For my Dutch friends: on September 2nd and 9th I will host a workshop at Kamera Express in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. You don’t need a Leica for these Leica Experience workshops (they will be provided) and there are no admission fees.
I’ve done a few of these workshops before and all participants were very enthusiastic. Leica Netherlands usually doesn’t spare any expenses when it comes to food and drinks and they even provide a goody bag.
On the lower part of this page you can fill out the forms. Availability is limited to 10-14 participants, so make sure you’re fast.
I never had a fast 24, or any fast wide angle lens, but now that I have the Leica Summilux-M 24/1.4 ASPH, I (almost) can’t imagine I’d cover a wedding without it. Sounds familiar?
In my M9 years I’ve shot entire weddings with nothing but the CV 35/1.2, simply it was too dark for anything else. Much has changed with the M240, the M10 and the SL, but also with my lens line-up. The Noctilux gives me night vision with my SL. Still, I wanted a fast wide angle, but never spent the money, because I thought it would be a waste of money for a lens that I’d only use for a few shots per assignment.
Until I walked into the Leica Store in Amsterdam during a workshop and Maarten showed me a 24 Summilux. It wasn’t in the best cosmetic shape, but the mechanical parts and glass were as new. And it still had VAT on it. I went home, gave it some thought and decided to buy it, knowing that in a couple of years, I could sell the lens for at least the same money.
After my first wedding with it, I knew this lens was going to stay. And I’ll tell you why.
1: 24mm is more or less the widest lens that still doesn’t distort so much it looks like a gimmick
My documentary wedding photography is all about pure photography. No flash, no gimmicks, no excessive editing. 99% Of my shots are made with 35 and 50mm lenses, because they resemble how our eyes work. I always used my 28 Elmarit for shots where I needed a wider angle to include more of a scene and I thought 28 was the widest I wanted to work with. But it turns out that, even though 24mm is quite a bit wider than 28mm, it still works for me, as long as I don’t get too close.
The kiss, shot into the crowd. Paper planes flying to the couple.
2: A fast 24 is a great tool when you’re shooting in a tight space in low light
And that’s something that happens very often during weddings. I often try to shoot the kiss behind the couple, with the guests in the background. That only works if there’s room for me to stand behind the couple and if you have a lens that is fast enough for the circumstances. Or imagine a party with lots of people dancing in a tight space, with virtually no light at all. The 24/1.4 can do it all.
A 24mm is wide enough to shoot from your extended arm. Just prefocus, aim and shoot.
3: The 24 Summilux is an optical and ergonomic dream
For my documentary wedding photography I don’t need the best performing optics, but the 24 Summilux is very sharp, contrasty and has lovely bokeh. Even better, it balances nicely on the M, perfect on the SL and doesn’t have a focusing tab, which I prefer to lenses with a tab. It is a little big and heavy, but nothing too bad.
Taking an overview shot during dinner.
4: I don’t need an external VF
In theory, you would, but in real life, you don’t. On the SL, what you see is what you get. On the M, the 24mm focal length covers the entire viewfinder, plus a little extra. Unless you’re shooting landscapes where you need to frame precise and correct, there’s no need for an extra viewfinder for quick action snapshots.
Take cover! Lots of thing to see in just one shot. Btw: I almost got killed when this pinata was hit, but more about that later…
5: The 24 Summilux doubles as a 32mm and 37mm lens on the M8 and Cl
Yes, I still have my M8 and the 24 looks lovely on it. And it does too on the CL or T(L). Actually it is so nice that I’ll write another post about that later.
If you’re into a new camera and the Leica CL has caught your eye, you’ll probably start reading reviews. If you prefer watching video reviews, the first review that will pop up is this one, made by The Camera Store TV. Unfortunately, this is also the worst and most biased review I’ve seen so far of the Leica CL. Chris Niccolls starts the review by stating that ‘Leica cameras never offer good value for money’ (what value?), compares the EVF of the CL with the EVF of the SL (why?) and then starts complaining about the awkward menus (no idea what he’s talking about). Next, Niccolls says that the Cl looks ‘very, very poor’ compared to the competition, because of the lack of an IS system (he has a point, but the conclusion is incorrect).
