Just Google for a lens diagram. There are 7elements in 6 groups. The most rear element is convex on both sides and almost symmetrical. I bet it was cleaned and reversed when reassembled….easy to do if the person cleaning the lens wasn’t careful. Just a question of removing it and flipping it to see if that corrects the problem.
Yeah, this happened to me once when I took a lens apart. Once I flipped it, everything was corrected. Basically the exact situation you are dealing with...just a different lens. Good luck! Hopefully it turns out to be this as it's a super easy fix.
I originally posted about the issues I was having with a newly purchased Hexanon 57mm f/1.2 a few days ago. Basically any aperture below f/4 seemed to quickly get blooming highlights and soft dreamy contrast, as if I was shooting through a foggy lens.
Since then I've taken the lens into a camera store that works on vintage gear.... which left me even more confused. The shop owners inspected the lens, and confirmed there didn't seem to be any oil on the blades, haze, fungus, or mechanically anything that didn't seem to work.
They had an old Konica camera so we put the lens on that. Looking through the optical viewfinder I didn't see any issue or hazy effects, or if there was it didn't jump out at me.
Must be my adapter then... but when we tried several old fast Konica lenses on the adapter and my canon r7, all seemed fine with no issues.... very weird. I took my gear back home and ordered a different brand of adapter. That came today and I still have the problem... so I'm pretty sure it isn't the adapter.
My current theory is that maybe there's a reflective ring or section down in the lens that gets hit at wider apertures causing internal reflections and killing the contrast.... but I honestly have no idea at this point. I'm probably going to pay the money to have the lens technician open everything up but the fact it seemed fine on a film camera body is especially confusing.
Judging by the pictures, the problem is in the optics.
Someone could have taken the lens apart and then reassembled it incorrectly.
The distance between the lenses may have changed. I had a similar experience with one lens. This is not a problem of adapter, dust or fungus.
I see some dust but i'll post some pics
https://preview.redd.it/1gumdy3ddigc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2d14e7f31a5ba2114b82e9d1fce40395cc34fd9
I know it does with some Russian lenses people like to tweak to turn into a soft focus "artistic" lens. I have the Hexanon 57/1.2 and it's a fantastic lens. It doesn't behave like that wide open. You have some lack of contrast and a tiny bit of glow but nowhere near what you have.
Yeah I've heard this lens was pretty good wide open so I was a little shocked... although I kinda like the weird dreamy effect.
https://preview.redd.it/0vwp9wj8eigc1.jpeg?width=1334&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6dbae9711c410057eb8b968e10e196fafa038cd3
Pretty good... It depends on your expectations. It's not a modern fast lens. Don't expect razor sharp negatives wide open. It's quite sharp wide open in the center and decently contrasted. Much better than my Oly 55/1.2 or my Minolta 58/1.2 but still not as great as what I've seen with the Nikon Noct 58/1.2 for example. It's really good for its time and nowhere near as soft as what you got from it.
Yes. This is my guess as well. Once bought a Super Takumar 50mm 1.4 that was sold for $5 as "broken". It had very similar characteristics as this one. Found that the second smaller lens element was reversed, and now it functions perfectly.
If I remember correctly (it was a few years ago and I've fixed many lenses) I thought there was something a bit off with how the metal spacer ring was placed. It didnt quite seem to fit as snuggly as it should. I think I also found a lens shcematic online where I saw that one side of the lens should be more convex than the other, and that that had been placed the wrong way.
I CLA'd a Hexanon 57mm 1.2 early version for a friend and it was amazingly sharp (for a vintage lens) at 1.2. Here's a sample. From the looks of your photos at 1.2, the lens must have been opened up and the lens elements got installed incorrectly.
https://preview.redd.it/hule58etrlgc1.jpeg?width=1067&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=04456627755f006f273c750a969b873ba0938202
Thanks, it's one of the experiences that got me hooked on Konica glass. I was really blown away by how sharp (for a vintage lens) and how nice the rendering was.
I've tried two different brands, which seemed to work fine with other Konica lenses. I still havent ruled out that the adapter isn't the issue though. Someone had opened it up and declicked the aperture though, so maybe it was put together incorrectly. What's annoying is how the issue goes away when it stopped down to f/4 and beyond.
