Shoten Kobo are a Japanese company best known for importing and distributing various Chinese brands' lenses and adapters in Japan and for the adapters released under their own brand. Now they are starting to release new "old style" lenses under their own brand as well, with the first release coming soon (expected to be released in late June).
The first lens is called Shoten Tribute 01. It's a lens inspired by 1950's Zunow 50/1.1, a famous old Japanese rangefinder lens that is very expensive in 2nd hand markets nowadays.
I decided to pre-order one (Black) since it seems pretty interesting and the pre-order price is not too bad either (89900 yen including tax). It seems to be a special price for pre-orders so there's a chance the price would go up a bit after release). Not sure if these are possible to order from outside of Japan at this point but Shoten Kobo also sell stuff internationally through their eBay shop I think.
Created in collaboration with lens designer DJ, this lens pays homage to the legendary Zunow 50mm F1.1—an icon of Japanese ultra-fast lenses from the 1950s. It reimagines the classic aesthetic of the Leica Screw Mount (LTM) and the distinct rendering philosophy of vintage ultra-fast lenses for the modern era.
At the maximum aperture of f/1.1, the lens delivers a dreamy quality characterized by a soft glow, an atmospheric "bloom," and a shallow depth of field. Stopping down the aperture adds definition and a core to the image, resulting in a more refined and precise look.
As a "vintage ultra-fast lens reborn for the modern age," this landmark first release from SHOTEN offers the dual pleasures of photography and ownership.
Compatible image format: 35mm full-frame
Focal length: 50mm
Focus: MF (Manual Focus) *Rangefinder-coupled
Aperture: F1.1–F16
Aperture blades: 13
Minimum focusing distance: 0.5m
Filter diameter: 52mm
Dimensions: Approx. Φ62 x 44.5mm (excluding mount and protrusions)
Weight: Approx. 308g
Included accessories: Front and rear caps, lens case, L39-M adapter ring
Juha Kannisto wrote:
Shoten Kobo are a Japanese company best known for importing and distributing various Chinese brands' lenses and adapters in Japan and for the adapters released under their own brand. Now they are starting to release new "old style" lenses under their own brand as well, with the first release coming soon (expected to be released in late June).
The first lens is called Shoten Tribute 01. It's a lens inspired by 1950's Zunow 50/1.1, a famous old Japanese rangefinder lens that is very expensive in 2nd hand markets nowadays.
I decided to pre-order one (Black) since it seems pretty interesting and the pre-order price is not too bad either (89900 yen including tax). It seems to be a special price for pre-orders so there's a chance the price would go up a bit after release). Not sure if these are possible to order from outside of Japan at this point but Shoten Kobo also sell stuff internationally through their eBay shop I think.
Created in collaboration with lens designer DJ, this lens pays homage to the legendary Zunow 50mm F1.1—an icon of Japanese ultra-fast lenses from the 1950s. It reimagines the classic aesthetic of the Leica Screw Mount (LTM) and the distinct rendering philosophy of vintage ultra-fast lenses for the modern era.
At the maximum aperture of f/1.1, the lens delivers a dreamy quality characterized by a soft glow, an atmospheric "bloom," and a shallow depth of field. Stopping down the aperture adds definition and a core to the image, resulting in a more refined and precise look.
As a "vintage ultra-fast lens reborn for the modern age," this landmark first release from SHOTEN offers the dual pleasures of photography and ownership.
Compatible image format: 35mm full-frame
Focal length: 50mm
Focus: MF (Manual Focus) *Rangefinder-coupled
Aperture: F1.1–F16
Aperture blades: 13
Minimum focusing distance: 0.5m
Filter diameter: 52mm
Dimensions: Approx. Φ62 x 44.5mm (excluding mount and protrusions)
Weight: Approx. 308g
Included accessories: Front and rear caps, lens case, L39-M adapter ring
I stumbled upon this one and was quite intrigued, it was difficult to have a real sense of the lens, there are quite a few lately from new players with little to no info to make an opinion.
Still, I did manage to see a few samples and was reminded strongly of the 7artisans 50mm 1.1.
There are a bunch of recent lenses from Asia I’d like to try and have more infos about.
Even a few that did come out more than one year ago, you can barely see anything about it.
Sonnar-7 wrote:
I stumbled upon this one and was quite intrigued, it was difficult to have a real sense of the lens, there are quite a few lately from new players with little to no info to make an opinion.
Still, I did manage to see a few samples and was reminded strongly of the 7artisans 50mm 1.1.
There are a bunch of recent lenses from Asia I’d like to try and have more infos about.
Even a few that did come out more than one year ago, you can barely see anything about it.
Shoten Kobo is also 7artisans' official distributor in Japan. I don't think this new lens will be a copy of 7artisans 50/1.1 or any existing Chinese lens but Shoten Kobo also seem to have worked together with DJ Optical for the creation of this lens (like many Chinese lens brands do with their lenses) so there will be some similarities in build.
