After having my copy of the '1966' for almost one year, I feel confident in saying that it is a lovely lens. It is not the sharpest. It probably isn't a great general purpose lens. It's heavy and slow to use. But...it's exceedingly characterful in a way that is either going to be your cup of tea...or not. It has a point-of-view.
_jim_ wrote:
After having my copy of the '1966' for almost one year, I feel confident in saying that it is a lovely lens. It is not the sharpest. It probably isn't a great general purpose lens. It's heavy and slow to use. But...it's exceedingly characterful in a way that is either going to be your cup of tea...or not. It has a point-of-view.
Leica M5, Light Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 '1966,' Flic Film Aurora 800....Show more →
Love your photos, by them, you convinced me alone to get that lens.
I dont have a clear opinion on it yet but it surprised me by being sharper in a large enough center and more contrasty when not flaring(though its beautiful when it does) than I thought it would be.
It might be my dream lens as it holds every quirk I like in one package, I had no character lens bringing them all in one piece of glass before.
After picking up the Light Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 Noctilux '1966', I hadn't really had a chance to shoot film or even many portraits with it. Yesterday, I finally took it for a walk around my neighborhood to get a better feel for the lens and its character...
My impression is that it has a very distinct rendering style. The wide aperture separates the subject much more than typical 50mm f/1.4 or f/1.5 lenses, and the background blur feels close to Leica's 50mm f/1 Noctilux. Focus transitions smoothly at the center, while off-axis areas show more structure due to strong outward field curvature. It's quite flare-prone and shows some veiling flare, but the center is surprisingly well-corrected...so not much glow.
Coma is left fully uncorrected. And yes, the lens has that well-known "orion" bokeh pattern, but Ive grown to like it...it adds a kind of structured charm to the overall look.
Here are a few random shots. No processing except for basic sharpening and the Adobe Standard profile.
Fred Miranda wrote:
After picking up the Light Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 Noctilux '1966', I hadn't really had a chance to shoot film or even many portraits with it. Yesterday, I finally took it for a walk around my neighborhood to get a better feel for the lens and its character...
My impression is that it has a very distinct rendering style. The wide aperture separates the subject much more than typical 50mm f/1.4 or f/1.5 lenses, and the background blur feels close to Leica's 50mm f/1 Noctilux. Focus transitions smoothly at the center, while off-axis areas show more structure due to strong outward field curvature. It's quite flare-prone and shows some veiling flare, but the center is surprisingly well-corrected...so not much glow.
Coma is left fully uncorrected. And yes, the lens has that well-known "orion" bokeh pattern, but Ive grown to like it...it adds a kind of structured charm to the overall look.
Here are a few random shots. No processing except for basic sharpening and the Adobe Standard profile.
I really like how easy it is to make that one flare with its large warm discs of light such as the ones of the Nokton 35mm 1.4 SC.
I noticed that contrary to the few lenses I own that can flare that way, the LLL 1966 does produce theses flares at a wide range of apertures not just wide open.
Sonnar-7 wrote:
I really like how easy it is to make that one flare with its large warm discs of light such as the ones of the Nokton 35mm 1.4 SC.
I noticed that contrary to the few lenses I own that can flare that way, the LLL 1966 does produce theses flares at a wide range of apertures not just wide open.
The warm veiling flare is definitely one of the highlights of this lens. Its fun to shoot with the rangefinder without seeing the effect in real time, then later discover that beautiful veil and warmth in the images.
Here are a couple samples of shooting in backlit conditions:
Shot in some harsh light today using my A7CR UT. I used the Fuji Classic Chrome profile and added a bit of grain to the images. The lens tends to render on the cooler side, and I felt the classic chrome look really brings out that character.
ILCE-7CRLight Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 Noctilux 1966 lens50mm1/8000s100 ISO-0.7 EV
ILCE-7CRLight Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 Noctilux 1966 lens50mm1/8000s100 ISO-0.7 EV
ILCE-7CRLight Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 Noctilux 1966 lens50mm1/8000s100 ISO-0.7 EV
ILCE-7CRLight Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 Noctilux 1966 lens50mm1/8000s100 ISO-0.7 EV
ILCE-7CRLight Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 Noctilux 1966 lens50mm1/8000s100 ISO-0.7 EV
ILCE-7CRLight Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 Noctilux 1966 lens50mm1/8000s100 ISO-0.7 EV
ILCE-7CRLight Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 Noctilux 1966 lens50mm1/6400s100 ISO-0.7 EV
ILCE-7CRLight Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 Noctilux 1966 lens50mm1/3200s100 ISO-0.7 EV
