M-Hexanon 50/1.2 vs. Nokton 50/1.1

[Toni Nikkanen]

I basically like my Nokton 50/1.1 lens, but increasingly I've come to dislike the focus shift that seems to be a feature of the lens design. I've been entertaining the idea of swapping it to the M-Hexanon 50/1.2 lens since only things I ever hear about this lens are glowing praise. Now for this exchange to make any sense, since my main annoyance is the focus shift, the M-Hexanon would have to be free of this problem. So, is it good in this regard also?

 

[gdi]

I have never noticed any focus shift with mine, but I did have to have it adjusted for proper focusing on my M8.

 

[Krosya]

I use my Hex 50/1.2 on Hexar RFs, Leica M5, Bessa R3M and RD1S and never noticed any problems, but never really ran any specific tests. I never had to have my lens adjusted either - it worked fine from the moment I bought it. Fantastic lens, far better lens/glass and value than Nokton 1.1 IMO. YMMV.

 

[250swb]

Fantastic lens, far better lens/glass and value than Nokton 1.1 IMO. YMMV.

I'm thinking of getting the Nokton. Can I ask what it was about yours that you didn't like?

Steve

 

[johannielscom]

I owned the Hex 50/1.2 and only sold it to pay for an education.

Build was waaay better than the Summilux 50/1.4 I once owned, IQ was brilliant, it balanced great on my M5 but also handled well on any other Leica M's I tried: M3, M4, M6 and M8.
Mine was spot on on all camera's mentioned.

The OoF areas in the shots always were nicer than the ones I saw from the Nokton. Apparently the Hex is a little bigger (62 vs 58 mm filter) and a bit heavier as well but that does pay off in the end.

 

[leicashot]

I have one for sale right now in the classifieds if anyone is interested

 

[Toni Nikkanen]

I have been happy with the Nokton at f1.1, close range (1 to 2 meters) - so that's good. Clearly nothing wrong with the adjusting since the hardest part works and I apparently am able to focus with it well enough.


What I do not like is I have had the lens with me a couple of times in situations where I am not going to shoot at 1.1 as such, but as a "just in case I need the speed", then ended up shooting people 5-10 meters away at around f2.4, the sharpest area is clearly behind the person while the person focused on is only semi-sharp.
People in other threads dicussing this lens are saying Cosina should have implemented a floating element in the design that would have solved this but then I guess the price would have been too high..

My feeling is the lens is, for me, too big and expensive to be used only as a special-purpose lens for shooting at full aperture and well stopped-down but not in between.. on the other hand I can't really afford the 1.2 M-Hexanon either so I just have to keep figuring out whether to sell or keep the lens - and if I do sell it, what do with the money, save them or buy some nice 50/1.4 lens, and which one.

By the way, the Canon 50/1.2 also has some focus shift. Did anyone ever measure how severe it actually is?

 

[awslee]

I think the Hexanon 50/1.2's images are much more pleasing to the eye. The Nokton is sharp, but may be too harsh for my taste. May be the Nokton will be better for landscape, but the Hexanon will better for street and portraits that tells a story.

 

[Never Satisfied]

I just sold my 50mm f1.2 Hex and it truly is a great lens, but unnecessarily big.
Compared to the Canon it is huge, and no special endearing traits, just fast.
Mine focused fine on my M8 and numerous film bodies out of the box. Supposedly lenses that have a build number over 1000 will be OK.
Andrew.

 

[f16sunshine]

Supposedly lenses that have a build number over 1000 will be OK.
Andrew.

Where did this info come from? I'm searching info on this lens right now (I have one sn 18xx). Mostly I am just curious.