(Dang this old thread existed. I was about to start a new one, rather epicly titled "Battle of The Bokeh: Summilux v Nokton — The Dawn Of Justice").
Anyways, today I felt uninspired to do real shooting so I decided to take these lenses with me out for a quick stroll. Overcast day, nothing exciting content-wise.
I selected 5 scenes which I shot at their widest open (f/1.4 or f/1.5) and then at f/2.8.
Needless to say, objectively and by majority consensus I think, the Summilux is the king of creamy bokeh and Nokton has to compete with its attractive price point. But not entirely. My very first immediate reaction to seeing Summilux bokeh was that it's sort of this perfect Gaussian blur -- way too perfect. And if you get too close to your subject while still while open, it totally explodes into creamy goo. Not the case with the Nokton, which has bokeh looking like a painter used a brush to paint it on the canvas. This effect can make busy backgrounds most delightful.
Scene 1
Now the light or captured action don't flatter either lens overly.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Nokton didn't get a chance to practice that painterly brush bokeh so it's clearly off to a bad start!
The bokeh balls at this size have definite onion ring ugliness.
Then again, the bokeh gets this feathery cotton candy feel so it still has a fighting chance against the boring Summilux rendition!
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Both focused at the traffic light, the tree leaves aren't particularly attractive on either one. Summilux has a clear win on the highlights/bokeh balls but the cotton candy bokeh is slightly less.
This is how Nokton can play the scene on a good day (captured earlier):
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The tests done at f/2.8 are flawed as there's a bus blocking the view to the tram platform across the street.
But let's look at the leaves behind the focus point.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Pretty even if you ask me.