New Nokton: compensating for something!?

RichC said:
...So, Noctilux users, show us the photos that couldn't have been taken with a slower lens... Prospective Nokton f1.1 owners, tell me about those shots you'll be taking that no other lens can capture...
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Sigh... What, again?

Oh well, what the heck... here you go:

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M-Hex 50mm f1.2 on Leica M8, ISO160 @ 1/8th of a second, half a stop corrected up in LR.

Cramping up ISO on the M8? Don't think so. Dropping shutter to 1/4th? No can do. Cramping up ISO in LR would reduce color vibrance.

Bottom line: It's the f1.2 that's pulling it off, nothing else matters
 
I shoot in alot of situations where the exposure on my reading says 1/2second or sometimes the 1second on my Bessa r2a starts blinking. 80% of the time i get a shaken shot on a 1/2 second while a blinking 1second is close to impossible.

If reducing 1/2s to 1/4s is roughly 40% more success rate (or halving the chance of shake on every lowlight shot) , i'm willing to pay. An affordable option is gonna be out there soon, and i'm going for it! We all know the Canon f0.95 is a hyped-up lens that has jumped many times it's price since a few years back, so the market price for it is very unstable - it can drop terribly or continue to rise. I find myself extremely reluctant to invest my money on it. And then there's the issue of weight, big chunk of size/glass, old innards falling apart and a weak lensmount which i heard might damage both the lens and the camera.

Not to mention i'm a bokeh addict as well. F1.1 is nuts when all i have now is a 50mm f2 hexanon. I don't feel that the f1.4 rangefinder lenses are worth to be paying for - i can easily get a f1.4 takumar and a K1000 Pentax for the price of most RF f1.4 lenses.
 
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Whenever I hear someone say "f/1.4" or "f/2.0" is all you ever need, it makes me wonder if they've done much shooting in dim/badly-lit settings. Otherwise, they would know there is always room for a faster lens.

Particularly when you are dealing with people or objects in motion. The best technique in the world won't slow the action down. For that you need a faster shutter speed. And for that, you need a fast lens.

Personally, I don't see myself buying this lens. My next super fast lens will probably be a 35/1.2 nokton. Still, its nice to see any new lens hit the market. It tells me someone out there still cares about the rangefinder market.
 
yanidel said:
Sorry, I am not convinced There are so many other reasons why I will miss a shot before blaming it on not having a 1.2 on instead of 1.4. These are bad anticipation, inaccurate focus, M8 freezing (sigh), not switched on (double sigh) or simply a scene not unfolding like I expected too...
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RichC said:
PS: I'm still not convinced by most of the replies...

Also, I didn't say what was the point of fast lenses per se (my two favourite lenses are the 35mm and 50mm Summilux pre-asphs, though I rarely use them wide open) but, rather, that the advantages of f1 compared with f1.4 are minimal...

I still think that an f1 lens is a white elephant...
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nobody said you have to be convinced. these are just our reasons for being excited about an affordable, super-fast lens. if you don't want to buy it, then don't buy it. pretty simple, really. if you've never been excited about noctiluxes, limited hexanons, nocts or any other sub f/1.4 lens, then there's no reason for you to be excited about this one.
 
whickus said:
nobody said you have to be convinced. these are just our reasons for being excited about an affordable, super-fast lens. if you don't want to buy it, then don't buy it. pretty simple, really. if you've never been excited about noctiluxes, limited hexanons, nocts or any other sub f/1.4 lens, then there's no reason for you to be excited about this one.
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Think that just nails it 😀
 
tbarker13 said:
Whenever I hear someone say "f/1.4" or "f/2.0" is all you ever need, it makes me wonder if they've done much shooting in dim/badly-lit settings. Otherwise, they would know there is always room for a faster lens.
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I prefer low-light photography, so have done a lot (see http://www.bhcc-online.org/gallery/v/RichC/tempus+fugit/

... admittedly nothing's moving very quickly, especially not the mouse! (All taken with an Epson R-D1 or Leica M8.)
 
