Few weeks ago I wrote a list of very fast 50mm lenses. But if you are looking for fast lenses you should also take a look on the very good Konica Hexanon 57 f/1.2 lens!
If you want to see some image samples click here:
dpreview forum (on the GH1)
e-p1.net (on the E-P2)
flickr.com (on the GF1)
UPDATE: Lumix L1 + Konica samples http://iztokx.blogspot.com/
The lens itself sells for $550 on Ebay (used). And you need an Adapter!
If you have some image samples send me your links at 43rumors@gmail.com
And also send me your test with other fast lenses!
Thanks
7 Responses
I’ve got one of these and it’s my all time favorite. Considering I’ve got 8 lenses around the 40-57mm range that’s no short feat.
I’ts almost glued on my E-510.
The sharpness is very good wide open and it’s already monstruous at F2.0.
Bokeh isn’t as smooth as the Canon 1.2, but it’s not very far behind.
I guess I was exceptionally luckty to buy it for 190USD. Either that or the imperceptible small defect the seller listed.
Well, four years later, Sony produced the A7, a 24 Mpixel * full frame* compact camera with a large and very nice electronic view finder. You all will re-discover those nice lenses in their original angles, as they were designed to, from the 21mm to the 400mm !!!!
I got mine slightly more expensive than you Bruno. I feel lucky too. it is quite usable on f1.2. Since I just got this a while, I need more time to test it. It is very good lens that cannot be used on Digital world until m4/3 available. I will not be surprised if it will be even more expensive later if more EVIL system available.
Cheers Ruy.
It can be used on regular 4/3 cameras not just m43. I use it on my E510. I bought some adapter rings last year and cut and sanded them to fit the lenses I have but I was under the impression that these days you could buy them already pre-cut. The ork I described involved removing the baffle from the lenses which is 1 minute process.
Thanks Duarte,
Yeap, I got some of those rings with me, I did the same for 50/1.4 and 40/1.8, but since I got the m4/3, I do not need that rings now and restore it old looks. the reason I bought 57/1.2 was because the performance of 50/1.4. I will recommend people to try out Hexanon 50/1.4 if they never experience with Hexanon before, as it is still inexpensive at the moment. Cheers.
Links and info are obsolete. You d´on need any adapter to install this lens in FT mount camera, only small work , and the modified lens can be mounted in mFT after this( http://blanahi.fortunecity.es/HexanonFTconversion.html).
The Hexanon 57/1.2 quality is in the same line of the 60/1.2 and the 50/1.2 Hexar RF (Leica mount) products of Konica. On can read in the Wikipedia: “Konica’s lenses were even used as a reference for the Japanese Ministry of Industry as the benchmark against other manufacturers’ lenses “…
Valuation of this lenses increases very quickly.
Some pictures in:
http://blanahi.fortunecity.es/HexanonFTconversion.html
http://blanahi.fortunecity.es/Objetivos/57_1.2.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blanahi/tags/57mm12/
New link to Hexanon-FT conversion tutorial from Blanahi. Lost the fortunecity pages, you can find now the original article in:
http://blanahi.yolasite.com/adaptation-hexanon–43.php