Ms-Optics APOQUALIA 35mm F1.3 SLIM

Can you enjoy the subtle changes in depiction?

A review and Photo example of the APOQUALIA 1.3/35 SLIM.

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Gallery

Photo examples taken with Leica M-P / HASSELBLAD X2D

1．Overview

Apoqualia 35mm F1.3 is a large-aperture 35mm lens released by Ms-optics in 2021.

The lens format is a Gaussian type with 4 groups and 6 elements, and the minimum shooting distance is 0.6m, and the rangefinder works up to 0.8m for Leica M-type rangefinder cameras. For distances shorter than 0.8m, check by eye, EVF, or monitor.

The filter is a reverse-attach type that Miyazaki Optical is particular about, and uses a 34mm diameter. The lens hood is a trumpet type with a 34mm reverse thread, so attach the filter and attach it on top of it.

The aperture control lever is located at the base of the lens barrel, so it is a good point that there is no unintentional change in aperture value when shooting or storing.

This lens uses a retractable barrel, and when retracted, the thickness is 10.2 mm, making it compact and easy to store when carrying around.

2．Usage

The lens barrel, which is a size smaller than the Elmar 50mm, has the focus ring at the base of the lens, but it is easy to operate because it is the largest part of the lens.
The aperture ring in front of it is located in the thin part of the lens barrel, so it is not changed accidentally, but it is difficult to change the aperture to any position while holding the camera.

Regarding the focus position at full aperture, the focus accuracy is an issue with double image matching, and in the EVF, the soft depiction at full aperture, which is a characteristic of this lens, makes it difficult to determine the focus position in the EVF. It is really difficult, and the double image matching rarely matches the intended position, and even if you use the EVF focus magnification to match, you may get an image that makes you doubt whether it is really correct. Stopping down to F2 improves it considerably, but it is unfortunate that the bright maximum F1.3 value is almost unusable.

Mr. Miyazaki has warned about the above about this lens.
There is an article on the MK Direct blog on December 29, 2021, so I will post a link to it.
For the Japanese version, please read the link, but I have included my own translation for the English version.

About Apoqualia 35mm F1.3

English translation of Mr. Miyazaki’s warning.

Note
About this lens
Regarding this lens of ours, many people have returned it due to “defective focus” due to lack of understanding of the hearing-impairing design from aperture to F2.
The concept of this lens is
f1.3-f2 set to soft image
Current lenses have the same sharpness and contrast both wide open and F4-5.6, and there is little change in image quality depending on the aperture (it is a boring honor lens)
This lens uses negative spherical aberration to separate the best contrast position and best sharpness position (0.1% to 0.15%).
Focusing on the front gives good contrast, focusing on the back gives good sharpness, and the focus position is set somewhere in between.
During this time, customers can select the image quality and choose their preferred depiction.
With a digital camera, you can check the results immediately, so you can freely adjust the focus position.
At f2.4-f4, the soft contrast characteristics are lost, and the best positions for sharpness and contrast are aligned, approaching modern lenses.

Like the previous model, the first APOQUALIA 35mm / F1.4 with a fixed lens barrel, this lens has noticeable light falloff in the corners when the aperture is open. When the lens is open and backlit, a flashy ghost or flare can be seen.

One complaint is that it is difficult to change the aperture. Also, the retractable lens barrel prioritizes compactness, and the limitations of the retractable gimmick mean that the lens’s exterior design is not very sophisticated.

The lens’ retractable mechanism is a hassle to operate outdoors, so I always use it in a fixed position without retracting it.

I wrote the above before reading Mr. Miyazaki’s warning, but my impressions are consistent with what he claims.
I never imagined that this lens would be one that shifts the focal plane to find the best fit for the photographer.
I am amazed by Mr. Miyazaki’s idea, and I think this is something that can only be determined in the digital age. I don’t think the accuracy of a film camera would allow such a difference to be seen.

3．Add info

The old APOQUALIA had a slightly darker maximum aperture of F1.4, and this lens has the same lens configuration as the old model, but minor adjustments have made it brighter at F1.3.

Although we have not yet introduced it on this site, the REIROAL 35mm / F1.4, which was created by MAP CAMERA at the request of Ms-optics, is highly complete in all aspects, including the beauty of its appearance, aperture operation, and focus ring operability. The price is higher than the APOQUALIA, partly because of the MAP CAMERA handling fee.

When used with the medium format digital sensor (44mm x 33mm sensor) of the HASSELBLAD X2D, the image circle was completely insufficient. Since there was no change when the aperture was narrowed, using it with medium format sensor cameras such as the X2D and GFX would be outside the specifications.
When testing the usable range of images taken at full aperture, it was found that 9045 x 6783 of the original X2D pixel size of 11656 x 8742 was usable. Converting this to sensor size, this works out to about 34.1mm x 25.6mm. From this calculation, we can see that the image circle of this lens is properly matched to a 35mm full-frame sensor (36mm x 24mm).

Specification

Item	Value	note
focal length(mm)	35.8
Maximum aperture	1.3
Minimum aperture	16
Lens configuration	4groups 6elements	Gauss type
Minimum distance(m)	0.6	Works with the camera’s rangefinder from 0.8m to infinity.
Lens length(mm)	21
Lens max diameter(mm)	50
Filter diameter(mm)	34	Screw pitch 0.75mm / Reverse mounting
Weight(g)	72