MS-Mode-S 50mm f/1.3 Dual System

MS Optics · Nikon S + LTM + Contax RF · 2006 · Sonnar type, 5 elements in 4 groups

Also known as: MS-MODE-S 50mm F1.3 · MS-Mode-S 50mm f/1.3 · MS-MODE-S 50mmF1.3 · MS-MODE-S DUALSYSTEM 50mm F1.3 · MS-MODE-S 50mm F1.3 DUALSYSTEM · MS-MODE-S Dualsystem · MS-Mode-S Dual System · MS-Mode-S Dual lens 50mm F1.3 · MS Optics MS-MODE-S Dualsystem 50mm F1.3 LTM · MS Optics MS-MODE-S · MS-Optical MS-MODE-S · MS OPTICAL R&D MS-MODE-S · MS-OPTICAL-S 50mm F1.3 · 宮崎光学 MS-MODE-S · 宮崎光学 MS-MODE-S DUALSYSTEM 50mm F1.3 · 宮崎光学 MS-MODE-S 50mm F1.3 デュアルシステムレンズ

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
Full set: optical unit with both the L39 helicoid unit and the Nikon S unit	LTM and Nikon S (both mount units supplied)	2006	—	Advertised as 100 of the 200 numbered lenses (camera-wiki). No source gives a delivered figure for full sets: Hayata's end-of-run note counts only 150 Leica-mount and 30 Nikon S lenses.
Optical unit on the MS-51.6 L39 helicoid unit only	LTM (Leica M with an L/M ring, coupled to 1 m)	2006	200\105 seen (Yahoo! Auctions, October 2026)	150 Leica-mount lenses at the end of production (Hayata, note added to its October 2006 page); advertised as 50 Leica-only lenses (camera-wiki). Hayata does not say whether its 150 includes the full sets.
Optical unit on the Nikon S mount unit only	Nikon S (the same unit fits Contax rangefinder bodies, according to Miyazaki via shige_yuki)	2006	—	30 Nikon S lenses at the end of production (Hayata); advertised as 50 Nikon-only lenses (camera-wiki)

PRODUCTION. DC Watch's announcement of 23 February 2006 calls it a limited run of just under 200 (製造本数200本弱), with no further production; its review of 3 March 2006 says limited to 200. Hayata's October 2006 page says 200 were planned but parts yield would bring the total to about 180, and a note added later says production ended at 150 Leica-mount and 30 Nikon S lenses. Camera-wiki says 200 numbered lenses were advertised, 100 with both mounts, 50 Leica-only and 50 Nikon-only, and reports unconfirmed rumours that only 183–184 were made. shige_yuki was told by Miyazaki that 200 were made. Hayata, which took reservations, is the closest to the delivery and gives about 180; its 150 and 30 add up to that total and leave open how the full sets were counted.
WEIGHT AND SIZE. 136 g with the Leica unit and 51.2 × 35.7 mm (DC Watch, followed by camera-wiki); about 145 g in Leica mount (Hayata); 110 g, 37–38 mm and 50 mm (shige_yuki's review); 165 g (Phillip Reeve, and the table on shige_yuki's own list of MS lenses). The same list gives 0.8 m closest focus, against 1 m in every other source including his own review.
FOCAL LENGTH. Phillip Reeve gives the true values as 52.04 mm and f/1.377; camera-wiki says the lens is nominally 50 mm and in fact 52 mm.
DATE AND CONSTRUCTION. Announced on 23 February 2006 for release soon, it was delayed by production problems and released to reservation holders from late October 2006 (Hayata; camera-wiki says delayed until autumn; Reeve gives October 2006 as the first release). shige_yuki's page on the Sonnetar 50mm f/1.3 dates the MS-Mode-S to 2009 and says the two lenses share the same optical construction, while giving the Sonnetar as 4群6枚 in its summary and 4群5枚 in its table; his review of the MS-Mode-S itself, DC Watch and Hayata give 2006 and five elements in four groups, which this page follows.
HELICOID NAME. The helicoid unit is engraved MS-51.6, and shige_yuki's review and the auction listings use that name; his Sonnetar 50mm f/1.3 page calls it the MS-50 helicoid.
MARKET. Copy 200\105, offered with the L39 unit only and described as having scratches or marks, sold on Yahoo! Auctions on 4 October 2026 after 34 bids for ¥92,400 including tax (¥84,000 before tax), from a store seller whose start price was ¥1,100.
PRINT REVIEWS, listed in camera-wiki's bibliography: Nakatani Yoshitaka (中谷吉隆), "ズノー 5 cm F1.1とMS-MODE-S 50mm F1.3", 写真工業, April 2006, pp. 60–63; and Nakatani, "ゾナータイプ大口径標準レンズ実写比較", 写真工業, January 2007, pp. 66–69, which camera-wiki describes as an informal test of the MS-Mode-S against the Cosina-made Zeiss C Sonnar 50mm f/1.5.

