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Rare version Konica Hexanon 57mm 1.4?
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 6:50 pm    Post subject: Rare version Konica Hexanon 57mm 1.4? Reply with quote
I ended up buying a bag of old camera gear from a friend for a good price, and one of the lenses that I pulled out of it is this beautiful Konica Hexanon 57mm 1.4 (This is the non AR version) in absolute mint condition. I have came across many of these lenses and followed them on Ebay, but I have never encountered an all black version that is non AR. I thought they only made this version having a chrome ring where the distance scale is. I know they made the Konica Hexanon AR version in all black, and at first I thought someone just switched out the name plate on the front of the lens, but the Konica Hexanon AR version never had screws in the focus ring, while the non AR version did. The all black version isn't even described on Buhla's site (http://www.buhla.de/Foto/Konica/Objektive/e57_14.html). He only describes the chrome version, while the only all black is the Hexanon AR. I know there are some Konica fans on this website, have you ever seen this version of this lens? I am guessing they made a few of them for the black Konica T camera, but since those cameras are quite rare as well, I am guessing this isn't a very common lens.







PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 8:46 pm    Post subject: Re: Rare version Konica Hexanon 57mm 1.4? Reply with quote
verbatimium wrote:
I ended up buying a bag of old camera gear from a friend for a good price, and one of the lenses that I pulled out of it is this beautiful Konica Hexanon 57mm 1.4 (This is the non AR version) in absolute mint condition. I have came across many of these lenses and followed them on Ebay, but I have never encountered an all black version that is non AR. I thought they only made this version having a chrome ring where the distance scale is. I know they made the Konica Hexanon AR version in all black, and at first I thought someone just switched out the name plate on the front of the lens, but the Konica Hexanon AR version never had screws in the focus ring, while the non AR version did. The all black version isn't even described on Buhla's site (http://www.buhla.de/Foto/Konica/Objektive/e57_14.html). He only describes the chrome version, while the only all black is the Hexanon AR. I know there are some Konica fans on this website, have you ever seen this version of this lens? I am guessing they made a few of them for the black Konica T camera, but since those cameras are quite rare as well, I am guessing this isn't a very common lens.

This is indeed a rare sight. There were occasionally lenses made at the factory of various parts that happened to be left over from a previous version, but I don’t think this makes it yet another “version”. This said, I would strongly suspect that this lens has been rebuilt and was, originally, a lens with the aluminum ring. The reason I think so is that the lettering on the front ring is in large block letters and Konica changed this lettering to a finer and smaller font while the aluminum ring versions were still being produced, i.e., sometime in 1968. This change of lettering roughly coincided in time with the introduction of Konica’sColor Dynamic Coating.
Incidentally, I should point out that all AR is the name of the mount and, a such, all lenses that mount on it are AR lenses. There are no “non-AR versions”. I suspect what you mean by this not being an AR lens is that it doesn’t have a automatic exposure lock button on the aperture ring. It still operates in AE mode if you set the aperture to EE. The lock feature was only added so that one wouldn’t accidentally change the setting.
Yet the absence of this lock button on this lens is indeed, very puzzling, as only the very first Hexanons from 1965 and 1966 were without one. And the ones without such a button had different serial numbers too. When the Autoreflex T came along (1968), all Hexanon lenses, except the preset ones, had this button.


PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 8:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for the reply. By saying "non-AR" I was talking about "AR" not being present in the name plate label on the front of the lens, as in Konica Hexanon 1:1.4 f=57mm vs Konica Hexanon AR 57mm F1.4.

I was initially thinking that this lens was rebuilt but I am almost certain it is not and it is just a rare version of the of the more common chrome ring non-AR lens. As you can see from the below pictures of the common chrome ring non-AR and chrome ring/all black AR versions of this lens, only the non-AR has screws in the focus ring. As well, the distance scale section of the all black AR lens is completely different than the non-AR lens, so there is actually no black distance scale section in black that looks like this from my knowledge.

non-AR, chrome ring:..............................THIS IS MY LENS:


AR, chrome ring:.....................................AR, all black:


PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have one too all black EE, AR lens, not sure about label ring , Konica HExanons are not very common lenses , especially in Europe.


PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Attila wrote:
I have one too all black EE, AR lens, not sure about label ring , Konica HExanons are not very common lenses , especially in Europe.


Attila, does yours look like the one I posted though, or the more common all black one with the nameplate: Konica Hexanon AR 57mm F1.4. Also take note of how the distance scale portion of the lens looks, as well as whether there is a button to lock the EE.


PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I forgot that I had the AR version as well so I took a picture of them side by side. The "non-AR" version on the left, the "AR" version on the right. You can see how different they actually are, and the lens is actually the same as the more common "non-AR" chrome ringed version, except this one is in black which I never came across before.

Some differences to note:
Distance scale is different
EE lock button
Screws on the focus ring
Tip of the focus ring on the "Non-AR" version is chrome, while the "AR" version is black
Nameplate: Konica Hexanon 1:1.4 f=57mm vs Konica Hexanon AR 57mm F1.4
"Non-AR" version has "LENS MADE IN JAPAN" on distance scale ring, while "AR" version does not





PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Different edition, perhaps different maker too ? Konica 24mm AR has also two versions. No idea , difference is well visible thanks to you!


PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
verbatimium wrote:
I forgot that I had the AR version as well so I took a picture of them side by side. The "non-AR" version on the left, the "AR" version on the right. You can see how different they actually are, and the lens is actually the same as the more common "non-AR" chrome ringed version, except this one is in black which I never came across before.

Some differences to note:
Distance scale is different
EE lock button
Screws on the focus ring
Tip of the focus ring on the "Non-AR" version is chrome, while the "AR" version is black
Nameplate: Konica Hexanon 1:1.4 f=57mm vs Konica Hexanon AR 57mm F1.4
"Non-AR" version has "LENS MADE IN JAPAN" on distance scale ring, while "AR" version does not





You are right, this is different from anything I've seen before (and I've been playing with Hexanons since the 1970s). The build of the focusing scale ring is definitely of the aluminum-type vintage, with the "Lens made in Japan" and the "57" inscriptions (only the earliest aluminum ring versions had them in that locations and in this font) and the knurls that go clear across the ring. I suspect this may be something of a prototype. But I would date it even earlier the the Autoreflex T. I suspect it went with the Auto-Reflex, the body with half-frame mode, which was also made in a black version. One way to check would be to look at the tab near the aperture cam. There should be a notch in it. If it's fully rectangular, without any notch, it was made for a non-TTL body (the Auto-Reflex). You can see what I mean halfway down this page on Andreas Buhl's site: http://buhla.de/Foto/Konica/eHexanonHaupt.html


PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hmmm. The mount looks to be identical on both lenses, other then flat head vs cross head screws used.

Non-AR version on left, AR version on right


I honestly just think this is the exact same lens as the chrome ringed version that they made (they look identical), except this one is just all black. It looks identical to this one (other then the distances being in both feet and meters on the black version that I have):



Also in the bag of camera gear that I bought, I found an all black Konica T camera, I my guess is that Konica made the chrome ringed version of this lens into an all black lens specifically to go with the black Konica T camera.


PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
probably mix series when they did change finish they did use both type of parts.


PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
verbatimium wrote:
Hmmm. The mount looks to be identical on both lenses, other then flat head vs cross head screws used.

Non-AR version on left, AR version on right


I honestly just think this is the exact same lens as the chrome ringed version that they made (they look identical), except this one is just all black. It looks identical to this one (other then the distances being in both feet and meters on the black version that I have):



Also in the bag of camera gear that I bought, I found an all black Konica T camera, I my guess is that Konica made the chrome ringed version of this lens into an all black lens specifically to go with the black Konica T camera.


I meant the tabs sticking out from the baffle, perpendicularly to the mount plane, next to the aperture cam. I can't see them on your picture. The notch I'm talking about is (or not) on them.
EDIT: If there is no notch you can be sure the lens is an Auto-Reflex vintage lens. If there is a notch, it could still be one, except modified by Konica. Once the Autoreflex T came in, Konica used to modify older lenses so they could be used in TTL AE mode, by replacing the tab with one that had the appropriate notch. The company did this free of charge BTW.
Incidentally, the flat screws are another sign that it may be a Auto-Reflex era lens.

Last edited by konicamera on Mon Feb 24, 2014 3:58 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 11:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
konicamera wrote:
I meant the tabs sticking out from the baffle, perpendicularly to the mount plane, next to the aperture cam. I can't see them on your picture. The notch I'm talking about is (or not) on them.
EDIT: If there is no notch you can be sure the lens is an AUto-Reflex vintage lens. If there isn't, it could still be one, except that it was modified by Konica. Once the Autoreflex T came in, Konica used to modify older lenses so they could be used in TTL AE mode, by replacing the tab with one that had a notch in it. THey did this free of charge BTW
Incidentally, the flat screws are another indicator that it's probably an Auto-Reflex era lens.


Oh I see. Both lenses have identical notches on the tabs.


PostPosted: Sun Feb 23, 2014 2:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I ever had a Konica 50mm F1.4 with a smallest aperture of F16 with full stop aperture clicks. This version is also not mentioned on Buhla. I guess Konica had a few minor evolutions in their designs, your 57mm being one of them. It looks very nice.


PostPosted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 2:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Rawit wrote:
I ever had a Konica 50mm F1.4 with a smallest aperture of F16 with full stop aperture clicks. This version is also not mentioned on Buhla. I guess Konica had a few minor evolutions in their designs, your 57mm being one of them. It looks very nice.


True. I guess there were some variations that didn't get mass produced as they were probably replaced by new versions very fast. Still even the F16 50mm F1.4 with full stop aperture clicks, I have seen this one go on Ebay from time to time. I have never seen the version of the 57mm that I have before (the all black ones that I came across were always the AR version). I have tried digging through various sources and pictures on the net to find one that looks like mine but still cant. The closest lens that it resembles is the non-AR chrome ringed 57mm F1.4 which looks identical except for the fact that it isn't all black, and it doesn't have both feet and meters in the distance scale. Otherwise it looks identical.
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