MS Optics Apoqualia 35mm f/1.3 II Slim
MS Optics · Leica M · 2021 · Gauss, 6 elements in 4 groups
our own findingAlso known as: MS Optics Apoqualia 35mm f/1.3 II Slim · MS-Optics Apoqualia 35mm f/1.3 II Slim · MS-Optics Apoqualia II 35mm f/1.3 SLIM F･MC · MS-Optics Apoqualia 35mm f/1.3 SLIM F･MC · MS-Optical Apoqualia 35mm f/1.3 · MS Optics Apoqualia 35mm f1.3 · Apoqualia 35mm f/1.3 II Slim · Apoqualia II 35mm f/1.3 Slim · Apoqualia 35mm f1.3 · APOQUALIA 1.3/35 II SLIM · Apoqualia 1.3/35 II Slim F·MC · Apoqualia 1.3/35 · APOQUAULIA 35mm f1.3 · Apoqualia 35mm 1.3 · Apoqualia 35/f1.3 II Slim · MS-Optics 35mm 1.3 II Slim Apoqualia · MS-Optics 35mm f/1.3 II Slim · Miyazaki Apoqualia 35mm f1.3 · 宮崎光学 APOQUALIA 35mm F1.3 · 宮崎光学 アポクオリア 35mm F1.3 · MS-OPTICS アポクアリア 35mm F1.3 スリム · ミヤザキ アポクオリア 35mm F1.3
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black aluminium, collapsible | Leica M | 2021 | — | — |
| Silver aluminium, collapsible | Leica M | 2021 | — | — |
| Brass, gold (clear-lacquered brass) | Leica M | 2021 | — | — |
| Brass, silver chrome | Leica M | 2021 | — | — |
| Lock type (non-collapsible) | Leica M | — | — | — |
| JCH 10 Year Edition | Leica M | — | — | — |
- Weight: 72 g in the text of Miyazaki's data sheet, in MK Direct's post of 4 August 2021 and in shige's table; 78 g in MK Direct's announcement of 9 July 2021; 79 g beside the drawing on the same data sheet and on Japan Exposures' page; 61 g measured without hood by Reeve, on a lock-type lens. The brass versions are about 50 g heavier (MK Direct). This page carries 72 g.
- Diaphragm: 12 round blades on Miyazaki's data sheet and in MK Direct's announcement ('フルマルチコート12枚の円形絞り'); 14 rounded blades in Reeve's review and in shige's table. Reeve contrasts the 14 with the 12 he gives the Apoqualia 35/1.4, while shige gives 14 to both. The blade field is left empty.
- Collapsed length: 10.2 mm in the text and spec block of Miyazaki's data sheet and in shige's review; 8.0 mm beside the sheet's drawing; MK Direct's announcement gives 'L7.7~14mm' collapsed. The sheet also says the collapsed length varies with the camera. Extended length is 21 mm without hood on the data sheet, at Japan Exposures and in Reeve's and shige's reviews.
- The data sheet gives a true focal length of 35.8 mm and its aberration plots are drawn for f/1.38; Reeve's overview repeats 35.8 mm f/1.38. Reeve gives 63° diagonal angle of view.
- Close focus: ∞–0.6 m, rangefinder-coupled to 0.8 m (Miyazaki's sheet, shige); Japan Exposures gives 0.8 m on Leica M and 0.5–0.6 m on mirrorless bodies; Reeve measured 0.54 m and 1:12.5 on a Sony A7R II, and found a second, separate sharp plane near 0.6 m.
- Japan Exposures' key features open with 'Aspherical retrofocus lens design'. Miyazaki's sheet, attached to the same page, says the opposite in its first paragraph: retrofocus design and aspherics are the recent trend that made lenses big and heavy, and this lens was made small instead. Reeve found only spherical elements. See original_research.
- MK Direct's notice of 29 December 2021 prints the aluminium price as '各900,000円'; the brass price on the same line is ¥100,000, and every other post gives ¥90,000 for aluminium. Read ¥90,000.
