MS Optics Sonnetar 50mm f/1.3 Slim
MS Optics · Leica M · 2022 · Sonnar type, 5 elements in 4 groups
Also known as: MS Optics Sonnetar 50mm f/1.3 · MS-Optics Sonnetar 50mm f/1.3 · MS Optics Sonnetar 50mm f/1.3 Slim · MS-Optics Sonnetar 50mm f/1.3 Slim · MS-Optics 50mm 1.3 Sonnetar Slim · MS-Optics 50mm f/1.3 Sonnetar Slim · MS-Optics 50mm f/1.3 Slim · MS Optics 50mm f/1.3 S Sonnetar · MS Optics 50mm f1.3 Sonnetar · MS Optics Sonnetar 50/f1.3 FULL MC · MS-Optics Sonnetar 1.3/50 · MS-Optics Sonnetar 1.3/50 Slim · MS-Optics Sonnetar 1.3/50 FULL.MC · MS-OPTICS SONNETAR 50mm F1.3 · MS Optical Sonnetar 50mm f/1.3 · MS-OPTICAL Sonnetar 1.3/50 · Miyazaki Sonnetar 50mm f1.3 · Sonnetar 50mm f/1.3 · Sonnetar 50mm f/1.3 Slim · Sonnetar 50mm F1.3 MC · SONNETAR M50mm F1.3 MC · Sonnetar 50/1.3 · Sonnetar 1.3/50 · SONNETAR 1.3/50 S · SONNETAR 1.3/50 SLIM · SONNETAR 1.3/50 FULL MC · Sonnetar 50/f1.3 FULL MC · Sonnetar 50mm f/1.37 · 宮崎光学 SONNETAR 50mm F1.3 · 宮崎光学 SONNETAR 1.3/50 · 宮崎光学 ゾネター 50mm F1.3 · 宮崎光学 ゾンネタール 50mm F1.3 · MS-OPTICS ゾネター SONNETAR 50mm F1.3 · ミヤザキ ゾネター 50mm F1.3 · エムエスオプティクス SONNETAR 50mm F1.3 · MS-Optics (エムエスオプティックス) SONNETAR M50mm F1.3 MC
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black (satin) | Leica M | 2022 | — | — |
| Gloss black (black paint) | Leica M | 2022 | — | — |
| Silver (satin) | Leica M | 2022 | — | — |
- Launch: MK Direct announced the lens on 1 January 2022 for release at the end of January or later. The overview on Phillip Reeve's site dates the first release to February 2022. DPReview's report of 13 April 2022 found MK Direct already showing it as sold out; Exibart Street's report of 20 April 2022 said it could be pre-ordered, with lenses ready at the end of April and only limited amounts available.
- Aperture: f/1.3 on the barrel; f/1.37 on MK Direct's product page, the maker's data sheet and Reeve's overview.
- Blades: 14 (MK Direct's announcement, Japan Exposures, DPReview, and Reeve, who calls them rounded); Japan Exposures and DPReview name Otto Niemann of Berlin as the maker of the iris. shige_yuki's page gives 10, against every other source.
- Closest focus: 0.8 m on MK Direct's product page, the data sheet, Japan Exposures and DPReview, and the lowest mark on the distance scale. shige_yuki gives 0.7 m, rangefinder-coupled to 0.8 m; Reeve measured 0.6 m at 1:9.4 on a mirrorless body.
- Size and weight: 50 mm across and 35.7 mm long, 123 g bare and 143 g as a set (MK Direct's product page). MK Direct's own announcement gives 140 g for the set. Japan Exposures and DPReview give 36 mm long, DPReview 49 mm across (the filter size); Reeve and shige_yuki give 35.5 mm long, and the data sheet's drawing is marked 35.5 although its specification reads L35.7. shige_yuki gives 49 mm across in his text and 50 mm in his table. Reeve weighed his copy at 127 g without hood; shige_yuki's text says 123 g and his table 110 g.
- Construction: 4 groups, 5 elements (MK Direct, Japan Exposures, DPReview, Reeve, and shige_yuki's table). shige_yuki's text says 4 groups, 6 elements. Coating: MK Direct and the data sheet say all eight surfaces are multicoated; Japan Exposures says all six glass surfaces, with 97% transmission, and Exibart Street's report repeats Japan Exposures' wording; DPReview says all elements are multicoated, with 97% transmission.
- Relation to the MS-Mode-S 50mm f/1.3 of 2006: shige_yuki titles the lens a reissue (復刻) of the MS-Mode-S and says the construction is the same, crediting its better results to coatings and manufacturing precision. He also dates the MS-Mode-S to 2009, where DC Watch and his own MS-Mode-S page give 2006. BastianK, on Reeve's site, calls it the MS-Mode's spiritual successor. A reader's comment under the site's overview describes it as based on the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5cm f/1.5 of 1932, and the maker's handwritten data sheet begins its account with Bertele's Sonnar 1.5/50 of 1932. MK Direct counts it as the third Sonnetar after the 50mm f/1.1 and 73mm f/1.5, leaving out both the MS-Mode-S and the Pentax Q Sonnetar 25mm f/1.1. The MS-Mode-S has its own page.
