Heliar Homage APOQUALIA-H 50mm
A review and Photo example of the MS-Optics APOQUALIA-H 50mm F3.5.
Table of contents
Gallery
- Sample photos taken with the LEICA M9,Leica M8.2 and EPSON R-D1xG.
Review
1．Overview
The APOQUALIA-H 50mm F3.5 is the second original lens released by Ms-optics (Miyazaki Optical) in 2009.
The lens is a Heliar type with 3 groups and 5 elements, and the minimum shooting distance is 0.8m. It is linked to the rangefinder of Leica M-type rangefinder cameras until the minimum shooting distance.
The filter system is 30.5mm, and a dedicated hood is included with new products. If you buy a used lens without a dedicated hood, the color is gold and it will be a bit of a mismatch with the black lens, but the Contax Tvs METAL HOOD T-550 has a mounting diameter of 30.5mm, so it can be used.
Although this lens is branded as Apoqualia, it does not have the characteristic of a bright maximum aperture value like the Apoqualia series lenses released after this.
The lens nameplate is also engraved with MS-MODE-AH, which I heard is an abbreviation for APO-HELIAR or APOQUALIA-HELIAR.
2．Usability
The APOQUALIA-H 50mm F3.5 is rarely seen on the used market because it has only a small number of units released.
Because it is a lens with a low maximum aperture of F3.5, it produces sharp images with good clarity even at full aperture, and the bokeh in the foreground and background is also beautiful. It is a lightweight and compact lens that is suitable for snapshots.
Looking at the example taken with the Leica M9 35mm full-frame sensor, we can see that the image is resolved all the way to the outer edges.
Also, when it was attached to the HASSELBLAD X2D equipped with a 44mm x 33mm medium-format digital sensor, there was not much light reduction at the outer edges, and it was confirmed that the image circle was wide. Therefore, for APS-H, APS-C, and Micro Four Thirds cameras with small sensor sizes, the best image quality can be obtained by cropping out the center of the lens.
The first lens released by Ms-optics was an ambitious lens with a Sonnar format, focal length of 50mm, and maximum aperture of F1.3, which appealed to fans of large aperture lenses, so much so that the owner of the camera shop that sold it lamented, “This is a lens with specs that won’t sell very well.”
3．Summary
In conclusion, to sum up the APOQUALIA-H 50mm F3.5, it is the second standard lens released by Ms-Optics, and although it is a Heliar-type lens with modest specifications, it has a lens construction with a small number of glass elements that produces clear images, making it a lens that experts will love.
If you are using a digital mirrorless camera, the darkness of the lens can be compensated for with high ISO and in-body image stabilization, so if you come across it second-hand, it is a lens worth considering purchasing.
Specification and Competitor
As of 2024, the Xenotar-type XENOMAX 50mm F3.5 with the same specifications has improved image quality and the lens barrel size is almost the same as this lens, so if you are not particular about the Heliar format, the XENOMAX may be easier to obtain.
In 2001, Cosina released a Heliar-type lens with the same specifications under the Voigtlander brand to commemorate the 101st anniversary of Helia, and it is unclear whether Mr. Miyazaki was aware of this because I did not ask him about it, but this was the only Heliar-type lens that Ms-optics has released since then, and has released Sonnar, Gauss, and very occasionally retrofocus lenses other than the Heliar format.
In contrast, Cosina has been working to increase the aperture of Heliar-type lenses under the Voigtlander brand, releasing the Heliar 50mm F2 in 2007 and the large-aperture Heliar 50mm F1.5 with a lens configuration of 3 groups and 6 elements in 2021.
- The lens construction diagrams are quoted from each company’s materials, and the sizes have been adjusted by us, so they are not exact.
| Item | APOQUALIA-H | HELIAR 50mm F3.5 | HELAIR classic 50mm F1.5 VM |
| focal length(mm) | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Maximum aperture | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.5 |
| Minimum aperture | 22 | 22 | 16 |
| Leaf blade | 12 | 10 | 10 |
| Lens configuration | 5 elements in 3 groups | 5 elements in 3 groups | 6 elements in 3 groups |
| Minimum distance(m) | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.5 |
| Lens length(mm) | 38 | 43.2 | 41.9 |
| Lens max diameter(mm) | 49 | 48 | 55 |
| Filter type | 30.5 | 27 | 49 |
| Weight(g) | 90 | 150 | 255 |
| Hood | Special trumpet-type screw-in | Special trumpet-type screw-in | Special trumpet-type screw-in |
| Lens mount | M | L39 | VM |
| Release date | 2009 | 2001 | 2021 |
| Price | ¥65,000 | ￥108,000(with camera) | ¥90,000 |
Reference links
- Heliar Wiki(Japanese)
- Heliar wiki(Deutsch)
- COSINA製品PDF・WebArchive
- HELIAR Vintage Line 50mm F3.5・Voigtlander Official page
- HELAIR classic 50mm F1.5 VM・Voigtlander Official page
- KONICA L39 HEXANON 50mm F2.4・Shige’s hobby
- Voigtlander L39 HELIAR 50mm F3.5 Year101・Shige’s hobby
- LEICA ELMAR 50mm F2.8・Shige’s hobby
- Ms-Optics APOQUALIA H 50mm F3.5・Shige’s hobby
Update history
- 2025.5.8
- 2024.03.10:Update article
- 2022.06.01:First draft
Affiliate links
- Leica Lens・Ads by Amazon
- Ms-optics・Ads by Amazon
- Leica Books・Ads by Amazon
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