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How good is the Konica Hexanon 50mm f2 lens not really OT

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
 
I have this lens and it is extremely sharp and perhaps brittle
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relative to the Elmar-M 2nd version I own. I love it and it has a cool bite to the look relative to the Summicron version. But that's the way I think that Japanese lenses tend to have that particular look.

Very good bargain. Well worth the 125 dollars I paid for it :D
 
I have no problems using/recommending this lens. I find it to be very well built, silky smooth focusing, everything and more that I expected it to be. I've mostly shot it with Tri-X so I don't need a "sharper" lens. I paid $230 incl. shipping for a mint used one. Highly recommended as a standard lens on e.g. a M6TTL
 
Thanks for the encouraging words! I'm slowly using up a 36 exp. film with this lens and I'll hopefully be able to see for myself soon. Incidentally, it seems there are very few used ex&les of this lens for sale at the moment. Maybe that's because people who've bought it like to hang on to it, or is it because they don't want to lose money?
 
Latest Pop Photo magazine article cautions against using the Konica lenses with the M system due to focus problems.
 
Too bad lens compatibility problems exist between the Konica and the Leica M. Sounds like the Contax-Nikon incompatibility, same mount, interchangeable lenses. However, only wideangles could be used due to increased depth of field. Makes you wonder if this was intentional or accidental. There would seem no reason to duplicate Leica's mount and then introduce this "error". Erwin Puts commented on this. The difference seems to involve the film location. Possible that depth-of field for f/4 would cover it.
 
I think the issue is using Leica lenses on the Hexar RF body, not really taking advantage of the excellent Konica lenses on a M body.
 
Latest Pop Photo magazine article cautions against using the > Konica > lenses with the M system due to focus problems. =================================================================

I for one have some doubts about the findings in Pop Photo. Checking just one camera is not a valid s&ling. I would be less uneasy if they had made arangements to check at least six cameras and then report their findings. After reading that others have made what seem like reasonable measurements of the cameras I am inclined to believe the problem might be related to poor quality control in manufacturing. I doubt that cameras are any longer a big part of Konishiroku KK's sales and therefore no longer receive a priority from top management.
 
Well, I have now got some results using the Hexanon 50/2 lens, with both an M2 and an M6TTL. All results were very good and showed no sign of focusing error; indeed, focus was very accurate at minimum distance (~70cm) and wide open. Nice bokeh, too.

Some of the shots I took would cerainly have shown up any flare problem with the lens, but there was no sign of it. Colour rendition was quite neutral; I had expected a rather "cold" look to the images, from comments I've seen at various web sites, but that was not the case.

So, in conclusion, it seems a pretty good lens from my simple testing.
 
I have used this lens for about 6 months on a M6TTL and love it. It is extremely sharp and the build quality is great. If I didn't have a 35mm f/2 Summicron ASPH (my favorite lens) I would probably buy the Konica 35mm lens. I am however considering the Tri Elmar 28, 35, 50mm. Are there any other people out there who have used it and have an opinion?
 
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