Leica Voigtlander 35/1.2 on the Leica M8, first few pictures.

Brian

Product of the Fifties
This year I picked up two new lenses, as in "Modern". This century. The 50/1.1 Nokton and 35/1.2 Nokton.

First test showed the lenses to systematically back-focus on the M8, something you can expect from super-speed lenses between manufacturers. So I built up the RF cam on them by 0.05mm, which put them spot-on for use wide-open.

Here are a few from the Nokton 35/1.2, taken at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.

Renoir, at F1.2:



Flash Photography is not allowed, artificial lighting -such as flood lamps and LED lights- is not allowed, Tripods are not allowed. But- Photography is allowed in all of the exhibits owned by the Museum. Bring a fast lens...

Of course, Flash Photography would be wasted on Stained Glass Windows!



The Nokton, stopped down to F4 for above shot.

And you would not want it for Tiffany Lamps, either.

Wide-Open at F1.2

 
Very nice, I can't detect with my eye any barrel distortion that many people criticise about the Voigtlanders particularly in the photo with the lamps and the straight shelf lines (although there hasn't been much criticism for the F/1.2).
 
I don't own either lens, but have used the CV 50/1.1. IMO, it's a great lens. Not as sharp as the CV 50/1.5 wide open, but that extra speed is awesome. Certainly more worthwhile spending $900 on a CV 50/1.1 than $10000 in the Noctilux. Of course, if I could afford a Noctilux, I'd buy it! :)
 
I had a dream last night where I won the lottery, went to Keeble and Shuchat and bought one each of their Leica lenses plus two M9 bodies and one M9 Titanium body (which I had to wait for, along with the Noctilux and half a dozen other lenses), and then bought an apartment on The World and sailed around the world for a year.

Then I woke up. :(
 
My version of winning the lottery is to walk to into an Antique shop and find a Nikon M with lens for $30. Then walk into another antique shop and find a pair of Leica "Barnack's" with lenses for $15 each.

I love when that happens.
 
Oh. Forgot about the two bespoke M7s, one with a 0.85 finder in blue/silver and one with the 0.58 finder in green/silver (landscape, thus grass, thus green). I recall trying to bribe them to gussy up the M9s the same way. :)

I think I'm most impressed with the photo of the Renoir -- it really captures Renoir's colors well.
 
The M8 is an impressive camera. These colors are straight out of the camera, resized using Windows Picture Editor. No color adjustments made. I use a Tiffen Hot Mirror Filter bought for $10, was made for the first-generation Kodak Digital DSLR's from the early 90s. I had a couple from the DCS200c (1992) and picked up a couple extra on Ebay.
 
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