Ready for a work-out. A nice bike deserves a place in the house.
After some more complaining, videographer Jordan kicks in to mention that the CL is not a good video camera, which is an interesting comment for someone who seems to be unable to get his sound straight (it clips a lot and often) in a simple video review.
By the time Niccolls tells us he’s ‘done with this camera’, I’m done with Niccolls. ‘You can’t put a price on fun’, he says. But for him, the CL offers no fun at all.
OK, let it go.
Our new friend Dorus. The Summicron 23 is fast enough to keep up with this fast little guy.
The funny thing is that I find the CL to be precisely the opposite of what Niccolls thinks of the CL. It is the most fun to use camera I’ve had in a long time. Why? Well, because it’s just right. The weight, the ergonomics, the excellent AF-lenses, the very nice EVF, the menu, the lack of buttons you never need and many more things. If you already have the SL or M10, the menu will look very familiar and the EVF looks quite a bit like the SL EVF (lay-out wise).
Leica has always been criticized for making cameras that are too expensive for what they offer. The thing is that critics seem to focus on the wrong criteria. Most people that buy Leica cameras do so, because they want a simple, intuitive camera that offers superb optical performance. Not because they want the ’tile menu’ organization that Sony offers, or because they ‘need’ image stabilization.
After only a few days with the CL, I can honestly say that this camera is fun. And you can’t put a price on that.
Planking in the sun. Something I should do too.The CL is an excellent camera to bring anywhere. It’s so light, you won’t feel it’s there.With the Summicron 23 shot against the sun. What’s not to love about this camera?
Now that we know there’s no ‘mini-SL’ on the horizon, I decided to give the CL a spin when I visited the Leica Store in Amsterdam today. I was sold in less than 15 minutes. When you’re used to shoot with the SL, the CL simply IS a mini-SL. Yes, it’s not fullframe, but I think I could take the CL to a wedding as a second body. It feels like the CL can compliment both the M and the SL as a second body. More testing and shooting this week, but for now just one shot, jpeg, virtually ni editing.
Oh yes, I also got the 23 Summicron. Some auto focus laziness for Sunday mornings…
Billingham is on fire lately. With the increase in mirrorless camera systems Billingham has released a couple of new photo bags. I was happy to receive three new bags to give them a spin: the Hadley Large Pro, the Hadley Small Pro and the 72.
The Hadley Large Pro may not be the most interesting bag for M, T and CL shooters, but it could be interesting for S and SL shooters that shoot with big lenses. Also, I get many participants in my workshops who would like to have the ability to bring a 15″ Macbook in a photo bag. And for myself, that would be a reason to buy this bag: sometimes I visit clients with both a lot of photo gear and a laptop. With the Hadley Large Pro, you can fit all this in a stylish and sturdy bag.
The Hadley Small Pro is like the regular Small, but with a number of neat extra features. The top handle, which I think many Hadley Small users wish for, a detachable shoulder sling, a trolley strap, an extra pouch on the back and some other things.
Lastly, I received the 72. An interesting bag, that is so sturdy, it’s almost a hard-case bag. It seems to be tailor made for the M with a big lens. A Noctilux won’t fit, but by 24 Summilux fits perfectly. Very nice!
It has been a long time since Leica organized an event where we didn’t know weeks in advance which new products were to be announced. But for some reason there will be new announcements this week which we don’t know much about. I have to say, it does add up to the excitement.
So what do we know? I’ll skip the limited edition cameras and lenses, plus the point and shoot cameras, but there’ll probably be a brand new camera that will be positioned between the CL and the SL. And that’s very exciting! It seems that Leica is continuing to develop the L-platform, divided into the SL-range and the TL-range. As you know I’ve been using the SL, together with my M, for almost two years now and I’m still very excited about the camera. I also added a second hand Leica T more recently and that camera is surprisingly fun to use and offers a lot of versatility too.