- Market: a lens titled '宮崎光学 ms-optics APOQUAULIA 35mm f1.3 leica Mマウント' sold at a fixed ¥130,000 with free shipping on Yahoo!フリマ on 29 June 2026, three days after listing; the listing does not say which finish. Reeve's review links eBay listings 'starting at $1100', asking prices, undated.
- Batch sizes: MK Direct calls the October 2021 black arrival very small and the brass versions a small lot; no count was published for any version, including the JCH 10 Year Edition.
How to tell them apart
- Sold as APOQUALIA 1.3/35 II SLIM; sellers' titles and camera-wiki add F·MC, the full-multicoat mark. Not to be confused with the Apoqualia-G 1.4/35, which takes a 37 mm filter and does not collapse
- 50 mm across and 21 mm long extended (Miyazaki's sheet, Japan Exposures, Reeve); shige likens the barrel to a slightly smaller 50mm Elmar
- 34 mm reversed (male) filter thread on the front; the trumpet hood screws onto that thread over a filter, and the hood has no filter thread of its own (shige, Reeve)
- Aperture set by a tiny recessed, clickless lever, f/1.3 to f/16 over about 90°, unevenly spaced; Japan Exposures says it takes a small stick or slim fingers, and Reeve used a toothpick
- The whole front barrel turns when focusing, 90° from infinity to close focus (Reeve); the scale is marked down to a little less than 0.8 m (Reeve), and rangefinder coupling stops at 0.8 m (Miyazaki's sheet, which gives 0.6 m close focus)
- Area for Leica 6-bit coding on the mount (Japan Exposures). On a Leica M10 Reeve found the code reader not fully covered, so in bright light the camera thought the lens had changed; he covered it with tape
- Covers 24×36 only: on a 44×33 Hasselblad X2D shige measured a usable field of about 34 × 25.6 mm
Black aluminium, collapsible:
- Black anodised aluminium barrel and black hood
- Collapsible: Miyazaki's sheet says to take the hood off, pull the barrel out and turn it about three turns until it stops and locks; collapsed, the lens is about 10 mm deep
Silver aluminium, collapsible:
- Silver aluminium barrel with a black hood: Japan Exposures says the hood is always black, even on a silver lens
Brass, gold (clear-lacquered brass):
- Bare brass colour under a baked-on clear urethane coat, a light gold rather than plated gold
- About 50 g heavier than the aluminium lens; the straight part of the hood is about 2 mm longer
Brass, silver chrome:
- Silver-chrome plating over brass, about 50 g heavier than the silver aluminium lens
- Hood straight section about 2 mm longer than on the aluminium lens
Lock type (non-collapsible):
- The barrel stays at its extended length of about 21 mm and cannot be pushed in. No source describes an outward difference from a collapsible lens that has been pulled out, so a photograph of the lens collapsed is the surest sign that it is NOT this version
JCH 10 Year Edition:
- Camera-wiki lists it as 'MS-Optics JCH 10 Apoqualia 1.3/35 II Slim F·MC', which suggests JCH 10 in the lens name; no source cited here shows or describes the engraving
- Black aluminium, collapsible: The first version to reach buyers. MK Direct announced the lens on 9 July 2021 for late August, moved the black lens to September on 4 August, and posted on 14 October 2021 that black stock had arrived at ¥90,000, in a very small quantity, with more to follow once parts could be had. The 4 August post shows an unengraved sample and says production caps are black, not the silver of the sample.
- Silver aluminium, collapsible: Announced with the black lens at the same ¥90,000 and planned for October 2021. On 14 October MK Direct still listed it as due within the year but warned that optical parts were arriving later than ever because of the pandemic. Its 29 December 2021 notice prices black and silver together and says some colours had sold out; that suggests the silver lens was on sale by the end of 2021, but no post records its arrival or says which colours had gone.
