G
Guest
Hi everybody! I own a Hexanon 50/2 lens (M bayonet) that was attached to a Leica M2 which I recently bought. The vendor didn't want to sell the camera and lens separately and made the point that, even if he did so, he wouldn't reduce the price of the camera substantially. I haven't had a chance to try out the M2 or Hexanon lens yet.
Does anyone have experience with this lens? Its MTF curves are very impressive but one reviewer of the Hexar RF system complains that the 50/2 suffers badly from flare (see http://www.photoshot.com/articles/product_reviews/hexar_test.htm )
To quote some of his words:
"My flare tests were quite unreasonable  direct shots into low, bright winter sun, not in the picture, but enough to blind the photographer. The results were interesting. The 28mm shows exemplary lack of flare or internal reflections, with the sun in or just out of the frame. The 50mm is quite hopeless; I think my ancient Summar would do better. It not only flares, but casts a huge white veil over the entire shot even at settings like f8. At the worst this forms a central patch covering almost all the frame. The 90mm is well-protected by its deeper hood and much on a par with any other similar lens. (snip)
"The flare of the 50mm would, for me, be a major problem. I do not really want a reconstruction of a 1959 Summicron, thanks; the 28mm is a modern design, the 90mm is a classic type and they've been good for half a century made this way, but 50mm f2s have come a long way with multicoating and superior close-focusing. The Hexanon is a true retro lens and shows it."
Of course, I need to try out the lens for myself but I'd be interested to know other people's experience of the Hexanon 50/f2.
Regards, Ray
Does anyone have experience with this lens? Its MTF curves are very impressive but one reviewer of the Hexar RF system complains that the 50/2 suffers badly from flare (see http://www.photoshot.com/articles/product_reviews/hexar_test.htm )
To quote some of his words:
"My flare tests were quite unreasonable  direct shots into low, bright winter sun, not in the picture, but enough to blind the photographer. The results were interesting. The 28mm shows exemplary lack of flare or internal reflections, with the sun in or just out of the frame. The 50mm is quite hopeless; I think my ancient Summar would do better. It not only flares, but casts a huge white veil over the entire shot even at settings like f8. At the worst this forms a central patch covering almost all the frame. The 90mm is well-protected by its deeper hood and much on a par with any other similar lens. (snip)
"The flare of the 50mm would, for me, be a major problem. I do not really want a reconstruction of a 1959 Summicron, thanks; the 28mm is a modern design, the 90mm is a classic type and they've been good for half a century made this way, but 50mm f2s have come a long way with multicoating and superior close-focusing. The Hexanon is a true retro lens and shows it."
Of course, I need to try out the lens for myself but I'd be interested to know other people's experience of the Hexanon 50/f2.
Regards, Ray