Leica SL2 and Noctilux 50 f1 E60 v4

Leica SL2 and Noctilux 50 f1 E60 v4

Noctilux 50 f1 is one of my favorite lenses, it’s a synthesis of the whole Leica tradition and produces magical images. This lens, with this very wide aperture, is fantastic in low light conditions, but what really makes it unique is the way it represents the simplest scenes. I've been using this lens for several years and I never thought to change it with some other lens. In the past I have had the fantastic f0.95 but I couldn't fall in love with him, too similar to my 50 Lux ASPH and without the character of the 50 f1.

Five years ago I abandoned the Leica M system and invested my money in the Leica SL. With this camera it's a real pleasure use Noctilux, the fantastic EVF allows precise focus of the subject and the 24 mpx sensor it's a perfect combination with the lens.

This year I decided to change my SL to the SL2 because the new model has a much improved autofocus extremely useful with my L lenses. My biggest fear was to find that new 47 mpx sensor could get worse with my Noctilux f1, Leica herself claimed that 24 mpx are ideal resolution to get the best from M lenses.

Fortunately my Noctilux shines with the new sensor!

The spectacular "3D effect" of the lens is clearly visible and the definition is great at f1. The old Noctilux is a very defined lens, not razor/sharp like ASPH lenses, but at f1 it also highlights the finer details but the skin looks like velvet, true Leica magic!

The colors are vibrant and extremely accurate and the loss of resolution, at the edges, is similar to that seen on Leica M10, finally I can breathe a sigh of relief... A curiosity: I noticed that the original Leica M-adapter L performs better, on SL2, than the Novoflex adapter. This thing is very strange because, comparing the two adapters, I don't see any big differences but the loss of definition at the edges and the vignetting are greater using the Novoflex adapter.

My 50 Lux SL and my APO Summicron are spectacular on the SL2, but it's really amazing to see lenses not "younger", like the Noctilux 50 f1, make so well on a modern sensor with many pixels like this.

CONCLUSION

The Leica Noctilux f1 is one of the best lenses that I’ve ever used, the photographed subjects are "material", three-dimensional and come out from the frame (greater than the more modern 0.95), this feature distinguishes all lenses of the Mandler era.

On the SL2, as I wrote above, this Noctilux shine!