How good is the Konica Hexanon 50mm f/2 lens (not really OT)

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.

I seem to remember reading that review. I understand that the

reviewer was reviewing a 'pre-production' (or at least early

production) sample. It's also possible that, by some quirk, the

reviewer had been given a duff example of the lens. Given that

that a 50/2 is about as bog standard a lens as a manufacturer

can make I'd be surprised if the flare issue (as described) was a

general problem with this lens.

Ray,

 

long time ago I had the opportunity to use the Hexanon 50/2 for a

journalistic comparison Hexar vs. Leica. Well, the 50/2 is better

built even than my Summicron 50/2 but it refused to couple with

my M-Leicas. Even at f/4 pics were out of focus. Okay, this lens

was part of the first batch and I think meanwhile Konica has fixed

that problem. I guess today there is no more problem with the

coupling. BTW I possess and use the excellent Hexanon 28/2.8

with my M-Leicas and everything is fine. Its price was ridicolous -

only 450 bucks :-)

IMO the only (and biggest) disadvantage of the Hexanon 50 ist: It

is extremely prone to flare. Here the Summicron is far better. So,

never use the Hexanon 50 without its built in lens hood. I don't

know if Konica has improved the coating of this lens but I doubt.

Without its tendency to flare the Hexanon 50/2 would be a killer

lens for a killer price.

 

Best

I forgot to mention that the Hexanon 90/2.8 is flare prone too in

opposite to the Hexanon 28/2.8. The only thing I don't like with

the 28/2.8: Vignetting is a bit high at full aperture. Stopped down,

everything is okay. I don't know if vignetting of the Elmarit-M

28/2.8 is lower.

I haven't seen any flare from the 50/2 M-Hexanon, 90/2.8 M-Hexanon, 35/2

UC-Hexanon, 50/1.4 Nikkor LTM, 50/2 Summar or any of the other "flare-

prone" lenses, over hundreds of rolls of film. And I use 1Bs with no hoods.

 

Maybe I'm blind or something, Or maybe the real issue is that if you are

looking for flare with any lens, point the lens into a light source.

 

Let's see the pictures showing the flare.

Dante,

 

after I have written a story normally I throw away all the sample

pics, so it's nearly impossible for me to show a flare pic.

However one of theses pictures was printed in one of the 2000

issues (I guess) of the German monthly magazine fotoMAGAZIN.

(When I am at home again I will check the issue, no problem.) Til

today no one of the 100.000 readers complaint about my

statement regarding flare. If they publish mistakes in their

stories the editorial staff gets lots of letters, telephone calls and

emails by their readers. ;-)

Hope I will find this specific slide that was printed. BTW the

engineer from BAS Lab in Munich - he checks all the lenses for

the published fotoMAGAZIN lens tests - made the same

experience with the 50 and 90 in the lab that I have made in

practice. He did his testing some months after my story was

published and I doubt he was biased by my impressions...

I' ll keep you informed.

Best

I use the f2/50mm Hexanon as main lens on my M and have no problems with flare. Personally I prefer it over the 3rd generation Summicron - but no war please.

i found the hexanon to be interchangeable with a leica 50 cron... in my opinion it was equally good in all respects - except resale value - there pretty much nothing in mass production beats a 50 cron.

Dante,

 

unfortunately I was right. Couldn�t find a single original slide where you can see the flare of the Hexanon 50 and 90. But I have found two of the HexarRF stories I have published in issue 2000/1 and 2000/6 of fotoMAGAZIN. Sorry for the bad quality of the attached photo that shows the flare with the Hexanon 50/2 at full aperture. It�s a quick an dirty shot that was printed to illustrate one of my stories. Hope you can see the yellow and green flare in the upper part of the pic. This was only one of several pics with the same problem that was non existent with my Summicron 50 or Elmarit 90 shots. The lab test of the three Hexanon lenses 28, 50 and 90 was published in the October issue of the same year. Comment of the test engineer for the 50 and 90 Hexanon: �Streulicht: Merklich (Gegenlichtblende ausziehen!)� That means: �Flare: Noticeable (Use hood!�)

No doubt, the Hexanons are excellent lenses � I love my 28/2.8 - but if the sun is visible in the picture or if you shoot contre jour the 50 and the 90 show a higher degree of flare than their Leica pendants. If your lenses don�t show any flare, be happy and enjoy. :-)

Best

Well, thanks for your responses. Seems there have been mixed results. I'll try the lens for myself, including a flare test, and report back.

Dear friends,

 

I finally got around to finishing the film I have been using to test my Hexanon 50/2 lens. Everything seems fine and as far as I can see the lens doesn't suffer from flare. Believe me, if it had been flare-prone, it would have been visible in some of the shots. It seems quite neutral in colour rendition, which I wasn't expecting because I'd read that it tended to be a bit "cold".

I've just completed my first roll with the Hexanon 50mm f/2. Have a look at my portfolio:

 

<BR><BR>

 

<A HREF>http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=248421</A>

Some good shots there, Alan. Of course, being B&W they don't show the colour rendition but the Hexanon 50/2 lens is plenty sharp and seems free from distortion and vignetting.