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82 Comments
2017 now… and these photos remain as brilliant as when they were first taken. 🙂
I’m so in love with the seagull photo!
All of your photos are beautiful but I especially love the unusual photo of the duck. This is not your typical National Geographic photo. With all of your photos, what did you do in post? Thanks.
As always Peter…wonderful work! I am assuming you’ll keep it this time around :-)!!!
Whew those are gorgeous pictures! Great photography plus a unique lens.
Wonderful work indeed, Peter, and inspiring as usual! The Noctilux at 0.95 is so special indeed! Thank you for sharing.
I love the bokeh on these photos. Rivaled by no other!!!!
Excellent work. I recently added the M system and Noctilux to my gear. I was very reluctant to set down my Canon 85 f/1.2 II and 200 f/2.0, but after learning how to use this lens, which is a process, they have become quite lonely in my cabinet.
great shots. wow. Really shows great use of noctilux lens
Photo #4 is unbelievable. Seriously fine images all round, but the one of the boy is astounding.
Nice pictures Mr. prosophos… Although I´m pretty sure all these would work just as well *if not better* stopped down a little. Ultra-thin dof is a means, not an end in itself.
Thanks lcki. It’s difficult for me to say whether you’re correct or not… I know when I shoot wide open the light and lens rendering convey a feeling that I just can’t capture when my lens is stopped down. The dreaminess is lost, as it were, and it’s the dreaminess that I seek.
Absolutely gorgeous photos, great job!
Thank you Håkan.
Peter your family photos nice as they are, i find uncomfortable to view as i am a stanger.
I find this online fad of people sharing family photos with strangers rather distrubing whilst also taking away the privacy and intimacy of family.
Theres hundreds of other subjects of objects to photgarph which can show ones abilities.
Ridiculous. If you cant stand watching images of people you dont know you must have a really hard time getting through the day… every day.
lcki you may be a voyeuer
im not
theres also somthing called family privacy
It’s not about showing ones abilities though dgd…….!!
awesome photo….
is that picture is pure come out from camera or you have do some post processing in PC?
Hello siwidjaja,
I post-process all my images.
These are amazing. Wonderful photos.
What camera did you use?
The M9. Thank you aaes.
Beautiful shots Peter, nice work.
Thank you jim and John.
Easy to understand your opening comment “I like photographing life around me with my Noctilux, wide open @ f/0.95.
—Peter .
Wonderful images thank you for sharing them with us.
Beautiful portraits
Thank you Per!
Great photos showing your talent and the unique and beautiful rendering of this masterpiece of a lens. If the Noctilux was not this heavy, your post could convince me to exchange 3 of my m lenses for it and leave it permanently on the M9.
Thanks retow. The heaviness of the Noctilux is very anti-Leica, but everything is a trade-off I guess.
Great pictures! The contrast and rendering are great. I’ve noticed with Noctilux photos that sometimes they look a bit soft. Is this because the extremely shallow depth of field can be difficult to get right? Photos 1 and 3 are an example of this. Most of the other ones are crazy sharp though! (And I don’t want to get into a debate about how important sharpness is… Just asking out of curiosity). Nonetheless, amazing images!
Thanks Michael. The focus is always on the eye… if you examine these at 100% the focus will be right on…
Such nice post. Peter is The guy who knows to work with a noct. Congrats always beautifull images.
Thank you so much my friend… haven’t seen or heard much from you lately, hope all is well.
I’ve already seen many of these from your daily post. Each time I see them, I’m still amazed. Continue the fantastic work!
Thank you Gage… I have the advantage of a great camera ;)… another inside joke….
(I tried posting another response, but it didn’t show up).
I like the look of the pictures taken with the noctilux, even though focusing must be a challenge (I find it hard to nail it sometimes with the Summilux that I have just bought…) I also wonder about the weight and size of the Noctilux : I cannot see how I could use it for street photography. This being said, nice pictures!
Photography at it’s best! Lovely. Such a warm, timeless, colourful set of pictures.
I always enjoy looking at your work but I think it is more the photographers eye than the lens personally.
Thanks Ross. I concur – ideally the lens should help translate the photographer’s vision, not define it. I don’t know where I am in that process.
I’m not so sure about the Noctilux fad. I find the photos too mysterious and un-real especially when the lens is used wide open. The eye never sees this way and the photographs become little paintings in a strange world. Sure there must be a great satisfaction in owning such an expensive and beautifully made lens and camera, but I’m getting tired of the “look at me” Noctilux photography. Nice work thanks for showing.
