MS-Optics Apoqualia 28mm f/1.7

MS-Optics Apoqualia 28mm f/1.7

Among the smallest fast wide-angle lenses ever offered in Leica M mount, the Apoqualia 28mm f/1.7 packs an f/1.7 aperture into a barrel roughly 10 mm deep and around 54 grams in weight [1]. It was announced in 2023 by the Japanese boutique maker MS-Optics and described as the next evolution of the brand's popular 28mm f/2 Apoqualia, gaining a stop of speed while keeping the same pocketable proportions. The lens carries particular significance as the first model the company's founder, Sadahiko Miyazaki, produced together with his grandson, marking a generational handover intended to keep the small workshop running.

The optical design is a six-element, four-group Gauss type, with a stated true focal length near 28.8 mm and a maximum aperture cited by the maker as f/1.73. According to MS-Optics the glass is fully multi-coated across all surfaces, and the lens uses a 12-blade aperture aimed at smooth out-of-focus rendering and very low astigmatism. Compared with the earlier f/2 version, the f/1.7 reuses the same basic optical formula but with a larger front element to gain speed. Like other MS-Optics lenses, it is a hand-assembled, made-to-order item with a small filter thread of unusual pitch, and it focuses down to 0.4 m for close work, closer than is typical for a rangefinder wide-angle. Owners report that focusing is set by a fine helicoid and that the diminutive size makes the lens well suited to travel and street carry, though the tiny controls demand care in use.

Documentation specific to the f/1.7 remains limited, as it is a low-volume artisan product rather than a mass-market lens, and most published coverage frames it in relation to the better-known f/2 Apoqualia.

Optical qualities

Rendering Published material on the f/1.7 version is sparse, so its rendering is best understood through its design and its close relationship to the f/2 Apoqualia. The maker emphasizes corrected astigmatism and balanced front and rear bokeh from the 12-blade aperture, together with vivid color from the multi-coated optics. As with earlier compact MS-Optics wide-angles, a fast, very thin design of this kind can be expected to show its best central performance once stopped down, with the wide apertures favored for their compactness and character rather than clinical corner-to-corner sharpness; reviewers of the related f/2 Apoqualia describe noticeable vignetting wide open that clears on stopping down, along with visible flare and coma in difficult light [2]. Specific, repeatable test data for the f/1.7 was not widely available at the time of writing.

History

Development and Launch MS-Optics is the studio of Sadahiko Miyazaki, who hand-builds compact rangefinder lenses in Japan. The Apoqualia 28mm f/1.7 was introduced in 2023 as a faster successor to the 28mm f/2 Apoqualia, which had become one of the workshop's most popular designs. Its launch coincided with Miyazaki, then in his eighties, bringing his grandson into the business; the f/1.7 was presented as their first joint project and as a step that, according to early coverage, came with improved build quality and quality control.

Special editions No major factory special editions or alternate finishes are widely documented; the lens has been offered in black and built to order rather than in distinct production variants.

Collector Notes Because the lens is hand-assembled in small numbers, buyers commonly verify smooth focusing, clean coatings, and the integrity of the small reverse-thread filter mount, which uses a nonstandard pitch and limits filter and hood options. Some published descriptions of MS-Optics 28mm Apoqualia lenses reference rangefinder coupling on the M mount; prospective buyers should confirm the coupling and focusing behavior of a given example directly, as accounts vary. The very shallow barrel can sit close to the camera's six-bit reader on some digital M bodies, an issue noted with related MS-Optics lenses and sometimes addressed by owners with simple masking.