- Brass, gold (clear-lacquered brass): Announced by MK Direct on 14 August 2021 as one of two brass versions at ¥100,000, ¥10,000 more than aluminium, made in a small lot, with prototype photographs. The shop says the lacquer is there to stop the brass tarnishing, and that optics, collapsing mechanism and construction are otherwise the same as the aluminium lens. No lot size was published. Sellers title it "Brass Gold", as in a ClubSnap for-sale thread.
- Brass, silver chrome: The second brass version, announced with the gold on 14 August 2021 at ¥100,000 and priced again on 29 December 2021. Plated, MK Direct says, so that it resists tarnishing. Sellers write "Brass Silver". No lot size was published.
- Lock type (non-collapsible): Phillip Reeve's site reports that some of these lenses are collapsible and that many later ones are not, calling those the lock type; the sample in Bastian K's November 2022 review could not be collapsed. He weighed it at 61 g without hood, against the 72 g Miyazaki gives for the collapsible lens. MK Direct's 14 October 2021 post says only that an owner who finds collapsing a nuisance can leave the barrel locked out; it does not describe a separate model. No source dates the change or says how many were made each way.
- JCH 10 Year Edition: An edition named for Japan Camera Hunter, an overseas dealer for MS Optics; the name suggests that business's tenth anniversary, though no source says so. Two sources name it: camera-wiki's MS-Optics page, and a 95-photo Flickr album by Krisakorn Chandontrikij (Ikonology Photography) titled "MS-Optics Apoqualia 35MM 1.3 [JCH 10 YEAR EDITION]", whose captions read "Leica MP240 Titanium" and whose file names carry the date 220306 (6 March 2022). Its finish, price and run size are unrecorded.
Specifications
- Formula
- Gauss, 6 elements in 4 groups
- Designed by
- Miyazaki Sadayasu (宮崎貞安) — optical and mechanical design; the data sheet is signed MS-OPTICS S.MIYAZAKI
- Construction
- 6 elements / 4 groups
- Aperture range
- f/1.3–f/16
- Min. focus
- 0.6 m
- Dimensions
- 50 × 21 mm
- Weight
- 72 g
- Filter
- 34 mm (0.75 mm pitch), M34 × 0.75 reversed (male) thread; the hood screws on over a filter
- Years manufactured
- 2021
- Country
- Japan
- Coating
- Full multicoating, all eight air-glass surfaces (Miyazaki's data sheet)
- Material
- Aluminium, black (anodised, per Japan Exposures) or silver; brass on the brass versions, either clear-lacquered (gold) or silver-chrome-plated
- Original price
- ¥90,000 for the black or silver aluminium lens and ¥100,000 for either brass version: the maker's prices at MK Direct, the maker's own shop, given as provisional (予価) in August 2021, confirmed for the black lens when it arrived on 14 October 2021 and repeated for all four finishes on 29 December 2021; the same figures are written at the head of Miyazaki's data sheet. Neither source says whether Japanese consumption tax is included. The dealer Japan Exposures listed it at ¥99,900, its tax treatment unstated. (today ¥98,000)
What reviewers say
- Bastian K (phillipreeve.net) (blog) — A very soft f/1.3 and only a decent f/2.8 lens: contrast and resolution peak in different planes, which makes it very hard to focus on a rangefinder wider than f/2.8, and he rates the older Apoqualia 35/1.4 the better lens in nearly every way.
- shige (Shige's hobby) (blog) — At f/1.3 the rendering is soft and focus by rangefinder or EVF is unreliable, so wide open is barely usable; by f/2 the picture changes sharply, and a photographer who enjoys that change can use it without complaint.
Optical formula — Gauss, 6 elements in 4 groups
ⓘ What these charts mean
MTF (modulation transfer function) shows how much contrast the lens keeps at a given fineness of detail, from the center of the frame to the corner — the coarse curves track punch, the fine ones resolving power, and a gap between solid and dashed lines means astigmatism. Relative illumination (falloff) shows how much darker the corners are than the center at each aperture. Manufacturers only began publishing these for modern lenses; no 1950s maker issued them, which is why older families here cite period magazine bench tests instead.
