Ms-Optics APOQUALIA 28mm(II)

Review

Apoqualia 28mm is a lens with a focal length of 28mm and an aperture of F2 that was released in 2018 by MS-Optics (Miyazaki Optical). In order to create a compact, large-diameter, wide-angle lens, we adopted a Gaussian lens format.

This lens is a long-lived lens that has been leased for three generations: Types 1, 2, and 3, and each generation has a different design.
The difference in performance is that the 1st type has a minimum shooting distance of 0.8m, which is the same as the rangefinder camera range, and the 2nd and 3rd models have a rangefinder camera range of 0.8m, but they exceed that range. It is possible to lean up to 0.35m.
In addition, the 2-type lens in particular has a wide variety of colors and is a colorful lens.

Ms-optics compact lenses are recommended for use with cameras with small sensor sizes.
In the case of this lens, it is cropped to 43mm equivalent for APS-C and 58mm equivalent for Micro Four Thirds.
When used with Micro Four Thirds, thanks to trimming, the effects of peripheral disturbance and light falloff, which can be a concern with 35mm full-frame sensors, are almost eliminated.
The shortest shooting distance can be as close as 0.35m when using the EVF of a mirrorless camera, making it a versatile lens that can be used for macro photography and table photography.

The combination of this lens and LUMIX GM5 has a minimalist appearance that matches perfectly, and the focal length of approximately 60mm is used for snapshots as it cuts out space.
Although the lens is compact, there are no problems with its operability, and focusing can be done smoothly by rotating the focus lever that protrudes from the lens barrel. The aperture is located at the front of the lens barrel, so it can be changed by turning the hood attached to it. There is no click stop on the aperture, so you need to visually check the exact aperture value.

A 28mm/F2 lens with the same specifications as this lens is leased from Leica and Voigtlander. Compared to Voigtlander’s ULTRON 28mm, the lens length is ULTRON = 51.2mm, APOQUALIA = 9.8mm, which is 1/5, and the weight is ULTRON = 244g: APOQUALIA = 70g, 1/3, which clearly shows how compact this lens is.

Specification

Item	Value	note
focal length(mm)	28.8
Maximum aperture	2.08
Minimum aperture	16
Lens configuration	4groups 5elements	Gauss-type
Minimum distance(m)	0.35	Linked to camera rangefinder from 0.8m to infinity
Lens length(mm)	9.8
Lens max diameter(mm)	50.0
Filter diameter(mm)	28
Weight(g)	70

Reference links

• ULTRON 28mm F2 lens introduction link for official page
• Wikipedia’s description of a double-Gaussian lens

Update history

• 2024.02.17:Update article
• 2022.04.09:First draft

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