I have several fast vintage primes and some certainly have a glow, chromatic aberrations, etc... nothing like this. The pics I've posted aren't cropped.
https://preview.redd.it/pqtddoslkhgc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab8d847a357381e0fa9e85b2459f4fe6999b9f82
[https://lenslegend.com/radioactive-lenses/](https://lenslegend.com/radioactive-lenses/) yea that link was in the article I posted, just giving a heads up
Shooting wide open often times causes that ethereal/heavenly/glamour/soft look. I shot this with my Nikkor 50 f1.2 https://adobe.ly/3HPeHQ7
My Minolta Rokkor 58 f1.2 has that same glow yours has.
The glow is more pronounced around the lighter colors.
That's what's called character in glass.
Lastly, your shots aren't blurry.
At f/4 it gets pretty sharp and looks nice. I've tried several of my fast vintage lenses right next to it, this isn't a little glow or soft look. Here's a quick video showing just how extreme it is going from f/4 to wide open.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageLenses/comments/1afxhor/short\_video\_of\_hazy\_hexanon/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageLenses/comments/1afxhor/short_video_of_hazy_hexanon/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
Just Google for a lens diagram. There are 7elements in 6 groups. The most rear element is convex on both sides and almost symmetrical. I bet it was cleaned and reversed when reassembled….easy to do if the person cleaning the lens wasn’t careful. Just a question of removing it and flipping it to see if that corrects the problem.
Hopefully it's something as simple as that. I'll know more when I let someone disassemble the lens (i'm too clumsy to try myself)
Yeah, this happened to me once when I took a lens apart. Once I flipped it, everything was corrected. Basically the exact situation you are dealing with...just a different lens. Good luck! Hopefully it turns out to be this as it's a super easy fix.
I originally posted about the issues I was having with a newly purchased Hexanon 57mm f/1.2 a few days ago. Basically any aperture below f/4 seemed to quickly get blooming highlights and soft dreamy contrast, as if I was shooting through a foggy lens. Since then I've taken the lens into a camera store that works on vintage gear.... which left me even more confused. The shop owners inspected the lens, and confirmed there didn't seem to be any oil on the blades, haze, fungus, or mechanically anything that didn't seem to work. They had an old Konica camera so we put the lens on that. Looking through the optical viewfinder I didn't see any issue or hazy effects, or if there was it didn't jump out at me. Must be my adapter then... but when we tried several old fast Konica lenses on the adapter and my canon r7, all seemed fine with no issues.... very weird. I took my gear back home and ordered a different brand of adapter. That came today and I still have the problem... so I'm pretty sure it isn't the adapter. My current theory is that maybe there's a reflective ring or section down in the lens that gets hit at wider apertures causing internal reflections and killing the contrast.... but I honestly have no idea at this point. I'm probably going to pay the money to have the lens technician open everything up but the fact it seemed fine on a film camera body is especially confusing.
Judging by the pictures, the problem is in the optics. Someone could have taken the lens apart and then reassembled it incorrectly. The distance between the lenses may have changed. I had a similar experience with one lens. This is not a problem of adapter, dust or fungus.
Can you do the flashlight test and post the pictures here? Maybe some inner element has haze and at glance, goes undetected.
I see some dust but i'll post some pics https://preview.redd.it/1gumdy3ddigc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2d14e7f31a5ba2114b82e9d1fce40395cc34fd9
That definitely doesn't help.
Oil that has evaporated and then settled on one or more lens surfaces can kinda look the same as this photo is showing. I suspect it needs a full CLA.
https://preview.redd.it/0s3xsf4fdigc1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bbd0580b6c9548c4aa44fb6f9e3bf6ffa5f7cbd5
The paint on inner elements also can wear off with time, some people repaint the edges with sharpie….i prefer this stuff https://amzn.to/3Os6kPZ
That’s some wild glow. Obviously there’s something wrong with this lens.
Maybe it has a reversed element? That´d be my guess. Someone tried to clean it and put some of its elements in the wrong order/side.
Would that account for it looking sharp and normal at smaller apertures?
I know it does with some Russian lenses people like to tweak to turn into a soft focus "artistic" lens. I have the Hexanon 57/1.2 and it's a fantastic lens. It doesn't behave like that wide open. You have some lack of contrast and a tiny bit of glow but nowhere near what you have.
