Author Topic: Konica Hexanon AR 57mm f/1.2 (AR mount) Lens Samples ***** (Read 18410 times)

gareth · « **on:** March 07, 2010, 07:47:15 AM »

Thanks to "bad" influence from Cosinaphile, I started to pay attention to Hexanon SLR glass.
Gradually, I collected 40/1.8, 50/1.4 and then this one - 57/1.2.
As Cosinaphile did not start a thread in Lens Sample section, I'd get the ball rolling here.

Focal length: 57mm
Aperture ratio: 1:1.2
Coating: multi coated
Angle of view: Diagonal: 46Â° Vertical: 27Â° Horizontal: 40Â°
Focusing: Helicoid
Diaphragm: Automatic
Length x max. diameter: 45.6mm x 65.3mm
Weight: 315g

Bright clear glass with yellow tint, heavy, big aperture, solid construction are my first impressions on the lens.

This garden chair is my frequent subject for testing.
f/1.8 - 1/640 sec - ISO 200 (-0.7EV)

Azalea was in full bloom everywhere in Hong Kong. However, the afternoon shooting the following picture was rainy, cloudy and really dark. The following photo did not have any post-processing. WB was set as Cloudy preset.
f/2.5 - 1/320 sec - ISO 400

In a recent dinner gathering, several friends of mine took a photo at f/1.2 in turns.
Look at the results in a restaurant with low light.
The last B&W was taken by me at f/2.

f/1.2 - 1/60 sec - ISO 640

f/1.2 - 1/60 sec - ISO 800

f/2 - 1/40 sec - ISO 1250

I think I still need time and efforts to explore more on this f/1.2 lens to do it justice.
Having said, I really love Hexanon primes.

P.S. Cosinaphile's thread on the lens in Lens Section:
http://e-p1.net/index.php?topic=1410.msg9934#msg9934

adash · « **Reply #1 on:** March 07, 2010, 09:49:38 AM »

I envy you, guys

Now you've got a big glass too

Congrats!
Photos are superb too.

cosinaphile · « **Reply #2 on:** March 07, 2010, 08:49:52 PM »

you are right its a little warm,
m but i like that , i think its iq is great for a 1.2 slr lens

and i love how you can take pics at night with decent shutter speeds

, i get a lot of compliments on the lens people seem intrigued by the enormous front element and what to know what the lens does.....

what i want now is that beautiful 40 1.8 , it really captured my fancy!.

cosinaphile · « **Reply #3 on:** March 07, 2010, 08:52:04 PM »

and its a lovely thread youve started, i will add to it in due time

cheers

shtang8 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 07, 2010, 09:24:16 PM »

Oh, that's another lens you are tempting me with. I like the complexion colours of your friend's portraits. Is it the same mount as the Minolta MD? How much is the lens?

gareth · « **Reply #5 on:** March 07, 2010, 09:26:23 PM »

Thanks Cosinaphile.

As for the warm tint, I had a great chat with the seller, who taught me many things about this lens.
The seller mentioned that yellowing / warming of the front element is common in some lenses using rare elements, including this Hexanon.
He once placed the lens beside a sun-lit window for several afternoons without exposing it under direct burning sunlight.
He would place an electric fan to cool down the lens at same time for insurance.
The "sun bath" treatment for the lens came with good results.

So far, I feel that the warming is noted in low light shooting (e.g. restaurant and Azalea shots).
I don't find it unpleasant and frankly don't really note it in daylight shot (e.g. garden chair).
Hong Kong has had gloomy weather for several weeks.
I'll try the lens again when there is fine weather.
Furthermore, shooting B&W with the lens gave some special feel I find it hard to describe.

This lens came with original lens cap and rear cap.
My other 2 Hexanon were lacking the rear caps but I could not find a 3rd party replacement in stores.
He taught me that the mount of Konica Hexanon AR was actually very similar to Olympus 4/3 (not m4/3).
I bought a 3rd party rear cap for OM and it did fit well in Hexanon.