7Artisans 50/1.1 seems to be 400g and can focus to 0.7m whereas this Shoten lens is 308g and can focus to 0.5m. Not a lot of samples taken with Shoten lens yet but the ones I saw reminded me of my MS-Optics Elnomaxim 55/1.2 in certain aspects and I really like that lens. The old Zunow 50/1.1 is also partly a Sonnar type design.
Since this is the first Shoten branded lens and a start of their Tribute lens series, I think they must have put plenty of effort into making it unique and as good as possible as otherwise their new series might not get much positive traction. I figured I'd give it a try and see how I like it They also advertised that the lens will work well adapted on mirrorless and it's usually true for character lenses that are not going for optical perfection. I'll post samples when I get my lens.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
Shoten Kobo is also 7artisans' official distributor in Japan. I don't think this new lens will be a copy of 7artisans 50/1.1 or any existing Chinese lens but Shoten Kobo also seem to have worked together with DJ Optical for the creation of this lens (like many Chinese lens brands do with their lenses) so there will be some similarities in build.
7Artisans 50/1.1 seems to be 400g and can focus to 0.7m whereas this Shoten lens is 308g and can focus to 0.5m. Not a lot of samples taken with Shoten lens yet but the ones I saw reminded me of my MS-Optics Elnomaxim 55/1.2 in certain aspects and I really like that lens. The old Zunow 50/1.1 is also partly a Sonnar type design.
Since this is the first Shoten branded lens and a start of their Tribute lens series, I think they must have put plenty of effort into making it unique and as good as possible as otherwise their new series might not get much positive traction. I figured I'd give it a try and see how I like it ...Show more →
I hope it’s good or/and that they’ll try to expand that line, I like the fact that they dig right up in the old lens design and unapologetically with all the artefacts and optical flaws. They do some great adapters, the best I have tried so I would be confident in their efforts to do good.
Looking forward to see what you make of it.
Sonnar-7 wrote:
I hope it’s good or/and that they’ll try to expand that line, I like the fact that they dig right up in the old lens design and unapologetically with all the artefacts and optical flaws. They do some great adapters, the best I have tried so I would be confident in their efforts to do good.
Looking forward to see what you make of it.
Yeah, I hope I can get mine from the initial batch (not sure when they start shipping these but since late June was advertised, it could be any day now). Apparently these lenses became available for pre-orders from 3rd of June and they were first displayed at Ueno Classic Camera Expo in early June where people could try them out at Shoten Kobo's stand. There seem to be some positive first impressions posted in Japanese social media. I didn't go there and wasn't paying much attention so I just found about this lens today...
Juha Kannisto wrote:
Yeah, I hope I can get mine from the initial batch (not sure when they start shipping these but since late June was advertised, it could be any day now). Apparently these lenses became available for pre-orders from 3rd of June and they were first displayed at Ueno Classic Camera Expo in early June where people could try them out at Shoten Kobo's stand. There seem to be some positive first impressions posted in Japanese social media. I didn't go there and wasn't paying much attention so I just found about this lens today...
Did you consider the DJ-Optical 50mm 1.0? It’s a bit on the expensive side but Shotenkobo do sell those as well.
I find the rendering of the Tribute more to my taste so it comes handy that you decided to try this one but the DJ one did intrigue me at one point.
If I had to choose, I would still go for the Shoten, based on my preferences in rendering though.
Sonnar-7 wrote:
Did you consider the DJ-Optical 50mm 1.0? It’s a bit on the expensive side but Shotenkobo do sell those as well.
I find the rendering of the Tribute more to my taste so it comes handy that you decided to try this one but the DJ one did intrigue me at one point.
If I had to choose, I would still go for the Shoten, based on my preferences in rendering though.
I saw that lens earlier but it's 50K yen more and the weight is 470g (+ adapter) so I know I wouldn't use it so much. It looks pretty nice too but I'm much more easygoing when it comes to trying out new lenses at 60-90K yen range. I'm also intrigued by the Zunow 50/1.1 references...
Juha Kannisto wrote:
I saw that lens earlier but it's 50K yen more and the weight is 470g (+ adapter) so I know I wouldn't use it so much. It looks pretty nice too but I'm much more easygoing when it comes to trying out new lenses at 60-90K yen range. I'm also intrigued by the Zunow 50/1.1 references...
Yeah ever since I began adapting lenses on mirrorless cameras, I heard about the Zunow in every discussions. Shotenkobo still haven’t listed the lens on their eBay, do it Shoten, France needs one.
retrofocus wrote:
Has anyone already compared it with the Canon 50/1.2 LTM lens which was made around the same time?
