NiSi Rumiere Noct-Master APO 75mm f/0.95 lens could face some legal trouble from Nikon's registered 'Noct' trademark
(Image credit: Sony Alpha Rumors)
Just over a year ago, Chinese company NiSi announced a 75mm f/0.95 manual focus lens for photographers. Built for Sony E, Canon R, Nikon Z and L-mounts, this piece of glass seems to only be the sixth lens that NiSi has developed - which is what makes this particular blunder so potentially damaging.
Rumor website Sony Alpha Rumors reports that NiSi has apparently named their lens the Rumiere Noct-Master APO 75mm f/0.95. Now, unless you've been living under a rock recently, you'll likely have heard the substantial buzz around Nikon finally announcing the specs and price for the Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct lens.
With an £8,000 price tag, the Nikon Noct is undoubtedly a premium product. However, it backs up this substantial chunk of money with some serious technological wizardry. With four ED glass elements, three aspherical lens elements and two separate anti-flare coatings, the Noct is likely to be an incredibly impressive piece of glass.
NiSi's lens has 'Noct-Master' in its title, but could this spark a legal battle with Nikon? (Image credit: Sony Alpha Rumors)
Considering this, we can't imagine that Nikon would react well to a smaller company swooping in to steal their bokeh-fuelled thunder. By NiSi using the word 'Noct' in the title of their new lens (that just so happens to be a comparable focal length, have an aperture of f/0.95 and be manual focus) NiSi seem to be playing a dangerous game.
However, there is always the chance that this is a deliberate ruse to drum up some press for a company that's never released a dedicated consumer stills lens before - and has only been selling lenses since 2018! Considering that NiSi started out as a filters company, and has only released a line of cine lenses up until this point, we wouldn't be overly surprised if the 'Noct-Master' moniker is quietly dropped once it's helped to drum up sufficient interest in the product.
Regardless of whether this is a marketing ploy or a genuine misstep on NiSi's part, there hasn't been any public move from Nikon (although that doesn't mean that there aren't some stern cease-and-desist letters landing on NiSi's doorstep right now). However, it will be interesting to see what price point this 75mm f/0.95 will be priced at. If it significantly undercuts Nikon's own Noct offering, we could see the 'Noct-Master' proving fairly popular.
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With over a decade of photographic experience, Louise arms Digital Camera World with a wealth of knowledge on photographic technique and know-how – something at which she is so adept that she's delivered workshops for the likes of ITV and Sue Ryder. Louise also brings years of experience as both a web and print journalist, having served as features editor for Practical Photography magazine and contributing photography tutorials and camera analysis to titles including Digital Camera Magazine and Digital Photographer. Louise currently shoots with the Fujifilm X-T200 and the Nikon D800, capturing self-portraits and still life images, and is DCW's ecommerce editor, meaning that she knows good camera, lens and laptop deals when she sees them.
