MS Optical APORIA 24mm f/2 ... anyone using this lens?

[Godfrey]

Some time ago now, I purchased a Panasonic GX9 to use primarily with my Olympus Body Cap 15mm and 9mm FE lenses when bicycling. It presents a small, light camera with a simple box shape that slides into my small bike pack nicely. It's worked well, but I find I don't really like using it much: the controls are all small and fiddly in my hands, the camera has way too many options and I'm forever hitting some button or the screen and bouncing off into some set of controls I have no clue what they do nor want to. The EVF in particular is mediocre (the LCD is much much better).

So, on consideration, I was looking for a very small, very compact and flat lens that would work well on the Leica CL. None of my existing lenses, small though they might be, are small enough and flat enough like the BCLs from Olympus to achieve my goal. I also felt that a 35mm FF equivalent would be an advantage, rather than the ~30mm and fish-eye of the BCLs.

After a suitable time hunting about, I found the MS Optical 24mm f/2. Reading around various comments on different forums, and seeing a bunch of samples, I decided to try one and place an order for it. I expect it to be a quirky and fun, ultra-light and ultra-compact lens.

If anyone else is using one, I'd love to see more sample photos with it used on FF, on APS-C, and on film. And hear any comments. 🙂

Thanks in advance!
G

 

[raid]

I looked it up:

The lens looks cool. Godfrey. Have fun with it.

 

[JeffS7444]

That's a new one to me, Godfrey, but I do own an MS Optical 40/6.3 H-Prot and casually hanker for a Perar or maybe a Apoqualia.

I initially freaked out because I thought I was missing the lens hood, but after referring to the hand-drawn instruction sheet, found it stored within the body of the lens where I initially took it to be a light shield. Since I don't need the flattest possible package, I just leave the hood screwed into the front of the lens, and don't carry the tiny metal lens cap for fear of losing it.

Admit that I've scarcely used it after the first few weeks, but I got some pleasing closeup shots using M -> E macro focusing adapter, and I came away thinking it was a well-corrected lens for something so tiny, didn't concern myself much over corner sharpness or light falloff.

 

[ellisson]

They do make some quirky lenses, small, compact, and extremely light weight. I own the Apoqualia 28m f2 lens, third version, for use on a TL-2 digital camera and CLE film camera. These flat lenses are fun to use, but changing the aperture can be difficult for some. There are two small groves in a ring just above and just outside the front lens element for changing the aperture with your fingernails. Looking at the photo above, it seems to be the same for the 24mm lens.
You will need fingernails😉 But they are fun.

 

[Michalm]

It seems to be very good for the size , check this review with samples https://phillipreeve.net/blog/review-ms-optics-24mm-2-0-aporia/
Quite incredible package.Fast , wide and sharp enough across the frame on FF when stopped down.

 

[Godfrey]

It seems to be very good for the size , check this review with samples https://phillipreeve.net/blog/review-ms-optics-24mm-2-0-aporia/
Quite incredible package.Fast , wide and sharp enough across the frame on FF when stopped down.

Thanks for the link!

Yes, it looks very interesting. I'm looking forward to experimenting with it now. I figure if I can make satisfying photographs with an Olympus BCL 15mm f/8 on the Panasonic GX9, I should be able to do the same with this one on the Leica CL.

G

 

[Godfrey]

The APORIA 24mm arrived this evening, late. It is so tiny and so light ... you almost think the box is empty. It fits on the Leica CL (digital) with M Adapter L very flat and tiny, and, through the viewfinder, looks to have a lovely rendering feel. Sure makes the camera very compact and handy.

Fitting and removing the lens cap, and setting the aperture, is best done with a blunted pencil or ballpoint pen for me, my fingers are a little too thick to work the aperture ring comfortably without something to reach in and turn it. Not a big deal, I always have a small pen or a stylus with me.

The adventure continues. 🙂

G

 

[eckhardf]

Hi Godfry,

I've been looking at this lens for a while now to use on my Leica Typ 262. I will be watching this thread and your impressions of the Aporia with interest 😀

Enjoy!

 

[Pioneer]

Good luck with your lens Godfrey. I own and occasionally use the 24mm Perar Super Triplet which is also very tiny. I enjoy mine but it can be a challenge to get good images that I am happy with but I am using it exclusively with film. I am sure you will do fine with yours.

 

[Godfrey]

Here's how the MS Optical Aporia 24mm f/2 looks fitted onto my Leica CL:

MS Optical Aporia 24mm #1


MS Optical Aporia 24mm #2


MS Optical Aporia 24mm #3

Photos made with iPhone 11 Pro, Moment camera app​

It's barely thicker than a Leica M body cap... Weighs next to nothing. 🙂

G

 

[raid]

It makes your CL a great travel camera! Is the lens very sharp and contrasty?

