A $10,000 Camera Lens - is it Worth It?

Is it possible for a lens to make you a better photographer? That was the selling point the salesman used when trying to convince me to purchase a $10,000 camera lens. The Leica Noctilux-M 50mm F/0.95 ASPH lens is way out of my price range at $9,995. I would have to sell all of my camera equipment plus add a few extra dollars to purchase it. I knew I could not afford it but I was curious...what made this lens worth $10,000. I was at a photography trade show when I eyed the Leica Noctilux-M 50mm. The salesman let me test it with one of their cameras. I had a digital camera with me. The Leica Noctilux-M is a manual focus lens.

Leica Noctilux-M is a 50mm lens has 8 elements in 5 groups. Its focus ring turns 130 degrees counter clockwise. It has a diagonal view angle of 36 degrees and uses a E60 size screw on filter. It is the fastest manual focus lens made. Its two huge aspheric elements are made of ground and polished glass, not hybrid or molded glass, which is found in a number of high-end lenses on the market today. It is a full framer and scales up to 67mm on the Leica M8 and M8.2 bodies. It has a built in telescoping lens shade and at f/8 it produced some of the sharpest photographs I had ever seen.

When I set it wide open at f/0.95 and kept the focus solely on the subject I wanted to photograph, the image quality was unparalleled. It was so good I do have an example to compare it with. The camera picked up things my eye had not even noticed. The Leica Noctilux is a bit heavy at 1.71 pounds. I am sure that is because of the polished glass elements. It is not a close-up lens, focusing in only to 38 inches. But its optics are extraordinary. It does things I have not been able to do with other lenses. For one shot, I tested it in broad daylight against a radically defocused background. My subject was only a few feet away from the background and the focused subject was incredibly sharp, crisp and clear. The only add-on I used was a neutral density filter.

Unfortunately for me, the Leica Noctilux-M 50mm mounts only on Leica M body cameras. I do not own a Leica M body ... yet. I have added it to my wish list, along with a Leica Noctilux-M 50mm F/0.95 ASPH lens. I do not know if this lens will make me a better photographer but I am willing to give it a go. I love good glass and this is the fastest and best glass I have ever used.