diff --git a/docs/changes/43.optimization.rst b/docs/changes/43.optimization.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3db1a66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changes/43.optimization.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Added optional `normalize` parameter to `pyvisgen.visibility.vis_loop` to decide whether to apply a normalization multiplier of `0.5` (default: True)
diff --git a/pyvisgen/simulation/visibility.py b/pyvisgen/simulation/visibility.py
index 2a36ffb..6444fc0 100644
--- a/pyvisgen/simulation/visibility.py
+++ b/pyvisgen/simulation/visibility.py
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ def vis_loop(
     mode="full",
     batch_size=100,
     show_progress=False,
+    normalize=True,
 ):
     torch.set_num_threads(num_threads)
     torch._dynamo.config.suppress_errors = True
@@ -74,7 +75,8 @@ def vis_loop(
 
     # normalize visibilities to factor 0.5,
     # so that the Stokes I image is normalized to 1
-    B *= 0.5
+    if normalize:
+        B *= 0.5
 
     # calculate vis
     visibilities = Visibilities(