History
The Apoqualia 1.3/35 II Slim is Miyazaki Sadayasu’s attempt at a fast 35mm that folds away. MK Direct, the maker’s own shop, announced it on 9 July 2021, and the first black lenses reached the shop on 14 October. It is a six-element, four-group Gauss lens for Leica M. Miyazaki’s handwritten data sheet gives the true focal length as 35.8 mm and draws its aberration plots at f/1.38. The barrel is 50 mm across and 21 mm long when extended. Collapsed, it is about 10 mm deep, though the posts and the sheet itself give several slightly different figures. In its first paragraph the sheet sets the lens against the trend of recent years, when retrofocus designs and aspherics improved lenses but made them big and heavy. Japan Exposures appears to have turned that sentence into a feature, listing “aspherical retrofocus lens design” among its key points; the review on Phillip Reeve’s site found only spherical elements.
Its relationship to the Apoqualia-G 35/1.4, announced in 2015, is disputed. shige compared the two lens diagrams the maker handed out, found them identical, and infers that the 1.3 is the same design opened slightly by fine adjustment. Reeve’s site calls it the 35/1.4’s official successor. Bastian K, who owns and has shot both, says the optics are not similar: shooting them side by side, he found the 1.4 one to two stops better at portrait distance. The mechanics differ too. The 1.4 has a fixed barrel and a 37 mm filter. The 1.3 collapses, takes a 34 mm reversed thread, and sets its aperture with a tiny recessed lever that Bastian K found easiest to move with a toothpick. It is a separate lens from the Apollon 36/1.3, which MK Direct introduced in November 2022 as a Miyazaki lens a beginner could master, in contrast to the 1.3/35.
The lens is hard to focus, and the maker’s side has said as much. Writing about the Apollon, Miyazaki’s grandson called the 1.3/35 a lens for advanced users and explained that its aberrations meant that best focus at f/1.3 would leave no best focus once stopped down. So Miyazaki adjusted each lens at assembly for best focus at f/4, the middle of the range, and anyone who wants it sharp wide open has to front-focus slightly. MK Direct passed on a notice from Miyazaki about the lens on 29 December 2021, which shige reads as a warning about exactly this. Both reviewers found the same thing. Bastian K measured contrast and resolution peaking in different planes, more widely separated than on any lens he had tested. That makes it a very soft f/1.3 and a decent f/2.8 lens, and he rates it one of Miyazaki’s weakest. shige found f/1.3 barely usable and the lens transformed at f/2. Both find it far better stopped down, though Bastian K still found the extreme corners poor at f/8. Distortion is very low, and at f/8 to f/11 the rounded diaphragm still draws neat sunstars.
There are four finishes. Black and silver aluminium cost ¥90,000. Two brass versions cost ¥100,000: gold, which is bare brass under a baked clear lacquer, and silver chrome. They are about 50 g heavier, and the hood’s straight section is about 2 mm longer. MK Direct described the first black delivery as very small and the brass versions as a small lot, but published no counts. According to Reeve’s site, many later lenses were made without the collapsing feature, the lock type, and the sample reviewed there could not be collapsed. A JCH 10 Year Edition, named for Japan Camera Hunter, an overseas dealer for the maker, is known from a camera-wiki entry and one photographer’s Flickr album; its engraving and run size are unrecorded.
When buying, find out whether the lens collapses. No source describes an outward difference between a lock-type lens and a collapsible one pulled out, so a photograph of the lens pushed in is the surest proof. On a collapsible lens, check that the barrel locks firmly. Bastian K reports that the optical block is loose when retracted, and Miyazaki’s sheet warns against forcing the barrel in while the lens is on an M body. Japan Exposures says the hood is always black, even on a silver lens, so a black hood on a silver lens is correct. On a digital M the 6-bit code reader may need taping over. The lens covers 24×36 and no more. One sold for ¥130,000, above the 2021 list prices, on Yahoo!フリマ in June 2026.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
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