Shooting the NEW Leica Noctilux 50mm f/1.2 on the Leica M10-R 

Thanks David for your comment and sharing your experience, really sorry to hear that Leica did not play out well for your professional shootings. I never had an issue with Leica gear, but clearly, if you need on spot replacement and service, other brands might be more spot-on and help immediately. Nikon and Canon as well as Sony have their pro service and get you replacements immediately if you signed-up for pro services and get in trouble in the field.

great idea

Thank you, it might be sometimes good to just "indicate" what the background scene is about, to give viewers an impression but not more than that, because you want your subject in the foreground to be clearly separated from the background.

Lol - you are sooo right :)

@@mathphotographer do you have an issue with using a black lens cap on a silver lens?

As shown in the video: I currently use that black lens cap on the silver chrome Noctilux to avoid mounting/dismounting the lens hood all the time. And I want this special glass to be protected. But it looks like a weird "patchwork" to combine a Sony lens cap with this Leica lens :) Will find a better way soon ...

Thanks Anne, very kind words.

I was just thinking the same, it would be very interesting to see a comparison. I must say that I am not that impressed from what I've seen on this test: I was expecting better look/more sharpness from this stellar combo....

Peter Morch Leica put so much money in getting their lensquality to the highest order so the price is extraordinary high. They know that most of their customers buy their products anyway. Regardless if they will use them or not. Main importance is that they can talk with their fellow Leica owners about how bla bla bla their latest product perform insted of making pictures with their leica gear afraid it will worm out their pricey gems. Fact is that the one or two % improvement in quality is hardly visible or printable. Do you think that al te iconic masters of photography like Henri Cartier Bresson and many others give a Damn about aspherical apo lenses or not. They were interested in the CONTENT of their pictures and the moments of human emotion and beauty reflecting out of their work

​@@aadvanderwell8602 I understand that small improvements in Leica lenses do not always make much of a difference in photo quality. 50mm is not one of my frequently used focal lengths so my question with regards to the Leica 50mm f/1.2 vs. the Voigtländer 50/1.2 VM Nokton ASPH is performance/image quality for the price. There is quite a difference in price between the two, $7,700 vs $1,000 and I doubt there is a $6,700 improvement in quality. Voigtländer has been around for a while as well. Also, do I use zoom lenses a lot? Nope! Would I buy the mid range Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm f/2.8-4 ASPH for $5,500? Nope! Bought the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art for $1,100 instead. It was even reviewed favourably recently on this site. I think it's a terrific lens. I use a SL2 and will I go out in bad weather with my M lenses? Nope! That's why I bought the Sigma. One does not need to have OEM lenses for a camera brand to be happy. There is a big difference between spending money and throwing it away....especially if usage for the item is low. I am not a collector but I do have a 'curiosity' with comparing lenses. That was the premise of my original post about the two 50mm /1.2 lenses.

Peter Morch My idea too. I'm reviewing Voigtlander glass allready for some time and think too that it is a trustful brand that has a long history! My main camera system is Nikon, with the D800E in the center, already since the 60ties, they never have let me down. THX for your very informative answer! Good luck🍀

@@aadvanderwell8602 you mean longer history- by about 100+ more years than Leitz

Thanks for sharing, the Fuji-X is an excellent system and, of course, much more affordable.

Well that won’t come until the M11 is released whenever that may be. 2021 could be the year. Who knows?

100% agree.

Leica will never implement EVF on a M camera. They have already made it clear. Having EVF defeats the whole point of buying M. Just buy Leica Q or get Fuji.

@@mcmcx5514 Leica has made a EVF for the M , but it needs to be upgraded with higher resolution. It already existed, used and loved by some M users.

Boonnisaed Thanyaworaanan: it's: Leica is money money money. They will buy our stuff anyway

Will look into it.

Hi Erik, the lens is reasonably sharp, don't worry. I get everything I want out of that lens in post. But it is not the sharpest lens in my Leica M-lens portfolio. The Apo-Summicron-M 50mm is considerably sharper, still the sharpest lens I am aware of in the M-lens line-up. The reason is that Leica aimed at a true remake of that classic Noctilux as close as possible (clearly improved but a true remake) with replication of that dreamy old-school Leica look that classic lens has from decades ago. Means, Leica's focus in constructing that lens was not to achieve highest possible sharpness. Having said that, I do not think that the Noctilux 0.95 is much sharper at f/1.2 a bit maybe, but not by a lot. I need to test this out, have not done a comparison yet. For the black version you are not in a hurry, maybe collecting some more impressions by the various tests is a good idea and then purchase it when you are fully convinved. It is very expensive, also in black, so take you time for your decision :)

@@mathphotographer Thank you Math for your answer. I am having good contact with my local Leica dealer and they told me that i can try out the lens before making a decision. So that i will do for sure. But i understand that i will not change this lens for my beloved 50mm summilux F1.4. This is just an other type of lens. I will let you know.

