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24/09/08
LEICA NOCTILUX-M 50 mm f/0.95 ASPH. The world’s fastest aspherical lensThe new LEICA NOCTILUX-M 50 mm f/0.95 ASPH. launched by Leica Camera AG, Solms,
represents a milestone in lens design. It is the successor of the famous
NOCTILUX-M 50 mm f/1 marketed by Leica for over 30 years, beginning in 1975. Due
to state-of-the-art optical and mechanical technology, Leica has now been able
to make substantial improvements to the predecessor product. It is now possible
to “break the optical sound barrier” of a lens speed of 1:1.
The LEICA NOCTILUX-M 50 mm f/0.95 ASPH. offers a unique performance spectrum: A
noticeably higher lens speed has been achieved without any major alterations to
the size of the lens. The characteristic rendering of the previous 50 mm f/1,
valued by many users as a means of creative photography, has been retained with
extremely shallow depth of field at full aperture. However, when stopped down,
the lens performs comparably with the LEICA SUMMILUX-M 50 mm f/1.4 ASPH.
launched in 2004 which was regarded as the best standard lens ever produced. On
top of this, the vignetting and distortion values have again been improved on
the predecessor model.
“The LEICA NOCTILUX-M 50 mm f/0.95 ASPH. is not only a unique high-performance
lens in the M system, it also combines extremely high speed with imaging
performance that can easily bear comparison with the other top lenses currently
on the market. It is made of high-quality materials and intricately assembled by
hand at the Solms factory to give a particularly reliable product that will
retain its value for decades. The combination of state-of-the-art technology and
meticulous craftsmanship based on skill and experience ensure the constant
quality of every single Leica lens, once again widening the creative potential
of Leica M photography”, says Stefan Daniel, Product Manager for the Leica M
system at Leica Camera AG.
The new LEICA NOCTILUX-M 50 mm f/0.95 ASPH. can be used for a particularly wide
range of applications. At full aperture the lens features an extremely shallow
depth of field, allowing incomparably esthetic portraits or detail studies, for
example. The lens is also useful for available light photography, even
surpassing the speed of the human eye. In normal light, it can be unhesitatingly
used as a universal lens, and the extremely natural effect of the 50 mm focal
length enables a true-to-life rendition of the subject.
The LEICA NOCTILUX-M 50 mm f/0.95 ASPH. integrates eight elements arranged in a
double Gauss design symmetrical to the aperture. To ensure high imaging
performance, two aspherical lens surfaces are used, which, due to their size and
shape, are manufactured in a complex grinding and polishing process at the Solms
factory. Five of the glass elements exhibit partial anomalous dispersion, three
of them are extremely highly refractive and therefore exceptionally expensive
(the price per kilogram of this glass is roughly twice that of silver). An
outstanding performance in the close-focus range is also guaranteed by a
floating element, the last lens group of which changes its relative position to
the rest of the system during focusing. Despite its higher speed and imaging
performance, the LEICA NOCTILUX-M 50 mm f/0.95 ASPH. is still equipped with an
E60 filter thread and a telescopic lock-on lens hood. Like the new SUMMILUX-M 21
mm and 24 mm f/1.4 ASPH. lenses, the new NOCTILUX-M 50 mm f/0.95 ASPH. has to be
manufactured to extremely narrow tolerances, and new methods for centering and
adjusting the lens elements were developed for this purpose.
The LEICA NOCTILUX-M 50 mm f/0.95 ASPH. will be on sale at authorized Leica
dealers from February 2009.
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