Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

MS Optics Sonnetar 50mm f/1.1 MC

MS Optics · Leica M · 2012

Also known as: MS-Optical Sonnetar 50mm f/1.1 MC · MS-OPTICAL SONNETAR 50mm f/1.1 MC · MS Optical Sonnetar 50mm f1.1 · MS Optical 50mm f1.1 Sonnetar · MS-Optics Sonnetar 50mm f/1.1 · MS-OPTICS SONNETAR 50mm F1.1 MC · MS Optics 50mm f1.1 Sonnetar · MS Optics 50mm f1.1 Sonnetar R&D · MS-OPTICAL-R&D Sonnetar 1.1/50 MC · MS-Optics 50mm f/1.1 · MS-Optical 50mm f/1.1 · Miyazaki Sonnetar 50mm f1.1 · Sonnetar 50mm f/1.1 · Sonnetar 50mm F1.1 MC · SONNETAR M50mm F1.1 MC · Sonnetar 50/1.1 · Sonnetar 1.1/50 · SONNETAR 1.1/50 MC · Sonnetar 50/1.13 · Sonnetar 50mm f/1.13 · 宮崎光学 ゾネター 50mm F1.1 · 宮崎光学 SONNETAR 50mm F1.1 · MS-OPTICS ゾネター 50mm F1.1 · MS-OPTICAL ゾネター 1.1/50 · ミヤザキ ゾネター 50mm F1.1 · エムエスオプティクス ゾネター 50mm F1.1

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Black Leica M 2012 — Initial lot of 300 lenses in all finishes (Japan Exposures); no figure for any finish alone
Silver Leica M — — —
Glossy black (black paint) Leica M 2013 — Numbered out of 200 on the front ring (136/200 on the copy Japan Exposures photographs); no text source states the run size or how many were made
  1. The front-ring maker's name is MS-OPTICAL-R&D, the firm's name before it was incorporated as MS-Optics in February 2015. Kamerastore titles its copy 'Sonnetar R&D' from that engraving; it is not a separate research or prototype version.
  2. Launch: Leica Rumors reported pre-orders on 10 September 2012, and the maker's usage note is dated October 2012. oldlens.com dates the start of sales to 2012 and shows its owner's photographs dated 2013; shige_yuki's tables and Phillip Reeve's overview give the release as June 2013. This entry takes 2012 as the year of the pre-orders and reads 2013 as the year most lenses reached buyers.
  3. Maximum aperture: f/1.1 on the barrel, but the maker's handwritten spec sheet (photographed with the box on Japan Exposures' page) gives Fno 1.16, as do shige_yuki's tables and Reeve's overview. Leica Rumors' 2013 list calls it the 50/1.13. The true focal length is 51.7 mm (spec sheet, Leica Rumors 2012, shige_yuki).
  4. Closest focus: 0.8 m from the maker's spec sheet, Japan Exposures and oldlens.com; 0.85 m in shige_yuki's tables; 1 m at Kamerastore; 0.68 m measured by Phillip Reeve, who also measured 1:10.8 at that distance. Weight: 190 g bare and 220 g with hood and caps (spec sheet, Japan Exposures, Leica Rumors); 192 g (Kamerastore); 195 g measured (Reeve). Size: Kamerastore gives 48 × 55 mm, against about 36 mm long and 55 mm across in the spec sheet, Japan Exposures and shige_yuki (35.7 mm in his table), and 36 × 56 mm measured by Reeve.
  5. Construction: shige_yuki's page once says 6 elements in 4 groups; his own tables, the maker's spec sheet, Japan Exposures, Leica Rumors and MK Direct's 2022 note that all three Sonnetars are 4群5枚 give 5 elements in 4 groups.
  6. Production: Japan Exposures describes an initial lot of 300. shige_yuki's list of MS releases has a first lot in 2013 and a second lot in 2018. Leica Rumors' July 2013 list announced a black re-issue for August 2013. The glossy black lens in Japan Exposures' photographs is engraved 136/200, which points to a numbered edition of 200 in that finish, but no text source states it. No total has been published.
  7. First Sonnetar: shige_yuki calls this the first lens to carry the name, and MK Direct's 2022 post counts it the first of three Sonnetars. The Pentax Q Sonnetar 25mm f/1.1 bore the name earlier, as a prototype reported by PhotoRumors in February 2012, and DC Watch counts it among MS's original lenses; the 50/1.1 is the first Sonnetar for full frame.
  8. A Leica thread-mount version appeared on Leica Rumors' July 2013 list of coming MS Optical lenses with its price to be announced. No example, listing or later source shows that it was made, so it has no variant row.
  9. The 14-blade iris is bought in from Otto Niemann Feinmechanik of Berlin (Japan Exposures). oldlens.com reports that owners could send the lens to MS-Optical for an optional soft-focus adjustment (he was not sure it was publicly advertised), and that his own copy had been modified that way; nothing on the lens is known to mark such a copy.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Front ring engraved MS-OPTICAL-R&D, a number (No. and a serial on the black lens; BLACK PAINT and x/200 on the glossy black) and SONNETAR 1.1/50 MC with MC in red; the focusing mount is engraved MS-51.6
  • A coma-adjustment ring round the rear group with four dots against a white index: white for infinity, red for 4 m, white for 2 m, white for 1 m (the maker's usage note)
  • The whole barrel forward of the mount turns to focus, so the clickless aperture ring (1.1 to 16) and front element rotate with it; distance scale 0.8 m to infinity
  • Very short for its speed: about 36 mm long and 55 mm across, 190 g bare
  • Short screw-in hood on the reversed 55 mm thread, with a 62 mm filter thread at its front