You're too kind, this is an unimpressive lens compared to soviet rangefinder lenses (and you didn't mention the harsh focus falloff, busy bokeh and severe vignetting). Factoring the price it's absolutely horrible.

Thanks for your comment and agree, the aim of Leica was not to create the "sharpest lens on Earth" but the closest but improved remake of that classical and so much desired lens :)

@@mathphotographer congratulations on your purchase! This is indeed a most coveted lens, I would get it to make some serious $$$ from it to further fund my leica obsession :-)! Crazy what people out there are wanting to pay for one now that its all sold out! I own the 25yrs of leica vienna noctilux 50mm f0.95 that is done in the same fashion as this interms of the aperture and focus ring design. 50pcs were only made to sell on their own and the other 50 paired with a leica film camera. So yeah, if one can enjoy the performance of vintage lenses from the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s, this should not be inferior at all. made by Leica with they state of the art manufacturing capabilities I am sure it outperforms the original to some degree!

Thanks!

Lol - you will never let that wrongly colored handgrip on green Safari go, right? Liked your comment like always, stay safe & healthy!

FULLY AGREE !!!

I think it was a rebadged version of someone else’s anyway ? Maybe Olympus, who I think have now gone ? or been bought out

@@leemartin2978 Yes, it's made by Olympus. And, no, Olympus is not gone, but they sold their camera division to a Japanese holding company.

Absolutely! :)

Pragmatiker :) Ich suche noch nach einer besseren Lösung :)

The lens is "as is" ... like the other Noctilux lenses. For me it is "perfect" in what it does, and for many others who wanted to buy it but did not get it, it seems to be "perfect" too. Where you clearly have a point is that Leica often polarizes: There are the ones who love it and pay any price for it and there are the ones who think it is over-priced and not worth to be compared with other brands. The fact by how much the lens was demanded shows at least that I am in good company :) In any case, thanks for your comment and I fully respect your view.

@@mathphotographer Well you clearly love the look it provides, and that's all that counts. Just shouldn't have called it perfect in the review. Of course you are not the only one who loves this specific look, which is made clear by how fast the lenses are selling. It's great Leica are offering it now, since they made so few originally. Just not for me. I do shoot Leica M, mind you ;-)

Good and fair point!

I do not have the comparison but think their weight is about the same if not exactly the same.

@@mathphotographer After a search online the only thing I could find was that the silver version is brass & the black one is aluminum. So like other M lenses the black version is more for using & the silver one is for collecting.

for pricing on a Limited edition Leica lens as 50mm 1.2 :D please check again :)

@@iambeautiful8190 holy 16000 dollars :D omg my bad That i underestimated it haha

Pragmatic for the time being to protect the lens, better solution to be figured out as said in the video. Lots of people already provided their advice how to get this better. I fully agree with your statement, weird combo! :) Bad taste. But pragmatic and gets the job "protection of glass" done.

Sony cap for Leica, such a disgrace to Leica

review sample he got for free to keep, like does that all the time, just apply for the reviewer application on their site.

I am kidding ofc, I have no idea :)

I own it. Original true collector's piece. Got tempting offers to sell it again but would NEVER SELL it :)

Spraying ... :) really? Cool comment!

This is clearly his own decision :) TO is a great "old-school" Leica shooter, I enjoy his content million-times. But nowadays we protect our glass :)

Would love to look at the original, but no chance. I do not have $60'000+ for a 2nd hand lens :)

I agree. CA is terrible and lots of (hopefully for Leica`s sake) motion blur. Glad I own Zeiss Otus lenses. No comparison.

Nope, I agree. People seem to miss the point that this is a vintage lens re-edition: it is not up to modern day Leica quality! Get something current instead.

Remake of a CLASSIC lens which was so over-demanded that many people did not get it when they tried to order it :) The lens provides a very special "look" which takes you decades back in Leica history - which makes that lens so attractive. Remember what I said in the video: Leica's intention was to design and manufacture this lens as close as possible to the original historic lens.

The crop, my friend, the deep crop still looks highly useable on social media, A4-prints, etc. :)

It’s not top notch quality of course compared with modern lenses, but people love the taste out of this lens and the history behind it

Insane price, really! Are you sure and can you post a link? :)

@@mathphotographer Advertised but not necessarily selling. Just opportunistic.

Leica did not plan to create the sharpest lens in the world with this one, they wanted to get an improved but close as possible remake of the classic lens with the same dreamy and special look :) It is reasonably sharp though, not as sharp as a 50mm Apo-Summicron but sharp enough for everything you want to set in scene.

@@mathphotographer i also think its wrong to say the lens has any sharpness wide open, but of course its the original lens design and it wasnt the goal to make it the noctilux ever