Ms-optics SONNETAR 25mm F1.1(Q)

Large aperture medium telephoto lens for PENTAX Q

A review and Photo example of the SONNETAR 25mm F1.1 (MS-Optics / Miyazaki Optical).

Gallery

Sample photos taken with the PENTAX Q7

Review

Overview
Usage
Add info

1．Overview

The Sonnetar 25mm F1.1 is a lens for the PENTAX Q from MS-Optics (Miyazaki Optical).

The focal length of the lens is 25mm, which is converted to the following 35mm format:

For the Q/Q10 (1/2.3-inch sensor), 5.5x is equivalent to 137.5mm

For the Q7/Q-S1 (1/1.7-inch sensor), 4.7x is equivalent to 117.5mm

The lens is made up of 5 elements in 4 groups and uses a Sonnar type lens, and the minimum shooting distance is 0.5m, which is the result of cropping when converted to 35mm format, but it can also be said to be a lens that can get close.

The lens is about the same size as the Q-mount Standard 01, and is only available in black.

2．Usage

The depiction at full aperture is quite soft, and since the focus is adjusted using the rear LCD of the camera, it is difficult to bring the focus peak to the desired location. The focus peak display of the Pentax Q7 I own is vague and unreliable when shooting with this lens at full aperture. It is more reliable to check the focus position with the enlarged display.

Since it is a digital camera, I think it is less troublesome to take several shots at least with focus bracketing as a safeguard and choose the good one when developing.
When shooting raindrops exposed to artificial lighting or sunlight, the peripheral blur is poor and false colors occur, making it difficult to use depending on the shooting scene.
It is a medium telephoto lens that fits in one hand when attached to a Q camera, so it is good to carry it around easily when you want to add a telephoto lens.

Since this lens is not equipped with a leaf shutter, it is shot with the sensor shutter on the camera, so you need to be careful of rolling distortion of moving objects.

3．Add Info

Excluding simple lenses such as pinhole lenses, this lens is the only third-party lens with a Q mount.

Considering the improvement in performance of extremely small sensors such as smartphones, I would have liked the Q mount to continue the Q series a little longer and provide a camera with a high-performance EVF. As mentioned above, it is difficult to shoot with the rear LCD when using a bright lens.

It seems that a small number of prototypes of this lens with the same focal length of 25mm were also made for Micro Four Thirds, but unfortunately I was unable to get one.

Since Micro Four Thirds cameras are equipped with a shutter, they can be used as a normal lens, so I wanted to compare it with other 25mm lenses.

Specification

Item	Value	note
focal length(mm)	25
Maximum aperture	1.1
Minimum aperture	11
Lens configuration	4groups 5elements
Leaf blade	12
Minimum distance(m)	0.5
Lens length(mm)	24.5	Distance form mount frange
Lens max diameter(mm)	40
Filter diameter(mm)	34
Weight(g)	75g	with hood
Release date	Year 2013
List price(Yen)	48,000