Black:

  • Matt black barrel with white engraving; on the front ring MS-OPTICAL-R&D, No. and the serial, SONNETAR 1.1/50 and a red MC
  • The standard finish: Japan Exposures prices it at ¥125,900 with the other two finishes ¥10,000 more

Silver:

  • Silver barrel
  • ¥10,000 over the black at Japan Exposures

Glossy black (black paint):

  • Glossy black paint instead of the matt black, with gold-coloured engraving and a red MC in Japan Exposures' photographs
  • Front ring engraved BLACK PAINT and a number out of 200 (136/200 on Japan Exposures' copy) in place of the black lens's No. serial, beside MS-OPTICAL-R&D and SONNETAR 1.1/50 MC; MS-51.6 on the focusing mount

Serial-range notes

No.000
A lens engraved No.000 is shown on a Leica M9 in one of Japan Exposures' product photographs. Japan Exposures does not say whether it is a demonstrator, a pre-production lens or a production lens.
No.531
A black lens at Kamerastore (Certified, €1,643, November 2026). The number is above the 300 of the initial lot that Japan Exposures describes, which fits shige_yuki's record of further lots, but no source gives the numbering of the 2013 re-issue or the 2018 lot.

Specifications

Formula
Sonnar type, 5 elements in 4 groups, with a two-element cemented rear group
Designed by
Miyazaki Sadayasu (宮崎貞安)
Construction
5 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/1.1–f/16
Diaphragm blades
14
Min. focus
0.8 m
Dimensions
55 × 36 mm
Weight
190 g
Filter
55 mm, 55 mm screws on reversed, outside the front; 52 mm inside; 62 mm on the hood
Years manufactured
2012
Country
Japan
Coating
Multicoated; Japan Exposures says on all six glass surfaces, the 2012 launch description a two-layer multicoating on tantalum glass
Original price
¥65,000 at pre-order (Leica Rumors, 10 September 2012; far below every later figure and possibly a deposit or a misreport). ¥108,000 list price before tax at the June 2013 release (shige_yuki's tables, as 定価・税別). ¥109,000 for the black re-issue of August 2013 and ¥120,000 for black paint (Leica Rumors, 29 July 2013; whether maker's or dealer's price, and the tax treatment, not stated). Japan Exposures, a dealer, sells it at ¥125,900 in black and ¥135,900 in silver or glossy black (undated; tax treatment not stated). (today ¥125,000)

What reviewers say

Optical Ratings

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

Chromatic aberration
strong lateral CA
Vignetting
strong, 2–4 EV
Flare & ghosting
heavy veiling flare
Distortion
low, wavy corners
Optical formula — Sonnar type, 5 elements in 4 groups, with a two-element cemented rear group

History

The Sonnetar 50mm f/1.1 is probably the best-known lens from Miyazaki Sadayasu’s one-man workshop; Phillip Reeve’s reviewer believes it was the first MS lens made in any quantity and known worldwide. It is a Sonnar type of five elements in four groups, the rear two cemented, and it is remarkably small for its speed: about 36 mm long, 55 mm across and 190 g, shorter than it is wide. The maker’s handwritten spec sheet, photographed with a boxed lens on Japan Exposures’ page, gives a true focal length of 51.7 mm and an actual aperture of f/1.16. Leica Rumors announced pre-orders on 10 September 2012, and the usage note that came with the lens is dated October 2012. shige_yuki and Phillip Reeve’s overview date the release to June 2013, which may be when most lenses reached buyers. shige_yuki calls it the first lens named Sonnetar, although a Pentax Q Sonnetar 25mm f/1.1 had been shown as a prototype in February 2012. He describes it as a development of the MS-Mode-S 50mm f/1.3 with the diameter increased, and MS’s own shop later named it the first of three Sonnetars, before the 73mm f/1.5 and the 50mm f/1.3, leaving the Pentax Q lens out of the count.

