As some of the more regular readers of the site might know, I have been working as an agent for Miyazaki San of MS Optical for some years now. Because of this I am lucky enough to be able to share with you some of his latest creations.

So, whilst busy beavering away in his laboratory, Miyazaki san comes up with some interesting ideas. Some of them don’t go much further than a prototype, but others make it to the final stages. The fantastic 24mm Perar f4 was one of his marvellous jewels that made it to final production, and it proved to be very popular indeed.
Well, now Miyazaki san has released some special edition versions of the fantastic 24mm. I am not entirely sure as to why or how he chooses these special editions. But he does and he has very kindly offered a small handful of them to me.

There are 3 Special Editions that he has created this time around (shades of Pagani anyone?), and they are all part of the ‘Premium Collection’.
MS Optic Perar 24mm F/4 Super Wide Platinum

Supposedly there are only 10 of these lenses, though I have seen two No:1 lenses (this is one of them), so I am assuming there has been a mistake somewhere and there are actually 11 of these lenses. This doesn’t actually surprise me all that much, as Miyazaki san has made a number of spelling mistakes or numbering mistakes in past lenses, which seems to have added to the value of them. Especially the Tpirlet lenses.
So this one is platinum plated, including the lens cap and hood. I guess if you really want to have the ultimate in showy lenses, without being all ‘in your face’ then this is the lens for you.

MS Optic Perar 24mm F/4 Super Wide Gold

This is the kind of funny. Miyazaki told me he had a gold plated 24mm and I said “ah, go on then”. The thing is he didn’t tell me what kind of gold plate it is, and how many he has made. This is supposedly one of 10, but I know there is a slightly different version of this lens in Gold only available for the Hong Kong market. This one has the ‘Premium Collection’ engraving, so I guess that makes it more special.

Whatever happens, this is about as bling as you can get really. A shiny golden pancake for your Leica.

MS Optic Perar 24mm F/4 Super Wide Silver Rhodium

This is my favourite one, because it is so random. Yes, gold and platinum are cool, but Rhodium? It is one of the noble metals and pretty cool stuff too. But it is uncommon and things that have it in them tend to be expensive. You will find that out when the catalytic converter on your car dies and you have to replace the costly bugger. That will be the Rhodium, thanks.
Again, this is supposedly limited to 10 pieces, though I suspect there could be more than this, as I have two of them numbered 1.

You can get your hands on these lenses in the store. They are available now.
Click here to go to the store
Please remember that these are handmade lenses and each lens is a little bit different. There are imperfections, the print is slightly smudged and there is a rubbing mark on the front of all of these lenses. The tolerances and build are not going to be the same as something from a large scale factory. These are beautifully crafted lenses with unique characteristics.

*Cough* *Billy Mays voice*
But Wait!, there is more!

I got some other cool things in the post from Miyazaki this time around, so I thought I might take the opportunity to share them with you. We do a lot of lens conversions, which you can read about by clicking here.

This is one of those conversions. A beautiful Dallmeyer 50mm F2 M-mount conversion. This lens was made for Siemens Projector, and is now nicely RF coupled to fit on an M mount camera. The lens originally didn’t have an aperture, so one was added to the lens by Miyazaki. A very steampunk lens if I ever saw one. I might have to play around with it on my camera before sending it back to its owner, hehe.

Do you have a dead Contax T2 or Konica Hexar? Well worry no more, there is life in those old beasties yet. If the lens is still up to scratch then you can have the lens ripped out of the dead camera (It is quick and painless) and re-mounted onto an M mount. Giving you years more use of these stunning lenses.

Yes, we can keep that lens going, even if the body is no longer willing.

Read more about lens conversions here.

Cheers
JCH

P.S. There is something new coming from Miyazaki this year, but I am not allowed to tell you what it is. But I can tell you, it is going to be a cracker!