KONICA HEXANON AR 40mm f/1.8 | A Review of One of the Best Vintage Lenses Ever.
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- In this video I review the KONICA HEXANON AR 40mm f/1.8.
It's a fantastic vintage lens, probably the most popular in the entire Hexanon line-up, and certainly one of the most (if not the most) desirable vintage 40mm on the market.
The video was filmed entirely with the OnePlus 8T on a DJI OSMO Mobile 3.
The montage was done in DaVinci Resolve on Manjaro Linux.
The images in the video were processed with RawTherapee and GIMP on Manjaro Linux.
The video thumbnail was done with GIMP on Manjaro Linux.
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This is the lens that drew me to Konica. No vintage lens like it. First of all, the 40ish focal length being a particular favorite of mine, all other competitors at the time for this focal length were f2.8 or f3.5. Also , the compact size in addition to the shorter than typical lens adapter has the two together being practically the size of a normal 50 without an adapter 👌
Exactly my thoughts. This lens was for the longest time my favourite. So much so that at one point I owned two copies of it.
HaHa….. I also own 2 copies….. just in case?….. at $50 apiece in mint condition, I couldn’t resist 😊
Very enjoyable review and engaging style of presentation... two things are clear. 1, this lens is on my wish list. 2, it's time for a beer somewhere outside :) Good work.
Thanks man. Go get that beer!
Yeah, I agree with everything.
I too have/had a few lenses with the same "jumpy" helicoid problem, as you say it just needs to have the grease cleaned and reapplied.
Radu ..as always enjoyed your review and your style. Already have the Hexanon AR 40mm f1.8 adapted for use on Olympus ep1 or e-pl7, great lens.
Liked your choice of background.
Cheers
Tom Fowler Fresno, CA
Hi Radu. Nice content in your Chanel. I am new on photography, and started almost by accident, since I got a vintage Konica auto reflex T with 40, 50 and 135 mm lenses at $20. I live in Venezuela, so the possibilities to work non digital is difficult, since there is no way to get the films developed. Only one guy Hundreds of kilometers away does it, so in order to see what I shoot it takes too much. Difficult in a learning process.nevertheless I was able to get a Sony a-5000 and the adapter for hexagon Ar lenses... any way, I just starting my journey, if there is some advice, very welcome. Thanks!
My main advice is to shoot a lot, I mean A LOT of photos and have fun doing it. Everything else is secondary.
@@1kwords think you. I will. Just one extra perhaps silly question, which camera did you use for this review?
@@rolocarrasco1775 do you mean what camera I used to film myself? Or the camera I used to take the pictures for the review?
@@1kwords the pictures.
@@rolocarrasco1775 The pictures were all take with a Sony a7R mark I, but I have recently upgraded to the a7R mark II.
As bea o bere pe teme de foto oricand.
Would you recommend this lens do to street photography at night with the Konica AR TC?
I guess that would depend entirely on the film stock, but it is quite a fast lens and I do use it for street photography, in fact it's one of my favourite lenses.
Amazing lens, got two for a very cheap price.
I never tough Hexanon lenses was so good.
Got the 58mm f1.2, 50mm f1.7, 2 X 40mm , 28mm f3.5
Yeah, the Hexanons are real sleepers. Grossly underestimated. Enjoy your collection.
I just bought my second Hexanon 50mm F1.7. Just love what it produces, and the prices are irresistible. Warmer than my Minolta 50mm MC Rokkor-X PC 1.4, which is another exceptional lens.
The 40/1.8 is remarkably easy to teardown and regreasing the helicoid is pretty much par for the course for many lenses this old.
Depends on your skill, how good you are at repairs and if you did it before. It can take 30 minutes, or many hours.
Jos palaria!
I got this lens along with a Konica Hex AR 50F1.8 at an estate sale for $15 for both. I thought it was a steal then, and even more so when I actually got it on my camera. Great review.
And an even greater lens. Still one of my favourites. Enjoy.
Great review thank you for posting..! Great style banter..!
I have that lens and yes the build quality is not the best but yes image quality is great. great walk around lens. great review !
I love the square-bottom beer glass - another sort of impressive vintage glass, kind of which I never came across outside of Romania! Cheers! 🍺
Cheers man. Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for the upload! :)
I love your style of presentation, even down to where you … … 🍺 … … stop to lubricate the voice.
A detailed, honest and informative review. Spotlighting the positives yet highlighting the flaws. Great work.
Thank you for you very kind words.