I expect Leica to release the much anticipated Summicron-SL 50 and Summicron-SL 35 too, which will both be very interesting lenses. I hope they’ll be light enough and affordable. If so, Leica has expanded their SL platform to a point where it will be a lot more interesting to DSLR-users than it was two years ago.
There’s probably also news for M-shooters. There might be a new 35 Noctilux and a new 90/1.5 Summilux. Stay tuned this week for more exciting news.
It’s been a little more than four years since I bought my Leica Noctilux-M 50/0.95 APSH and it’s time for some evaluation and contemplation. I never spent more time on a decision whether to buy or not, than I did with this lens. I have a good business as a working pro photographer and journalist, but 9150 euros was (and is) a lot of money.
So why did I buy it? Well, I had a few very good reasons. First, I thought the Noctilux would be able to render my shots in a unique and romantic way. Ideal for my documentary wedding photography. Second, an extra stop of light, compared to a 1.4 lens would never be bad. And third, I figured the Noctilux might be a good investment.
I had a bit of a rough start with the lens…
I had a bit of a rough start with the lens. I didn’t get my shots in perfect focus, so I decided to send both the lens and my M240 to Germany for calibration. Although I do have a backup camera, this was a far from ideal situation for a working pro. After that, things went better, but I noticed that getting my subject in focus in the hectic chaos of a wedding, where everybody is running around, was significantly harder than with my 50 Summicron. I had to retrain myself and get the lens in my muscle memory. To make it a little easier, I bought the 1.4x magnifier. That did help.
Incredible background separation. Nothing is too hard for the king of the night. or not?
I had to retrain myself and get the lens in my muscle memory
I also ran into another ‘problem’. The balance of the Noctilux is just not right with the M. Using a grip and a thumbs-up does help, but I noticed considerably more strain in my hands and fingers when working for many hours (sometimes a wedding takes 16 hours or more). Shooting the Nocti for only an hour or so isn’t much of a problem, though a front heavy camera is harder to work with than a camera that balances nicely in the hand. For that reason, I still brought my 50 Summicron, because most of my shots are made with a 50 and the Cron can be worked with all day.
After the first new-gear-happy-modus worn off, I noticed that I sometimes left the Nocti at home…
After the first new-gear-happy-modus worn off, I noticed that I sometimes left the Nocti at home and took my Summicron instead. I have to say I didn’t miss the chunk of glass and metal in my camera bag. But when the evenings came and things went dark (ISO 6400, 1/30th, f2) I did miss my Nocti. Instead, I relied solely on my CV 35/1.2 as I’d done for many years before.
Shooting portraits with the Nocti. I love it.
Things changed in 2016 when we came back from an epic five months canoeing and hiking trip through Scandinavia. I had just spent months doing (literally) nothing else but canoeing, setting up the tent, cooking on a gas stove, staying dry and warm and trying not to get killed. After almost half a year of soul searching, I noticed that I had gotten tired of shooting weddings. The pressure, the huge expectations, the long days in the weekends and the hours driving back in the middle of the night, it all seemed just a little too much. I decided to shoot no more than ten weddings a year and I’d try to increase my corporate work.
One of the first things I did was taking my Noctilux out the safe and clicking it onto the camera…
And so I did. Because I was going to shoot more corporate work, mostly portraits and headshots, I invested in a new Broncolor Siros flash kit. And a Leica SL. Although I had worked with the SL for a review, the fact that it was slightly too heavy for our trip kept me from buying it. But when it arrived in November 2016 it was a joy to ‘rediscover’ it again. One of the first things I did was taking my Noctilux out the safe and clicking it onto the camera. One and a half year later, the Noctilux is the lens that has spent the most time on the SL of all my lenses.
Speaking of razor thin DOF, here on a wedding.