How to tell them apart (expand)

Front ring engraved MS-MODE-S 1.3/50 and DUALSYSTEM, with the number as 200\NNN: the copy sold on Yahoo! Auctions in October 2026 reads 200\105
The optical unit separates from the mount unit; on the L39 unit the narrow waist between them makes the lens look like an extended collapsible, though it is rigid (camera-wiki)
Clickless aperture ring at the front, scaled 16 8 5.6 4 2.8 2 1.7 1.4 1.3 (photographs of copy 200\105), with twelve blades that stay nearly round at every stop (Hayata); the spacing between stops is uneven (camera-wiki)
49 mm filter thread in the normal direction; large slotted screw-in hood, which takes 62 mm caps (camera-wiki); black finish
Not the Sonnetar 50mm f/1.3 of 2022, which shige_yuki treats as its renewal: that lens is M-mount, has its own compact barrel and focuses to 0.8 m with rangefinder coupling (0.7 m uncoupled, by shige_yuki's figure)

Full set: optical unit with both the L39 helicoid unit and the Nikon S unit:

Comes with both mount units: the MS-51.6 L39 helicoid unit and the Nikon S bayonet unit, together with the dedicated metal hood and metal front and rear caps (DC Watch; Hayata); the hood is the slotted screw-in type (shige_yuki)
The front ring is the same on every configuration, so a full set can be proved only by the second unit being present; a lens offered with one unit may have been a full set that lost the other

Optical unit on the MS-51.6 L39 helicoid unit only:

Focusing unit engraved MS-51.6, with a focusing tab, a metre distance scale reading 1, 1.2, 1.5, 2, 3, 5 and 10, a depth-of-field scale, and a bare 39 mm thread at the rear (photographs of copy 200\105)
The same MS-51.6 unit carries the MS-Mode-HA Apoqualia 50mm f/3.5 and MS conversions such as the EL-Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 (Yahoo! Auctions titles, October 2026)
Rangefinder-coupled down to the 1 m closest focus on screw-mount bodies, and on M bodies with an L/M ring (shige_yuki)
The MS-51.6 is the helicoid Miyazaki used for his conversions of other 50 mm lenses to L39, so the unit on its own says nothing; the front ring reading MS-MODE-S does

Optical unit on the Nikon S mount unit only:

A bayonet unit without a helicoid: on a Nikon S or Contax rangefinder body the camera's own focusing mount drives the lens (shige_yuki), as with those systems' own 50 mm lenses
Same front ring and aperture unit as the L39 configuration; the absence of the MS-51.6 helicoid is what shows in photographs

