[shoplink 8845 ebay]
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Introduction:
Very soon the postman will ring on my door and deliver to me the just bought NEX-5n. But what I am missing in the current NEX lens lineup are pancakes! I’m googling around to find some nice pancakes I can use on my NEX and I thought it would be nice to share with you my findings!
The Konica Hexanon AR 40mm f/1.8:
Today I collected some news about the [shoplink 8845 ebay]Konica Hexanon AR 40mm f/1.8[/shoplink] lens. You can use it on your NEX via AR to NEX mount adapters ([shoplink 8844 ebay]Click here to find them on eBay[/shoplink]). The lens itself costs around $60 and you can find plenty of them (used) on [shoplink 8842 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. On your NEX this will become a 60mm f/1.8 lens. Almost a perfect lens for portraits! And it is really small for being that fast!
What I found:
A very nice set of image samples from “Panuraj” taken with the NEX-5 on Flickr (Click here).
Another set of image samples from “Flyingdate” taken with the NEX-5 on Flickr (Click here).
Test at dpreview forum: “Good news – the lens does not disappoint! Solid all-round performance. It is ever-so-slightly soft at full open aperture – more of that slightly ‘dreamy’ quality some of these older lenses tend to have (I can even see that being something that can be played with and used), but quickly gets extremely sharp at only 2 stops down or so.”
What do you think:
[poll id=”76″]
Ebay links:
[shoplink 8845 ebay]Konica Hexanon AR 40mm f/1.8 (Click here)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 8844 ebay]AR to NEX mount adapter (Click here)[/shoplink]
53 Responses
Some feedback and image samples here:
http://www.systemkamera-forum.de/sony-nex-objektive/16561-konica-hexanon-40mm-f1-8-pancake-sony-nex-5-a.html
(in german)
pancake + adapter = super fatty pancake.
By far not “perfect lens for portraits”, don’t count the crop, the lens doesn’t become a 60mm, distortions and perspective remains the same; a wide angle, for example 28 or 35mm lens won’t miraculously become a portrait 60mm or 70mm on your micro 4/3…
I do own a hexanon 40/1.8, the lens itself is small, but it’s not a pancake, the usage of the adapter makes it the same size as the kit lens. It’s not a bad lens, very sharp already @ f2.8, not a portrait, just a “normal” one.
P.S.
not everything that’s fast and multiplied by crop factor that comes in the classic portrait range, is actually suitable for that…
I’m afraid you are wrong. Perspective distortion is a direct result of the cameras physical distance to subject and has nothing to do with the lens. That said, a 40mm lens on the NEX-5 (with the 1.5 crop factor) will in fact function like a 60mm lens on full frame.
Now technically, in classical terms, 60mm is still considered too short to be considered portrait length. But then again, who said you have to follow “the rules”. 60mm would be great for full body portraits in my opinion.
I can’t agree on that, take a shot with that lens on a FF camera and then just crop it to match 1.5 or 2.0 (crop factors). Distortions remain the same.
yes but then you haven a smaller image area, like you would have stood nearer to the subject with a APS-C camera.
If you want the same image area (e.g. head portrait) ypu have to o forther away with APS-C than with FF at the same focal length
Perspective is only according to the subject distance.
If you shoot from the same position with mFT 12mm f2, APS-C 16mm 2,8 and FF 24mm f4 you’ll exactly the same image beside of noise and sharpness.
Just take a shot of a person with a 28mm lens and with a 85mm lens, crop the image so that the physical size of that person is about the same and compare how his/her head looks in the shots, you can’t correct that with the aid of the crop factor…
RTI, you fool, do your own experiment yourself. Images will be IDENTICAL.
Or do the perspective change when you zoom a lens?
@RTI Go ahead and take a photo with a 28mm and an 85mm lens with the same camera at the same distance to subject. Crop the 28mm photo to match the framing of the 85mm and then try to tell me the perspective distortion is any different. Depth of field will likely be very different, but perspective will be the same.
In regards to your example above, I’m sorry, but your example doesn’t support your claim…at least not how you intended it.
Lets look at your example.
Ok, say I take a single shot with a full frame camera at 50mm at a distance of 10 feet to the subject. If I then took that photo and cropped it to aps-c size or m43 size, you are absolutely right, the distortions would remain the same. BUT, what also remained the same in that example was the cameras distance to the subject, hence why the distortions remained the same.
I suppose my English knowledge limits my explanations, but I do know that the crop factor does not make lenses “longer”, thus correcting the distortions; but maybe I’m missing something, and can’t explain it…
If you fill the picture with a face using the full coverage of the lens on 24x36mm, there will be a perspective effect (large nose etc).
