Summicron 50mm vs Noctilux

[Guest]

Stefano -

Yes, "terrible" is the appropriate word. Most of the time, using a filter is OK - but then, when it creates flare, it's always on THE shot. Luckily, I find the clip-on, rigid hoods for the Leicas are pretty good at keeping most things away, except for dust & spray.

Barry -

I have most of my custom work done by Reinhold Mueller. I'll e-mail you separately if you want contact info.

I always leave the filter off, except on the above-mentioned circumstances - but this is a personal choice. If it makes you really nervous to carry your lens without one (understandable), that's a choice you'll have to make.

Conversely, I find that I've never regretted using a hood - it frequently (but not always, depending on angle of entry) helps with reducing flare, & does provide some protection to your front lens element.

Regards,
Marco

 

[Guest]

About filters: while for landscape photography I use orange, red, and green filters on Summicron 28mm/Summicron 35mm/Summicron 50mm withouth any defect visible on the results, on contrary using colored filters or also UV filters with 5omm Noctilux or 90mm Summicron (even slim filters by b+w) I've always had problems.
About the hoods I'm completely with Marco. The hood is not a nice free gift you get buyng a Leica lens (or other brand lens). Try to use a Noctilux or a 28mm Summicron with and without the hood and you'll find the difference.
Last weekend I take a shoot to some trees right against light with 28mm Summicron and the hood. The result is very good (according to my criteria).
Enjoy,
Stefano.

 

[marco]

The Canadian distributor for Leica just went out of business, so I found their stock at a local camera shop for a good price. I had an opportunity to sell my old Noctilux & get a new Noctilux for the same price, so I went for it.

My main reason for getting the new version is I'd heard that the current one has improved coatings on the elements.

The other reason is my older version has the separate hood. A lot of users liked the older separate hood & I could see why - it provides better protection & doesn't collapse like an extendable hood. However, the one I had was also a pain - the hood would sometimes fall off or it would remain in the camera bag when I pulled the lens out (the version I had was a twist-on/off type hood). So for me, the older hood had a disadvantage.

I haven't processed my first roll yet with the new Noctilux, but already the handling of it is much easier than my old version. The f-stop clicks & focusing ring are nicer to use. The smaller extendable hood obviously doesn't fall off, & it fits in my camera bag better. Time will tell if the there's a visible difference in the newer coatings & if the hood keeps collapsing.

 

[michae_seo]

Hello. Barry
I have both lens.
I like 50mm very much.
at first... i started 50mm summicron.. it is very sharp and compact. but.. it can't satisfy me a little... because i don't have summilux (my friend had summilux and he said to me that summilux is better than summicron every day every hours. ^^)
Then, I decided to buy noctilux because i want to stand on my friend's shoulder.^^
But.. after buying noctilux, I can't sell my summicron.
Summicron give me a firm confidence.
Noctilux give me a fantastic image.
I have full satisfaction both lense.
If you choose only one lense, the answer is summilux.
But.. If you choose two lenses at 50mm, I recommand you to have both lense.

 

[mattinasi]

This is excellent advice! I had a Summicron and I loved it, but I wanted a newer and slightly faster lens, and I always try to get a 1.4 standard lens for any camera. So I moved from Summicron to Summilux - I do not miss the much smaller Summicron at all. I can shoot the Summilux anywhere. If I had a Noctilux I don't know what I would do with it - I guess I could stop pushing my film, or push one stop instead of two Both the Summicron and Summilux make incredible images, so no worries there either way.

So, Summicron vs. Noctilux? Buy both! Or buy a Summilux instead. Who the heck can focus at f1 anyway?!? ;-)

Cheers! - marc