Full set: optical unit with both the L39 helicoid unit and the Nikon S unit: The configuration the maker announced first and priced at ¥100,000. shige_yuki owns one and has used it only in the L39 configuration it came in, though he also has the Nikon S and Contax parts. With the L39 unit the lens weighs 136 g (DC Watch) or about 145 g (Hayata); no source gives a weight for the Nikon S configuration.
Optical unit on the MS-51.6 L39 helicoid unit only: ¥90,000 at launch. shige_yuki measures it at 38 mm long and 50 mm across with an L/M ring fitted. Copy 200\105, engraved DUALSYSTEM on the front ring, was sold on Yahoo! Auctions in October 2026 in this configuration, with a front cap and no hood or Nikon S unit shown.
Optical unit on the Nikon S mount unit only: ¥75,000 at launch, and by Hayata's count the rarest configuration. Miyazaki told shige_yuki that the Nikon S and Contax mounts are mechanically close enough for one adapter to serve both; no source other than shige_yuki mentions Contax use.

Serial-range notes

200\001–200\200: The nameplate carries the lens's place in a run of 200, written 200\NNN. Hayata used serial 001, which it calls the first production lens, for its October 2006 sample photographs. Miyazaki told shige_yuki that 200 were made and that lenses numbered outside the run may exist from prototypes and repairs. Hayata's own count of about 180 means some numbers below 200 may never have been used.

Specifications

Formula: Sonnar type, 5 elements in 4 groups
Designed by: Miyazaki Sadayasu (宮崎貞安) — optical design and assembly
Construction: 5 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range: f/1.3–f/16
Diaphragm blades: 12
Min. focus: 1 m
Dimensions: 51.2 × 35.7 mm
Weight: 136 g
Filter: 49 mm
Years manufactured: 2006
Country: Japan
Coating: Five-layer multicoating on every surface in production; the prototype DC Watch tested in March 2006 was single-coated
Original price: ¥100,000 for the full set with both mount units, ¥90,000 with the Leica L39 unit only, ¥75,000 with the Nikon S unit only: the maker's prices as announced by DC Watch on 23 February 2006 and repeated in its review of 3 March 2006. Neither article says whether consumption tax is included; shige_yuki's tables give the ¥100,000 as before tax. (today ¥114,000)

What reviewers say

根本泰人 Nemoto Yasuhito (DC Watch, 3 March 2006) (blog) — A first look at a single-coated, not fully adjusted prototype on an Epson R-D1, with more spherical aberration than designed: it would not focus wide open, was soft and front-focused at apertures wider than f/2.8, came into focus at f/2.8, and on film was very sharp across the frame from f/5.6, the R-D1 wanting a little more. Production lenses were promised to be better. The writer founded Hayata Camera Lab, one of the two outlets taking reservations.
shige_yuki (Shige's hobby) (blog) — Sharp enough where focused at f/1.3 but veiled in flare across the frame; f/2 clears most of it and f/4 sharpens and evens out the whole frame. Good on film, but on the M9 and M (Typ 240) it shows strong flare, colour fringing, ghosting and nervous, sometimes swirling foreground blur under demanding light. Rangefinder coupling is accurate and the lens is less than half the weight of a C Sonnar 50/1.5; the appeal is how the drawing changes with the aperture.

Optical Ratings

Aggregated from the reviews above — follow the links for the full picture.

Spherical aberration: soft wide open
Flare & ghosting: flare wide open

History

The MS-Mode-S was the first lens Miyazaki Sadayasu designed himself. He had been converting other makers’ lenses to Leica mount since 1996, trading as MS OPTICAL R&D (宮崎光学), and in February 2006 he announced a 50mm f/1.3 of his own, taking reservations directly and through Hayata Camera Lab. Hayata gives his reasons for the design. High performance is comparatively easy to get from the Gauss type that had become the norm for fast normal lenses, so Miyazaki, by his own account an amanojaku (あまのじゃく), a contrarian, set out to take the Sonnar further, a type nobody had developed for decades. The result has five elements in four groups in new high-index, low-dispersion glass, multicoated on every surface, with a twelve-bladed diaphragm that stays nearly round at every stop. At 51.2 by 35.7 mm and 136 g with its Leica unit, it is small and light for an f/1.3 lens. shige_yuki weighed it against Cosina’s Zeiss C Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 of the same period and found it shorter and narrower, and less than half the weight.

