Noctilux trance

Peter, The noct feels good in my hands which are of medium size. It is about the size of a 50mm on the Nikon FM camera I started out with in the 70's, albeit heavier. Most of the Leica lenses IMO though are a tad small and fiddley to operate with, so I like a little more weight there for steadiness and overall feel. The noct excels in this regard. That said, when I don't want to lug it around the 35mm 1.4 asph does the trick. My fave for transpo though is the 15mm VC and the 4th 35mm f2 which I shoud have never have sold.
 
cameraman said:
Congratulations, that is the dumbest thing I've heard since Clinton denied having had sexual relations with "that woman". And that is my honest opinion.
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Dumbest thing you've heard since a Clinton quote from 1999? Have you been in a coma for 9 years, or have you not heard any of George Bush's speeches?
 
Vic said:
Olsen, You are so right, which is probably why your writings are unpopular on this forum.
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Dosh garnit, and I thought it was due to the economics lesson in every post!;)

Olsen, I wouldn't mind getting over there to see Prekestolen, but just for a visit. Just don't push me when I look over the edge.....
 
Olsen trolling with his mis-calibrated Noctilux again? Sell the boat anchor already, man! Anybody with the slightest understanding of economics would have long ago decided that it is better to get rid of a white elephant. Or are you waiting until you can get US$4,000 for your not-quite-so-perfect example? You sly dog.


Olsen said:
No. but I have a MBA
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Oh... I see. You know, I can pick up one of those with two weeks of work at Stanford or Berkeley for the price of about four current Noctiluxi :angel:.
 
johnastovall said:
I shoot all three of the fast 50's, Canon EF 50/1.0, Noctilux and a Canon 50/0.95 moded by EastCamTech. I have no problems with any of them but then I don't shoot people. I shoot nightscapes. I've had one show of my work and a local museum just bought a print of one from it for their collection.

These super fast lense let me work at night on the streets with out tripod in an exploritory manner. I couldn't do the work I like and others like with out lenses like these. The Noctilux was a major reason I got an M8.


Canon 50/1.0 Gallery (and a few others)

Noctilux Gallery

Canon 0.95 gallery

It's about light not sharp...
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Unfortunately, I can't see anything without registering - have you checked out Flickr or other galleries?
 
Olsen said:
I was told when I bought my Canon EF 50 mm 1,0L that it was much easier to focus the competing Leica Noctilux with the rangefinder system and all. First several years later I go the chance of buying a Noctilux and compare. The Canon with it's AF has a good hit rate with a slight front focus to begin with. Which glides backwards when stopped down. Which is ideal with such a lense. Manual focusing with the Canon alternative is close to impossible. I have a angled magnifier for the Canon, but havn't tried it with the EF 50 mm 1,0L. What kind of magnifier did you use?
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I used a Megaperls 1.3x magnifier on my R-D1. I didn't know what I was missing until I got it. Now I don't think I will take it off unless I really have to use the 28mm framelines.
 
ampguy said:
The biogon takes images usable for Facebook Snapshots.

The Noctilux takes artful photos.
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I truly hope you're using sarcasm :)
It is the photographer who takes pictures. Some might say Noctilux is a very nice Lomo, some might consider it a melting shade lens for, whatever use.

However, Biogon/35 is sharp & creamy enough for starving artists...

Be creative.
 
kevin m said:
Roger, are you familiar with the quote: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
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Dear Kevin,

Yes, and I'm talking about something completely different. Some lenses, I firmly believe, are 'touched by magic', i.e. they are better than they have any reason to be; they have an extra dimension that is not really explicable. This is not necessarily a matter of especially advanced technology, except insofar as all lens design is advanced: other lenses widely regarded as 'magic' are Dagors and (original) Apo-Lanthars.

The magic won't appeal to everyone, but it will generally lead to a reputation among those who have used the lens. I'm not the only one to believe this. Dr. Nasse at Zeiss believes something very similar, and he is not what you'd call a mystic. He and I also believe that the 'magic' depends on who is using the lens and what they are using it for.

It seems that you have something against the very concept of 'magic', which is fine, but I don't think you can really dismiss it quite as completely as you do.

Cheers,

R.
 
Vic said:
A lot of people mostly talk, for if they really wanted it, they could easily adjust their budgets to accomodate the purchase of the Noctilux.
. . .

Leica M ownership is heavily populated by people with a lot of disposable income, so they justify everything with esoteric terms that even they don't fully understand.

