Fred Miranda wrote:
That's a lens I've never tried and hasn't really crossed my radar. Is there something unique about it that I might be missing?
It has a bit of a Thambar look to the images. That said I have yet to try mine with good comparisons. DAG did my CLA. Amazing no fungus nor mold inside. It takes 39mm filters too. Very heavy for its size to me. Many do not come with the originally included lens hood and lens hood cover.I seem to have gotten a complete setup. Got it from Tamarkin LTM inventory.
stgrove wrote:
It has a bit of a Thambar look to the images. That said I have yet to try mine with good comparisons. DAG did my CLA. Amazing no fungus nor mold inside. It takes 39mm filters too. Very heavy for its size to me. Many do not come with the originally included lens hood and lens hood cover.I seem to have gotten a complete setup. Got it from Tamarkin LTM inventory.
Interesting! If you have a moment, I'd love to see some images that show off its rendering. I'm pretty familiar with the Thambar, having owned one for a while.
What's intriguing is that the Hektor's rendering strikes me as the closest match to the 73mm f/1.5 Sonnetar (more so than the Leica 90mm Thambar). Digging deeper into this, I discovered the following:
"In a review from shige-art.net, it’s noted that Miyazaki himself stated he chose the 73mm focal length because he was "conscious of the Leica Hektor 73mm." This implies that the Hektor 73mm f/1.9, a lens from the 1930s known for its soft yet characterful rendering, influenced the Sonnetar’s focal length choice. The Sonnetar’s design, with its compact form and Sonnar-inspired optical formula (5 elements in 4 groups), aligns with Miyazaki’s tendency to pay homage to vintage lenses while adapting them with modern techniques, such as multi-coating for improved transmission."
Fred Miranda wrote:
Interesting! If you have a moment, I'd love to see some images that show off its rendering. I'm pretty familiar with the Thambar, having owned one for a while.
I will do some comparisons. 75/1.4? VM 75/1.5?
I had forgotten about my 73 Hector until I read Milan Swolfs article on the new 50/1.4 Reissue in the Overgaard list of articles. Way toward the bottom of his article under section "Which Leica Lens?"he briefly touches on obscure lenses he likes that have character and there he mentioned the 73 Hector. Then I dug mine out.
stgrove wrote:
No reply so just shot Hector 73/1.9 wide open on SL3, but hand held at 1/1000.
Thanks for the sample. I can tell it is a low-contrast and not a high-resolution lens when shot wide open, but it is hard to get a feel for the focus transition because of the heavy blur, especially since it is a close-up shot.
For anyone who might be interested: according to the people at MS-optics, a new batch of the sonnetar 73mm will be released next week (black only). They do take reservations if you email them, meaning they can hold onto one for you or send it to you. I'm picking mine up during a trip to japan in May - very exciting!
Axelsch02 wrote:
For anyone who might be interested: according to the people at MS-optics, a new batch of the sonnetar 73mm will be released next week (black only). They do take reservations if you email them, meaning they can hold onto one for you or send it to you. I'm picking mine up during a trip to japan in May - very exciting!
Yes I ordered last week and was very surprised they quoted me a black in the next week or so, and at a quite reasonable cost (less than used) especially looking at some of the eBay and such prices of late for not new. They did say if black isn't your thing there will be silver in the next year- I am not fussy either will do. Plus they wrote the helicoid is improved, so win-win cost/update compared to eBay
EMH2025 wrote:
Yes I ordered last week and was very surprised they quoted me a black in the next week or so, and at a quite reasonable cost (less than used) especially looking at some of the eBay and such prices of late for not new. They did say if black isn't your thing there will be silver in the next year- I am not fussy either will do. Plus they wrote the helicoid is improved, so win-win cost/update compared to eBay
I reserved 2 months ago for the black, they said early 2026 delivery. Surprised they are quoting you next week.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Does the newly produced version focus any closer? Did Kamii mention how close the MS 75/1.5 Sonnetar can focus using the rangefinder?
I got my copy directly from MS Optics when I visited Tokyo, and it focuses down to 0.9 m.
Fred I didn't ask, they didn't say, I was going to buy the lens in any case so I didn't worry about it. I guess it will be a surprise, it will be fine with me either way.
My own view of these and other lenses is I have a core set of great glass like 50 apo con, apo 135 3.4, my 1966 rigid etc... and a bunch maybe too many lenses I enjoy using because they are different, I enjoy the elcan, the ms-optics petz and such and this lens is destined to be in the enjoy on occasion group. What divides these groups for me is if I was to do a very light 1-3 lens carry outing/trip I would be likely to bring just the great glass core for the M, if I have extra capacity of weight and time I add more to use. While I have a lot of not E39, if it is a light carry outing it is likely the E39 apo 50 2 and maybe a 28/90 colorskoper, and the SP2 rigid for character so the NDs and CP all are one size and everything goes in one small bag.
I guess that means the emails requesting payment for purchase for reservations will be much sooner than later. The black are first they said, I am not fussy but the photo looks fine in black.
