I had so much fun taking images of Sal in really low light, with the Laowa Argus 35 mm ƒ 0.95 lens. It is simply an amazing lens for that purpose. It isn't about ultra sharpness - but about being able to take photos where you normally don't reach.

The rendering style of the lens at wide open aperture ƒ0.95 is incredible (if you like it, I mean). Due to the excessive background bokeh, you get the impression of using a longer focal length (it often looks more like a 50mm lens, not a 35mm wide angle).

Photo of Sal below

Despite the extreme bright aperture of ƒ 0.95 - it was so dark, that the camera exposed according a mere 1/6s at ISO 6400 ! It is a tale of how dark it really was at our balcony !

Normally i would prefer to use the Black & White setting (which I do), but then at the computer i also enjoy the color versions with this lens. (Same goes for the Laowa Argus 28mm ƒ1.2 lens).

While when I use the old Leica Noctilux-M 50/1 - I often prefer the black & white version over color.

In love

Given my long standing love for low light images of people - these "Noctilux" type of lenses, ultra bright, and with a image rendering style that is different from the average - i simply love to use them. I never thought it would be possible to create lenses with that "Leica Noctilux" look, in more lenses than just the original.

Plus that the non-Leica lenses cost a fraction of the real thing. Leica for example did recently introduce a Leica Noctilux-M 35mm ƒ1.2 ASPH lens - with a price tag closer to that of a car. I didn't quite understand it - because the difference to the Leica Summilux-M 35/1.4 ASPH FLE is... well, i favor the latter as it seems to be more even in performance compared to the new Noctilux version.

Well, Leica lenses isn't all about logic on the consumer side.