Noctilux price increase

Guys! The backlash is crazy! Compared to Canon, paying $2200NZ for a f2.8 28mm sounds insane. The Canon could be bought for $600NZ. I for one don't care about the price increase. I am considering buying one if the digi switch doesn't work out, but I got into Leica knowing the mountain of money I might have to part with to get my dream kit. I complained when a Big Mac combo went from $5NZ to $6NZ overnight. This is a bit different.
 
I had the 50/1 (latest version) Noct' a few years ago purchased from KEH but sold it over a year later with the introduction of the 50/1.4 Asph. Summilux. I just found the 50/1.4 more practical in that image correction at the first few stops was far superior to any else and in a lens half the size and weight of the Noct'. I never expected the Noct's correction to be on the order of a pre-asph. Summilux or Summicron and frankly it was better than I expected but the idea of carrying around a 'cron and the Noct' in a camera bag didn't suite me so the latest 'lux just made more sense. The only other remaining problem with the 50/1 is at f/1, there is significant vignetting with film so it's only f/1 in the central zone. BUT, with a digital camera, much of the vignetting will be cropped out. So maybe the Noctilux will find a greater appeal in that respect and if you're considering an M8, hold onto the Noct' before selling it to finance the M8 purchase. From a build standpoint, I found it was a notch better than most modern Leica lenses.
 
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I actually bought a Noct 2 years ago--for what I thought was a pretty high price. I've used it a few times and it does what it is supposed to do. Usually my buying strategy is "buy high, sell low" but in this case....thank you rare glass or whatever the reason. $5395.00 is just too funny. Wait and see--the more high priced the item--the higher the demand--at least in this case...
truly amazing.
 
If you think $5395.00 is funny I have read on a couple of forums that Leica is planning a 40% price increase across the board later in the year...
 
rogue_designer said:
Yes, but the 35 1.7 is smaller, and not *that* much slower. :D I'm more bothered by the 35 1.2 being M only. I have a lot of LTM bodies that I'd love to use it on.
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The 35/1,2 would not work as a LTM lens. This lens was concieved around a table at Cosina's. The optical designer veto'd my suggestion for a 35f1 as the rear element would not fit in a M, and definitely not in an LTM. Mr Kobayashi suggested a 35/1,2 and the designer scribbled furiously on a napkin and announced " It is possible, but it would be very complex" We told him that it was his problem! He also announced that it would not work as a screwmount as the rear element could not be reduced to accept the LTM. There just wasen't enough material. The suggestion that we thread the glass of the rear element had the optical designer pale significantly!
The 35/1,2 is a better performer than the Noctilux. The Nocti is an old design and, yes the glass is rare and it is a lens that often is bought as a show off lens!
Leica only sells a couple of hundred a year (even before price increase) and the glass is made by the former Leica plant in Canada. I suspect that the contract for the glass is coming to an end and Rayethon/Hugh Aerospace is not interested in making it anymore!
I have owned at least 6 Nocti's over the years, from the early 50/1,2 (vastly over-rated) to the latest version with a collapsible hood. I admittedly got seduced by the f1 designation, bought them and after a while got tired of hauling them around. I also got tired of trying to find a sharp plane of focus on the baseboard!
If you want top quality 50mm, go for the 50/1,4 Aspheric and push the film! On the M8 you just boost the ISO setting. If you are shooting in light that requires f1, grain or noise is not going to be a factor.
I did have the 60/1,2 Hexanon for a couple of years, it is on par with a late Noctilux, neither better nor worse. I tried the 50/1,2 Hex. and that would be my choice if I needed or wanted that kind of speed.
 
Hey Tom---tell us what you REALLY think about the Nocti!!! Guess this means you won't be buying one anytime soon...:) :)
 
Paulbe said:
Hey Tom---tell us what you REALLY think about the Nocti!!! Guess this means you won't be buying one anytime soon...:) :)
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The Noctilux was a tour de force when it came out. Dr. Mandler's design for the f1 was a sensation. The f1,2 was exceedingly complicated to make, the aspherical elements had to be hand "carved" and although a good lens, there were differences between individual lenses.

Mine was OK, but certainly not jumping up and down brilliant. The first F1 I bought (1975 and the price was $699) was OK, but never really turned my crank.

In 1982/83 we lived in Paris and my only 50 was a Noctilux.I went through my films and realized that of 7500-8000 shots, 3 were done with the Noctilux wide-open. I am quite good at handholding and usually can get away with 1/8 to 1/15 sec with a 50. With 400 asa film or faster, at f1 it means you cant really see what you are focussing on! Once you stop the Nocti down to 2,8 and less, it is OK, but a run of the mill Summicron is better.
 
