ferider
Veteran
Lots of reports on this lens, some love it (available light performer) and some hate it (bokeh and focus shift).
After receiving the lens a month ago and using it a bit on the 240, I guess I am falling into the first camp. In a nutshell, except for its size, the lens is a reliable all-around performer, very usable wide open, sharp at f1.4 and above, and - compared to other fast 50s - has relatively low distortion.
First impressions:
The lens is big but not too heavy. On the heavy 240, it feels well balanced.
On my camera, out of the box, the lens is center focus calibrated somewhere between f1.4 and f2; it shifts noticeably backwards (f1.1, f1.4 and f2.0, click on the picture for larger size):
When you account for the cosine effect (focus and recompose a bit off center, see also http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148485), the lens turns out to be dead on wide open, perfect for my use:
Vignetting is noticeable at infinity, but disappears mostly at f2. My favorite, close to infinity test target, our neighbor's antenna about 100 feet away:
The lens is quite sharp at infinity even wide open. At f1.1 and f1.4, resolution is mostly limited by CA. At f2.0 and up the lens is very good. I remember seeing a measurement where the Nokton was compared to the 0.95 Noctilux and ZM Planar, and the Nokton clearly outperformed the Noctilux and was similar to the Planar @ f2.0 (http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2014/06/comparing-rangefinder-and-slr-50mm-lenses-version-0-7); I can confirm this.
Same test target as above, center crop to show resolution for different apertures:
At, f1.1, the Nokton performance is about the same as a pre-asph Summilux at f1.4, IMO.
Also off-center / in the field, performance is decent:
To be continued ....
After receiving the lens a month ago and using it a bit on the 240, I guess I am falling into the first camp. In a nutshell, except for its size, the lens is a reliable all-around performer, very usable wide open, sharp at f1.4 and above, and - compared to other fast 50s - has relatively low distortion.
First impressions:
The lens is big but not too heavy. On the heavy 240, it feels well balanced.
On my camera, out of the box, the lens is center focus calibrated somewhere between f1.4 and f2; it shifts noticeably backwards (f1.1, f1.4 and f2.0, click on the picture for larger size):
When you account for the cosine effect (focus and recompose a bit off center, see also http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148485), the lens turns out to be dead on wide open, perfect for my use:
Vignetting is noticeable at infinity, but disappears mostly at f2. My favorite, close to infinity test target, our neighbor's antenna about 100 feet away:
The lens is quite sharp at infinity even wide open. At f1.1 and f1.4, resolution is mostly limited by CA. At f2.0 and up the lens is very good. I remember seeing a measurement where the Nokton was compared to the 0.95 Noctilux and ZM Planar, and the Nokton clearly outperformed the Noctilux and was similar to the Planar @ f2.0 (http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2014/06/comparing-rangefinder-and-slr-50mm-lenses-version-0-7); I can confirm this.
Same test target as above, center crop to show resolution for different apertures:
At, f1.1, the Nokton performance is about the same as a pre-asph Summilux at f1.4, IMO.
Also off-center / in the field, performance is decent:
To be continued ....