How to tell them apart
- Front ring engraved SONNETAR 1.3/50 S with FULL.MC in red, No. with a serial number, and MS-OPTICS; the maker's data sheet is headed SONNETAR 1.3/50 SLIM
- Aperture ring clickless, 1.3 to 16 over about 90°, turning the opposite way to most M lenses; scale 16 · 8 5.6 4 2.8 2 1.3 against a red dot (Reeve; Japan Exposures' photographs)
- Unit focusing: the whole front barrel turns, carrying the aperture ring and front element with it, through about 120°, with a small focusing lever; distance scale in metres from a red 0.8 to ∞, depth-of-field marks for 4, 8 and 16
- A ring round the rear group for coma correction, with indices at 0.75, 1, 1.5, 3 and ∞; at 3, the standard setting, the lens couples to the rangefinder (shige_yuki). The leaflet with the lens describes it as a rangefinder calibration (Reeve)
- 49 mm male filter thread on the front, so filters screw on reversed; round metal screw-in hood with a normal 55 mm thread inside it
- About 50 mm across and 35.5–36 mm long; 123 g bare, 143 g with hood
Black (satin):
- Satin black barrel (MK Direct: BLACK 梨地) with cream-white engraving; the front ring carries SONNETAR 1.3/50 S with FULL.MC in red, No. with the serial, and MS-OPTICS
- Japan Exposures' photographed black copy is No.031 B, and the maker's data sheet sold with it carries the same number
Gloss black (black paint):
- Glossy black finish in place of the satin black; same engraving layout
Silver (satin):
- Satin silver barrel (MK Direct: SILVER 梨地)
- Black (satin): The finish of the anodised prototype MK Direct showed in its announcement of 1 January 2022, and of the copies in Japan Exposures' and Phillip Reeve's photographs, which look satin rather than gloss. Japan Exposures lists Black first among its three finish options, at a single price of ¥115,900. No run size has been published for this or any finish.
- Gloss black (black paint): MK Direct's announcement offers the black in two surfaces, satin (梨地) and gloss (光沢). Japan Exposures sells the gloss option as Black Paint, and shige_yuki lists black paint among the lens's colours. Whether MK's gloss black and the dealers' black paint are one finish is not stated anywhere, though the three sources list no fourth option between them. No photograph of a gloss copy appears in the sources cited here.
- Silver (satin): Offered at launch by MK Direct at the same ¥100,000 as the black, and by Japan Exposures at the same ¥115,900. No photograph of a silver copy appears in the sources cited here, so its engraving colours are not recorded.
Serial-range notes
- No.031 B
- A black lens photographed by Japan Exposures, with the maker's handwritten data sheet marked Check #031B beside the cross-section. The black copy in BastianK's review for Phillip Reeve's site also shows a B after its number, though the digits are not legible in the published photograph. No source explains the letter; it may stand for the black finish, but that is unconfirmed.
- All serials
- MK Direct's product page says serial numbers are shipped at random, and Japan Exposures says it cannot take reservations for serial numbers. No total, batch size or numbering scheme has been published, and no copy is known to be marked as one of a limited run.
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
- 14
- Min. focus
- 0.8 m
- Dimensions
- 50 × 35.7 mm
- Weight
- 123 g
- Filter
- 49 mm (0.75 mm pitch), 49 mm screws on reversed, outside the front; 55 mm inside the hood
- Years manufactured
- 2022
- Country
- Japan
- Coating
- Multicoated on all eight glass surfaces (MK Direct and the maker's data sheet); Japan Exposures says all six surfaces
- Material
- Anodised aluminium barrel (MK Direct shows the first prototype as machined and again after アルマイト anodising)
- Original price
- ¥100,000: the maker's price through its own shop MK Direct, in the announcement of 1 January 2022 and on the product page, the same for every finish; neither says whether consumption tax is included. Exibart Street's report of 20 April 2022 gave ¥110,000 (about $900), which equals ¥100,000 with Japan's 10% consumption tax added, though the report does not say whether tax is included. Japan Exposures, a dealer, sells it at ¥115,900 in all three finishes (tax treatment not stated), the figure DPReview reported in April 2022 as about $955. (today ¥106,000)
What reviewers say
- BastianK (phillipreeve.net) (blog) — The most usable wide open of the fast MS lenses he has tried: less glow than the 50/1.1 Sonnetar, ISM 50/1.0 or Apoqualia 35/1.3 II Slim, small focus shift, and the best close-up performance of the three MS 50s. The faults are strong field curvature and poor corners, vignetting of 4.2 EV at f/1.3, wavy distortion near the corners, and bad flare and crescent artefacts wide open that largely go by f/2. Handling is quirky (unit focusing, clickless reversed aperture ring), and he calls it the best all-rounder of the three MS 50s (with the ISM 50/1.0 and Sonnetar 50/1.1) and not a bad first Miyazaki lens.