The Dual System name refers to the construction. The optical unit, with the aperture ring and the nameplate, separates from a mount unit, and two units were made: an L39 helicoid with a focusing tab and distance scale, coupled to the rangefinder down to 1 m, and a Nikon S bayonet with no helicoid, which leaves focusing to the camera’s own mount as Nikon’s and Contax’s own 50mm lenses do. Miyazaki told shige_yuki that the same S unit also fits Contax rangefinder bodies. The L39 unit is the MS-51.6 helicoid that Miyazaki had been using for his 50mm conversions, and with an L/M ring it puts the lens on an M body with coupling intact. Buyers chose a configuration: the full set with both units, the metal slotted hood and metal caps at ¥100,000, the Leica unit alone at ¥90,000, or the Nikon S unit alone at ¥75,000. The optical unit, and so the front ring, is the same in every configuration; on copy 200\105 the ring is engraved MS-MODE-S 1.3/50 and DUALSYSTEM, with the number written as 200\105. In photographs, the mount units are the only way to tell the configurations apart.

Production was slow and small. The glass was pitch-polished on Oscar-type machines, a method Miyazaki describes as the norm until about 1960, which leaves element thicknesses varying by about ±0.05 mm. So Miyazaki measured every element, chose combinations, computed the resulting aberrations, checked each assembly on an interferometer and reworked spacers and metal parts until it matched the design. He could assemble about two lenses a day at most, and sales to reservation holders began only in late October 2006, eight months after the announcement. How many were made is recorded differently by every source. The announcement said just under 200, DC Watch’s review a limited 200, and Hayata about 180 after losses in parts yield, ending, in a later note, at 150 Leica-mount and 30 Nikon S lenses. Camera-wiki has an advertised split of 100 full sets, 50 Leica-only and 50 Nikon-only, and a rumour of 183 or 184 made. Miyazaki himself told shige_yuki 200. Hayata does not say how its two figures count the full sets, but by its count the Nikon S lens is the rarest form.

The drawing changes with the aperture, and every source says so. Miyazaki’s own description, as Hayata gives it, is a clear, high-contrast image with little flare that is never hard, rather soft, from f/1.3 to f/4, high resolution except in the corners at f/5.6, and from f/8 the equal of modern lenses, with the best field at about 3 m and the edges falling off near 1 m. The single-coated prototype that DC Watch tried on an Epson R-D1 in March 2006 had not been fully adjusted and would not focus properly wider than f/2.8. The test was by Nemoto Yasuhito, who founded Hayata, one of the two outlets selling the lens. shige_yuki, whose copy started his MS collection, finds the production lens adequately sharp where focused at f/1.3 under a veil of flare that is mostly gone at f/2, with the frame evened out by f/4. Hayata, too, found flare much reduced at f/2. On full-frame digital bodies in demanding light shige_yuki also found strong flare, colour fringing and ghosting, and a nervous, sometimes swirling rendering of foreground blur.

When buying, check the glass first. The lens was assembled by hand and dust inside is common. When shige_yuki asked MS-OPTICS to clean his, he was told the lens is hard to take apart and better left alone, so dust should be priced in rather than expected to come out. Confirm which mount units come with the lens, since a listing showing one unit is not a full set. The MS-51.6 helicoid unit also carries Miyazaki’s conversions of other 50mm lenses, the EL-Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 among them, and the Apoqualia 50mm f/3.5, so only the front ring identifies the lens. The Sonnetar 50mm f/1.3 of 2022 is a different lens: it is M-mount in a compact barrel of its own and focuses to 0.8 m, coupled (shige_yuki gives 0.7 m uncoupled). shige_yuki treats it as the MS-Mode-S renewed, with the same optical construction, while MK Direct, which announced it, called it the third Sonnetar after the 50mm f/1.1 and 73mm f/1.5 without mentioning the MS-Mode-S at all.

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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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