Great news guys! The genius Mr. Miyazaki realized the first prototype of the Sonnetar 25mm f/1.1 for Micro Four Thirds! For those of you not knowing who the creator is you have to know that he has a long history of handmade and nice quality M-mount lenses. An example, he made that super nice and compact [shoplink 29386 ebay]Leica Triplet lenses (Click here to see them on eBay)[/shoplink]. The sonnetar protoype has a multi-coated lens, is only 25mm thick and weights 67g only! That is the design of the lens:
KTF-Turbo (Click here to read the google translation) is now testing the lens and you can already see the first image samples (Click here). I let you judge the image quality. I find the bokeh very… harsh 🙂
The lens you see here on top is a not available for purchase yet and price is unknown although I suspect it will have the same price of the [shoplink 29387 ebay]Sonnetar 25mm f/1.1 for Pentax Q mount ($650 here on eBay)[/shoplink].
One more news: Photoshop launched the new App for the iPad (Click here to see it on iTunes). This really sounds like an amazing app!
41 Responses
yes, the bokeh really looks a bit “wild”. but this handmade prototype shows, that small fast lenses are indeed possible. why the hell voigtländer has always to build such monsters?
also the 25/1.4 leica is much too big compared to the 20/1.7. my leica sample was softer than the pancake even stopped down and the decrease of DOF was not big enough for me to replace the 20mm, so i sent it back!
i would welcome some really small fast lenses like this sonnetar. they don’t need to be perfect, but small and fast!
“yes, the bokeh really looks a bit “wild”. but this handmade prototype shows, that small fast lenses are indeed possible. why the hell voigtländer has always to build such monsters?”
I guess the answer to your question is provided in the first sentence: image quality (not just sharpness etc, but also bokeh). And don’t forget that f/0.95 is quite a bit faster than f/1.1.
But fort that price ($699) I would much prefer to buy either the Leica AF lens, or the Voigtlander for a bit more money (costs €712 in EU).
I believe f0.95 is just marketing hype, I think it’s really just f1.0 in fact is it even possible to have an aperture below f1.0? I don’t know but I have heard reports of the f0.95 lenses really just being f1.0.
I hardly think that the famous Kubrick F0.7 lens also would be just F1.0…
Of course it’s possible to get a f-stop less than 1. The f-stop number is just a ratio between the focal length of a lens and the diameter of the pupil. The pupil is your aperture diameter x some magnification dependent on the lens design. If you have a 25mm focal length lens and a pupil diameter that’s greater than 25mm, then your f-stop is less than 1.
Yes it is, the “theoretical limit” is something like .4 or .5
live stream http://www.ustream.tv/frontlineclub Has Reuters been contaminated asks Julian Assange since it became Thompson-Reuters?
really weird as I was thinking the exact same thing about 3-4 months ago
I love google translations :
“With the help of an acid, we were able to borrow a prototype of a MS optical Sonnetar25mm f1.1 from Mr. Miyazaki.”
🙂
😀
bit of a hint that the E-7 exists 😀 http://www.damianmcgillicuddy.com/journal/2012/2/27/olympus-micro-four-thirds-45mm-f18.html
Nice. Thanks for sharing.
Looks like a toy-lens. Even with tiny Pens suitable. Let’s wait for tests. Two Noktons and this lens – the M43 is growing to an outstanding system!
That lens is almost to small! 🙂
Is the picture on top the sample image? Hard to tell anything about the bokeh from that…
Check “c-snap” link to see sample in the bottom of page.
I tried hat, but I got no pictures, only frames with an interrogation mark.
Looks like another google translate job 🙁
Click ” MS optical R&D “
Try the URL below,
http://ktfdesign.blog.fc2.com/
Other sample images can be found here
http://ultrawide.exblog.jp/17506680/
Enjoy!
Here for the samples:
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/ktf_turbo/28236637.html
Click in the bottom right corner of any picture to enlarge it up to 667×1,000 or 750,×1,000 depending on the format (4:3 or 3:2).
well, I wouldn´t like to have such a small lens when I could only us manual focus.. autofocus is a really good thing when you are playing with such a small DOF. I would rather buy a nokton like this one
Super ugly bokeh, more like a toy-lens. The price will be steep. Really niche lens. But only a few will be made anyway.
Very cool i ll get this
Cool! I hope they make one in NEX mount also! 🙂
Swirly bokeh in a tiny package! 🙂
Really nice lens – but it‘s time for fast AF lenses (F >= 1.2) as well.
So it’s possible to make small and fast lenses for µ4/3. Now , i hope Oly make some fast µ4/3 lenses like the 12-60 4/3.
The bokeh seems rather… significant. I wouldn’t mind it if it was priced at half that much.
I expect when the lens is for sale it will have a another Aperture shutter arrangement that will give it a different bokeh, maybe bokeh not what you or I want as the traditional great bokeh. Will have to wait till it is ready for release before I will make a individual judgment.
I feel Mr Sadoyasu Miyazaki has a specific look in mind and will work until he achieves it. I have seen some large prints taken with his triplex and have to say I was impressed with the result.
Do we really need another 25mm lens? There are two m4/3 lenses, Leica and Voigtlander, there are two 4/3, Olympus and Leica, there is 4/3 Samyang 24mm. It’s nice that it’s so small and fast, but if he made a 40mm or 15mm F1.1, it would be much better…
I have many lenses in 25 FL range. They are all useful. 🙂
This one is unique in being very compact and fast. What we need is a compact body to go with it. A GXR with a built in EVF, for example. 🙂
I think we definitely need at least one compact 25mm lens.
I do not think Mr. Miyazaki is worried about market share.
🙂
No, but we are worried about holes in the lens lineup. They’re getting smaller and smaller, though.
A 45 mm F1.2 AF… Oh, my God…
Now I wish they would soon produce a fast short tele 100mm lens for m4/3.
That looks like a lovely lens. But I’m not sure I’m going to pay that kind of money for a manual-focus only lens. Others will feel differently, I’m sure.
Quote from the KTF-Turbo link above:
“With the help of an acid, we were able to borrow a prototype of a MS optical Sonnetar25mm f1.1 from Mr. Miyazaki.”
Uh oh – they threatened the poor guy w/ an acid?!
Seems like secrets of the trade are getting harder to hold on to, these days… 😉
I guess they mean lysergic acid. Evidence is in the bokeh.
Ha ha ha…
This sentence seems to be difficult for Google translation!
“With the help of Mr.Sha-sindbad” is the correct translation.
In Japanese language, people’s name is usually followed by “-san”, you know, and the same pronunciation “san” also means “acid”.
Scrambled. LOL.
In fact I have a 28/2.8 triplet which is as small: The Industar 69 (adapted), which I paid 10 times less in Moscow.
That shows that if you have imagination the sky is the limit with m4/3.
Put this on a GF3 and it will go in your pocket or girlfriend’s evening purse. Petite and fast (the lens, that is).