Leica Noctilux-M 50mm f/1 Type 1

Leica Noctilux-M 50mm f/1 Type 1

For more than three decades the Noctilux-M 50mm f/1 was the fastest series-production lens in the Leica M lineup, and it built much of the Noctilux mystique that still surrounds the name. It reached an f/1 maximum aperture using a conventional spherical optical design rather than the costly ground aspherical elements of the earlier 50mm f/1.2 Noctilux, which made it practical to produce in quantity while still gathering light at the extreme end of the rangefinder catalogue. The optical layout was credited to Walter Mandler and Gerhardt Bechmann, with design work dated to 1970, and it places seven elements in six groups in a relatively compact barrel [1]. Across its long run, total assigned production is recorded at roughly 17,500 lenses, a figure that reflects both its specialist appeal and its high cost.

The lens is built from anodized aluminium and optical glass, with a ten-blade manual diaphragm running from f/1 to f/16 in full and half click stops. It is a rangefinder-coupled M-bayonet lens that focuses to one metre, where it covers a smallest object field of about 410 by 615 mm, and it carries the standard 47-degree diagonal angle of view of a 50mm lens. Filter and hood arrangements changed over the production life: the first version used E58 filters with a pinned clip-on hood, two later versions used E60 filters supplied without a built-in hood, and the final version added a built-in telescopic hood. Weight is given as 580 g for the first version, with the later built-in-hood version listed heavier at around 630 g.

Identification rests largely on filter size, hood type and inscriptions. Early barrels are engraved NOCTILUX 1:1/50 LEITZ CANADA, while later E60 examples read LEICA NOCTILUX-M 1:1/50 E 60. Collector references commonly divide the run into four versions by hood and filter configuration, the E58 first version, two E60 versions without a built-in hood, and the final E60 version with the telescopic built-in hood[2]. A late uncoded edition and a small boxed final edition were sold near the end of production before the lens was superseded by the aspherical 50mm f/0.95 ASPH Noctilux-M.

Optical qualities

Rendering The f/1 Noctilux is valued for its behaviour wide open rather than for clinical correction. Reviewers describe a smooth, painterly out-of-focus rendering that has become the lens's signature, with subjects separating strongly from a soft background [3]. The earlier E58 first version is reported to show the most vignetting at full aperture among the variants and a more muted colour palette, with earlier coatings contributing a pronounced veiling glow and very soft skin texture, while later versions render somewhat more vibrant colour. Differences in sharpness and bokeh between versions are noted by users, although all share a similar mood and a three-dimensional look at wide apertures. Detailed, independently measured optical data for the spherical Noctilux is limited in the consulted sources, so performance is best understood through this consistent collector and user description rather than precise figures.

History

Development and Launch The f/1 Noctilux was conceived as a more producible successor to the 50mm f/1.2 Noctilux, which had relied on hand-ground aspherical elements. By reaching f/1 with an all-spherical seven-element design attributed to Walter Mandler and Gerhardt Bechmann, Leica created a fast normal lens that could be manufactured in series and that anchored the top of the M lens range for low-light work. Production is dated from 1976 to 2008.

Production Evolution Over its production life the lens passed through several configurations, distinguished mainly by filter thread and hood. The first version used an E58 filter and a clip-on hood; subsequent versions adopted the larger E60 filter and were supplied without a built-in hood; and the final version integrated a telescopic built-in hood. Engravings shifted from the LEITZ CANADA marking of early barrels to the LEICA NOCTILUX-M E 60 marking of later ones, and serial-number ranges spanning the mid-1970s into the 2000s allow approximate dating of individual lenses.

Special editions Near the end of production Leica offered late variants noted by collectors, including an uncoded version sold without six-bit coding and a small final boxed edition listed at a premium price in 2008. No widely documented military or regional factory variants of this lens are recorded in the consulted sources.

Collector Notes Because configurations are similar in profile, buyers typically confirm version by filter size (E58 versus E60), hood type (clip-on, none, or built-in telescopic) and the barrel engraving. Serial numbers can be cross-checked against published production tables to confirm year and version, since some serial blocks bridge two versions. The recorded order numbers are 11821 and 11822, with a later 11603 appearing for the final years; the model is not six-bit coded from the factory in this generation, so coded handling on digital bodies may have been added separately. Original hoods (references such as 12519, 12539 and 12544) and caps add value and are worth verifying, and given the extreme aperture and age, condition of the coatings and absence of haze are important checks before purchase.