do you really need faster than f/2.8

This is a gradual thing that gets worse as you approach f/1.2. At f/1.8 you're only loosing a tiny bit of light and just slightly more by f/1.4. You're still getting much more light than you would with an f/2.8 lens. I'd say the returns diminish too much by the time you go from f/1.8 to f/1.2, especially considering the cost of extremely bright lenses.

The amount of light lost with an f/2 or f/1.8 lens doesn't bother me at all.

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Tony