. . .

A lot of people need to feel secure by buying things they don't need, to fulfil deep-seated insecurities, that in spite of all their hard work and financial success, they really are still primates in trousers. Perhaps they need to find spirituality.
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Dear Vic,

For the first, speak for yourself. My budget would require a LOT of adjusting.

For the second, closely related to the first, there are many Leica buyers who like really fine cameras and take a lot of pictures, and do not have a great deal of disposable income. "Take what you want, and pay for it, saieth the Lord."

For the third, most forms of 'spirituality' are surely the deepest-seated insecurity of all, believing in the unknowable and undemonstrable because you can't handle life itself. I prefer the view of HH Dalai Lama. Most people believe in universal responsibility and the good heart, and religion is (at best) the manifestation of this belief, not its cause. But a Leica or a glass of Laphroaig is a lot easier to understand.

Finally, what's wrong with primates, and women who don't wear trousers?

Cheers,

R.
 
TJV said:
My God.

Can't we all just accept there is some element of subjectivity to things like gear?
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Of course. If not, then it would be simple to just buy the lens that is "best". All others would be considered compromises, not different.
 
Vic said:
If you look at recent history, you will find that lust (irrational demand) for the Noctilux actually increased when the price took a $2,000 jump last year.

From an economic standpoint, the Noctilux has an upward sloping demand curve; i.e., the higher the price, the higher the demand. A true sign of a luxury good.

Leica M ownership is heavily populated by people with a lot of disposable income, so they justify everything with esoteric terms that even they don't fully understand. You can see this in anything to do with expensive things, such as expensive
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I probably would never have used a Leica RF at all if not for my Tennis Elbow! It was a matter of being practical (RF + digital vs not taking photos). I prefer digital over film, and obviously, would be one of those that got hit since I would never, ever have considered the Noctilux even 20 years ago! I was not shooting RF! But now, I shoot digital RF, and the price has nothing to do with lust.

Must I be drunk to understand what drunkeness is? :p
 
wtf man... I've only been here a short time and these bashing M8 and/or Noctilux threads are tiresome. Yeh.. everyone is entitled to their own opinion but ~starting~ a thread on such note? Especially in reference to someone's classified ad? (Otherwise a good forum....)

Last time I checked this was the 35mm section of the forum but one of your two main complaints specifically refers to the Noctilux on an M8. There are some of us that had this lens prior to M8 ownership.

I HATE many products in life... shall I start a thread on each one and complain? What do you expect the rest of us who are happy to do? Sell it because you said it sucks?
 
TJV said:
My God.

Can't we all just accept there is some element of subjectivity to things like gear?
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No, as matter of fact.

But on the Nocti. I considered to get one when there were several bargains at around 1500 EUR and the exchange rate was more like 1:1 to the USD. After thinking twice I checked my alternatives and found that a fast SLR-lenses works good enough *for me*, delivers many though not all aspects the Nocti is praised for and I had much less trouble to get the focus spot-on compared to my M6.

I decided to spend just a tenth of the money. Am I still lusting after a Nocti? You bet! But it gets better from day to day.

Stefan
 
crawdiddy said:
Dumbest thing you've heard since a Clinton quote from 1999? Have you been in a coma for 9 years, or have you not heard any of George Bush's speeches?
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Ha, ha, ha!
 
MikeL said:
Dosh garnit, and I thought it was due to the economics lesson in every post!;)

Olsen, I wouldn't mind getting over there to see Prekestolen, but just for a visit. Just don't push me when I look over the edge.....
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I lived and worked in Stavanger, on the west coast, not far from Prekestolen. I frequently visited the place. Among others together with a friend of mine who brought his kids. Remember once, the kids ran in front of us. When we got to Prekestolen the young boy of 12 years sat with his feet dangling outside the cliff.

Picture here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Norway_Preikestolen.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Preikestolen_platform2.png

His father and I crawled on our bellies shouting to the boy to get away from the cliff's edge. The boy, cooly, stood up and walked towards us....

Prekestolen; a hairy place....
 
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Can someone please tell me if the different versions of the lens demand different values.? A mint Nocti just sold on ebay for 3600. I have seen others that are mint on the classifieds and other ebay adds for 5K.

I want one of these but the price differences I see in the adds are huge. I want to buy a used one but clearly am concerned that I do not overpay in case it doesn't work out for me and I want to resell it.

thanks,
john
 
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