To celebrate the Year of the Ox, the second of the 12-year periodic sequence of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar, TTartisan has unveiled a limited edition red version of its 50mm f/0.95 lens for Leica M-mount. The company already had two variants of the lens, silver and black, but the red version is limited to 500 pieces worldwide and features a unique engraved lens cap.

Distinguished by its bright design, the TTArtisan 50mm f/0.95 is a normal-length lens for Leica M-mount rangefinder cameras. Its impressively fast maximum aperture offers a wealth of control over depth of field and also benefits working in dark and low-light conditions. Complementing the speed is an advanced optical design that uses a variety of specialized elements to control spherical and chromatic aberrations in order to achieve sharp imagery with accurate colors. The lens’s manual focus design permits working with subjects as close as 2.3′ away and it features a 14-blade diaphragm that contributes to a smooth bokeh quality.

• Normal-length prime is well-suited to everyday shooting with subjects including portraiture, street, landscape, and reportage.
• Exceedingly fast f/0.95 maximum aperture suits working in low-light conditions and also offers great control over depth of field for isolating subject matter using selective focus techniques.
• One large-diameter, double-sided aspherical element and eight high refractive index elements help to suppress distortion and spherical aberrations in order to produce accurately rendered images with a high degree of sharpness.
• Two extra-low dispersion elements reduce color fringing and chromatic aberrations in order to realize high clarity and accurate color rendering.
• Manual focus design permits smooth, refined control along with a minimum focusing distance of 2.3′.
• A 14-blade diaphragm contributes to a smooth and pleasing bokeh quality.

Both the black and silver iterations of the lens cost $755, but the Year of the Ox Limited Edition is going to cost you $899.
More info on TTArtisan’s website.