Hm, yeah I'm still very intrigued by the M-Hexanon 90/2.8. Some time in the next few months I'm going to need to pick up something in that range, as my longest decent lens is 45mm. Ideally, it will be something that I can use on Leica M6, but plays well on E. Size and rendering are priority, don't want to go much higher than $4-500, because 90% of what I like to shoot is well-served by the 28-45mm range. Seems like the only game in town that ticks all of those boxes.
Any thoughts you'd like to share about it? I've enjoyed the Hexanons I've used, still have a few in AR Mount (40/1.8, 50/1.8, 55/1.8, 135/3.5) and with the exception of the 135, which is kinda meh, I love the look all of them give. None are especially sharp, but they render OOF, tones and colors really nicely. This may sound like heresy, but I'm kinda over the Zeiss uber-microcontrast, as it usually comes at the expense of busy backgrounds.
I guess what I really want is a 90mm that draws like the Sigma 45/2.8, is manual focus and M mount. Oh, and cheap. Tall order, I know.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
I used to have the 90/3.5 LTM version but I eventually sold it since I prefer the Konica M-Hexanon 90/2.8 especially when it came to close-ups and bokeh. I found the close up bokeh rendering on the CV to be somewhat harsh sometimes, although it was better than Konica in infinity shots.
The LTM version is 260g and has MFD of 1m while the SL v1 version is 390g and has MFD of 0.5m. There is also SL v2 that was lighter than v1 at 320g and had a close-up lens option, and Nikon S-mount version (85/3.5). The optical designs look same.
SL2 was introduced in 2010, 8-9 years later than LTM and SL v1 versions so there might have been some additional improvements that are not visible in the specsheets. Looks like SL2 came with a close-focus accessory lens in the box. Canon SL2 version seems to have no aperture ring on the lens so it would not be a good one for adapting. Pentax KA SL2 was only in production for a couple of months and seems to be rare.
2nd hand prices for SL2 versions seem to be noticeably higher (in Japan) than LTM and SL1 and I think SL2 availability is more limited....Show more →
Maybe a bit "ot," but when I was considering a 90/2.4 (or maybe it was 5) Summarit I was sure to include a "site:fredmiranda.com" in my search: What didn't you like about it that's making you look elsewhere, LoCa?
I bought my M-Hexanon 90/2.8 2nd hand back in 2013 and the price was quite reasonable (around 52K yen) at the time. My copy is in very good condition, no issues at all with the glass and just slight cosmetic wear on the outer body. Recently the average prices in Japan 2nd hand market seem to be a bit higher. I still like the lens a lot for the nice ernostar / sonnar rendering, compact size and built-in hood, especially for close/mid-range shooting. I think it suits portraits and close to mid-range shooting (city scenery, flowers etc.) best, better than e.g. landscapes. It's stll my favorite M mount lens in the 90mm focal length. I think it would suite your style well when you want to use a longer lens. I haven't used it a lot on my Sony these days though, usually leaning towards native lenses especially since CV lineup has been expanding.
I now started using my M-mount lenses primarily on Sigma fp and I had one outing with the M-Hex using the fp recently. It worked fine but on the fp I'm missing IBIS with the longer lenses when it comes to manual focusing. It becomes a bit tricky to keep things stable when focusing with the screen without any form of stabilization. Later I acquired the LVF-11 viewfinder, but haven't yet tried the M-Hex with this viewfinder on my fp.
Anyway, I think you would like it quite a bit if you can find a decent copy in your price range. It might be possible as mine was in the same range, though some hunting may be necessary.
imagesfromobjects wrote:
Hm, yeah I'm still very intrigued by the M-Hexanon 90/2.8. Some time in the next few months I'm going to need to pick up something in that range, as my longest decent lens is 45mm. Ideally, it will be something that I can use on Leica M6, but plays well on E. Size and rendering are priority, don't want to go much higher than $4-500, because 90% of what I like to shoot is well-served by the 28-45mm range. Seems like the only game in town that ticks all of those boxes.
Any thoughts you'd like to share about it? I've enjoyed the Hexanons I've used, still have a few in AR Mount (40/1.8, 50/1.8, 55/1.8, 135/3.5) and with the exception of the 135, which is kinda meh, I love the look all of them give. None are especially sharp, but they render OOF, tones and colors really nicely. This may sound like heresy, but I'm kinda over the Zeiss uber-microcontrast, as it usually comes at the expense of busy backgrounds.
I guess what I really want is a 90mm that draws like the Sigma 45/2.8, is manual focus and M mount. Oh, and cheap. Tall order, I know.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
I bought my M-Hexanon 90/2.8 2nd hand back in 2013 and the price was quite reasonable (around 52K yen) at the time. My copy is in very good condition, no issues at all with the glass and just slight cosmetic wear on the outer body. Recently the average prices in Japan 2nd hand market seem to be a bit higher. I still like the lens a lot for the nice ernostar / sonnar rendering, compact size and built-in hood, especially for close/mid-range shooting. I think it suits portraits and close to mid-range shooting (city scenery, flowers etc.) best, better than e.g. landscapes. It's stll my favorite M mount lens in the 90mm focal length. I think it would suite your style well when you want to use a longer lens. I haven't used it a lot on my Sony these days though, usually leaning towards native lenses especially since CV lineup has been expanding.
