Noctilux-M 50 mm f:1,0

Características

Código - 11 821 - 11 822 - 11 603 / LLC - 131
Producción - 1976-2008 < 17,535 objetivos
Variantes - Puts da 4 versiones según el parasol y tamaño de filtro, 1ª E58, las demás con filtro E60 sin parasol, y la última E60 con parasol telescópico,1994-2008.
Montura - Bayoneta Leica M con Códigos 6 bits a partir de 2006
Angulo de visión diagonal, horizontal, vertical: 47°, 40°, 27°
Diseño Óptico:
Número de lentes/grupos - 7/6
Longtud focal efectiva - 52.4 mm
Posición de la pupila de entrada - 42.9 mm (respecto a la primera superficie de lente en la dirección de la luz)
Intérvalo de enfoque: - 1 m a infinito
Escalas: combinada, metros/pies
Campo visual mínimo: 410 mm x 615 mm
Factor de reproducción: 1:17

Diafragma - f/1,0-f/16 con click, valores intermedios, diafragma manual tipo iris de 10 hojas
Montura de filtros: rosca hembra E58 o E60
Parasol: ninguno o telescópico

Longitud hasta la bayoneta - 62 mm
Diámetro máximo - 69 mm
Material: Aluminio anodizado
Peso - aprox. 580 g (1ª), 630 g

Inscripción - NOCTILUX 1:1/50 LEITZ CANADA 2XXXXXX
LEICA NOCTILUX-M 1:1/50 E 60 2XXXXXX
Diseño: Walter Mandler y Gerhardt Bechmann Aug 1970

Referencias

15468579342 485b5a2dd1 - 15468580032 91896d1a02 -
Noctilux-M 50 mm f:1,0 E60 con parasol por Efrain G, en Flickr


Descripción

The 1970s were a problematic period for Leitz: the rangefinder camera was in decline and the company was struggling to survive. There was a desperate need for cost-reduction and attention-grabbing designs.

The optical prescription of the Noctilux 1:1/50 mm looks like a mix of the two Summilux versions, closely resembles the original Summarit and the Summilux-R from 1970: in this sense there is nothing new under the sun.

This Mandler-designed lens used a new Leitz glass type, the 900403 with a refractive index of 1.9. This characteristic allowed the designer to construct lens surfaces with less curvature, which helps to reduce the spherical aberration, particularly prominent with ultra-high-speed lenses.

The all-spherical design however introduces a fair amount of focus shift that reduced contrast at medium apertures. The Noctilux-M 1:1/50mm was indeed the first lens to deliver usable image quality at this extreme aperture. It is not possible to speak of a high contrast-crisp definition lens at the maximum aperture. The reproduction of subject outlines and fine detail is quite subtle with a smooth gradation of color hues and grey values. The impression is more painterly than scientific. This lens is proof that optical design is a mixture of art and science

A special characteristic of the Noctilux is its shape preservation in out-of-focus- areas, bringing a remarkable depth of vision. Stopped down to medium apertures the Noctilux behaves and performs like a normal standard lens of moderate maximum aperture, but does not approach their level of rigorous correction.

This is a demanding lens to use at full aperture because its shallow depth of field (only 10 cm at a distance of 2 meter) asks for accurate focusing, which is not easy in the available darkness where the Noctilux will be employed often. The lens has reached a cult status that might be the envy of many other lenses that objectively have better performance, but the fingerprint of the Noctilux at wider apertures is rather unique. Its true value is the almost flare-free reproduction of detail of poorly lit subjects and the shadow penetration is its main advantage and in these circumstances the severe vignetting does not disturb. These properties are however becoming obsolete in the digital workflow in which the post-processing software can enhance contrast and recover more detail.

This Noctilux version has been hailed as a proof that the Leitz optical department had made significant progress because the use of spherical surfaces in stead of the aspherical ones in the previous version was interpreted as a triumph of optical design. The fact that Leica has systematically adopted the use of aspherical surfaces for almost all lenses signifies that this idea is not correct.

The lens is sixty percent heaver than the companion version Summilux-M 1:1.4/50 mm. The physical size and the weight of the lens however are at the limit of usefulness. On the one hand one might argue that the physical mass stabilizes the camera when using slow shutter speeds, but on the other hand this weight and volume initiate vibrations that cannot be controlled.

The remark in most reports that this aperture of 1:1 surpasses even the sensitivity of the human eye is not very well researched. The maximum aperture of the eye is between 1:2 and 1:3: the pupil of the eye has a maximum diameter of about 8 mm. To find an animal with an eye, that has a really fast aperture, we have to turn to the cat, whose eyes have a maximum aperture of 1:0.9!!

The importance of the Noctilux lies in the fact that its performance goes beyond the sensation value of extreme aperture lenses and can be operated as a general purpose lens . The lens was and is in great demand (second hand prices are unjustifiably high!) and the numbers allocated are elevated for this kind of lens: more than 17.000 have been sold.

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