Are Leica lenses getting too expensive for Ken Rockwell?

Lachlan Young

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Joined
Dec 2, 2005
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The first & second Noctiluxes were designed in the era of High Speed Ektachrome (160 in daylight) for when the best possible performance in difficult lighting environments was a very definite need for photojournalists etc. That the f1.0 'look' became a fetishized thing has more to do with lenses that were once only bought (at what was probably a higher percentage of income than today) by people with specific professional needs becoming more readily available to the sort of idiot who is impressed only by the size, speed and cost of a lens. The 0.95 seems more aimed at that market & the 1.4, 2.0 asphericals etc at those who prefer an actually useful depth of field & who can use Portra 800 or similar if the light levels drop too low. If you really need 1" or less (effective) depth of field at 1m, get a Fuji GW690 & use it wide open... You'll learn a lot about how difficult it is to control a focus point that narrow. Consider too that the 'cinematic' look that people love to claim to replicate with extreme speed lenses is in reality often done in the T2-2.8 range (about 2.8-4 on still 35mm) on S35 - going to T1.3 tends (by all accounts) to not make the focus puller a happy bunny, especially at close range.
 
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