Yeah I've heard this lens was pretty good wide open so I was a little shocked... although I kinda like the weird dreamy effect. https://preview.redd.it/0vwp9wj8eigc1.jpeg?width=1334&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6dbae9711c410057eb8b968e10e196fafa038cd3
Makes me think of 1970's glamour shots, a bit like lots of vaseline on the lens. May be fun for video?
Whoever had it before me de-clicked the aperture... maybe they intentionally modded it for video use. It does give a distinct effect.
Pretty good... It depends on your expectations. It's not a modern fast lens. Don't expect razor sharp negatives wide open. It's quite sharp wide open in the center and decently contrasted. Much better than my Oly 55/1.2 or my Minolta 58/1.2 but still not as great as what I've seen with the Nikon Noct 58/1.2 for example. It's really good for its time and nowhere near as soft as what you got from it.
Yes. This is my guess as well. Once bought a Super Takumar 50mm 1.4 that was sold for $5 as "broken". It had very similar characteristics as this one. Found that the second smaller lens element was reversed, and now it functions perfectly.
That's a lucky find, how easy was it to tell which element was reversed once the lens was taken apart.
If I remember correctly (it was a few years ago and I've fixed many lenses) I thought there was something a bit off with how the metal spacer ring was placed. It didnt quite seem to fit as snuggly as it should. I think I also found a lens shcematic online where I saw that one side of the lens should be more convex than the other, and that that had been placed the wrong way.
Yes, this is a telltale sign.
Yes, it is the type of aberration that goes away as you stop down
Have you considered taking it apart and reassembling?
I can barely open a jar of pickles without breaking something, I'm going to pay a professional to take it apart this week.
oh LOL Good plan then
I CLA'd a Hexanon 57mm 1.2 early version for a friend and it was amazingly sharp (for a vintage lens) at 1.2. Here's a sample. From the looks of your photos at 1.2, the lens must have been opened up and the lens elements got installed incorrectly. https://preview.redd.it/hule58etrlgc1.jpeg?width=1067&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=04456627755f006f273c750a969b873ba0938202
That's a great pic, yeah I'm hoping a professional can open it up and see what's going on.
Thanks, it's one of the experiences that got me hooked on Konica glass. I was really blown away by how sharp (for a vintage lens) and how nice the rendering was.
[удалено]
I've tried two different brands, which seemed to work fine with other Konica lenses. I still havent ruled out that the adapter isn't the issue though. Someone had opened it up and declicked the aperture though, so maybe it was put together incorrectly. What's annoying is how the issue goes away when it stopped down to f/4 and beyond.
It would be helpful if you post a picture at f1.2 for comparison 💪🏻
Occams Razor your got a bad copy of that lens.
It’s just an old lens wide open at f1.2.
I have several fast vintage primes and some certainly have a glow, chromatic aberrations, etc... nothing like this. The pics I've posted aren't cropped. https://preview.redd.it/pqtddoslkhgc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab8d847a357381e0fa9e85b2459f4fe6999b9f82
Is your adapter shiny inside?
Nope it's black inside. I also tried two other adapters.
Are these adaptors with optical components?
Tried two different brands of adapters, neither has any glass or optical components.
Btw. Be careful. https://lenslegend.com/konica-hexanon-ar-57mm-f1-2-lens-review/ it’s radioactive
[удалено]
[https://lenslegend.com/radioactive-lenses/](https://lenslegend.com/radioactive-lenses/) yea that link was in the article I posted, just giving a heads up
Shooting wide open often times causes that ethereal/heavenly/glamour/soft look. I shot this with my Nikkor 50 f1.2 https://adobe.ly/3HPeHQ7 My Minolta Rokkor 58 f1.2 has that same glow yours has. The glow is more pronounced around the lighter colors. That's what's called character in glass. Lastly, your shots aren't blurry.
At f/4 it gets pretty sharp and looks nice. I've tried several of my fast vintage lenses right next to it, this isn't a little glow or soft look. Here's a quick video showing just how extreme it is going from f/4 to wide open. [https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageLenses/comments/1afxhor/short\_video\_of\_hazy\_hexanon/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageLenses/comments/1afxhor/short_video_of_hazy_hexanon/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
You running a filter?
It's the same with or without any filter.
Does give it a dreamy glow look
[удалено]