50mm at f/1.0, Yo.

There is only one 50mm f/1.0 lens in production today. It is the legendary Leica f/1.0 Noctilux, which is also the fastest rangefinder lens IN THE WORLD. Cue Tenacious D. You can pick a Noctilux up new for, oh, about $6,000. But you’ll need an M-series Leica to pair it with.

Another 50mm f/1.0 lens you can find with a little scouring is made by Canon. This one works with the EOS system, and has been out of production for a few years. It also retails for about 5-6k.

Are these lenses worth the money? Canon also makes an f/1.2, f/1.4, and f/1.8, after all.

I checked in with a friendly photographer, Andrew French, who knows pretty much everything there is to know about lenses. Andy has shot for Coach, Microsoft, Esquire, Smart Money, and Food and Wine, among others, and regularly teaches at NYU and ICP, which is where I met him.

So Andy, what’s so great about the f/1.0?

“This f/1.0 thing gives such a depth and presence that is so beautiful, with a little sliver of focus. Set the camera to the lowest ISO, maybe even add an ND filter, then shoot in bright sunlight.. at 1/8000 at f/1.0. It actual reminds me of images from the 1920’s and 1930’s, when the Leica was new, and 35mm film was around ASA 10-15, making it necessary to shoot at a  wide aperture, even in bright light… at approximately 1/100 at f/5.6 using the sunny 16 rule. Add a yellow filter, and you’d need to open even another stop. You could easily be shooting around f/2.8 or 3.5 at 1/30 in in open shade. (Sorry for the Geeky evaluation, I love photography between the wars in the 20’s and 30’s…)”

Don’t be sorry, Andy, we’re geeking out with you. Andy was also kind enough to send over some images samples from the Canon 50mm f/1.0 lens. These were shot over a few hours in Paris, in July 2006. Amazing to see this kind of depth of field in bright light.