These are the pros and cons from Cameralabs
It took a while but now you can preorder the new crazy good and a bit crazy expensive Nocticron 42,5mm f/1.2 lens at Amazon US (Click here). And these are the new lens reviews:
Cameralabs (Click here) writes:
Unlike many fast primes that have come before it for various systems, the Nocticron is not about delivering a dollop of creamy bokeh at the cost of soft details once you move away from the center. It’s not about suffering from slow autofocus, nor having to worry about camera shake. It’s not about having to stop-down to achieve the sharpest results. No, the Leica Nocticron is about having your cake and eating it – and what a delicious cake it is too
Photographyblog (Click here) says:
$1599.99 is undoubtedly expensive for an 85mm lens for any system, but given the excellent image quality, creamy bokeh and snappy performance, we feel that it’s just about justified and a good investment for Micro Four Thirds users who require a fast portait prime lens.
And we also have a test by the French site Focus Numerique (google translation here):
The first results with this new 42.5 mm are quite good without being outstanding. The images are crisp and stitched in the center at full aperture of f / 1.2. This sensation of sharpness fades as one approaches the edges.
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In USA the lens can be preordered at Amazon US (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). In UK at Wexphotographic (Click here)
34 Responses
Who will be the 1st to pre-order?!
People over at mu-43 have already pre-ordered as far as I can see.
I don’t see how cameralabs can seriously put down OIS as a negative (redundant for Olympus owners). Having a Panasonic camera, I would not even entertain the thought of buying this without OIS.
Oh, and Amazon knocked 99 cents off the price, I guess they were feeling generous!
.99 cents is still better than paying full price! haha
It comes with OIS. Fine. I mean, no reasons to complain, unless maybe to suspect it accounts for a too big part of the price for what it’s worth.
You know, people will buy it because its a sharp AF f/1.2 lens, not because it has OIS.
Wow that Focus Numerique review certainly isn’t glowing…
Principle of diminished returns illustrated very very well in the case of these 3 lenses
– 45mm /1.8
– 75mm f/1.8
– 42.5mm f/1.2
You double the price as you go up but get less and less in return, especially going the last step.
Instead of the Panasonic, I can buy the 45mm f/1.8, the amazingly sharp Sigma 60mm f/2.8 and also the 75mm f/1.8 and still save some money, while having 3 focal lengths and sizes to choose from depending on the job.
What’s the point of this $1600 Panasonic lens? Ah, I get it. It’s for those poor Panasonic camera users. That’s a lot of money to pay for OIS!!!!
Why not just buy an OMD? and get one or more of the other lenses. And then start saving every time Panasonic releases more of these super expensive OIS lenses.
Canon and Nikon users have been buying unstabilized fast primes for decades without any afterthought about it.
I don’t think its about brand fidelity. At this price, this lens will appeal to few, several of which might very well be OM-D users.
I have the EM5 and EM1 and also have this lens on pre-order, so no, I wouldn’t say its only for Panasonic users (though I do have some good Pany lenses too).
I also have the 45/1.8 and 75/1.8, and all of the above + a bit more wasn’t too expensive once I sold off a decent collection of APSC and FF DSLR gear.
The 45/1.8 is a good lens for the value, but if you want that extra bit of subject isolation that a faster lens provides it costs a lot more unfortunately. I am one of the few that are willing to pay for it though.
The 75/1.8 is an excellent lens as well, but its a long focal length that is hard to use indoors. I much prefer the 85mm-equiv focal length, and the 42/1.2 will give me the same ability to blur the background as the 75/1.8, but at the shorter working distance that I prefer.
Its a larger, heavy, and expensive lens, but its a lens that will allow me to sell off the rest of my FF gear (FF body, 85/1.4 lens) which is even more large, heavy, and expensive, and means my total system size is still much smaller. For the same weight as my 85/1.4+DSLR I can take the EM1, 42/1.2, and another 3-4 M43rds lenses that cover a much larger range.
Well said. This is very similar to my thought process.
Everything that Bro said…plus…the Nocti will give more subject isolation than the 45mm f/1.8 but it is also sharper wide open…that combo is always costly to come by….I still think the price should be a little lower…and I think it may come down at least a little bit after introduction.
How can this replace a FF 85/1.4 combo when it has the depth of field of a 85/2.4? This is an apples-oranges comparison.
I might just as well say I can replace the 42.5 f/1.2 with the Olympus 45mm f/1.8, because, well, the aperture is close enough and look at how much weight and money I’m saving.
And the 42.5mm f/1.2 @ f/1.8 it is NOT sharper than the 45mm f/1.8 @ f/1.8, it is exactly the same.
What if OP hardly ever needs thinner than f2.4/85 on 35mm ?
It’s an apple and orange comparison based on rules set by you.
Generally, when taking portraits, ie: head and shoulders, headshots, I shoot at F3.5-5.6 with an 85mm lens on a FF camera. In this sense, the 45/1.8 can easily replace the much larger FF gear.
However, full body shots are where the 45/1.8 struggles. Usually for for body I shoot in the F2-2.8 range.
Its really easy to look at it on paper and point to the DOF differences between F1.4 and F2.4 equiv, but you’re only looking at it from a very narrow perspective. First off, F1.4 on a FF camera with PDAF focusing means lots of focus errors, my keeper rate is probably less than 50% shooting wide open, it also means relatively slow focusing (compared to m43rds) even with my Sigma 85 HSM which is a “fast” focusing lens in this range, the slow speed of focus can mean that slight subject movement during focus acquisition can ruin a shot. 1.4 on FF is really incredibly thin, unusable thin for me in most situations other than the rare artistic shot where I really want to totally blur out the background.
