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I posted my review of the Noctilux 0.95 after shooting some street images in NYC with it. Since posting it just over a day ago I have received 100+ e-mails about the images. As I was answering #22 I decided to write this review “add-on” to talk about the lens a bit more. Yes, this lens is expensive. Yes, the lens is heavy and large (for an M). Then again, it is also the fastest lens being made today for 35mm photography. Imagine a F0.95 lens that is sharp as can be wide open as well as coming in at a size that is about 1/2 of what a DSLR lens would be if it were this fast. Imagine a Nikon or Canon 50 .95. Look at the 85 1.2L. Its probably double the size of the 50 Noct.
While the lens is large, it is really only large in “M” standards. For modern lenses in general it is still kind of small. Leica really hit a home run with the quality of this lens. Its build is simply amazing. Its aperture ring and focus is the best I have ever felt. When I told a few people I would be testing this lens in NYC doing street shooting I was told it would not work. They said the lens was too slow to focus, and shooting wide open on the street was a recipe for disaster. While shooting these images I was bit nervous. As I looked on the M9 LCD they did not seem like “keepers” but when I reviewed them on my computer I was relieved.
Even shooting wide open at .95 I nailed focus in so many shots I had a HIGH keeper rate. The review I posted had more images in it than any other I have posted and I left quite a few out due to space/loading concerns. This tells me that the focusing of the .95 IS indeed easier than the F1 version AND that when you have a rangefinder and lens that are calibrated the results can be wonderful.
Leica has created a lens that many will lust after, including me. I do not see myself being able to buy this lens anytime soon. Maybe I will come into some money or win the lottery (Ha!) but until then I will remember my time with the lens and what an amazing hunk of glass it is. I have realized that it is indeed possible for a lens to inspire your creativity. For the past two months I have been in a flat out photographic FUNK! This lens arrived and snapped me out of it. This lens is now gone but I still feel inspired and will be shooting more with my Classic Noctilux, which is another gorgeous, but different lens.
If you are someone who has been thinking of this lens, and you have the cash for it then I would say to BUY it! Prices go up in January and this is the finest M lens I have ever laid my hands on. PERIOD. B&H PHOTO carries this lens and it is usually in stock, or if you pre-order it you will get it within a week or so.
I have more photos from NYC here. If you want to comment on the Noctilux .95 review please do so on the main review page HERE. Thank you for reading, I hope it was informative.