I haven't seen any comparison of Zunow 50/1.1 and Canon 50/1.2 LTM lenses. They are quite different in optical design, with the Zunow being a modified Sonnar type design and Canon a Gauss type. There are 2 slightly versions of Zunow (1953, with a protruding back element often referred to as Ping-Pong version and 1955 version that made the back element flatter).
The 2nd hand Zunow 50/1.1 in good condition seem to go for about 1.2 to 1.5 million yen in 2nd hand market so there are not many who have them. Map Camera has 2 in stock currently, both priced at roughly 1.2 million.
This is a nice video that demonstrates a clean copy of the 1955 version (Contax version of the lens):
Since there are no optical design images presented for the Shoten lens and since they don't say it's a faithful copy of Zunow, just a "tribute to Zunow", I don't know how close they will be in reality.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
I haven't seen any comparison of Zunow 50/1.1 and Canon 50/1.2 LTM lenses. They are quite different in optical design, with the Zunow being a modified Sonnar type design and Canon a Gauss type. There are 2 slightly versions of Zunow (1953, with a protruding back element often referred to as Ping-Pong version and 1955 version that made the back element flatter).
The 2nd hand Zunow 50/1.1 in good condition seem to go for about 1.2 to 1.5 million yen in 2nd hand market so there are not many who have them. Map Camera has 2 in stock currently, both priced at roughly 1.2 million.
This is a nice video that demonstrates a clean copy of the 1955 version (Contax version of the lens):
Since there are no optical design images presented for the Shoten lens and since they don't say it's a faithful copy of Zunow, just a "tribute to Zunow", I don't know how close they will be in reality....Show more →
Thanks - I just wonder if the different lens design makes a huge visible difference here - maybe in bokeh pattern? I really like the one which the Canon 50/1.2 LTM provides wide open.
Sonnar-7 wrote:
Yeah ever since I began adapting lenses on mirrorless cameras, I heard about the Zunow in every discussions. Shotenkobo still haven’t listed the lens on their eBay, do it Shoten, France needs one.
Messaged them on eBay, here's what they said:
Hello,
Thank you very much for your interest in the SHOTEN TRIBUTE 01 50mm f/1.1.
We are currently considering offering this lens on eBay, but at this time the listing schedule and eBay price have not yet been confirmed.
Please kindly note that the pre-order price of ￥89,900 on our official Japanese online store does not include international shipping fees, import duties, taxes, or customs-related costs. If we list the lens on eBay, the price would need to be calculated separately based on eBay’s international selling conditions, including shipping and related costs.
Also, since this is a pre-order item, we are carefully considering the timing of the eBay listing in order to ensure proper shipping and tracking once the product is ready.
We truly appreciate your interest, and we hope to make this lens available to overseas customers if possible. Please feel free to follow our eBay store for future updates.
Best regards
Their eBay store has great customer service. I bought a Thypoch Simera 75 that unfortunately had a defective ring. (apparently a known issue with it's initial design) They provided a pre-paid return express shipping label, (US to Japan) and the return was processed in 3-4 days.
kuujinbo wrote:
Messaged them on eBay, here's what they said:
Hello,
Thank you very much for your interest in the SHOTEN TRIBUTE 01 50mm f/1.1.
We are currently considering offering this lens on eBay, but at this time the listing schedule and eBay price have not yet been confirmed.
Please kindly note that the pre-order price of ￥89,900 on our official Japanese online store does not include international shipping fees, import duties, taxes, or customs-related costs. If we list the lens on eBay, the price would need to be calculated separately based on eBay’s international selling conditions, including shipping and related costs.
Also, since this is a pre-order item, we are carefully considering the timing of the eBay listing in order to ensure proper shipping and tracking once the product is ready.
We truly appreciate your interest, and we hope to make this lens available to overseas customers if possible. Please feel free to follow our eBay store for future updates.
Best regards
Their eBay store has great customer service. I bought a Thypoch Simera 75 that unfortunately had a defective ring. (apparently a known issue with it's initial design) They provided a pre-paid return express shipping label, (US to Japan) and the return was processed in 3-4 days.
I hadn't made a purchase from eBay in over 10 years and was extremely happy with them, even though the lens was defective. Their communication is excellent, (you have to take time difference and they're off weekends into account) and the express shipping carrier they use is FAST.
Second eBay message explaining release timeline:
At the moment, the lens is still in production and not yet available for shipping. It is expected to be ready in approximately one month. We will keep you updated once pre-orders open.
Not sure if this applies to direct pre-orders made in Japan....
Their ordering page still says that it would be expected to start shipping in late June (for Japan pre-orders) but yesterday they posted something in Twitter about working on selecting an engraving for the hood (I didn't know there was even expected to be a hood) and worrying about being too meticulous and delaying delivery deadlines, so I guess it might not be ready to ship within a week but I'm OK to wait a bit longer.
They also advertised that the lens will work well adapted on mirrorless and it's usually true for character lenses that are not going for optical perfection. I'll post samples when I get my lens.