I came *THIS* close to purchasing an old Canon F f/1.0 sometime ago; the bulk and the price tag scared me away. But now I know why I was *THAT* close.

It was Dr. Walter Mandler who started this all; He crafted more than 45 high performance lenses for Leica, including the one used to capture the image above — later replaced by the faster f/0.95 ASPH in 2008.

Wikipedia: Walter Mandler or jump to Steve Huff’s blog for more f/1.0 photos.