■ Standard lenses
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40/1.8 KONICA HEXANON AR
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Specifications:
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Field
of view
Elements
/ groups
Aperture
system
Aperture
Scale
Metering
Closest
focusing distance
Filters
Hood
Length
Diameter
Weight
(~)
Years
of production
Number
of versions
Rarity |
56º
6/5
Automatic
1.8 to 22 + AE
At full aperture
0.45m
Screw-in, 55mm
Screw-in, 55mm
27mm
63mm
140g
1978-87
1
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Optical diagram:
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Comments:
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There
isn’t a bad lens among the seven Hexanon standards: two enjoy cult status,
three are absolutely outstanding, albeit in different ways, while the
remaining two are very solid performers. The Hexanon 40/1.8 is one of
Konica’s most popular lenses. It has earned a legendary reputation for its
sharpness. In 1979, Modern Photography
magazine said of this lens that it ‘proved in resolution to be one of the best tested on any camera,
regardless of cost.’ The
Hexanon 40/1.8 is a very good choice for photographers who prefer a wider
perspective than that of the traditional 50mm standard lens and need the f1.8
aperture. This lens produces images with great color saturation and an
unusual bokeh that can be quite intriguing. Its very high contrast makes it a
great lens for B&W photography. Very thin and light, known as the pancake,
it is the smallest Hexanon made. Introduced as the standard lens on the
Konica FS-1 electronic SLR, it is a very common and not very expensive. It is
the first Hexanon lens whose manufacturing was contracted to Tokina and the
first Hexanon automatic lens with the thin aperture ring and f22 stop.
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50/1.4 KONICA HEXANON AR
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Specifications:
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Field
of view
Elements
/ groups
Aperture
system
Aperture
Scale
Metering
Closest
focusing distance
Filters
Hood
Length
Diameter
Weight
(~)
Years
of production
Number
of versions
Rarity |
48º
7/6
Automatic
1.4 to 16 (22) + AE
At full aperture
0.45m
Screw-in, 55mm
Screw-in, 55mm
45mm
63mm
290g (265g)
1973-87
2
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Optical diagram:
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Comments:
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Lenses
with a focal distance of 50-58mm have long been used in 35mm photography as
standard, general purpose lenses, whose perspective is considered closest to
that of the human eye. There isn’t a bad lens among the seven Hexanon
standards: two enjoy cult status, three are absolutely outstanding, albeit in
different ways, while the remaining two are very solid performers. The
Hexanon 50/1.4 replaced the 57/1.4 in 1973. It produces an image that is
somewhat sharper than that of the 57/1.2 and barely less so than that of the
50/1.7. A great lens for shooting slides, it produces images with wonderful
color rendition. Its compact version, introduced in 1976 with the Autoreflex
TC, has an aperture that closes down to f22, no longer has half-stops on the
aperture ring and has 8 aperture blades. The two versions are of identical
optical construction and both are as good as any other standard lenses
offered in their day, if not better. |
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50/1.7 KONICA HEXANON AR
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Specifications:
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Field
of view
Elements
/ groups
Aperture
system
Aperture
Scale
Metering
Closest
focusing distance
Filters
Hood
Length
Diameter
Weight
(~)
Years
of production
Number
of versions
Rarity |
48º
6/5
Automatic
1.7 to 16 + AE
At full aperture
0.55m
Screw-in, 55mm
Screw-in, 55mm
45mm (40mm)
63mm (63mm)
240g (210g)
1973-87
2
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Optical diagram:
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|
Comments:
●
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|
Lenses
with a focal distance of 50-58mm have long been used in 35mm photography as
standard, general purpose lenses, whose perspective is considered closest to
that of the human eye. There isn’t a bad lens among the seven Hexanon
standards: two enjoy cult status, three are absolutely outstanding, albeit in
different ways, while the remaining two are very solid performers. The 50/1.7
replaced the 52/1.8. It’s probably the most frequently encountered standard
lens on Konica bodies after 1973. This lens has the reputation of being one
of the sharpest ever made in this focal length by anyone. The compact version
has no half stops on the aperture ring and was introduced in 1976 with the Autoreflex
TC. In contrast to the compact version of the 50/1.4, its smallest aperture
value is f16. The older version focuses about 8cm closer than the new one and
its front element is slightly recessed. It is most probably the most common
of Hexanon
lenses and can often be bought for an almost symbolic sum. Both versions are of identical optical construction
and are better than most other standard lenses offered in their day.
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50/1.8
KONICA HEXANON AR
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Specifications:
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Field
of view
Elements
/ groups
Aperture
system
Aperture
Scale
Metering
Closest
focusing distance
Filters
Hood
Length
Diameter
Weight
(~)
Years
of production
Number
of versions
Rarity |
48º
5/6
Automatic
1.8 to 22 + AE
At full aperture
0.55m
Screw-in, 55mm
Screw-in, 55mm
33mm
62mm
175g
1978-87
2
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Optical diagram:
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Comments: ●
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|
Lenses
with a focal distance of 50-58mm have long been used in 35mm photography as
standard, general purpose lenses, whose perspective is considered closest to
that of the human eye. There isn’t a bad lens among the seven Hexanon
standards: two enjoy cult status, three are absolutely outstanding, albeit in
different ways, while the remaining two are very solid performers. The 50/1.8 is one of the
latter two and the last of Hexanon standard lenses. It was considered
something of a ‘budget’ standard lens when first introduced. The first version was made of metal, while the second (introduced
in 1985 with the TC-X) is made of plastic. Both versions are good lenses, but
not as good as the f1.7. The manufacturing of this lens was contracted to Tokina.