 

[Godfrey]

It makes your CL a great travel camera! Is the lens very sharp and contrasty?

It sure does ... Makes the Leica CL only marginally larger than the Panasonic GX9 with an Olympus Body Cap Lens 15 or 9FE fitted ... and four stops faster than the BCL lenses! Truly an amazing achievement.

I'll be testing it today, on my cycle ride and walk. But I did a quick snap of my always (ahem) accommodating partner this morning to check it out. This is at minimum focus (about 0.5m) and f/2.8, 1/40 second, ISO 1600:

Taken by Surprise​

A ~4000x2800 pixel rendering is there (about 1/2 resolution) if you jump to Flickr.com. Sure looks good to me!

On a lark, I fitted it to my Leica M to Hasselblad X adapter and did a couple of similar snaps with the Hasselblad 907x. With the frame center-cropped square, it fills the frame nicely, with very little drop off, and makes similarly lovely rendering. The FoV is equivalent to your Hasselblad SWC but with a 40mm vs 38mm lens, and 2.5 stops faster so you can approach the same FoV-DoF relationship. MUCH much lighter and handier than the 907x + XCD 21mm f/4 lens! 😉 Of course, I do suspect that the XCD21 lens will outperform this tiny little thing by a healthy margin off-axis...

😀

G

 

[Godfrey]

Some results from my first bike ride and walk with the Aporia 20mm ...

First I went on a nice cycle ride to Japan Town in San Jose to get lunch. I had my sandwich and drink while sitting at the memorial by the art store and I thought, "Hmm, a selfie made with the bike against the wall might be fun.." I used the self timer after setting the focus:

Ride Lunch In Japan Town
Leica CL + MS Optics Aporia 24mm f/2
ISO 200 @ f/4 @ 1/400​

After lunch, I sped home and had no time for more picture taking because I had an appointment late in the afternoon in Santa Clara City Center. It's close enough to home that I decided to walk, and use the camera as seemed fit...

Fast Pass Through City Center
Leica CL + MS Optics Aporia 24mm f/2
ISO 200 @ f/4 @ 1/160


Lamp on Brick Wall
Leica CL + MS Optics Aporia 24mm f/2
ISO 200 @ f/4 @ 1/50


Japanese Maple Tree in Evening Light
Leica CL + MS Optics Aporia 24mm f/2
ISO 200 @ f/4 @ 1/40​

I was still a mile from home when I made that photo, but I hadn't put a fresh battery in the camera for a while, and that exposure completely exhausted the remaining charge I had left. And I didn't have a spare battery with me ... DoH!

I'm pleased with the results so far ... I have a few more to render ... and am liking the look this lens provides. I used just f/4 for all these photos and I can see that at f/4, the center is nice and sharp but off-axis there is a softening that rolls in past the sharp zone. I'll have to experiment with different aperture settings to see how it changes across the range.

It sure makes the CL into a very handy and small package.

enjoy! G

 

[David Murphy]

The edge sharpness of this lens as seen on example shots posted on Flickr (probably taken wide open) is the worst I've ever seen for a 35mm production lens, and an expensive one at that. I do admire the small size of this lens however.

 

[Godfrey]

The edge sharpness of this lens as seen on example shots posted on Flickr (probably taken wide open) is the worst I've ever seen for a 35mm production lens, and an expensive one at that. I do admire the small size of this lens however.

Of course the edge sharpness is poor when wide open: that's an issue discussed by the designer in the lens notes, translated on the JCH page as part of the lens description:

The APORIA 2/24mm is a very short, large aperture Gauss type wide angle lens with a length of 5.8mm, and weight of 45 grams. It was designed to be amazingly small, in sharp contrast to current large and heavy retrofocus lenses. A weakness of Gauss type lenses is coma flare from mid frame into the corners causing reduced contrast and peripheral light falloff, and I struggled to improve this, but was able to bring it to a satisfactory level of performance.

High refractive index low dispersion glass with an nd of 1.8 was used for the large front and rear lens elements, keeping lens length down to 12.8mm and reducing peripheral light falloff. In regard to astigmatism, sagittal and meridional lines overlap perfectly out to ⌀35 as shown in the AST chart, and the image is totally devoid of swirly character. However, this results in strong curvature in the image field.

-0.18 of a large aperture lens. The ~ in the MT chart is due to the changing point of focus

​A 0.3mm is roughly double the from the curvature. This characteristic must be duly taken into account when making photographs. As depth of field increases from f4~5.6 and smaller it becomes un-noticeable.

Probably the most attractive qualities about this lens are it’s inconspicuous body cap size, and it’s large depth of field, lending itself to capturing the lively activity of people in the city.

