Last Updated on 03/07/2014 by Chris Gampat
Bellamy Hunt over at Japan Camera Hunter usually finds some extremely sweet treasures. But this recent find of his will blow your mind. Today, JCH posted a photo set of the De Ould Delft 50mm f0.75 lens, which is perhaps one of the fastest aperture optics ever made and so is also not for sale. The lens is mounted on a Leica M3 and was engineered to do so–meaning that this version is an M mount lens.
It was made for x-ray machines originally which explains why the aperture is a fixed f0.75 and its fixed focusing out to two meters. But it still takes some very beautiful images. As you can see in Bellamy’s photos, there is no aperture ring on the lens or focusing ring. Because of the lens’s older design, we’re not quite sure that it might be best for digital users and instead may be best paired with some sort of low contrast film like Portra 400. Coupled with the fact that you have a super duper wide aperture, you’re bound to have lots of fun in super low lighting.
To use it, you’ll probably need to whip out the measuring tape. Since this is an M mount lens and it doesn’t focus, the focusing doesn’t correspond with a rangefinder’s focusing mechanism. So you’ll only be able to use the viewfinder for composing if anything.
Still though, it’s a pretty cool find.