Finally, he suggested I turn the aperture dial to "EE" position before storing a Hexanon lens for long time so as to lessen the tension at the spring of the aperture diaphragm.
I don't know if it's a conventional wisdom but I follow the instructions from then on.

gareth · « **Reply #6 on:** March 07, 2010, 09:35:20 PM »

Hi Stephen,

It uses AR mount. I posted a picture of the adapter in another thread.
The mount costs ~ USD 40

Cosinophile bought his lens not long ago, in January this year as far as I remember.
I could no longer find quotes close to what he paid. For example, a recent quotes in eBay:
(The eBay item is an earlier version. I read and felt that the latest version would be better)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120533152003&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I paid a little fraction less than what the eBayer asked for to a local seller to have the lens.
As the lens was well kept in good condition, with all the essential stuff included and I had a great chat with the seller, I did not feel bad at all when I paid.

cosinaphile · « **Reply #7 on:** March 07, 2010, 10:08:54 PM »

i believe i paid about 250 or a little less , i was told this was a good price for the lens , i was pleased to hear that,

the adapter was from rainbow imaging on e bay , but the seller delivered the lens to me at a cofffee shop in manhattan near union square
i got 3 adapters for 90 bucks, a konica ar .... a contax \yashica slr ,..... and a rollei slr
all m4\3 adapters

cosinaphile · « **Reply #8 on:** March 07, 2010, 10:13:17 PM »

what is the sun bath intended to do for the lens , i never heard of this.

non western remedies are always so facinating and rely on natural solutions frequently, i guess lens maintanance is no different from the natural approach the human healing and therapies i know of ?

details please!

gareth · « **Reply #9 on:** March 07, 2010, 10:27:30 PM »

"Sun bath" treatment is intended to "bleach" the yellowing / warm tint at the front elements.
After hearing the anecdotal remedy, I searched and found that it's practised by some in RF / MF lenses forum.
Clearly it's not an oriental homeopathic remedy ...

As a matter of fact, I'm myself an old Mac collector.
http://www.pbase.com/gareth/mac
The beige all in one old Mac, e.g. Mac, Mac Plus, can become deeply yellow when they're put inside a bag for long time.
The remedy is, guess what, putting them in a room with ample sunshine.
The yellowing will go away in several weeks to several months.

cosinaphile · « **Reply #10 on:** March 07, 2010, 10:35:23 PM »

i will try that, great thread !!!

Finder · « **Reply #11 on:** March 08, 2010, 05:48:26 AM »

Yellow lens are also known as hot lenses because they are radioactive. And yes, sunlight will bleach the yellow, but will not change the radioactivity. The radioactivity could be from Lanthanum or, but less likely, Thorium.

Edit: I think it might be Thorium.

gareth · « **Reply #12 on:** March 09, 2010, 04:25:56 AM »

Quote from: gareth on March 07, 2010, 09:26:23 PM

This lens came with original lens cap and rear cap.
My other 2 Hexanon were lacking the rear caps but I could not find a 3rd party replacement in stores.
He taught me that the mount of Konica Hexanon AR was actually very similar to Olympus 4/3 (not m4/3).
I bought a 3rd party rear cap for OM and it did fit well in Hexanon.

One more supplementary information.
Rear caps for Nikon lenses also fit Konica Hexanon lenses.

Activator · « **Reply #13 on:** March 09, 2010, 11:08:41 AM »

I have also fallen in love with the Hexanon 57mm f/1.2!

I picked up an early version with the silver f-stop ring on eBay for $290 last month, along with a rainbowimaging AR to m43rds adaptor. I love the weight of the lens, and yeah, that big front glass is gorgeous. My lens has yellowed, but I don't see that it affects the images very much. A slight shift in white balance during RAW conversion fixes the warm tone.

The rainbowimaging adaptor works well, but it's a little "loose", and sometimes I get a "no lens attached" warning because the adaptor shifts slightly.

