Sonnetar 25mm f/1.1 Prototype spotted!
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 Leica Triplet lenses (Click here to see them on eBay). 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 Sonnetar 25mm f/1.1 for Pentax Q mount ($650 here on eBay).
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!
oluv
2 years ago |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!
bilgy_no1
2 years ago |“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).
Will
2 years ago |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.
kesztió
2 years ago |I hardly think that the famous Kubrick F0.7 lens also would be just F1.0…
narutogrey
2 years ago |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.
Raines
2 years ago |Yes it is, the “theoretical limit” is something like .4 or .5
YouDidntDidYou
2 years ago |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
oli
2 years 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.”
Maley
2 years ago |YouDidntDidYou
2 years ago |bit of a hint that the E-7 exists
http://www.damianmcgillicuddy.com/journal/2012/2/27/olympus-micro-four-thirds-45mm-f18.html
occam
2 years ago |Nice. Thanks for sharing.
jorge
2 years ago |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!
Camaman
2 years ago |That lens is almost to small!
Maley
2 years ago |Is the picture on top the sample image? Hard to tell anything about the bokeh from that…
uiti
2 years ago |Check “c-snap” link to see sample in the bottom of page.
rrr_hhh
2 years ago |I tried hat, but I got no pictures, only frames with an interrogation mark.
Looks like another google translate job
Jesper
2 years ago |Click ” MS optical R&D “
naoyuki_oi
2 years ago |Try the URL below,
http://ktfdesign.blog.fc2.com/
Other sample images can be found here
http://ultrawide.exblog.jp/17506680/
Enjoy!
Mistral75
2 years ago |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,x1,000 depending on the format (4:3 or 3:2).
matt
2 years ago |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
Maley
2 years ago |Super ugly bokeh, more like a toy-lens. The price will be steep. Really niche lens. But only a few will be made anyway.
Oitzsek
2 years ago |Very cool i ll get this
Vivek
2 years ago |Cool! I hope they make one in NEX mount also!
Swirly bokeh in a tiny package!
kesztió
2 years ago |Really nice lens – but it‘s time for fast AF lenses (F >= 1.2) as well.
Gabriel
2 years ago |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.
sneye
2 years ago |The bokeh seems rather… significant. I wouldn’t mind it if it was priced at half that much.
flash
2 years ago |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.
Miroslav
2 years ago |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…
Vivek
2 years ago |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.
Esrhan
2 years ago |I think we definitely need at least one compact 25mm lens.
flash
2 years ago |I do not think Mr. Miyazaki is worried about market share.
Miroslav
2 years ago |No, but we are worried about holes in the lens lineup. They’re getting smaller and smaller, though.
kesztió
2 years ago |A 45 mm F1.2 AF… Oh, my God…
safaridon
2 years ago |Now I wish they would soon produce a fast short tele 100mm lens for m4/3.
Steve Biro
2 years ago |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.
Erik Aaseth
2 years ago |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…
Frederic Hew
2 years ago |I guess they mean lysergic acid. Evidence is in the bokeh.
naoyuki_oi
2 years ago |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”.
Vivek
2 years ago |Scrambled. LOL.
amalric
2 years ago |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.
pdc
2 years ago |Put this on a GF3 and it will go in your pocket or girlfriend’s evening purse. Petite and fast (the lens, that is).