Does anyone know anything about this lens (like how sharp it is or what the construction is like)? I saw one on e-bay and thought about it but didn't know.

-- Pete (Leica_RF@yahoo.com), February 13, 2002

Answers

Do you mean the Konica Hexar 50mm 1:2 lens instead of the 60mm?

-- Alfie Wang (leica_phile@hotmail.com), February 13, 2002.

Or is it a Hexar-R?

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), February 13, 2002.

No offense, but obviously you were not the two guys to ask, or perhaps this lens is so rare that very few will know about it.

See

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1331109610

or steven Gandy's Camera Quest web site under Leica Screw mount lenses.

It is a Konica Hexar lens made in LTM in 1999. 60mm f=1.2 not 2.0 and it has a special 60mm finder. I was wondering about the optical quality. Has anyone ever used one or heard about how it performs wide open. Hopefully it is bettern than the old Canon 50mm f=1.2.

Thanks for the response anyhow.

-- Pete (Leica_RF@yahoo.com), February 13, 2002.

Pete: Yeah it's pretty rare - 800 made.

To clarify the confusion - Konica made this 60 (sixty)mm f/1.2 in screw-mount. Then they made a 50 f/2 for the Hexar RF. THEN they made a limited run (800? 1000? 1200?) 50 (fifty) f/1.2 in K/M-mount for the "Millennium Silver Hexar RF" or whatever it is/was.

Erwin actually has a picture of the 60 grouped with the Konica 50 f/2.4 collapsible and some other non-Leica lenses he tested - but for some reason he didn't test the 1.2. I don't even know how the 60 and 50 1.2s compare.

Build quality of the 60 looks like it should be about the same as the more common Hexar RF lenses - same waffle-knurled rings. Which is to say a quarter-notch lighter weight than regular Leica lenses, and probably a full notch lighter-weight construction than the Leica Noctilux - which is really heavy-duty to keep all those grams of glass lined up right.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), February 14, 2002.

Pete: I found THIS on the LUG - seems to be about the closest thing available to a review on the Web - looks like it has heavier build than I thought.

Apparently Konica luvs this focal length/speed. They not only made a 57mm f/1.2 for their 60s-era SLRs, but also a 60 f/1.2 in the 50s in Leica SM.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), February 14, 2002.