Ruminations on a 50mm f/1.1 Nokton

I'm in love with the night. I enjoy the mysteries that lurk in the darkness, the enigmatic shapes, and the cavernous infinity of a bottomless shadow. In fact, I love the night so much that I want to photograph night itself — and not flood it with artificial daylight. As any photographer knows, the solution to such a requirement is spelled f-a-s-t-l-e-n-s. For M-mount shooters, this has historically meant choosing between an account-draining Leica Noctilux, or the gamble of an older, adapted lens. Now, however, we have a third option — the Voigtlander 50mm f/1.1 Nokton. It's (relatively) inexpensive. It's new. It's built for M-mount cameras. But is it any good?