I now started using my M-mount lenses primarily on Sigma fp and I had one outing with the M-Hex using the fp recently. It worked fine but on the fp I'm missing IBIS with the longer lenses when it comes to manual focusing. It becomes a bit tricky to keep things stable when focusing with the screen without any form of stabilization. Later I acquired the LVF-11 viewfinder, but haven't yet tried the M-Hex with this viewfinder on my fp.
Anyway, I think you would like it quite a bit if you can find a decent copy in your price range. It might be possible as mine was in the same range, though some hunting may be necessary.
TakenWild wrote:
120g more for the Loxia 85 v the Batis 85. I’d probably prefer the Loxia for the sunstars, higher IQ and MF if My use was mostly landscapes.
If you need AF as well, then the batis is a good choice.
I like Cosina's sunstar but find myself including sunstars on ultra wide, wide and normal FL scenes only. I don't have many telephoto sunstar shots but I've seen great ones -- Just does not work for me. So, yes, ideally I would prefer a lens with straight blades but it's not a must. I have some crops for both lenses and I will check on IQ. From my memory, the Batis is pretty outstanding starting at f/4. (same for Loxia)
Fred Miranda wrote:
I like Cosina's sunstar but find myself including sunstars on ultra wide, wide and normal FL scenes only. I don't have many telephoto sunstar shots but I've seen great ones -- Just does not work for me. So, yes, ideally I would prefer a lens with straight blades but it's not a must. I have some crops for both lenses and I will check on IQ. From my memory, the Batis is pretty outstanding starting at f/4. (same for Loxia)
I think the B85 is the most underrated lens for the system.
The fact that while it has low axial CA it’s not almost perfectly APO like the 135, and has a bit of optical vignetting induced swirl at wide open (but no more than any other 2/85 class lens, though SA hides it with some) - and that there is a decent cheaper alternative in the Sony with similar looking specs - has blinded people to its great features of superb contrast, very high and even resolution (even when you correct distortion) lightweight and glare control. I don’t think there is a better lens in its class (maybe the Nikkor S is as good or better, but that’s not relevant to me).
I would avoid the LTM version of the APO-Lanthar. It had as many production flaws as the LTM 15, so you'd either have to find a trusted source or take your chances on finding a well-balanced copy. The multi-coating is also fairly weak, nothing like what they use today, so it will show you pretty much every type of flare and ghosting eventually.
freaklikeme wrote:
I would avoid the LTM version of the APO-Lanthar. It had as many production flaws as the LTM 15, so you'd either have to find a trusted source or take your chances on finding a well-balanced copy. The multi-coating is also fairly weak, nothing like what they use today, so it will show you pretty much every type of flare and ghosting eventually.
Interesting. That may explain the difference between Klaus’ tests of the LTM and SL2 versions...
Dec 20, 2019 at 10:59 PM
imagesfromobjects Offline • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
Don't mean to thread-jack, but after doing some more searches last night, I'm finding it rather odd how little info there is on the web about the M-Hexanon 90mm. The Flickr group has fewer than 200 images and there are only a handful of reviews out there. Perhaps that's what got me curious a while back, but I was expecting there to be more posted since the last time I was following the lens, maybe a year ago.
Not concerned, all the reviews seem favorable, and I think I generally share Juha's taste in rendering, so I'm sure I'll get along very well with it, but I'm curious why such relative silence about this one.
Two similar lenses I've used were the G90/2.8 and the Elmar-C 90/4. Both were wonderfully small, but I let both go. The G90 was a pain in the a** with the adapter and had very harsh transition zones (though extremely high microcontrast, even wide open), the Elmar C was just too slow for a night owl like myself. Is it just that this lens is less common? Or do folks just end up going for one of the Summicron 90's instead? I ended up paying just under $500 for one with minor cosmetic wear but excellent glass (according to Popflash, who I have no reason to doubt) and anything with a red dot seems to go for around twice that, so again - if the few reviews out there are an indication, I'm sure it'll suit me perfectly.
I have the CV 90mm f/3.5 APO Lanthar LTM and its razor sharp. Some sample pics here. Its on par with my CYZ 100-300 at 100mm.
Definitely not selling mine!
Just for reference, here's pics of the 90/3.5 SL-II + simple adapter and Nikon snap-in hood next to the 85/4 ZM + Leitax M to Sony E adapter.
Weights with hoods and caps:
90CV - 471 grams
85/4 ZM - 400 grams
Clearly it would be better to have a longer/narrower hood on the 90/3.5, but these are tough to find that will also install reversed due to the diameter of the 90/3.5 CV.
And yes, despite what people say, the ZM hood will securely stay put reversed IF you use a cap leash that gets trapped in between and is just enough to keep the hood in place due to the felt inside. This has worked perfectly for me for years now. Just need to be careful not to handle the lens just by the hood as it could fall out if you aren't paying attention. There is enough lens length not covered by the reversed hood to enable one to securely grip it.
jhinkey wrote:
What's the simplest and most reliable active adapter to pass Nikon AI-P lens aperture and FL info to my A7RIII?
Good Morning John,
Think this might be what you are looking for (from phillipreeves.net) in his review of the lens
"Adapting the lens to Sony
I recommend the latest version of the Hawk’s Factory helicoid adapter for this lens. The lens performs so well at close distances, that adding some extension will do no harm so a helicoid adapter makes sense. The Hawks adapter has two features no other helicoid adapter has both of. It’s very light for a helicoid, at around 50g, and it has infinity tuning, which is fantastic: you can adjust the lens so that infinity is exactly at the hard stop when the helicoid is not extended. That’s a real convenience for landscape. You can get one via our affiliate link at B&H."
