Thypoch Ksana 21mm f/3.5

The Lens

The Thypoch Ksana 21mm f/3.5 ASPH. is a manual-focus 21 mm wide-angle lens for Leica M mount cameras. It is presented as a very compact lens meant to stay on the camera for everyday use. The product page highlights its low weight and short length, along with a coating concept called Epoch Coating.73′, which is intended to produce warm, amber-colored flare when shooting into bright light.

Design and handling

• Size and weight: Thypoch states the lens is 27 mm long (mount to front edge) and 131 g.
• Close focus: Thypoch lists a 0.5 m minimum focusing distance.
• Rangefinder coupling behavior: The page describes a tactile stop at 0.7 m that indicates when the rangefinder coupling ends, after which focusing is typically done with live view or an EVF (depending on the camera).
• Aperture blades: Thypoch describes 9 aperture blades, and also mentions pronounced sunstars around f/4.

Epoch Coating.73′

Thypoch describes Epoch Coating as a coating project that aims to recreate flare characteristics associated with different decades. For this lens, Epoch Coating.73′ is described as a recreation of 1970s-style amber flare, using modern manufacturing.

In practical terms, this means the coating is not mainly about suppressing flare. It is meant to shape flare into a warmer, more noticeable look in strong backlight. Retail listings and early reviews describe this as “amber-hued” flare, rather than neutral flare control.

Comparison: Ksana vs common 21 mm M-mount options

Specs overview

How they differ in everyday use

Thypoch Ksana 21mm f/3.5 ASPH.

• Main idea: smallest and lightest option in this group, with a coating that encourages warm flare.
• Who it tends to fit: people who want a compact 21 mm and like visible flare character when shooting into the light.

Leica Super-Elmar-M 21mm f/3.4 ASPH.

• Main idea: Leica’s compact, highly corrected 21 mm prime for the M system. Leica publishes detailed technical data and positions it as a straightforward super-wide tool.
• Practical differences vs Ksana: heavier and longer than Ksana, and typically not marketed around stylized flare.

Voigtländer Color-Skopar 21mm f/3.5 Aspherical II (VM)

• Main idea: a compact 21 mm with traditional specifications and a long-established place in the M-mount ecosystem. Voigtländer lists it as 0.5 m close focus, 39 mm filter, and 180 g weight.
• Practical differences vs Ksana: still small, but heavier than Ksana. The Color-Skopar is described in more conventional terms (build, compactness, optical performance) rather than a decade-specific flare goal.

Thypoch Simera 21mm f/1.4

• Main idea: speed and low-light capability. It is much larger and heavier, and it is designed to work as a fast wide-angle with a very short close-focus distance.
• Practical differences vs Ksana: the Simera is a different class of lens. It is for users who want f/1.4 and close focus effects more than compactness.

Summary

The Thypoch Ksana 21mm f/3.5 ASPH. is defined by two things: compact size (27 mm, 131 g) and Epoch Coating.73′, which is intended to produce warm, amber flare in backlit scenes.

Compared with it, the Leica Super-Elmar-M 21mm f/3.4 ASPH. is the closest Leica equivalent at 21 mm and is presented as a more traditional, corrected Leica wide-angle. The Voigtländer Color-Skopar 21mm f/3.5 Aspherical II covers a similar compact-lens role with clearly stated classic specs and a widely used 39 mm filter size. The Thypoch Simera 21mm f/1.4 is primarily about the extra stop speed (and then some), at the cost of much larger size and weight.