New APOQUARIA-G 1.4/35 from MS Optical

[FrozenInTime]

It takes 37mm filters fit between the lens and the hood.

That is the one thing that annoys me - why on earth not 39mm.
( 37mm yellow and 6 stop ND on route from B&H )

 

[FrozenInTime]

Beauty shots:

 

[FrozenInTime]

f/5.6 slight crop - Sea Gull Holiday

f/2 ND8 crop

f/1.4 No crop

f/1.4 No crop

f/1.4 ND8 No crop

tight crop of above - showing glow

 

[FrozenInTime]

Infinity focus @f/5.6 - mainly to show the central unsharpness and field curvature.

Some seats and the 'no bikes' sign are sharp

Same is also apparent on other infinity images
I imagine it's not an issue at 8x10 film - but noticeable when pixel peeping

Full frame - no crop:

Left of center

Far LHS

Right of center

Far RHS

 

[jschrader]

He says modern lenses are poor in their ability to alter their image quality using the aperture, and didn't want to make another bland copy, so he redesigned this formula by hand in order to bring out the beauty of its aberrations (paraphrased).

I thought this is the aim; to produce a lens that has good quality at all apertures. Did I miss something?

 

[FrozenInTime]

I thought this is the aim; to produce a lens that has good quality at all apertures. Did I miss something?

This lens is not trying to be as fully corrected as the latest Leica Summilux ASPH or Zeiss Distagon.
To get the size down some design constraint had to give.

The image quality - distortion and sharpness , seem to be very well handled at close to mid distances over all apertures.
At far distances, It looks like it needs further care of use - likely stopping down further and setting of focus on the near side.

It can also produce some really ugly images e.g. complex scene and the focus is on the far side ( not where I intended to focus ). In this case f/1.4 was a bad place to be.

 

[jschrader]

This lens is not trying to be as fully corrected as the latest Leica Summilux ASPH or Zeiss Distagon.
To get the size down some design constraint had to give.

I tried to be funny, but that may have failed. I understand some like as "character" what others dislike as "aberrations".

I was trying to be funny because I found the original sentence "modern lenses are poor in their ability to alter their image quality using the aperture" funny. In fact, with modern lenses it IS a design aim that their performance is independent of the aperture.

I might try to sell an oldtimer car with a sentence like "the modern cars are poor in giving the driver a feeling for their speed".

To me, this is maketing blah-blah.

Of course, if there is a market, one should make a lens for it. Only, "Old style lenses have a wonderful character" would seem more honest to me than this statement.

 

[xayraa33]

If this was an FSU lens we'd all be laughing at it and saying "typical" and "luck of the draw" and saying "you have to go through a dozen to maybe finding a good one".

 

[Pioneer]

I think I will stay with the 35 Perar. Don't need the f1.4 aperture. But I suspect that this new one will also be a terrific lens.

 

[FrozenInTime]

I shot lots of color photos with the Apoqualia and M9 yesterday - a mix of full open and f/8 some both of the same scene.
e.g.

I posted a pile more over on LUF - you can follow the link for the rest:
http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/253906-camera-geekery-the-new-ms-optics-apoqualia-35mm-14-f-mc/page-2

 

[ferider]

Very nice. Not sure about the lens, but great photos. Every time I head north I stop at Fort Ross, too.

 

[uhoh7]

I tried to be funny, but that may have failed. I understand some like as "character" what others dislike as "aberrations".

I was trying to be funny because I found the original sentence "modern lenses are poor in their ability to alter their image quality using the aperture" funny. In fact, with modern lenses it IS a design aim that their performance is independent of the aperture.

I might try to sell an oldtimer car with a sentence like "the modern cars are poor in giving the driver a feeling for their speed".

To me, this is maketing blah-blah.

Of course, if there is a market, one should make a lens for it. Only, "Old style lenses have a wonderful character" would seem more honest to me than this statement.

You misunderstand him completely: alter "image quality" means the lens makes a whole different type of shot WO, like a CZJ sonnar for example, which is an entirely different lens at f/4. The 75 Lux is the same. On the other end of the spectrum would be the 50 Lux asph.

It may be marketing bla bla to you, but he is right, which is why many people still love lenses like the 35 pre-asph Lux and the 8 element cron. They make a look, which is different, and which you aren't going to get out of photoshop. It's a medium. The difference is more subtle than oil vs watercolor but it's real, whether you care for it or not.

By your argument all painters should be striving for photo-realism 😉

I don't know why MS-optical draws various snarky remarks, as he offers very unique lenses in tiny form factors which are interesting and vary quite a bit. Pigeon-holing the "ergonomics" or other aspects seems lazy to me. 🙂

 

[raid]

I am one of those who love using the pre-asph Summilux and the 8-element Summicron, while I also enjoy using the CZJ Sonnar 5cm 1.5 and the 75mm Lux.
We make use of such options to us.
Life is good.

 

[icebear]

When a painter chooses a medium and subject, he usually has a certain expectation and a purpose, he wants to achieve a certain expression.
If the lens produces results by chance and not how the photographer intended the result to be (like FrozenInTime's example) then this can yield some interesting results sometimes but probability is more on the frustration side😉

 

[music_healing]

I use this lens only for 1 month straight ...

I love how it render on C41 .. I love the midtone in BW film .. also love the characteristic on my M9

take this shot while doing lunch

Lunch Time @ Porto Bistreau by William Jusuf, on Flickr


Sincerely
William Jusuf

 

[k__43]

Seems like the distortion is quite ok really. Nice! I'd so love to test one right now.

 

[music_healing]

more love to the lens ...
since I understand the character now with Portra ...
it is slightly high contrast so I have to tame down the contrast a bit

also loving it more on BW film .. the midtone zone is so nice

Daini .. one evening with fathter by William Jusuf, on Flickr

1.4 open wide on Portra...
a casual shot of my daughter running arround in the park

Sincerely
William Jusuf

 

[Emile de Leon]

B&W tones look really nice with this lens...at least from what I've seen here and there online..
Good to see something different about..would take some getting used to though...the ergonomics..

 

[Rayt]

B&W tones look really nice with this lens...at least from what I've seen here and there online..
Good to see something different about..would take some getting used to though...the ergonomics..

I have the lens and the ergonomics is definitely the down side. Just don't expect to shoot fast with it. At least I am shooting with an M7 so don't need to mess with the aperture ring.

 

[music_healing]

Am I the only one who think the ergonomic is nice ?
the apperture and the focus while both is moving
Just set the app first .. meter and focus ..

its glued to my camera since it .. from the 16 rolls I shot..
I maybe miss 5-10 frames total.. coz the apperture thingy
Use it for almost enything, street, high pace, panning, kids and even structure architecture, interior stuff and a bit urbanscape

even think to buy another one as backup (when one day I cant find this lens again )

Sincerely
William