M-Hexanon 90/2.8 Pictures

[Justin Low]

Hi!

As I promised in my Elmarit-M pictures thread, here are some pictures from my M-Hexanon.















I'll reserve my impressions until a few comments come in. What do you think?

 

[SolaresLarrave]

The problem with viewing photos online is that there's nothing really distinctive between some; I liked your photos with the Elmarit (subject matter). This ones look just as sharp to me. Content-wise, the ones in the other thread are better.

Any problems using this lens? I have a Hexanon 35/f2 which I love, and the focusing is incredibly swift. Of course, I have used it a lot, so, it's bound to happen.

 

[Justin Low]

Francisco, thanks for looking! I found the pictures from the Elmarit to appear more 'crisp', compared to the Hexanon. I must say that the Hex' has extremely smooth bokeh. The Elmarit is more flare-resistant than the Hexanon, it seems (situation reversed for the 50 'cron-M vs. 50 M-Hex'?).

I had a slight issue with the fine-tuning of the focus ring on my Hex'. It seems a little hesitant, but then again, it looks like it hasn't been used much (my Elmarit is quite user-looking), so I guess I'm still in that 'breaking-in' period.

 

[shadowfox]

Justin, interesting threads, I like the pictures from the Hexanon to be honest. It has more depth perception.

Also, it's cool that you like 90mm, I used 90mm on an RF camera and I didn't like the experience. 🙂

I prefer to use SLR's for lenses longer than 50mm.

 

[ferider]

That's because you only have one M body, Will. You should try an M3 🙂

Nice threads and pictures, Justin. I'm not decided which I like better. The Ernostar is always nice, but the E46 Elmarit seems to be superb.

Roland.

 

[srtiwari]

These have wonderful tonality, Justin. Are these taken with film ? If so, what kind, developer etc. ? If not, they look great for an M8 or RD1 - very "film like". I recently bought a Hexanon 90/2.8. Waiting to try it out !
Subhash

 

[Krosya]

Well, if you shot the same things at the same time with both lenses it would be a bit easier. I like some of these better, yet I like some of the Elmarit's better than some others of these. Overall, I think these lenses are too close to each other to compare. So at this point I think price would be the only thing to go by. I went with hexanon for myself, but would be as happy with elmarit if i could get one for the same price.
Can you do some colour with both to see if there is difference there?

 

[retnull]

I bought the Hexanon 90 / 2.8 a few months ago, because the Elmarit was a bit above my budget. I wasn't sure I would enjoy shooting with a 90, but this lens has really won me over. It does something interesting that's hard to explain: maybe it's the way it handles sharp-to-soft transition.

Here's one of mine:

 

[Justin Low]

Will—it's a bit tricky using the 90mm lenses on the R-D1, because there aren't any framelines, so I pretty much guess using the 50mm ones as a guide.

Roland—thanks! I'm not sure which I prefer more either, which makes for a great excuse to keep both lenses. 🙂

Subhash—these were done with the R-D1. Epson's RAW software does a pretty decent job for B&W, but I haven't got my color settings dialled in yet. Congrats on the Hexanon! I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Krosya—I'll post comparisons in color once I do get my color settings down pat. For screen, certainly both these lenses would do great. I haven't had the time to go into the darkroom for ages, so I can't say how the prints would turn out. I suspect the verdict will be "too close to call".

 

[Justin Low]

Some color pictures. I'm still experimenting with the color settings in the RAW software, but for the purposes of comparing with the Elmarit, I've used the same settings for both lenses.

 

[tomasis]

hex 90 users,

do you notice that it often bring "much midtones" on pictures B&W? even it has modern coatings, does it seems to have something to do with optical design? I wouldn't say hex 90 has not high contrast but when you adjust a bit you can get a bit "old time look" ie plenty of midtones "medium contrast". I cannot say same thing about 50'cron 1979. It is something different which I cannot put down in exact words. Maybe has it something to do with low microcontrast (not macrocontrast), hm

 

[Krosya]

Justin,
I like colours much better from Hex. Not sure why, but they seem to me more pleasant to look at.

 

[monochromejrnl]

colour images look better to my eyes, the B&W ones seem a tad harsh and too high contrast for my taste... reminds me of the 50 Hex I once had but sold for the same reason...