As for the images, I am completely smitten by the "look" of images captured with the 57mm f/1.2 and my GF1. I dare to say "Leica-like". It has completely changed my view of the GF1 and photography in general! It's a little soft at f/1.2, but gets nice and sharp at f/2 and tack-sharp at f/2.8.

Here are some images of the 57mm f/1.2.

These are at f/2, where my copy of the lens gets sharp, but still retains plenty of DOF and smooth bokeh.

You can view more images taken with this combination at my flickr photostream.

Thanks!

cosinaphile · « **Reply #14 on:** March 09, 2010, 01:10:16 PM »

it is a\ wonderful lens ,yours is in mint condition i see

Activator · « **Reply #15 on:** March 09, 2010, 03:07:02 PM »

Yes, it's in very good condition for a 45 year old lens! The front an rear elements are perfect, but there are are two tiny spots on the inner element closest to the front, and a tiny bit of dust. It doesn't seem to affect the images, though.

gareth · « **Reply #16 on:** March 09, 2010, 03:29:58 PM »

We use the same adapter.
Actually, it seems that only RJ mass manufactures Konica AR to M4/3 adapters.

shtang8 · « **Reply #17 on:** March 10, 2010, 03:03:21 PM »

I found this on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150422055835&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Is it as good. Does ituse the same MD mount adapter? Is AR the same as MD mount?

Thanks.

Stephen.

gareth · « **Reply #18 on:** March 10, 2010, 03:37:37 PM »

Konica and Minolta are two different companies when they were making these AR / MD lenses.
They merged in the digital age.
AR mount and MD mount are two different bayonet mounts.

Minolta MC are older than Minolta MD but they use the same mount.
For information about Minolta Rokkor, see here:
http://www.rokkorfiles.com/Lenses.html

shtang8 · « **Reply #19 on:** March 10, 2010, 03:45:21 PM »

Gareth,
Thanks for your info. So is that one on eBay worth bitting on?

Stephen.

gareth · « **Reply #20 on:** March 10, 2010, 03:56:20 PM »

I think I have not studied enough (nor own it) to make recommendations.
I'd usually check image quality of the samples posted by others, view owners' comments and follow prices of several bids before committing unless a f/1.2 fast lens is just peanut price.

shtang8 · « **Reply #21 on:** March 10, 2010, 04:16:59 PM »

To me I believe this is what you said: fast lens in peanut price.

gareth · « **Reply #22 on:** March 10, 2010, 05:12:11 PM »

The bid is not over.
See how it goes.

BTW,

Quote from: shtang8 on March 10, 2010, 03:45:21 PM

So is that one on eBay worth bitting on?

You can put this in the pun thread in this board.

cosinaphile · « **Reply #23 on:** March 10, 2010, 11:05:22 PM »

gareth · « **Reply #24 on:** May 23, 2010, 06:48:34 AM »

Although there were brief showers of rain in the afternoon, I was glad I could spend an hour or two in the nice garden again. Apart from the usual AF gears, I could finally be able to use the Hexanon 57/1.2 in overcast daylight. RAW conversion in iPhoto. No special tweak in color temperature. I don't find any specific warm cast in such light condition.

Tourist
f/2 - 1/400 sec - ISO 200 - Konica Hexanon AR 57/1.2 (AR mount)
A Japanese tourist was taking photos for the elder members in Chi Lin Nunnery

Miniature pine tree
f/1.8 - 1/640 sec - ISO 200 (-0.3EV) - Konica Hexanon AR 57/1.2 (AR mount)
A small garden of small miniature tree near the rockery of Nan Lian Garden

Resuscitation for pine tree
f/3.2 - 1/125 sec - ISO 200 - Konica Hexanon AR 57/1.2 (AR mount)
Supplementary nutrition was being given to the pine tree as a "tonic" according to a gardener there. The flask was labeled as containing toxic substances and it stated that the anti-dote was Atropine.

Thanks for reading and viewing

Author Topic: Konica Hexanon AR 57mm f/1.2 (AR mount) Lens Samples ***** (Read 18410 times)

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