skaters is by the Disco-Lights only, main lights turned off. It was Dark.

 

[Bill Blackwell]

FWIW, I ended up selling my copy. Since I use film so rarely these days, I never bothered to test it on my film camera.

 

[Yossy]

I just picked up the 50 1.2 a couple of weeks ago and I really like this lens. It was sharp right out of the box on both my M 10 and my MM. One think I do like is this lens focuses at just a hair over 2 ft.

The build quality is very good and the focus is smooth and the f/stops are very nice. Overall a great lens at any price. It just so happens it is not all the expensive.

Sorry photo heavy

Heres a few photographs mostly test shots.
M 10 50 1.2 Nokton WIDE OPEN

Finally some worthy photos on a compositional level, with balance of the subjects, dynamics of the diagonals, graphic, tones and blur in the portrait. Technique without artistic composition is not photography, but just marketing. Thank you so much for sharing your amazing photos