These photos definitely have a dream-like quality to them, but I’m not sure how much of that is the lens and how much is PP. As far as the eye never seeing stuff this way, the eye doesn’t see in black and white either 😉
Yes this Noctilux fad is growing like crazy. I’m seeing everywhere Noctilux Noctilux Noctilux. Everyone seems to have one these days. It’s CRAZY! My kids have one, my dog has one. They are so incredibly common now does anyone not have one???!?!
In Toronto, we have a program where you can exchange crack for a Noctilux… so yes, everybody has one, even our mayor.
In all seriousness, stating that “the photographs become little paintings in a strange world” is probably the nicest thing anyone has ever written about my images. No joking… I’ve written about why here:
I’m a big admirer of your post-processing…please allow me a question, how did you shoot #6 (with the dark background) with 0.95? Whenever I try similar things, I do not get the background sufficiently dark. 🙁
I shoot with the window light on the face, in a dark room, and then apply progressive vignetting.
You can’t always plan things with kids, so I look for the moments as they come.
Absolutely great pictures!!!!
Thank you for showing!
Those are great examples, how such a lens should be used!
I love every single picture…
Thank you very much Herbert.
I have a theory about that, using hyper shallow DOF. It only works, IMHO, with “catchy” subjects (which of course have different subject matter for each individual) BECAUSE that is how our brain works when our eyes “catch” something noteworthy, beautiful, out of normalcy … we can focus the otherwise wandering eye and isolate that special spot.
I love all my Noctis, but one should handle them with care, as nobody likes a one trick pony for long, or in other words, the Noctiluxed wall, rails, bridge ain’t that attractive for too long.
LOL
Alfred
I agree with everything your wrote Alfred. Thank you.
Pics 1, 9 and 10 are my favorites. I especially like the post processing on pic 10. It gives it a painting like quality. Some of the other pics are on the borderline of too heavy a hand in post processing IMO.
Funny enough, two of your favourites have had the most post-processing. The others, less so.
Awesome! I really enjoy these shots!
Thank you Rainer.
Is this the real vignetting or did you add or remove some ? (nice pictures)
I’ve added some.
beautiful!!!!
Thank you neil… long time no see. What have you been up to?
I do love most of these but the danger might be that you end up with similar looking pictures – like using a fisheye for example.
Having said that I am jealous that you have this lens, I would love one too 🙂
Thanks Mahesh.
Peter as usual great photography!
I’d imagine that Noctilux is a keeper for life….sure wouldn’t want to sell one ever!!
lol, I’ve bought and sold this lens twice before… this time, hopefully I’ll keep it. I’ve gone on record as writing that the second biggest mistake in photography was selling this lens… the first was buying it ;).
Thanks macjonny1,
—Peter.
Thanks macjonny1,
I wrote another response to you, but my comment “is awaiting moderation.” Hopefully Steve will allow it.
—Peter.
They are all approved. Sometimes the system is triggered by certain words, just an automatic thing. Thanks Peter 🙂
Thanks Steve.
Beautiful as always Peter……
Thank you Bruce.
—Peter.
Wonderful work Peter. Great seeing these grouped together. Can you please tell me which ND filter/s you are using with the Nocti ? Thank you for sharing your unique gift. Warm Regards, Jorge
Sure Jorge…. I’m using the B+W 60mm 0.9 ND MRC 103M Filter.
Thank you,
—Peter.
Whoa! Look these… Crazy lens! The bird photo is awesome!
Thank you Matt.
—Peter.
Now that’s how to use a Noctilux.
Thank you Mr. leicamann… 🙂
—Peter.
if you ever wondered about the usefulness of wide open.. REALLY wide open, I think you just had your answer(s)… great stuff
Thank you David. Wide open is how I “see”, but I know not everybody shares that view. Glad you appreciate it.
What, your eyes have bokeh like a noctilux? Perhaps you should see an optician.
Yes, perhaps. Thank you.
Beautiful photos. Nice work again, Peter. Your work is always great, and an inspiration. Thank you.
I echo those sentiments exactly.
Thank you h20engineer and Jeremy. I’d also like to thank Steve for hosting the images, and for what he does day in and day out, here on his site.
2017 now… and these photos remain as brilliant as when they were first taken. 🙂
I’m so in love with the seagull photo!
