Performance Issues When Using Many CALayer Masks

I am trying to use CAShapeLayer to mask a CALayer in my iOS app as it takes a fraction of the CPU time to mask an image vs manually masking one in a bitmap context;

When I have several dozen or more images layered over each other, the CAShapeLayer masked UIImageView is slow to move to my touch.

Here is some example code:

UIImage *image = [UIImage imageWithContentsOfFile:[[NSBundle mainBundle]pathForResource:@"SomeImage.jpg" ofType:nil]];
CGMutablePathRef path = CGPathCreateMutable();
CGPathAddEllipseInRect(path, NULL, CGRectMake(0.f, 0.f, image.size.width * .25, image.size.height * .25));

for (int i = 0; i < 200; i++) {

    SLTUIImageView *imageView = [[SLTUIImageView alloc]initWithImage:image];
    imageView.frame = CGRectMake(arc4random_uniform(CGRectGetWidth(self.view.bounds)), arc4random_uniform(CGRectGetHeight(self.view.bounds)), image.size.width * .25, image.size.height * .25);

    CAShapeLayer *shape = [CAShapeLayer layer];
    shape.path = path;
    imageView.layer.mask = shape;

    [self.view addSubview:imageView];
    [imageView release];

}
CGPathRelease(path);

With the above code, imageView is very laggy. However, it reacts instantly if I mask it manually in a bitmap context:

UIImage *image = [UIImage imageWithContentsOfFile:[[NSBundle mainBundle]pathForResource:@"3.0-Pad-Classic0.jpg" ofType:nil]];
CGMutablePathRef path = CGPathCreateMutable();
CGPathAddEllipseInRect(path, NULL, CGRectMake(0.f, 0.f, image.size.width * .25, image.size.height * .25));


for (int i = 0; i < 200; i++) {

    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(CGSizeMake(image.size.width * .25, image.size.height * .25), NO, [[UIScreen mainScreen]scale]);
    CGContextRef ctx = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();

    CGContextAddPath(ctx, path);
    CGContextClip(ctx);

    [image drawInRect:CGRectMa