[DigitalToday reporter Hyunwoo Choo] Leica Camera has unveiled the Noctilux-M 1:1.2/35 ASPH. lens, the first in its Noctilux series to apply a 35mm angle of view.

First launched in 1966, Noctilux has symbolised Leica craftsmanship with outstanding brightness and precise optical performance. The new product expands the series’ distinctive image rendering, accumulated in the existing 50mm and 75mm angles of view, to 35mm. Based on a more natural perspective, it is designed to increase usefulness across shooting environments such as portraits, reportage and street photography.

When shot wide open, it clearly separates subject and background through shallow depth of field and delivers soft bokeh and images with a sense of depth. The minimum focus distance has been extended to 50 cm, strengthening use for close-up shooting. When used with the Leica M EVF, which features a high-resolution electronic viewfinder, it enables precise focusing across the entire focus range.

The lens is newly designed in Wetzlar, Germany, and is made by hand. It applies the PGM process to aspherical lenses and achieves a compact size of about 5 cm in length and about 415 g in weight despite a precise optical design that uses 3 aspherical lenses in a 10-element, 5-group configuration.

Leica Camera explained that it provides an immersive shooting experience by expanding Noctilux’s distinctive rendering to a more everyday angle of view. The new product goes on sale at Leica Camera stores in South Korea from Jan. 30.