All of your photos are beautiful but I especially love the unusual photo of the duck. This is not your typical National Geographic photo. With all of your photos, what did you do in post? Thanks.
As always Peter…wonderful work! I am assuming you’ll keep it this time around :-)!!!
Whew those are gorgeous pictures! Great photography plus a unique lens.
Wonderful work indeed, Peter, and inspiring as usual! The Noctilux at 0.95 is so special indeed! Thank you for sharing.
I love the bokeh on these photos. Rivaled by no other!!!!
Excellent work. I recently added the M system and Noctilux to my gear. I was very reluctant to set down my Canon 85 f/1.2 II and 200 f/2.0, but after learning how to use this lens, which is a process, they have become quite lonely in my cabinet.
great shots. wow. Really shows great use of noctilux lens
Photo #4 is unbelievable. Seriously fine images all round, but the one of the boy is astounding.
Nice pictures Mr. prosophos… Although I´m pretty sure all these would work just as well *if not better* stopped down a little. Ultra-thin dof is a means, not an end in itself.
Thanks lcki. It’s difficult for me to say whether you’re correct or not… I know when I shoot wide open the light and lens rendering convey a feeling that I just can’t capture when my lens is stopped down. The dreaminess is lost, as it were, and it’s the dreaminess that I seek.
Absolutely gorgeous photos, great job!
Thank you Håkan.
Peter your family photos nice as they are, i find uncomfortable to view as i am a stanger.
I find this online fad of people sharing family photos with strangers rather distrubing whilst also taking away the privacy and intimacy of family.
Theres hundreds of other subjects of objects to photgarph which can show ones abilities.
Ridiculous. If you cant stand watching images of people you dont know you must have a really hard time getting through the day… every day.
lcki you may be a voyeuer
im not
theres also somthing called family privacy
It’s not about showing ones abilities though dgd…….!!
awesome photo….
is that picture is pure come out from camera or you have do some post processing in PC?
Hello siwidjaja,
I post-process all my images.
These are amazing. Wonderful photos.
What camera did you use?
The M9. Thank you aaes.
Beautiful shots Peter, nice work.
Thank you jim and John.
Easy to understand your opening comment “I like photographing life around me with my Noctilux, wide open @ f/0.95.
—Peter .
Wonderful images thank you for sharing them with us.
Beautiful portraits
Thank you Per!
Great photos showing your talent and the unique and beautiful rendering of this masterpiece of a lens. If the Noctilux was not this heavy, your post could convince me to exchange 3 of my m lenses for it and leave it permanently on the M9.
Thanks retow. The heaviness of the Noctilux is very anti-Leica, but everything is a trade-off I guess.
Great pictures! The contrast and rendering are great. I’ve noticed with Noctilux photos that sometimes they look a bit soft. Is this because the extremely shallow depth of field can be difficult to get right? Photos 1 and 3 are an example of this. Most of the other ones are crazy sharp though! (And I don’t want to get into a debate about how important sharpness is… Just asking out of curiosity). Nonetheless, amazing images!
Thanks Michael. The focus is always on the eye… if you examine these at 100% the focus will be right on…
Such nice post. Peter is The guy who knows to work with a noct. Congrats always beautifull images.
Thank you so much my friend… haven’t seen or heard much from you lately, hope all is well.
I’ve already seen many of these from your daily post. Each time I see them, I’m still amazed. Continue the fantastic work!
Thank you Gage… I have the advantage of a great camera ;)… another inside joke….
(I tried posting another response, but it didn’t show up).
I like the look of the pictures taken with the noctilux, even though focusing must be a challenge (I find it hard to nail it sometimes with the Summilux that I have just bought…) I also wonder about the weight and size of the Noctilux : I cannot see how I could use it for street photography. This being said, nice pictures!
Thomas
http://www.thomasveyre.wordpress.com
Thank you wilk, and thomas.
Photography at it’s best! Lovely. Such a warm, timeless, colourful set of pictures.
I always enjoy looking at your work but I think it is more the photographers eye than the lens personally.
Thanks Ross. I concur – ideally the lens should help translate the photographer’s vision, not define it. I don’t know where I am in that process.
I’m not so sure about the Noctilux fad. I find the photos too mysterious and un-real especially when the lens is used wide open. The eye never sees this way and the photographs become little paintings in a strange world. Sure there must be a great satisfaction in owning such an expensive and beautifully made lens and camera, but I’m getting tired of the “look at me” Noctilux photography. Nice work thanks for showing.