Well, if we take into account the very narrow width of the glsss within the barrel, then there is no much of a difference between the hood you selected and no hood at all.
In my uneducated guess, as my copy is in transit while I write, we need a step down filter 55 to 37mm (!!!!) and then a tiny wide hood. Don't we?
Loved your lens history knowledge.
You do make interesting points. Thank you for your comment.
Do you think kit lenses from 40+ years ago are so good with today's lenses because they had to be in order to produce good photos on film?
I think the reason kit lenses were so good back then is because they had to be in order to sell cameras.
Remember that film cameras back then were just a little more than empty boxes in which the film sat. The only real differentiating factor was the lens attached to it.
Am avut si eu o perioada de genul aceasta. Am foarte fascinat de Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.8 pancolar Jena ddr(am avut destul de multe lentile cu care sa ma joc, helios, takumar, minolta, etc), foarte sharp, culori foarte frumoase, pana cand am tras cu Zeiss si Sony 50mm F1.8 FE, si am descoperit ca nu era nimic magic in Zeiss, sau in + fata de Sony. Ce ma durea pe mine la Zeiss ? Manual focus... Ce ma durea la Sony 50mm F1.8? AF foarte lent. Am avut si eu Sony A7,A7II,A7s,A7sii si am renuntat pentru Nikon, la Nikon am ramas la D700 si d3s, care mi au placut cel mai mult si am avut D610, D700, D750, D800, D810, D850. De ce, D3s sau d700? Pai senzor FF cu 12mp.
Focusul manual probabil că e aspectul meu preferat la obiectivele astea vintage.
Efectiv îmi displace să folosesc obiective cu autofocus. Realizez cum sună, dar e adevărul.
With all due respect, a decent hood should help with the lens flare, as those outdated compromised vented lens hoods are practically useless..... obviously.
I will perhaps, try another hood at some point, but I honestly don't expect much in terms of an improvement in flare resistance.
I use old school collapsible rubber lens hoods on most of my lenses, fold away with a touch when not in use, where is acts as a protective bumper. Plus they look classically proper with these vintage lenses. On the 40mm I have a Pentax 50mm hood from the era 👌
yes, it is great lens, thanks for you experience and knowledge and great photography .
Thanks.
Such a lovely geek
Agree about the rather noticeable purple fringing. ☹️
Also about the flare. Avoid bright light near or in the frame.
Thank you
My pleasure.
Interesting presentation, newbie here with Fuji X-T1. I wonder if there is a chance to fit this lens to my Fuji X-T1 without a problem?
Yes, you can absolutely adapt this to your X-T1, just find and adapter and you're set. Do keep in mind that the Fuji has a crop sensor and that affects the resulting effective field of view of the lens. The 40mm on a Fujifilm will look more like a 60mm.
@@1kwords Thank you for your information. I got my hands on a 55mm 1.7 but it came without a lens cap.
Wonder what kind of other brand I can use that fits, since no more caps for old glass is on the market.
@@0n596 I don't use lens caps for my lenses. Find any that will fit the filter diameter if you really must use a cap.
guess what. i m looking at this lens at olx, i search for a review and i find your ass here again. man. keep up the good work.
loved your God remark. the batman logo and the cross, this is crazy we gotta talk.
Hehe. That lens on OLX is mine.
I tried the KONICA HEXANON AR 40mm f/1.8, two actually, with my Sony a7rii....not impressed. Two of the lenses and I just don't see the reason of praise. NOW, the KONICA HEXANON AR 50mm f/1.7, THAT is an amazing lens and also the KONICA HEXANON AR 135mm f3.2...outstanding lenses. I use the 50mm 1.7 and 135mm 3.2 a lot. The 135mm is so small and light weight and not a burden to carry around, like a Canon nfd 135mm...massive! Try the 50mm and 135 f3.2....affordable and great image quality!
No doubt, to each his own. As far as I'm concerned, the Hexanon 1.8/40 is my favourite lens ever. So much so, that I just bought a second copy.
I do have better lenses, out of which the radioactive Hexanon 1.4/50 is one of the best one, however I still do much prefer the 1.8/40.
@@1kwords I tried the 50mm f1.4 too…very good but I keep going back to the f1.7. Agreed, each to his own but Konica are truly incredible lenses that are underrated. I use Nikon, Leica, Minolta lenses and more but Konica are overlooked.
Great review on the 40mm f1.8 too
Yes, Hexanons are underrated gems.