Noctilux Photos

Noctilux and snow ....

Noctilux and snow ....

Mike and Erik, thank you guys !! :) The photos from Ned inspired me ;) The snow is quite reflective but with the point light sources vignetting is still visible. I like the Noctilux so far, the snow is some other story .... :eek:
 
What !? Rain in January in Norway ??? :eek::bang: The weather is going crazy, there was snow in Hiroshima recently, never hear about that before ....
 
maddoc said:
Mike and Erik, thank you guys !! :) The photos from Ned inspired me ;) The snow is quite reflective but with the point light sources vignetting is still visible. I like the Noctilux so far, the snow is some other story .... :eek:



Nice work..

Ned should teach workshops - so people could see that the Noctilux is not just for twig bokeh shots anymore. :angel:
 
Yes

Yes

The only time I can tell vignetting is snow pictures post processed.

But only this lens can fully articulate the texture of pure snow.


ErikFive said:
The Noctilux and snow is a great combo cauae you get the vignetting in the snow. It creates as very nice mood. Love it.
 

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But only this lens can fully articulate the texture of pure snow.

See, it's comments like this - especially when paired with the example pics you posted - that lead me to think the Noctilux is sprayed with some brain-fogging chemicals at the factory.

I'm not even sure what "fully articulate" means when discussing a lens, (it sounds suspiciously like wine-club chatter) but honestly, the pics you posted look like they were shot thru a keyhole. It's way beyond vignetting: On any other lens, I would assume the photographer mounted the wrong lens hood.

If you like that look, that's cool. But it's the disconnect between the often fanciful claims made for this lens and the images posted to 'prove' those claims that has me pulling out my hair. In short, I have no idea what you're talking about.
 
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Kevin

Kevin

The comment about snow was tongue in cheek, sorry about that :p

None of my Noct photos are cropped that I have posted. But, the ones that show the extreme vignetting, were processed with Picasa's "I'm feeling lucky" one touch fix.

Yes, there is vignetting at F1 with the Noct, but I barely see it, except in white corner photos, I don't know if Costco's lab is doing correcting for it in scans or if it is just my eyes that I normally don't see it except the snow photos processed with Picasa.

Now about the Picasa effect, I think in a way it's brilliant, because if it did what the labs do, it would not really know it was a snow or mostly white photo, and make the whole photo avg at ~ 18% grey. I could have cropped out the corners, but I have no problems with the Noct vignetting at f1, or the spherical abb. or coma it supposedly has in OOF areas, which some lens vendors like Nikon (on their 85mm portrait lens), even put a switch on for that effect but in the example I saw of it (recenet Pop Photo), it didn't do much at all that I could tell.

Yes, the whole thing about the Noct is the effect, and imperfections you may call them, though I'm not entirely sure all of them were not by design...and if you didn't like the effect (or low light capability), you probably wouldn't be watching this thread?

One of my favorite cars that I used to own, a 911, was far from perfect, often deadly imperfect, and much less perfect in so many ways than my wife's subaru, but it had a character that was completely unmatched by any vehicle I've ever driven.


kevin m said:
See, it's comments like this - especially when paired with the example pics you posted - that lead me to think the Noctilux is sprayed with some brain-fogging chemicals at the factory.

I'm not even sure what "fully articulate" means when discussing a lens, (it sounds suspiciously like wine-club chatter) but honestly, the pics you posted look like they were shot thru a keyhole. It's way beyond vignetting: On any other lens, I would assume the photographer mounted the wrong lens hood.

If you like that look, that's cool. But it's the disconnect between the often fanciful claims made for this lens and the images posted to 'prove' those claims that has me pulling out my hair. In short, I have no idea what you're talking about.
 
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ampguy said:
One of my favorite cars that I used to own, a 911, was far from perfect, often deadly imperfect, and much less perfect in so many ways than my wife's subaru, but it had a character that was completely unmatched by any vehicle I've ever driven.

Damn, I wished I could say the same thing but maybe it happens someday ;) You own some of finest German engineering pieces ;) All credits to you for a perfect analogy.
 
Web-Cuba2007-10.jpg
 
tomasis said:
Damn, I wished I could say the same thing but maybe it happens someday ;) You own some of finest German engineering pieces ;) All credits to you for a perfect analogy.

Actually there is no analogy as stated.

The utility of a car is in moving you from point A to point B. There is no difference in the outcome - Subaru or Porsche. The difference is in the experience of using one versus the other.

The argument here (not necessarily supported, as Kevin points out, by the evidence put forth by the most vociferous proponents) is that the outcome of using the Noctilux is unique and significantly different from other lenses. So the situations are not analogous by definition.