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What is "top quality" in a lens? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and many people buy the Noctilux not for it's perceived sharpness but for the way it renders the total image, and that especially includes the OOF areas of the picture. In that respect it is a unique lens - completely different from the 50/1.4 ASPH. The two lenses can't be compared. There is no "better" here anyway, just different.
 
peter_n said:
If you think $5395.00 is funny I have read on a couple of forums that Leica is planning a 40% price increase across the board later in the year...
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Assuming this is correct, there has to be something in the water....
 
Only time will tell if it is correct. However I have bought everything I'm going to buy for the next couple of years in Jan. & Feb., except for maybe a Bessa R4. Also I'm going to hold on to a number of lenses I was going to sell. Maybe there will be some inventory appreciation... ;)
 
Tom A said:
The 35/1,2 would not work as a LTM lens. This lens was concieved around a table at Cosina's. The optical designer veto'd my suggestion for a 35f1 as the rear element would not fit in a M, and definitely not in an LTM. Mr Kobayashi suggested a 35/1,2 and the designer scribbled furiously on a napkin and announced " It is possible, but it would be very complex" We told him that it was his problem! He also announced that it would not work as a screwmount as the rear element could not be reduced to accept the LTM. There just wasen't enough material. The suggestion that we thread the glass of the rear element had the optical designer pale significantly!
The 35/1,2 is a better performer than the Noctilux. The Nocti is an old design and, yes the glass is rare and it is a lens that often is bought as a show off lens!
Leica only sells a couple of hundred a year (even before price increase) and the glass is made by the former Leica plant in Canada. I suspect that the contract for the glass is coming to an end and Rayethon/Hugh Aerospace is not interested in making it anymore!
I have owned at least 6 Nocti's over the years, from the early 50/1,2 (vastly over-rated) to the latest version with a collapsible hood. I admittedly got seduced by the f1 designation, bought them and after a while got tired of hauling them around. I also got tired of trying to find a sharp plane of focus on the baseboard!
If you want top quality 50mm, go for the 50/1,4 Aspheric and push the film! On the M8 you just boost the ISO setting. If you are shooting in light that requires f1, grain or noise is not going to be a factor.
I did have the 60/1,2 Hexanon for a couple of years, it is on par with a late Noctilux, neither better nor worse. I tried the 50/1,2 Hex. and that would be my choice if I needed or wanted that kind of speed.
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It is indeed the invention of digital cameras with high ISO performance that makes lenses like the Leica Noctilux 50 mm 1,0 - and Canon EF 50 mm 1,0L obsolete. What these cameras - say like the Canon D5 - can't shoot perfectly you really can't focus on due to the dull light. On many of todays digital cameras you can 'push the film' and still keep a level of quality that is beond anything you can do with film.
 
Olsen said:
It is indeed the invention of digital cameras with high ISO performance that makes lenses like the Leica Noctilux 50 mm 1,0 - and Canon EF 50 mm 1,0L obsolete. What these cameras - say like the Canon D5 - can't shoot perfectly you really can't focus on due to the dull light. On many of todays digital cameras you can 'push the film' and still keep a level of quality that is beond anything you can do with film.
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According to my brief discussion with Tony Rose just the opposite is true. Buyers are snapping up Noctiluxs with their M8s because you can now see immediately if the shot is out of focus and reshoot if need be. So, digital cameras are giving fast lenses a new lease on life because they become more productive to use. I guess the market will vote with its dollars and everyone else can just have an opinion.

T.
 
Buyers are snapping up Noctiluxs with their M8s because you can now see immediately if the shot is out of focus and reshoot if need be.

That's the exact reason why I am using my Noctilux more now.
 
Tuolumne said:
According to my brief discussion with Tony Rose just the opposite is true. Buyers are snapping up Noctiluxs with their M8s because you can now see immediately if the shot is out of focus and reshoot if need be. So, digital cameras are giving fast lenses a new lease on life because they become more productive to use. I guess the market will vote with its dollars and everyone else can just have an opinion.

T.
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Do you mean that new Noctiluxes are being 'snapped up'...? Or 2.hand ones..? Here in Norway (not neccesarily significant since Leica has always done lousy sales here compared to, say, Denmark) there has been several (5 - 6) 2. hand Noctilux'es for sale at Norway's most prominant photo site (www.foto.no) only after the M8 was introduced. Typically, to a price less than half of what they cost new. That leaves room only for a pritty lousy new sales....

Otherwise, I find that just all aspects of photography can be controlled better with a digital camera, all from focus to exposure. Personally, I find the Noctilux far easier to focus than Canon's EF 50 mm 1,0L. My eyesight is not good enough to distinct the milimetres thin DOF in dull light, even with the very bright viewfinder of the Canon 1Ds II. Here the rangefinder system has advantages.
 
Take it easy old chap. With the discontinuation (at least in the US) of the 75mm Summilux today there is speculation that the Noctilux might be next. Interesting because I think the reason the Noctilux was jacked up to E60 from E58 was the 75mm Summilux. See the PN link below:

M75 F1.4...gone
 
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