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By spherical symmetry, choose the orbital plane to be $\theta =\pi /2$. The geodesic Lagrangian of the Schwarzschild metric isFor a massive test particle, dots denote proper time derivatives and $2\mathcal{L}=-c^2$. The cyclic coordinates $t$ and $\varphi$ give, through the Euler-Lagrange equations, two constants:At infinity, $\mathcal{E}={\gamma }_{\infty }=1/\sqrt{1-v_{\infty }^2/c^2}$ is the Lorentz factor. The constant $\ell$ is the specific angular momentum, and the energy per unit rest mass is $E_{\infty }/m=c^2{\gamma }_{\infty }$. The normalization of the four-velocity givesUse $dr/d\varphi =\dot{r}{r}^2/\ell$ and define the energy-normalized angular momentum for a Schwarzschild geodesicThenFor an incoming massive test particle with impact parameter $b$, $L_{\infty }=m{\gamma }_{\infty }{v}_{\infty }b$, so $J=b{v}_{\infty }$. In particular, $J$ is not the same as the specific angular momentum $\ell$ unless ${\gamma }_{\infty }=1$.

A photon has no proper time parametrization and no finite Lorentz factor. For it, use an affine parameter in the same geodesic Lagrangian and impose $2\mathcal{L}=0$. The ratio $J=c^2{L}_{\infty }/E_{\infty }=bc$ remains well defined, and the null result isEquivalently this is the ultrarelativistic limit of the massive formula at fixed $J$, with $1/{\gamma }_{\infty }^2\to 0$. The printed massive formula needs this interpretation before it is applied to a photon.