In addition to that, distance to subject and distance to background and really much more important in determining BG blur than the difference between even 1.4 and 2.4. Composition is very important no matter what format you’re using, and if you’ve composed well to blur the background, the difference between 1.4 and 2.4 is going to simply be the difference between the a blurry background, and slightly blurrier background.
If you’re the sort of person that shoots 1.4 or faster primes on a FF camera for 90% of your work, a M43rds setup is never going to replace that kit. I’m not sure how many people realistically do this, I certainly don’t. Personally I think shooting everything wide open can be a bit of a crutch and it was something I was obsessed about when I first started shooting with DSLRs. These days I try to focus more on composition and light than I do DOF.
Shooting at 85mm or longer on M43rds or FF, background blur really is not difficult to achieve. Now, lets say the Sigma 35/1.4 on FF, that lens provides a look that you just can’t get close to with a M43rds AF lens, subject isolate with wide angles is really the bread and butter of a FF system. Luckily, shooting wide angle but with subject isolation is not something I do often, so I’m willing to live with that limitation.
+10
I really fail to understand the stabilization fixation. It can be a nice feature in some situations. My GX7 has it, but I really don’t see much difference between when I use it or don’t. Although, I think it gives me a false sense of security, makes me a bit sloppy and abandon technique. I keep it disabled most of the time anyway.
As far as going the OMD route, some people prefer a simpler, more straightforward UI, which unfortunately is something Olympus sorely lacks. The Panasonic UI is far from perfect, but it’s much more logically laid out.
I am not really a fan of stabilisation too, but it can be helpfull. Handheld video really asks for it though, the difference with or without is huge. Robin Wong showed handheld macro stills which demonstrates the usefullness very convincingly. I hate it when the shifting sensor destroys a critical framing about wanted or unwanted details at the border(sometimes with full body portraits, the model’s feet are cut off). In the end its a good option, just need to know in advance when its needed or not.
I would really like a Nocticron but I cannot really afford the price while in college… there needs to be some sort of rent-to-own program these camera companies can create to help out the less financially well-off artists and photographers… lol
Ha! A couple of years back then I had to eat noodle for a month to have barely enough for the 25 1.4. My photography life was hard but somehow very rewarding back then. Now I have some bucks but no time…
You need to adjust your priorities my friend.
If you can’t afford this lens, its not like its the only lens ever made, choose another. Especially with MFT, your ability to use almost any lens with an adapter gives you all the options in the world.
Some of the best photographs I’ve seen come from people who can’t afford the latest digital equipment and use older bodies and lenses.
I really wanted a Holden Monaro (Pontiac GTO in US) when I was in high school, but guess what, I couldn’t have it because I couldn’t afford it! Now that I’ve done all the hard work I can enjoy the spoils, and because you have earnt them they are so much better 🙂
+1
Back in the 80’s, I really wanted a computer… My friends had Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, etc… My parents didn’t have that much money to spend in that, so I had a Tandy Coco2 on sale… Sure I didn’t have all those great games my friends had, and I was feeling bad about that (Tandy dropped support fast where I live, it was impossible to find games for the Coco2)…
Having nothing drove me to code games. Believe it or not, in the long term, I learned way more by coding and trying to create things with my computer than my friends did spending all their time playing games…
You can’t afford that expensive lens? Use another cheaper solution (as suggested above): limitations will push your creativity forward.
Well thanks for the replies guys… I already have half a dozen manual focus lenses with adapters and the Olympus 75mm 1.8 and Panasonic Leica 25mm 2.4 lens… This one would be superb if I could only get my paws on it! 😉
If you are saving up the last bit of money you have for this lens, you are absolutely insane.
That is indeed impressive corner sharpness at f1.2…
It’s really weak that it’s not weather-sealed for this price. Such an expensive lens should be water-and dust-proofed.
I agree with that. I think this lens is going tolook weird in the catalog two years down the line where all most expensive M4/3 cameras will all be weather -sealed
+ 1.2 Panasonic has sealed flagship body too, so I was a bit disappointed to see their flagship lens has none. Sealing is not an expensive option esp. when its a fixed outer barrel where IF is used(like the zuiko 12-50).Other then that I see no complaints(if the price is a problem and you have a decent paying job and/or dominant partner, you can always start raising funds, put a bit aside every month and buy it within a year or so)
I’ve read all the reviews I can find on this lens including the ones above and I have to say there are some serious discrepancies between reviews in terms of finding. SLR gear for instance says the manual focus ring is buttery smooth and Camera labs says it’s not. Photozone claims excessive vignetting and no one else. Camera labs and SLR gear say sharp in the corners and focus numerique says no.
It’s hard to know what’s going on here. Could be sample variations although one would expect less of that due to Leica standard.
One thing is for sure no one is outright convinced it’s worth the money. We need some more working pros to step up and explain how they are getting shots they couldn’t otherwise.
I think the Camera labs review said it best when he said it was a jack of all trades. Sharp to the edges. Low light monster. Isolation expert.
Correction. Photozone did not review the lens. It was Lenstip who claims heavy vignetting.
Lenstip also says the OIIS is effective to 3.5 stops whereas Camera labs says 1-2 stops. They also don’t sing the corner sharpness praises of the lens like the other sites do.
And heavy vignetting is literally norm for such bright lenses. So I’m not particularly surprised that few reviewers mention it.
ephotozine has also done a review of this lens.
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/panasonic-leica-dg-nocticron-42-5mm-f-1-2-asph–lens-review-23872
No doubt the lens is expensive in the sense of m4/3 .
If this lens can produce more bokehs than the 75mm F1.8 shooting in much closer distance , I’m fine with it .
so in other words:
It overpriced crap
So in other words…you’re a troll.