These photos definitely have a dream-like quality to them, but I’m not sure how much of that is the lens and how much is PP. As far as the eye never seeing stuff this way, the eye doesn’t see in black and white either 😉
Yes this Noctilux fad is growing like crazy. I’m seeing everywhere Noctilux Noctilux Noctilux. Everyone seems to have one these days. It’s CRAZY! My kids have one, my dog has one. They are so incredibly common now does anyone not have one???!?!
In Toronto, we have a program where you can exchange crack for a Noctilux… so yes, everybody has one, even our mayor.
In all seriousness, stating that “the photographs become little paintings in a strange world” is probably the nicest thing anyone has ever written about my images. No joking… I’ve written about why here:
http://prosophos.com/2012/03/23/why-i-photograph-wide-open-life-as-a-dream/
ahhh your mayor must have one now!
I’m a big admirer of your post-processing…please allow me a question, how did you shoot #6 (with the dark background) with 0.95? Whenever I try similar things, I do not get the background sufficiently dark. 🙁
I shoot with the window light on the face, in a dark room, and then apply progressive vignetting.
You can’t always plan things with kids, so I look for the moments as they come.
Absolutely great pictures!!!!
Thank you for showing!
Those are great examples, how such a lens should be used!
I love every single picture…
Thank you very much Herbert.
I have a theory about that, using hyper shallow DOF. It only works, IMHO, with “catchy” subjects (which of course have different subject matter for each individual) BECAUSE that is how our brain works when our eyes “catch” something noteworthy, beautiful, out of normalcy … we can focus the otherwise wandering eye and isolate that special spot.
I love all my Noctis, but one should handle them with care, as nobody likes a one trick pony for long, or in other words, the Noctiluxed wall, rails, bridge ain’t that attractive for too long.
LOL
Alfred
I agree with everything your wrote Alfred. Thank you.
Pics 1, 9 and 10 are my favorites. I especially like the post processing on pic 10. It gives it a painting like quality. Some of the other pics are on the borderline of too heavy a hand in post processing IMO.
Funny enough, two of your favourites have had the most post-processing. The others, less so.
Awesome! I really enjoy these shots!
Thank you Rainer.
Is this the real vignetting or did you add or remove some ? (nice pictures)
I’ve added some.
beautiful!!!!
Thank you neil… long time no see. What have you been up to?
I do love most of these but the danger might be that you end up with similar looking pictures – like using a fisheye for example.
Having said that I am jealous that you have this lens, I would love one too 🙂
Thanks Mahesh.
Peter as usual great photography!
I’d imagine that Noctilux is a keeper for life….sure wouldn’t want to sell one ever!!
lol, I’ve bought and sold this lens twice before… this time, hopefully I’ll keep it. I’ve gone on record as writing that the second biggest mistake in photography was selling this lens… the first was buying it ;).
Thanks macjonny1,
—Peter.
Thanks macjonny1,
I wrote another response to you, but my comment “is awaiting moderation.” Hopefully Steve will allow it.
—Peter.
They are all approved. Sometimes the system is triggered by certain words, just an automatic thing. Thanks Peter 🙂
Thanks Steve.
Beautiful as always Peter……
Thank you Bruce.
—Peter.
Wonderful work Peter. Great seeing these grouped together. Can you please tell me which ND filter/s you are using with the Nocti ? Thank you for sharing your unique gift. Warm Regards, Jorge
Sure Jorge…. I’m using the B+W 60mm 0.9 ND MRC 103M Filter.
Thank you,
—Peter.
Whoa! Look these… Crazy lens! The bird photo is awesome!
Thank you Matt.
—Peter.
Now that’s how to use a Noctilux.
Thank you Mr. leicamann… 🙂
—Peter.
if you ever wondered about the usefulness of wide open.. REALLY wide open, I think you just had your answer(s)… great stuff
Thank you David. Wide open is how I “see”, but I know not everybody shares that view. Glad you appreciate it.
What, your eyes have bokeh like a noctilux? Perhaps you should see an optician.
Yes, perhaps. Thank you.
Beautiful photos. Nice work again, Peter. Your work is always great, and an inspiration. Thank you.
I echo those sentiments exactly.
Thank you h20engineer and Jeremy. I’d also like to thank Steve for hosting the images, and for what he does day in and day out, here on his site.
—Peter.