- shige_yuki (Shige's hobby) (blog) — Smaller than the MS-Mode-S and sharper both wide open and stopped down, which he puts down to newer coatings and better manufacturing rather than a new design. The clickless aperture ring is a little loose and moves by accident. Between this lens and the Sonnetar 50mm f/1.1 he would still pick the 50mm f/1.1, because at about f/1.4 it draws better than this lens wide open.
Optical formula — Sonnar type, 5 elements in 4 groups
- The maker's handwritten data sheet with a cross-section, MTF and aberration curves (Japan Exposures attachment)
- Construction diagram beside the Sonnetar 50mm f/1.1 (shige_yuki, from maker material, resized)
ⓘ 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 Sonnetar 50mm f/1.3 is Miyazaki Sadayasu’s return, in 2022, to the type of his first lens. It is a Sonnar of five elements in four groups for Leica M, about 50 mm across, 35.7 mm long and 123 g, made and assembled by hand in his Chiba workshop. MK Direct, the maker’s own shop, announced it on 1 January 2022 at ¥100,000 in satin black, gloss black or satin silver. Its maker’s data sheet heads it SONNETAR 1.3/50 SLIM, the front ring reads SONNETAR 1.3/50 S with FULL.MC in red, and sellers call it the Sonnetar Slim. The maker’s own figures are 50 mm and f/1.37. MK Direct called it the third Sonnetar, after the 50mm f/1.1 and the 73mm f/1.5, and argued that its four-group, five-element layout reaches speeds for which earlier fast Sonnars needed seven elements in three groups.
The MS-Mode-S 50mm f/1.3 of 2006 is its ancestor. shige_yuki calls this lens a reissue of it with the same construction, and Phillip Reeve’s site calls it a spiritual successor. The two are easy to tell apart. The MS-Mode-S is an optical unit on separate Leica-thread or Nikon S mount units, focuses to 1 m and is engraved MS-MODE-S DUALSYSTEM. The Sonnetar has a one-piece M-mount barrel, focuses to 0.8 m and is engraved SONNETAR. shige_yuki found the new lens sharper at every aperture and credits newer coatings and closer manufacturing tolerances rather than a new design.
The whole front barrel turns to focus, carrying the clickless aperture ring and its scale round with it. The aperture ring turns the opposite way to most M lenses, and a small focusing lever, which Reeve’s reviewer likens to the one on the Sonnetar 50mm f/1.1, helps on so short a barrel. The 49 mm filter thread is cut on the outside of the front, so filters screw on reversed; the round metal hood has an ordinary 55 mm thread inside it. A ring round the rear group adjusts coma correction, with marks at 0.75, 1, 1.5, 3 and infinity. At 3, where it is set as delivered, the lens couples correctly to a Leica rangefinder; shige_yuki suggests the other marks for exploring the change in rendering on a mirrorless body. The 14-blade iris comes from Otto Niemann in Berlin, according to Japan Exposures and DPReview. Published figures differ over closest focus (0.8 m coupled in most sources, 0.7 m in shige_yuki’s, and 0.6 m as measured by Reeve’s reviewer) and weight. shige_yuki’s 10 blades stands alone against everyone else’s 14.
The three finishes were offered at one price. Japan Exposures sold Black, Black Paint and Silver at ¥115,900, and MK Direct’s gloss black may well be the same option as the black paint, though no source says so. No production figure, batch size or limited edition has been published for any finish. MK Direct shipped serial numbers at random, and Japan Exposures would not reserve them. Japan Exposures’ photographed black copy is numbered 031 with a letter B after it, and the black copy in Reeve’s review also carries a B; no source explains the letter.
BastianK, testing for Reeve’s site, rated it the best all-rounder of the three MS 50s he had used and more usable wide open than the fast MS lenses he had tried before: less glow than the 50mm f/1.1 or the ISM 50mm f/1.0, small focus shift and good close-range sharpness. Its faults are strong field curvature with poor corners, about 4 EV of vignetting at f/1.3, distortion that appears only near the corners, and flare and crescent-shaped highlights wide open that mostly go by f/2. shige_yuki would still choose the 50mm f/1.1, stopped to about f/1.4. When buying, check that the rear ring is at its 3 mark if the lens is to be used on a rangefinder, and test focus against live view. The aperture ring is light and is easily moved by accident. Look for the hood with its 55 mm thread and the front and rear caps. As with every MS lens BastianK has used except the Aporis 135, the mount does not fully cover the Leica M10’s 6-bit code reader, and in bright light the camera may drop out of live view until the gap is taped. Its siblings with similar names, the Sonnetar 50mm f/1.1, the Sonnetar 73mm f/1.5 and the Apoqualia 35mm f/1.3 II Slim, are separate lenses.
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
- BastianK's full-resolution samples on a Leica M10 (Flickr album)
- MK Direct's launch samples by Muta Sadaharu on a Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) and Sony α7R III, with photographs of the first prototype
- Japan Exposures' product photographs of black copy No.031 B, with hood and caps
- shige_yuki's gallery on a Leica M-P (Typ 240), with side-by-side views against the MS-Mode-S
These photographers keep all rights to their work — enjoy it at the source.
Sample photo wanted — shot with a MS Optics Sonnetar 50mm f/1.3 Slim? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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