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52/1.8 KONICA HEXANON AR
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Specifications:
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Field
of view
Elements
/ groups
Aperture
system
Aperture
Scale
Metering
Closest
focusing distance
Filters
Hood
Length
Diameter
Weight
(~)
Years
of production
Number
of versions
Rarity |
45º
6/5
Automatic
1.8 to 16 + EE
At full aperture
0.45m
Screw-in, 55mm
Screw-in, 55mm
41mm
65mm
210g
1965-74
2
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Optical diagram:
|
|
|
|
Comments: ●
|
|
Lenses
with a focal distance of 50-58mm have long been used in 35mm photography as
standard, general purpose lenses, whose perspective is considered closest to
that of the human eye. There isn’t a bad lens among the seven Hexanon
standards: two enjoy cult status, three are absolutely outstanding, albeit in
different ways, while the remaining two are very solid performers. The 52/1.8
is one of
the latter two. It is one of Konica’s first
standard lenses and was very frequent on the company’s first SLRs, the
Auto-Reflex and the Autoreflex T. It was the slower and more affordable
standard lens than the 57/1.4. It is a quite sharp lens, if not as much as
the 50/1.7 that replaced it.
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57/1.2 KONICA HEXANON AR
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Specifications:
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Field
of view
Elements
/ groups
Aperture
system
Aperture
Scale
Metering
Closest
focusing distance
Filters
Hood
Length
Diameter
Weight
(~)
Years
of production
Number
of versions
Rarity |
42º
7/6
Automatic
1.2 to 16 + AE
At full aperture
0.45mm
Screw-in, 62mm
Screw-in, 62mm
50mm
72mm
480g (460g)
1967-87
4
● ● ● ● |
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Optical diagram:
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Comments: ●
|
|
Lenses with a focal
distance of 50-58mm have long been used in 35mm photography as standard,
general purpose lenses, whose perspective is considered closest to that of
the human eye. There isn’t a bad lens among the seven Hexanon standards: two
enjoy cult status, three are absolutely outstanding, albeit in different ways,
while the remaining two are very solid performers. The 57/1.2 is a specialty
lens designed for use in low light conditions. It produces images with
beautiful color rendition and a wonderful bokeh. It is surprisingly sharp
wide open, more so than most other such lenses, and becomes as sharp as the
other Hexanon standards when closed down 2-3 stops. It is the only Hexanon standard
lens which was made in more than two lens versions. The version with the
rubber-covered aperture ring is the most desirable because of its better
coatings. Paradoxically, it is also the most difficult to find. This lens
enjoys cult status and many people claim it is the best f1.2 ever made by
anyone. It and 7 other super-fast lenses were compared in a test conducted by
Popular Photography in May 1976.
The test found this to be the best of the eight, which included Canon, Nikon
and Leica lenses. This lens was introduced along with the original Autoreflex
T and was preceded by a 58/1.2, which was most likely the same lens.
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57/1.4 KONICA HEXANON AR
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Specifications:
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Field
of view
Elements
/ groups
Aperture
system
Aperture
Scale
Metering
Closest
focusing distance
Filters
Hood
Length
Diameter
Weight
(~)
Years
of production
Number
of versions
Rarity |
48º
6/5
Automatic
1.4 to 16 + EE
At full aperture
0.45m
Screw-in, 55mm
Screw-in, 55mm
42mm
65mm
290g (280g)
1965-72
4
● ● |
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Optical diagram:
|
|
|
|
Comments: ●
|
|
Lenses
with a focal distance of 50-58mm have long been used in 35mm photography as
standard, general purpose lenses, whose perspective is considered closest to
that of the human eye. There isn’t a bad lens among the seven Hexanon
standards: two enjoy cult status, three are absolutely outstanding, albeit in
different ways, while the remaining two are very solid performers. The
Hexanon 57/1.4 was Konica’s first standard lens in AR mount and is usually
associated with the Auto-Reflex and Autoreflex T cameras. It performs
extremely well, but in other ways than the 50/1.4. Although it produces
images with great color rendition, it is in black and white photography that
this lens seems to excel most.
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“Many learned and skilled photographers preferred
Konica glass. The 57/1.2 is thought to be as good as there is for a
super-fast normal, the 85/1.8 is stunning, the 40/1.8 was described in a
magazine article as the sharpest lens they had ever tested. I went through a
phase of actively testing resolution back then and the Hexanons were always
at the top of the heap when compared to photo club members' Nikon, Minolta,
Canon and Pentax [lenses]."
Craig Schroeder |
● KONICA ● |