If you use the same lens on a sensor that is maybe 16x22mm and again fill the frame with the face, the person will be further away and the perspective effect will be less (smaller nose). The same thing will happen if you shoot on full frame with the face occupying only the centre of the image.
@RTI What you call “perspective distortion” has nothing to do with the focal length of the lens -otherwise just imagine what pictures taken with compact cameras and their 4mm-20mm zoom would look like- and is only linked to (i) distance between sensor and subject and (ii) angle of view, itself linked to lens’s focal length and sensor size.
Put a 20mm on a 24×36 and a 75mm on a 4″x5″ Horseman (approx. same angle of view) and you will notice the same “exaggerated perspectives” in the corners: on each camera the lens used is a rectilinear (ultra) wide angle and behaves accordingly.
Correct. It’s all about how far you are from the subject.
A 40mm lens on a camera body with a registration of 18mm can never be a “true” pancake. Either a relatively simple design has to be used, in which case the lens elements have to be held an appropriate distance from the sensor plane, or a much more complex design has to be used with a rear set of elements that produces a shortened read focal length (to bring it closer to the sensor) which then has to be compensated for by elements with a longer focal length at the front. By the time the extra elements are added, this will lengthen the lens sufficiently that it’s counter-productive. Not only that, but such a design will compromise sensor performance with excessive vignetting and colour-shifting.
So the search for pancakes lenses at much above 30mm (when including and adapters) is going to be fruitless. It’s one of the consequences of a large(ish) sensor size.
Andrew = Right
RTI = Wrong
I had mine for few weeks on my Nex5…
Not really a pancake with the adapter
But Very nice lens for the money
(40-60 $ in excellent conditions)
Another alternative:
MD Minolta Rokkor-X 45mm f/2
the adapter is big and defeats the purpose, unfortunately… A much better solution would be Leits Summicron-C 40/2, or Voigtlander 35/1.4. Also rather slim are Olympus PEN-F 20/3.5 and 38/1.8 (and 38/2.8 pancake, but it is darn expensive so I haven’t got it yet)
All good lenses, but 10 time the price of the hexanon 😉
oly 38/1.8 is fairly cheap, very sharp and gives nice saturated color. Just don’t shoot portraits with it 🙂
Ah, missed the 38mm, but at least on ebay it’s not that cheap, I’ve gotten a deal for a good example for 70$ but sadly it got lost on the way 🙁
I prefer Minolta 45mm f2.0 manual lens. It’s extremely small, sharp, and light 🙂 a bit hard to find in good condition.
The hexanon is sharper, the konica AR adapter is smaller then the MD-nex, though I must admit, Minolta renders the image better.
Look pretty big for a pancake once you add the adapter…
I’d say its about the same length as the Sony LA-EA1 + Sony 35mm F1.8 SAM… which by the way is a pretty badass Combo.
Anyone fancy doing some measurements?
i am not sure about it.. but i testet the 5n kit 18-55 and u have to turn the focus ring alot. next to the kit was a nex with a minolta rokkor and u only need a half turn for focusing from near to infinity. i think for stills its ok to trun the ring one or two times but in video it sucks. it will be shaky as hell.
i think this is realy importent and if the 35/1.8 has the same issue it is a big minus.
here is a nice fun lens: SLR Magic 35/1.7 with nex mount that provide an unique look!
http://www.enjoyyourcamera.com/Objektive-Zubehoer/Objektive/SLR-Magic-Objektiv-35mm-f-17-fuer-Sony-NEX-E-Bajonett::3552.html
I shot Konicas way back in the day, though I never owned the 40 personally.
Konica made great lenses. My 50/1.4 (designed in the 70s) is significantly sharper wide open than my newish Sony 50/1.4 is. I’m curious if it’ll fit a fixed-mirror SLT camera without fouling the mirror, if so I might even get it adapted.
What I’ve seen of the 40 suggests the bokeh might not be up to the task of portraiture. It has a “ninja star” aperture blade shape wide open. It’s not lacking sharpness. As a general telephoto it should be fine.
AFAIK the Konica lenses will not work on MA mount SLR/SLT.. Your Sony 50 F1.4 is just a 25 year old Minolta updated 10 years ago with slightly better coatings. Calling it newish is a streatch.
The Minolta AF 50/1.4 and the Sony 50/1.4 don’t have identical optical designs, though they behave similarly. Either way it’s a newer design than the Konica.
Konica AR lenses (as with Canon FD, Minolta SR, Olympus OM, Yashica C/Y, etc) can be adapted to other mounts, but generally aren’t because they will foul the mirror on DSLRs. Fixed mirror SLTs may be a different story.
Source on the two of them not having the same optical design please.
How about the Olympus OM 50mm f1.8? Its extremely tiny yet pretty sharp.
