Zunow 5cm f1.1 Mid-Type. Leica screw mount. Rangefinder coupling. Serial number in the 5000 range. Engraved with Zunow Opt. In 1955, the company name was changed from Teikoku Kogaku to Zunow Optical Industry, and the engraving on the nameplate changed accordingly. The helicoid distance scale is in feet.
The Zunow 50mm f1.1 (early, Ping Pong) debuted in 1953. At the time, the relatively unknown Teikoku Kogaku made a sensational entry with the world's brightest lens. This marked the beginning of the domestic race for ultra-fast lenses, with Konishiroku, Nippon Kogaku, Canon, Fuji Photo Film, and others releasing attractive lenses in the f1.0 range.
The lens barrel design features rhythmic knurling and a distinctive narrowing that looks very stylish. The unique brand name Zunow, the impressive flare in wide-open shots, and its status as the world's brightest standard lens, albeit short-lived, captured the imagination of post-war Japan. It’s a lens brimming with charm and story, truly one-of-a-kind among Japanese ultra-fast lenses.
The mid-type, unlike the early Ping Pong version, has a recessed rear element, making lens attachment safer and reducing flare when shooting wide open. Despite its short production run, Zunow lenses come in various versions, with this being the most commonly seen. As you stop down from wide open to f1.4 and f2, the image quality sharpens dramatically, offering a different shooting experience. It’s a lens that's a joy to both look at and use. A rare piece.
There is slight deterioration of the plating, but it shows minimal signs of use and has a fairly clean appearance overall. Fully overhauled in July 2024, including focus adjustment. The operation of all parts is smooth, and the rangefinder coupling works perfectly. It focuses sharply from wide open, making for a pleasant shooting experience.
There are cleaning marks on the front and rear elements, and under strong LED light, you can see haze-like coating damage on each element, but this should have minimal impact on image quality.
Comes with the original leather case, a Kenko UV filter, and a Walz screw-in front cap (both presumably for Zunow). Given the special screw diameter, this set is particularly convenient for finding filters for this lens.
Sample images are available in our gallery. Compared to the Ping Pong version, the mid-type shows improved image quality at wide open, producing stable and pleasant images. We hope you take a look.