Yes, the Noctilux is a beast that is much easier to tame on the SL than it is on the M. The balance is perfect, focusing on still subjects is much easier (on moving subjects is something you’ll have to learn) and the EVF is a perfect match with the Nocti. Simply stated, if it is so dark that I really need the 0.95, you won’t see much through an optical viewfinder anyway.
Contrary to what all photographers say at youtube, I shot all subjects at 2.8 with just one light, one reflector and one simple collapsible background…
And that’s when something else happened. While I was looking for a perfect lens for my headshots (the 75 Summarit is too harsh, a 90 is too long) I reluctantly took the Noctilux to a portrait assignment. Contrary to what all photographers say at youtube, I shot all subjects at 2.8 with just one light, one reflector and one simple collapsible background. It worked. With it’s minimum focusing distance of 1 meter, it’s hard to get too close to your subject (where a 50mm will eventually start to distort) and focusing with focus peaking did the job.
I started to take the SL to weddings, as a backup for my M and I could edit the images so the client wouldn’t really see the difference between the M and the SL shots. It worked brilliantly. My bag had gotten quite a bit heavier, but I was OK with it. It does make a difference if you only shoot ten weddings a year or forty.
Let’s get back to the start. I stated I had three reasons to buy the Noctilux. How does it feel almost four years later?
1: I thought the Noctilux would be able to render my shots in a unique and romantic way. Ideal for my documentary wedding photography…
Yes, of all the reasons I can think of now, I still think this is the most important reason to buy it. It is unique and it is romantic. And yes, it might be ideal for wedding photography, as long as you are absolutely sure you can nail it in critical conditions. more about that in part II. For now, I can honestly say that the Noctilux has become a vital piece of equipment in my photo bag.
2: An extra stop of light, compared to a 1.4 lens would never be bad…
Hmm, I’d say no. With the M9 an extra stop is crucial. With the M240 it is a very good thing to have. With the SL and the M10, there’s not much left to be desired regarding high ISO performance.
Shooting artistic nudes: a great job for this lens.
3: I figured the Noctilux might be a good investment…
Yes, it is. I have had clients that participated in my workshops because they wanted hands-on experience with the Noctilux. A few connoisseurs at assignments recognized the Noctilux and instantly bowed down in deep respect (kidding). But even my accountant will be happy. It’s quite simple: I bought the lens for 9150 euros. The same lens will cost you currently an extra thousand euro if you want a new one. That means that the price of my used lens will also go up. But even better, I don’t pay VAT and I can deduct the ex VAT price with taxes. If I were to sell it now, I’d make a profit. And a bigger profit than the money currently does in your saving account.
Back to the question in the header. Is the Noctilux worth the money? I’ve only spoken about ergonomics, workflow, economics, but not so much about the images…And what about the M10? Does that change anything?
A few weeks ago I received the The Leica APO-Summicron-M 90/2.0 ASPH lens from my friend Maarten from the Analogue Camera Store. He just got it in and was curious if I would like the lens. Before we start: I’m not a big fan of 90mm lenses, even though I have two myself. The reason: I don’t often use this focal length. For most everyday things -and weddings- a 90mm is too long for my taste.
It’s smaller and lighter than I expected, but also built like a tank.
But that doesn’t mean there’s no place for the 90mm focal length. If you shoot a lot of landscapes, or think that portraits will look better with a 90 (I think they look better with a 75 or even a 50) there’s no reason not to buy a lens like this. I have two old -but very good- 90mm lenses: the Tele-Elmarit-M 90/2.8 and the Summicron-R 90/2.0.
I dare to say that it balances pretty well on the M. Much better than the Noctilux…
Build quality and ergonomics
The The Leica APO-Summicron-M 90/2.0 ASPH feels lighter than it looks. In fact, I dare to say that it balances pretty well on the M. Much better than the Noctilux. Like most heavier M-lenses, it still balances better on the SL. And that’s not the only thing: it also focuses much easier on the SL than it does on the M. Even though the focus throw is not as short as the Summarit series, it is still easier to nail focus with fine-tuning while looking through the ultra-high resolution EVF of the SL. But of course, 90mm and fast 50mm lenses have been focused without EVF’s for decades and if your rangefinder and lens are calibrated properly, this is still a perfectly fine way of achieving focus.