I’d rather get a Zuiko PEN-F 38mm f1.8, a very good performer, very compact, similar to rangefinder M39 lenses.
OM to NEX adapter is big 🙁
You’re confusing OM with PEN-F cameras PEN-F to nex is very compact; Pen-F were half-frame film cameras.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l2736&_nkw=PEN-F+to+nex
The flange distance of the OM mount is about 5mm longer than that of the AR mount, so on an adaptor it won’t be quite as tiny, relatively.
i can also recommend the olympus pen 38mm f1.8. works out to 57mm ff equivalent, so very much normal lens territory. while not a pancake, olympus(+ adaptor) is still probably smaller than konica(+ adaptor). also pretty fast, and very sharp.
they can be had for around $120 on ebay. great value.
Great idea!
Instantly bought the AR 40 on ebay Germany for 44 EUR.
Even before I got my hands on my soon to be bought Nex 5n 😉
I would recommend the Contax G lenses. Yes, they’re not cheap, the adopter expensive, too. But they are compact, super sharp and almost distortion free. I have three for my G2, 28, 45 and 90mm. On Nex, becoming 42mm (standard), 68mm (short tele) and 135 (med tele), the last two will be my portrait lenses.
I’m buying the 5N next week, can’t wait for the NEX 7 to use my G lenses 🙂
If I use an adapter on nex, will it support AF and AE? is it “all manual” once an adapter is used? thanks
AF-No. AE-Yes, probably centre weighted. I’m also hoping someone would come up with AF adopters for third party lenses on Nex.
c’mon sony, we need a pancake lens for nex T______T
I has it, the bokeh is average but it is a shape lens. I will suggest hexanon 50/1.4 if you wanna have even better performance..
hey Admin I know this is not a real roadmap but I made some mock ups of what nex prime lens could look like. I think you will be impressed with a 30, 50, and 70mm lens if they ever came out. (oh I dont think they would have oss even thought they are marked as such….)
http://www.talknex.com/f2/sony-nex-lens-lineup-one-mans-dreams-293/
I have been after a collapsible 50mm on ebay but would love to see some native AF collapsible primes.
http://www.japanexposures.com/2011/05/25/ms-optical-super-triplet-perar-3-535-mark-ii/
expensive, but one cannot have smaller pancake lens than this one.
Sick. Too bad I can only afford <$200 lenses.
There are some Russian Leica Screwmount (M39) lenses which aren’t terribly expensive, and I assume they can adapt onto sony mounts (I used one on a GF1). Jupiter 8 was the one I had, which is generally regarded as a very nice lens, although the one I had was probably not the best. The flange distance makes for much more appealing adaptation to mirrorless cameras.
The Pentax Auto 110 lenses work on Sony NEX. They don’t have apertures. That was set by camera. Looks like there is room to make an adapter with aperture ring though. The lenses are super cheap and extremely small, but they do work to cover full frame of the NEX. Check youtube for some videos shot with them. Very pretty.
I’m actually interested in the Pentax Auto 110 20-40mm f2.8. Nice push pull zoom but I think it has corner sharpness issues. Wouldn’t bother me for walk around street journalism. But still no aperture ring.
And the big problem I have with the Pentax Auto 110 conversions is the same as the Contax G adapters… THEY FOCUS THE WRONG WAY…
Yep, they make you focus in the direction of INFINITY LEFT… like a Pentax or Nikon… How uncivilized! They should get a clue from a proper camera like Leica, Contax, Sony, Minolta, and yes… even Canon focuses INFINITY RIGHT. I can’t change focus directions after doing it for so long in the same direction. The point of these conversions is to use manual focus. My brain to hand coordination has already been trained by Minolta to focus in the proper Minolta direction.
With the adapter, it doesn’t look like a pancake anymore 🙂
+1
Bummer, I just sold three of these lenses in garage sale for five bucks apiece. Have (or had) so many Konica lenses I finally realized I can only use one lens at a time. I too have been thinking about NEX instead of upgrading Alpha so I can use all of my Konica and Minolta glass.
Had this lens with my GH1. Would not recommend… Yes, it sharp, but has too many issues to be a keeper.
I have this lens, and dislike that the aperture ring goes straight from 1.8 to 2.8 with no defined half stop (likewise, from 2.8 to 4, etc).
Overall, great value for the money, but I wish I had saved the money since I ended up buying a Leica Summicron-C 40mm (which is actually usable wide open, has half stops, isn’t too expensive, is lighter than Konica + adapter, and doesn’t take much space).
what are the settings on the Nex so that the Konica lens works. I tried and get a message ” Can not recognize lens”
You need to set “shot without a lens” in menu.
Truly when someone doesn’t know then its up to
other viewers that they will help, so here it happens.