So if you want reduced field curvature and sharper edges, work at f/5.6-f/8. There are many scenes for which the wide open field curvature is not an issue, however, and edge sharpness isn't needed. 🙂

The Aporia 24mm is not really a production lens. It's a hand-made, low volume manufacture specialty lens with specialist quirks. I think it's delightful. 😉

G

 

[zenza]

I've been eyeing the this lens for almost a year now. Sadly these lenses don't work on Bessas according to JCH but it would make an amazing lens on the CLE...and a two stop upgrade from my CV 25/4.

One day maybe...

 

[Godfrey]

Some Aporia 24mm f/2 lens notes...

I've been out shooting with and enjoying this lens. For most shooting, I leave it fixed at f/5.6 .. particularly when I have the lens hood fitted as that makes it quite difficult to reach the aperture ring control even with a stylus and it's hard to see the aperture index. This nets pretty good sharpness all across the format by decreasing the curvature of field and deep DoF for ease of focusing.

For general shooting, leaving the aperture at f/5.6 has a side benefit: you can work very very quickly by zone focusing. You only need to remember two focus settings for the CL (APS-C format):

4.5m (15') = 2.24m (7.5') to infinity
2.5m (8') = 1.6m (5.25') to 5.67m (18.5')

The only problem is that the distance scale on the focusing ring, as my lens was delivered, is ridiculously way off the mark. I focused the camera on a target at 2.5m distance, the distance index shows between 2 and 1.5m; focused at 4.5m, the distance index is just touching 3m on the 2m side of the numeral. I wonder how far off the rangefinder cam is ... I'll have to check that sometime when I feel like using it on the M4-2.

In calibrating my focusing for scale focus work, I taped a target to the wall, set f/2, and focused the camera critically at both distances. The piece of the wall I taped it to has the pass through into my kitchen ... And what's interesting is that at f/2, the focus zone is shallow enough even at 15' focus distance to see things a mere 1' behind the critical plane soften up. I'm going to have to explore some wide open shooting with this lens too!

Anyway, now that I have it documented where these two distance settings line up on the focusing scale, I can use the settings above to do quick scale focus by zone. 😀 Meanwhile, of course, I bought the lens to use on the CL: the TTL focusing is very accurate regardless what the distance scale calibration reads.

Having some fun, I snapped this shot this morning, rendered it on my desktop system to square, then handed it back to the iPhone and ShakeIt Photo app for the Polaroid SX-70 simulation framing and rendering look. 🙂

Donation Meter - Alameda 2021
Leica CL + Aporia 24mm f/2
ISO 100 @ f/5.6 @ 1/100
Framing by ShakeIt Photo app on iOS​

Enjoy! G

 

[hap]

I have a original 1.2 sonnetar. It's a small and beautifully made fast 50. My beef with these lenses is the handling. Almost all of the species of MS optics lenses have quirky and sometime cumbersome controls for focus and aperture. I guess thats the nature of the beast. you have to know your miyazaki lens and the design goals to make the best pictures. the coma thingy on the sonnatar is very difficult to use successfully. It takes more testing than I have the patience to pursue.

I would very much like one of the perar triplets....like the 28.

MS Optics lens sell out pretty quickly and not always easy to find in online auctions sites.

 

[f.hayek]

MS Optics lens sell out pretty quickly and not always easy to find in online auctions sites.

Collectors and users in East Asia snap them up, especially the ones with the artistically lacquered caps. However, they are often available new from Japan Camera Hunter, Japan Exposures, Yahoo Japan and sometimes Amazon Japan websites.

I've always wanted to try one but the tendency of every 'species' (I like that Hap!) to (always) be soft until ƒ/5,6-8 has given me pause.

 

[Godfrey]

Collectors and users in East Asia snap them up, especially the ones with the artistically lacquered caps. However, they are often available new from Japan Camera Hunter, Japan Exposures, Yahoo Japan and sometimes Amazon Japan websites.

I've always wanted to try one but the tendency of every 'species' (I like that Hap!) to (always) be soft until ƒ/5,6-8 has given me pause.

The Aporia 24/2 is sharp and contrasty on center even wide open, but shows a good bit of field curvature which causes the outer rim to go a little soft unless the subject follows the lines of curvature. This is at f/2.8:



100% detail:

By f/4 it's pleasingly sharp enough through the center 2/3+ of the field, and by f/5.6 it seems sharp almost to the corners.

Corner to corner sharpness wide open ... I'll just swap the Leica Elmarit-R 28mm f/2.8 or Color Skopar 28mm f/3.5—or any one of a dozen or two other excellent lenses on my shelf—onto the camera for that. The Aporia 24 is special because of its size and speed, and its image rendering has a unique quality. The size and speed, as well as the interesting rendering qualities, are why I bought it.

G