So much detail: the 90 APO is quite a beast when it comes to resolving power. Click on the image to really see it.
The build quality is (of course) exceptional, like we’re used to. The lens is build far better than you’ll ever need. As long as you don’t drop it or drown it, it will last a couple of lifetimes.
The 90 APO has a nice slide-out hood that you can use to protect your front element and to prevent ghosting and flaring when shooting against the light.
The minimum focusing distance is 1 meter, which is fine for a long lens. Internally, the lens consists of five elements in five groups with one aspherical surface. It weighs 475 grams, though it feels like it weighs less.
Sharpness, bokeh and rendering
This is where the magic happens. For portraits, I don’t need razor-sharp lenses – preferably not -, but for landscapes, this lens is a phenomenon. Even wide open it is sharp from center to corner. Quite a difference with my old Tele-Elmarit and also my Summiron-R is much, much softer wide open.
Even wide open it is sharp from center to corner…
I wanted to try it for some portraits though and that worked out pretty well. It does show more -unwanted- detail in the skin than my old Summicron-R does, but it’s perfectly usable. I used daylight and in general, this is much more forgiving than flash.
At 2.0, the APO 90 is already impressively sharp.As this crop showsYou gain some sharpness, but more DOF with stopping it down to 2.8And finally at f4.
Bokeh is smooth, but don’t expect Noct-like creaminess.
Bokeh is smooth, but don’t expect Noct-like creaminess.
I had a hard time trying to qualify the overall character of the lens. It has a very modern rendering, which isn’t strange, as this lens was redeveloped in 1998. It is very sharp, but I’m inclined to say that my 50/2.0 non-APO has more micro-contrast/bite/pop, whatever you want to call it. Is that a bad thing? No, it’s just different.
Lens errors are hard to find. I got it to flare a tiny bit when shot against a low sun without the hood extended. Also, I found some purple fringing, but also only in quite extreme situations. Distortion is completely absent, which is impressive for a 90mm lens.
Some flare and CA when you really push it.
Conclusion
The The Leica APO-Summicron-M 90/2.0 ASPH is the landscape photographers ultimate tele companion. But because of the good balance and the acceptable weight, I’d say this lens would also work for the travel photographer that needs an excellent 90mm lens.
And yes, if you’re a portrait photographer and like the 90mm focal length, there is no reason not to get this lens.
The lens that I tested is currently for sale at the Analogue Camera store for 2250 euros, which I think is a very good price for a lens like this.
Shot wide open…Check out how sharp these guys are… in the lower corner!For me it’s not the ideal portrait lens, but it isn’t as harsh as the Elmarit series.Check out this furry friend…
When I visited the Leica Store in Amsterdam two weeks ago, while I was doing a workshop with Asim, Hans (store-chief-master-guy) showed me a Leica Summilux-M 24/1.4 APSH occasion lens. While I normally only buy second hand if the original product can no longer be bought new, this time I made an exception. The lens has quite some wear on the metal, but the glass is pristine. The wear however makes the price tag interesting and while I wouldn’t spend 7+ K on a fast 24, this offer was just too good not to take.
I’ll use it for group shots on weddings where the light is dim, probably also for the kiss moment during the ceremony where I don’t have much room, but it will also feature as a cinematic interview lens on our Sony FS5.
Although I’ve won a few awards with a wedding shot that I took from a bike, I usually don’t shoot while racing on my road bike. I need at least one hand (and preferably two) for handling my bike safely. Also, even though the M is small, it is too big to fit in a cycling jersey pocket.
Enter the Leica T. And the Leica Elmarit-TL 18/2.8. This combination does fit in my jersey and I can operate it with just one hand, using the excellent AF. It takes a bit of practice (and nerves of steel) to shoot a camera while cycling 30+ km/h, but I’d just like to share a few shots from last evening.