Amen. In my experience, you need @ least 1/8th second to get decent candids of people conversing or what have you (if the conversation is animated, then you may need 1/30th or faster). Perhaps lighting varies in different parts of the world, but where I typically shoot (the urban U.S.), f/1.4 or f/2 is often not fast enough for restaurants & club interiors @ night, even w/ISO 1600 or 3200 film/sensor setting.

tbarker13 said:
Whenever I hear someone say "f/1.4" or "f/2.0" is all you ever need, it makes me wonder if they've done much shooting in dim/badly-lit settings. Otherwise, they would know there is always room for a faster lens.

Particularly when you are dealing with people or objects in motion. The best technique in the world won't slow the action down. For that you need a faster shutter speed. And for that, you need a fast lens.
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My 75 Lux seems to do well in harsh/high contrast lighting and I believe this was part of the optical designer's original intent. I think that other fast lenses, especially the ultrafasts, also take into consideration the difficult/harsh lighting enviornment that the lens will be utilized in, like shooting at night. Specifically this is the compensation I'm looking for in an ultrafast lens.

I've been longing for a specialized lens for shooting at night; and, although I would be using a tripod for a lot of this shooting, The control of harsh point sources is of concern to me. The ultrafast lenses inherantly offer a higher level of control than other lenses in this regard I believe.

I live in NYC and seem to be drawn into the more abandoned parts of the city.

Calzone
 
This was shot in the Smithsonian, in a room designed to show off a Thermal Vision Infrared Sensor. It was dark.

Canon 50/0.95 wide-open on the Canon 7, hand-held at 1/15th:

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And Nikki does not hold still for the camera.

Not bad for a $200 lens.
 
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Double Negative said:
FWIW, the M8 will have more DoF over a film camera, using the same lens.
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Nope. You have it backwards. If dof is calculated using the same 'on sensor, on film' criteria, it is the same at the same f/stops. If dof is calculated using the same 'on 8x10 print from full sensor/film frame output', then the digital image has less dof.

Henning
 
Someday you will meet me in a lonely, dark alley and in the heat of the moment my big lens will out-perform your tiny lens. Think of the ridicule and shame you will endure as I boast to the RFF 'hood about how my big lens won me the night and lost you the decisive moment...

My 'big' Nokton 50mm f1.1 is ordered and in the mail(I wish) and you better believe I am compensating for something... and that would be a lack of light!

Looks like the Noctilux will also lose its crown as 'King of Controversy'!
 
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I must say this when it comes to fast lens', people just don't like to admit that every stop counts. At which point is using faster film or pushing the ISO too much or no longer possibe? At what point do the shutter speeds no longer become holdeable?

Have you ever shot a show or in a nightclub with a tripod?

Lets say that you're shooting Delta 3200 and it's pushed to 6400. And that you're at 1/8th of a second. You're still one stop underexposed with an f1.4 lens, an f1 will allow you to get that shot. It's just that simple.

So if i was to say that my Canon f4.5-5.6 zoom lens is enough to shoot anywhere, i can always use a higher ISO (that is until the camera doesn't offer any higher ISO then 3200) and that i was still underexposed... Would an f2.8 lens help me? HELL YES! It's the same with the Noctiluxes, the Hexanons, the fast Canons and now the new Nokton.

Every stop is welcome.
 
When it's dark enough to need f1.1 I can't see well enough to focus well enough to use f1.1. That said I'd love to own one of these lenses. I might change my mind if I ever got to try one.
 
Why do people have such difficulty with DOF, it seems so straightforward

The more ya enlarge the more blurry it gets

The bigger ya print the more blurry it gets

All negatives are equal, but some are bigger
 
yanidel said:
... So sincerely, I rather work on my technique and skills to get many more keepers than buy a 1/2 of a stop advantage lens in the hope that it will save one or two shots.
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How about combining your skills with the 1.1 lens, how many more keepers would that get you!?

It certainly has helped me along in many situations. I'm almost welded to my M's and hardly ever leave the house without a camera. And, I like low-light shooting. Not having a fast lens would mean many more occasions where I wished I had brought a camera with me.

In the end, owning a fast lens increases the number of occasions where you can occupy yourself with photography, even if it doesn't get you anymore keepers! Now how nice is that!
 
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