Hexar RF: What lens to buy?

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howard22

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The price for a pre-owned Hexar RF nowsday seems very reasonable at around $500 USD (similar to a Contax G2, I still remember Ken at http://www.kenrockwell.com/konica/hexar-rf/ strongly recommended G2 over Hexar for their price difference, but now they are more or less the same on ebay: )

Anyway, I am going to buy a Hexar RF, I am still thinking what lens should I buy.
As I also own a Sony A7R, so I want a lens which I can also use on my A7R (converter needed I know).

So probably I am not buying Hexanon 50mm f/2.. I am thinking Voigtlander 35mm/40mm 1.4, any comments?
Or should I go with a Leica? (Can't afford a Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH but SUMMARIT-M 35mm f/2.4 ASPH would be fine...)
 
I'm sure others will wonder what focal lengths/lens(es) you already have, or prefer for your A7, and which you wish to try on it as well as on the RF. So there's a query back to you to clarify.

The RF doesn't have 40mm frame lines, but why wouldn't one buy a CL or a Bessa if one were a 40mm devotee? Better to choose 28, 35, 50--those lines show up in the RF.

The A7 is dicey with >35 RF lenses wide open, so a 28 the Hexar will like wide open is unlikely to be that versatile on the Sony.

So if it's a choice between 35/50, which do you prefer, or which is more comfortable, habitual, pleasing in the results it gets you? A friend who owns my old M4 bought the 35 1.4 CV as his sole RF lens. He's happy with it and gets the best from it, though I don't know that he uses f1.4 much. Would you?

The Zeiss 35 2.8 is great on my A7, great on my Hexar, great on my M; it replaced my tiny, faultless CV 35 2.5 Skopar. (If I want more speed on either camera, I'll use the ZM 50/1.5 or 50/2.) Someone will surely advocate for the ZM 35/2 or the CV 35/1.7...etc etc.

Still, you'll give your kibitzers better latitude if you clarify your focal/speed/budget priorities and constraints. Good luck.
 
If you're interested in the Summarit, I would suggest you find old new stock of the f/2.5 version, or buy it used. It's the exact same optical formula as the 'new' f/2.4 version without the accompanying price increase (apparently the 35/2.5 was aspherical all along). My understanding is the Summarit refresh was cosmetic only, for which retail prices increased considerably. For example, Leicashop in Vienna have old new stock of the f/2.5 for 1150 Euro with free worldwide UPS shipping. I just bought something from them for the first time last week and the entire sales process was smooth and received the item a few days later. But I don't know how well it will work with the a7 series cameras.

Regarding the a7R: from my experience testing a number of RF lenses on it, lenses 35mm and wider will be hit or miss. Mostly miss if far distance across-frame performance is important to you, due to edge smearing induced by optical incompatibility resulting from the thickness of the glass covering the sensor. This problem diminishes at nearer focusing distances and even if edge smearing is present, it may not always affect images if you're not putting critical image content in that area. I found the Voigtlander 35/1.2 II worked well, though it's a large lens. The 40/1.4 was also quite reasonable, which was a surprise considering it exhibits massive field curvature on Leica digital M and also has fairly significant focus shift. Focus shift will be more a problem with an RF camera rather than when focusing at the shooting aperture via the EVF of an a7 series camera. My understanding is the 35/1.4 performs very similarly - OK on the a7 series. Most 50mm lenses will work fine on the Sonys, though the 50 Lux ASPH is not quite as good as on a Leica body for the same reasons wider lenses often have problems.
 
I know in the UK you get a lot of good deals buying the camera as a 'kit' with the 50mm hexar lens.
ffordes have one at the moment £799 with lens and flash!
 
The Konica hexar has frame lines for 28mm. My vintage black Canon 28f3.5 practically lives on my HRF. When I want low light capability, its 35mm frame lines play nicely with my CV40f1.4.
 
Considering the low viewfinder magnification, I would go for a 28mm lens. I think there is a
28mm Hexanon lens too.
 
Lucadomi said:
Considering the low viewfinder magnification, I would go for a 28mm lens. I think there is a 28mm Hexanon lens too.
Click to expand...

There is. It's a phenomenal lens - based on the Zeiss Distagon, but it's not cheap.

If you can find one cheap, the 28mm Avenon/Kobalux is tiny and quite good.

Dante
 
...why, there's a Kobalux 28 on my Hexar at the moment. It also plays well with my A7. This however is from a roll of Arista TriX on the CL.

med_U45148I1432828034.SEQ.4.jpg



And on the A7, stopped down...
med_U45148I1424666886.SEQ.4.jpg


...and wide open:
med_U45148I1424818974.SEQ.4.jpg


But for onemanual lens to start with on both bodies, I'd still pick a 35 or 50.

ZM 50/2, Ektar/Hexar:
med_U45148I1381726172.SEQ.0.jpg


ditto A7, ISO 100:
med_U45148I1432686996.SEQ.2.jpg
 
The Voigtländer Nokton 40/1.4 MS works pretty well with Sony A7. If you file the frame line tab a mm or so, it brings up the 35mm frame lines in M-mount bodies, which I feel is a better fit to the lens' FoV (just shoot a bit tighter).

Personally, I'd go with a Leica body instead; I just like them more and good service is easier to find than for other M-mount RFs. If you like 40mm*focal length, the CL works beautifully, its viewfinder was designed for 40mm lens FoV, but 40mm seems framed nicely by the M4-2 viewfinder 35mm frame lines as well.

G
 
I don't own a Sony A7R, but I've owned a few lenses that have been discussed in this thread. Can't say how they'd work on the Sony, but for the Hexar there are lots of good options.

+1 for the Summarit-M 35mm, as mentioned the 'new' design is a refresh, nothing wrong with the previous Summarit. It can be purchased as 'new old stock' for quite a discount these days. A used Summarit 35 would be even better.

+1 for the Konica Hexanon 50/2. I've shot comparison photos against the Zeiss Planar and the Summicron with the Konica. I really had to pixel-peep to notice any differences. Price-to-performance, it's a winner. Excellent build quality, a real pleasure to use.

+1 for the Zeiss Planar 50/2. Again, you get 97% of the Summicron performance for a fraction of the price. Plus, the Zeiss Planar has its own distinct signature: bold colours, higher contrast, more 'pop'.

From what I understand the Konica 28mm rangefinder lenses are quite rare and pricey -- I own the Zeiss Biogon 28mm F2.8, it's a fantastic little lens. If you're wanting something that wide I'd give the Zeiss some consideration.

One more thought: I owned the Cosina Voigtlander 35/1.4 MC for a while. It's a very compact, well-built lens. I ended up selling it to get the Summarit 35, but the Voigtlander had a pleasant rendering, kind of like an old Summicron 35. It worked especially well for film.
 
I have an A7R and a couple of ZI's. Your primary constraint is whether or not the lens will work well with your A7R

28mm - I have a 28mm Hex-M that works well on the A7R.

35mm - The CV 35/1.2 works well on the A7R. I've see mixed reports on the ZM 35's. The new CV 35/1.7 Ultron sounds interesting.

50mm - lots of choices here. The Hex-M would be good, but I currently use the ZM Planar and ZM Sonnar. Both work well with the A7R
 
Thanks for all reply.
I would go for a 35mm lens, now considering..

1. Voigtlander Color Skopor 35/2.5 PII
2. Voigtlander Nokton 35mm F1.4
 
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