Now if I have misunderstood the lens argument and what you are really trying to say is that the Noctilux and alternatives produce the same outcome - but the experience of producing it is what varies, then the analogy may be valid:

Driving a Porsche to the grocery store is more exciting than a Subaru, because of the speed, handling, cachet, prestige, watching your own reflection in the shop windows on main street... Using a Noctilux to produce pedestrian, out of focus twig shots is more exciting than using a VC/Canon/Nikon because of the cachet, prestige, watching your own reflection in the shop windows on main street...

Now you have an analogy! :D:D
 
Actually I went back to my original snow Noct scans, and there is no vignetting. So Picasa is causing the vignetting. I'll post my snow Noct photos unprocessed if anyone wants to see them. Can't guarantee they're all at F1, but most are, and even the ones that definitely are show little or no vignetting.
 
There is no vignetting to the naked eye or on a normally lit scene. As soon as it's in low light and calibrating for exact exposure (center of the frame) we're causing the vignetting to appear, severely in some cases. Snow will accentuate the vignetting as soon as you will correct it to show some degree of detail and to normal white values (no overexposure or overdeveloping). By giving definition to the center of the image, the whole image follows and the vignetting accentuates.

This usually happens in PP.

There is also the high degree of light correction in the noctilux, as opposed to a summilux. In normal light conditions, the transmission of light is more uniform and diffuse. In extreme low light, the lens cannot bend the light as easily so the corners show falloff. I believe falloff is the correct term as opposed to vignetting.
 
Also: the closer the focusing distance, the more vignetting will be introduced at f1.0. This is normal for any lens, actually, or at least to be expected.
 
Thanks

Thanks

This reflects exactly what I am observing.

It also may explain why those who PP, tend to crop, because their edges get weird.

NB23 said:
There is no vignetting to the naked eye or on a normally lit scene. As soon as it's in low light and calibrating for exact exposure (center of the frame) we're causing the vignetting to appear, severely in some cases. Snow will accentuate the vignetting as soon as you will correct it to show some degree of detail and to normal white values (no overexposure or overdeveloping). By giving definition to the center of the image, the whole image follows and the vignetting accentuates.

This usually happens in PP.

There is also the high degree of light correction in the noctilux, as opposed to a summilux. In normal light conditions, the transmission of light is more uniform and diffuse. In extreme low light, the lens cannot bend the light as easily so the corners show falloff. I believe falloff is the correct term as opposed to vignetting.
 
bessasebastian said:
Looking at all the stunning images posted I cant understand why there was NO company ever to release a Noctilux equivalent.

There was the Canon 50/0.95 with a proprietary mount and Canons EF 50/1.0, bulky, slow Autofocus, no spare parts for future repairs (and not usable in manual mode once the thing is broken). Thats about it.

What about Tokina, Cosina, Sigma, Nikon, Olympus, Minolta, Zeiss, etc... ?

Bessasebastian,

Æhum. The Canon 50 mm 1,0L is far more solid than the Noctilux, and far more advanced with Auto Focus and gold laid contacts for transfering even aparture data to the camera. (Still it cost 2/3 of the Noctilux in its hey-days) Judging annual reports, Canon, earning 80% of the total camera business together (that's pritty scary) will be around far longer than Leica. The AF gear, the 50 mm 1,0L is common in 85 mm 1,2L and will be around for ages too. - So will the Noctilux, I am sure.

But Canon dropped making the magical aparture 1,0 version and are now making a far better (higher contrast, not so off-tollerance prone, easier to focus etc.) aparture 1,2 version.

Please: This was not intended as 'Noctilux bashing'. Neither of them, the Noctilux and the Canon EF 50 mm 1,0L are such 'performers' as lenses. That is not only my opinion, but that is what the test charts say. But they draw the world with a distinctive 'footprint' and character. That can't be hid away, and is something very well shown in this thread.

Excellent pictures!
 
ampguy said:
Actually I went back to my original snow Noct scans, and there is no vignetting. So Picasa is causing the vignetting.
In all probability it is already there in the original data, but you are enhancing its visibility while doing contrast manipulation in postprocessing, and it's especially visible on snow because minor differences in shades of gray tend to be overemphasized.

I would be very surprised if it was specifically Picasa that "added vignetting". Replicate what Picasa does in postprocessing with Photoshop and you're likely to see it, too. It would be interesting to look at the curve used by Picasa, but if it is geared towards enhancing contrast in the highlights then you will enhance vignetting on snow in the corners. In addition, try to work with more than 8 bits in your files when you have snowy scenes; if you scan from film, you can actually use the extra latitude. In general, it helps to optimise one's postprocessing somewhat; it's a bit suboptimal in my book to use what is one of the most expensive consumer lenses in existence and then enhance the vignetting through sub-par post-processing.

Philipp
 
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