What makes the 35 Noct so interesting is the newer lens design philosophy of Leica, Arri Cine and others: after achieving ever better technical mastery, they're acknowledging how character is lessening. So the idea focuses on getting a lens technically perfect and then seeing how to adjust, sometimes back off, to get the character they want. Apparently Leica is doing this with the Hektor Cine line (thanks to Kevin Fickling for this info). It seems that thinking is there too with the 35 Noct: more attention to character as well as technical excellence. The earlier post that Arri Cine started looking at faces and OOF BG over MTF charts is another example of what’s happening.
I’ve had the FLE II for over a year- but only recently was torture testing it to see how it handled certain difficult scenes, like low sun high contrast bright morning backlight - and it’s so good. The micro contrast and 3D pop is also terrific. It focuses closer than the 35 Noct and is smaller and lighter. What’s compelling for me with the 35 Noct is the slight veiling BG in OOF areas WO- like my 50 1.2 Noct. As well as the softer BG focus. So if shooting a lot of portrait/fashion WO, that’s special.
Feb 03, 2026 at 01:27 AM
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The 35 Noct is an exciting lens.What makes it so interesting is learning about the newer lens design philosophy of Leica, Arri Cine and others: after achieving ever better technical mastery, they started to see how character was lessening. So the idea focuses on getting a lens technically perfect and then perhaps seeing how to adjust, sometimes back off, to get the character they want. Apparently Leica is doing this with the Hektor Cine line (thanks to Kevin Fickling). However they thought about the 35 Noct design, it seems that thinking is there too: attention to character as well as technical excellence.
The earlier post that Arri Cine started looking at faces and oof BG over MTF charts is another example of what’s happening.
I’ve had the FLE II for over a year- but only recently was torture testing it to see how it handled certain difficult scenes, like low sun high contrast backlight - and it’s so good. The micro contrast and 3D pop is also terrific. It focuses closer than the 35 Noct and is smaller/lighter- honor is due. What’s compelling for me with the 35 Noct is the slight veiling BG OOF areas- like my 50 1.2 Noct, wide open. As well as the softer BG focus. So if shooting a lot of portrait/fashion WO, that’s special. Is it worth upgrading the FLE II for that? That’s the question at least for me.
Feb 02, 2026 at 03:48 PM
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The 35 Noct is an exciting lens, and this is an exciting thread.
What makes it so interesting is learning about the newer lens design philosophy of Leica, Arri Cine and others: after achieving ever better technical mastery, they started to see how character was lessening. So the idea focuses on getting a lens technically perfect and then perhaps seeing how to adjust, sometimes back off, to get the character they want. Apparently Leica is doing this with the Hektor Cine line. However they thought about the 35 Noct design, it seems that thinking is there too: attention to character as well as technical excellence.
The earlier post that Arri Cine started looking at faces and oof BG over MTF charts is another example of what’s happening.
I’ve had the FLE II for over a year- but only recently was torture testing it to see how it handled certain difficult scenes, like low sun high contrast backlight - and it’s so good. The micro contrast and 3D pop is also terrific. It focuses closer than the 35 Noct and is smaller/lighter- honor is due. What’s compelling for me with the 35 Noct is the slight veiling over BG OOF areas- like my 50 1.2 Noct, wide open. As well as the softer BG focus. So if shooting a lot of portrait/fashion WO, that’s special. Is it worth upgrading the FLE II for that? That’s the question at least for me.
