VC 50 1.5 Nokton, opinions?

[trev2401]

Hi Guys...

In a fit of rangefinder inspired madness, i bought a nokton 50 1.5 from one of the RFers here on the forum... :bang:

I intend to use the lens as a workhorse for b/w portraits for my thesis on street life, and well, i was wondering if anyone out there had any opinions on this piece of glass in terms of sharpness, colour rendition, durability, etc, and if it really gives the 50 summis a run for its worth.

😀


Thanks guys

Trevor

 

[skarpia]

Hi Trevor.

I've been wanting one of those myself also. I've seen the pictures and I believe it'd be good enough for me, but could you tell me how does it feel? Compared to Leica's? Sturdy? Plasticky? (hope not...)

Is it used? How much did you pay for it, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Buttons]

I cannot speak for the 50 Nokton, but I just acquired a second Ultron. The build quality is fine, the controls are butter smooth, I cannot find any plastic. As for lens quality, not being a scientist and therefor not having run any tests I developed a roll of Tri-x in HC110, printed a few and the results are good, I doubt that anyone can see the difference on a 18x24 print (cm) between the ultron and Summicron, overalll a great lens and that at the price of a Leica UV filter.
I will happily continue to use this lens on my M6.

I trust the Nokton is simmilar .....

I can say one thing: "Good on you CV"

 

[rover]

I don't have a Nokton but would suggest that you go out and shoot with it. Fire away and develop an opinion based on your results. I really like the images I see here and elsewhere taken with the Nokton. Like Buttons said, CV lens quality if very good. Holding a CV lens in my hand, I can see no difference from a modern Leica or any other brand lens. And optically they hold their own.

Shoot what you have before GAS overwhelms you.

 

[daveozzz]

I did have one... It's a very good lens with perhaps the only slight minus for me is how much of the viewfinder it covers up. Pretty fast and best of all the weight makes the camera hang horizontally as opposed to digging into your ribs when using the strap lugs!

 

[BrianPhotog]

I've got one and have been using it almost exclusively for the past couple of weeks thanks to the RFF contest 😛

It's a great lens, well crafted of brass & glass (no plastic whatsoever) with smooth controls and excellent static properties (like sharpness, contrastiness, etc...). My only complaint is the amount of space the hood takes up within the framelines. Because of this I have been primarily shooting it with the hood off.

The photo below was taken with it on an R2.

​

 

[lido]

I love mine, it is very well built and the focusing action is firm but smooth. Some people complain about the bookeh, but as you can see on this shot, it appears to be buttery smooth. I don't remember the aperture used on this shot, but it was pretty close to wide open as you can see how shallow the depth of field is. I keep it on my Bessa almost exclusively.

 

[furcafe]

http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15589

 

[trev2401]

I've got one and have been using it almost exclusively for the past couple of weeks thanks to the RFF contest 😛

It's a great lens, well crafted of brass & glass (no plastic whatsoever) with smooth controls and excellent static properties (like sharpness, contrastiness, etc...). My only complaint is the amount of space the hood takes up within the framelines. Because of this I have been primarily shooting it with the hood off.

The photo below was taken with it on an R2.

​

Thanks for the description and the beautiful picture... wow.. .it's indeed sharp.... also for the heads up about the intrusion into the framelines.

 

[trev2401]

I love mine, it is very well built and the focusing action is firm but smooth. Some people complain about the bookeh, but as you can see on this shot, it appears to be buttery smooth. I don't remember the aperture used on this shot, but it was pretty close to wide open as you can see how shallow the depth of field is. I keep it on my Bessa almost exclusively.

looks pretty good to me... DANG!!! i can't wait to start shooting with this..... 😀

 

[trev2401]

Hi guys, thanks for the wonderful reviews and advice.. I'll go with what Rover says: to go shoot with it. It's arriving today via UPS, hencei'll be chasing brown trucks around my neighborhood till i get my hands on it.

THanks to all.
🙂

 

[KoNickon]

You'll love it. I got one a few months ago and it is living on my M3. I had to take off the hood, not because it blocked the viewfinder (which doesn't bother me) but because it won't fit in the everready case otherwise. I'm very impressed with it, in terms of results and build quality.

 

[trev2401]

Hey guys...

just to keep you updated.

I chased down my neighborhood's ups truck, and got the lens 2 hrs ago.

it's now sitting on my R2a, and ooooo it feels goooooooood.....

Just loaded in a roll of techpan... now lets see how this lens performs at ASA25

😀

 

[ducttape]

I brought one to Paris to use as my low light lens. I used it in the evening and I was very, very happy with the results.

No, it doesn't feel like a summilux. But, it doesn't feel like a Pentax Spotmatic lens either. The barrel is brass, which you will find out soon enough if you buy one because it starts flaking almost immediately.

These may not be the best examples, but I think you will find it extremely sharp. I think I have other pics from the trip either on my site or on the Leica boards.

I would say, go for it.

BTW, all of the pictures below were hand held at under 1/30th second.

 

[ducttape]

Nice shots, David. Good bookeh, too (IMHO 😉
Interesting that you can count the aperture blades (10) on the street lamps of the Champs d'Elysees (spell?).
My dad, a physicist, once explained me why, but I don't remember.

Trevor, congrats and have fun with your lens, I like mine a lot. 25 ASA and an R2A instead of R3A, interesting ....

Roland.

Thanks!

Is that what the stars are? I never knew. Someone else here must know why. Thanks for that heads up too

d

 

[jlw]

Nice shots, David. Good bookeh, too (IMHO 😉
Interesting that you can count the aperture blades (10) on the street lamps of the Champs d'Elysees (spell?).
My dad, a physicist, once explained me why, but I don't remember.

Any lens will do this with out-of-focus images of point light sources -- it's not just a quirk of the Nokton.

The short, non-physicist explanation is that an in-focus image of a point is rendered as a very small disk, and an out-of-focus image is rendered as a larger disk; the more out of focus it is, the larger the disk is. The boundaries of the disk are constrained by the shape of the aperture through which the out-of-focus rays pass, so if the aperture isn't perfectly round, you'll see a different shape.

This behavior actually applies to every point in an image, not just light sources and such. You just don't notice it on more normal subjects, because the disks overlap each other and their edges blend together, so you don't notice that each one has a specific shape.

 

[35mmdelux]

really great lens. Now use the heck out of it. Great bookeh too. You would have to go to the Leica asph to do better. good luck.

 

[chenick]

Short answer - don't know...

Interesting to note though, the star 'rays' are doubled in the case of odd numbered aperture blades, e.g. my Olympus 35SP also has 10 rays, but only 5 blades..., whereas a 6 bladed diaphragm will have 6 rays...

I'll be posting some Nokton pics soon 😀

-Nick

So why a star-like pattern with long rays (in this case 10), instead of just a convex polygon ?

Roland.

 

[trev2401]

whoa guys.... this thread's starting to get interesting.

I'm really enjoying reading everyone's posts on the lens...

and ductape... EXCELLENT PICS of paris... wow....



I'm midroll on my techpan... will finish the rest of it when there's sufficient light tmrw.

Will post some pics for everyone to see...


dang.. i love this forum. 😀

 

[Daniel Unkefer]

I've owned the 50mm f1.5 Nokton a bit over two years now, and it's one of my favorite L39 lenses. I think it beats my old Dual-Range Summicron, and has a similar "heft" and feel to shoot with, as seamless as anything I have ever used. Exceptional for "no-light" shooting, at 1/8-1/15. Couldn't ask for more.