What sets it apart is the ring round the rear group. Turning it moves the rear group, and Miyazaki’s usage note marks four positions against a white index: white for infinity, red for 4 m, white for 2 m and white for 1 m. On a mirrorless body the owner sets the dot for the subject distance to improve the edges of the frame. On a Leica the note says to start at the red dot and shift it once the lens’s focus habits are known. Hamish Gill reads the ring as a way of bringing the lens to the 51.6 mm focal length a Leica rangefinder expects, which he takes to be the red-dot position; the focusing mount is engraved MS-51.6. The rest of the handling is unusual too. The whole barrel in front of the mount turns to focus, carrying the clickless aperture ring and its scale round with it, and the iris has 14 blades made by Otto Niemann in Berlin. The 55 mm filter thread is cut on the outside of the front and takes a filter reversed, with the short hood screwed on in front of it. A 52 mm thread inside and a 62 mm thread on the hood take filters as well.

Three finishes are documented. Black is the standard lens. Japan Exposures sells silver and glossy black at ¥10,000 more, and Leica Rumors’ list of July 2013 announced the black paint at ¥120,000. Every lens in the photographs carries MS-OPTICAL-R&D, the firm’s name before it became MS-Optics in 2015, on the front ring with a number and SONNETAR 1.1/50 with a red MC. Sellers who title a lens “Sonnetar R&D” are reading that engraving, not describing a prototype. On the black lens the number reads No. and a serial; the glossy black copy in Japan Exposures’ photographs is instead engraved BLACK PAINT and 136/200 in gold-coloured letters, which points to a numbered edition of 200 in that finish, though no written source gives the figure. Japan Exposures describes an initial lot of 300, and shige_yuki’s list adds a second lot in 2018; a black copy numbered 531 suggests that the serials ran past the first 300. A Leica thread-mount version was announced in 2013 and is not known to have been made. oldlens.com adds that Miyazaki would adjust a lens for extra softness if the owner sent it back, and that his own copy had been modified that way.

Reviewers agree that it is soft and glowing wide open, but differ on how serious its other faults are. Measured by BastianK for Phillip Reeve’s site, the lens loses about 4 EV in the corners at f/1.1, and has very strong focus shift: he advises against trusting the rangefinder at wide apertures. It also has field curvature that pulls the corners into focus at 2–3 m, heavy veiling flare and pronounced lateral colour. The centre of the frame at f/1.1 has very smooth bokeh. Gill, who shoots a lot of Sonnars, found it calm and sharp in the centre by f/1.5–2, its focus shift milder than he expected and its field curvature not much of an issue in his test, and guessed it loses 2 or 3 stops in the corners; he disliked the handling enough not to keep it. shige_yuki calls it the best of MS’s Sonnar-type 50s and suggests treating f/1.1 as a bonus.

When buying, check that the coma ring turns and holds its dots: Miyazaki’s note warns that screwing the rear cap on and off can move it. Check the rangefinder focus against live view at the setting you mean to use. Expect the aperture ring to move when you focus. Focus aids vary: Gill’s loaned copy had a small focus pin on the underside, one of Japan Exposures’ glossy black photographs shows a short round knob, and Kamerastore says the lever-style tab on its black No.531 is not original. On a Leica M10 the lens does not fully cover the 6-bit code reader, and Reeve found the camera would drop out of live view in bright light until he taped over it. The lens should come with its screw-in hood and caps; the set weighs 220 g. Kamerastore asked €1,643 for a Certified black copy in November 2026, and Reeve noted in 2023 that eBay prices started at about $1,400. Both are used-market asking prices, against the ¥108,000 list price before tax that shige_yuki gives.

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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.

Example photos

More sample photos elsewhere

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Sample photo wanted — shot with a MS Optics Sonnetar 50mm f/1.1 MC? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

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Related: MS Optics Sonnetar 25mm f/1.1 (Pentax Q) · MS Optics Sonnetar 50mm f/1.3 Slim · MS Optics Sonnetar 73mm f/1.5 F-MC · MS-Mode-S 50mm f/1.3 Dual System · MS Optics ISM 50mm f/1.0 (ISM-GA F.MC) · MS Optics Vario-Prasma 50mm f/1.5 F-MC · MS Optics Elnomaxim 55mm f/1.2

Sources (15)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.