Hexanon 57/1.4 and B&W

[Pontus]

The Hexanon 57/1.4 is supposed to be great especially with B&W so I decided to take the lens on an evening walk. Photos in JPG with my old Sony NEX-5N, high contrast black and white monotone preset. All pictures at f5.6. ISO 400 and ISO 800.

[kryss]

Very nice B&W...

[TrueLoveOne]

Nice set! I don't use mine enough..... i should though, you prove it!

Beautiful boat in 3 and 4 btw!

[tromboads]

Images look great,

I'm intrigued by " is supposed to be great especially with B&W " however. Is that pillow talk for has heaps of CA? Or is it meaning contrast is good? Surely that would be of use to Colour images too?

[miran]

Beautiful shots. Difficult to pick favourites as they're all very nice.

[Pontus]

Thanks everyone!

The Konica Hexanon 57/1.4 does well in colour also: http://forum.mflenses.com/konica-hexanon-ar-1-4-57-nex-7-t45819,highlight,%2Bhexanon.html

I don't know why this lens is said to be special when it comes to black and white. Maybe it is the old style rendering. The transitions from in-focus to out of focus. The micro-contrast. The not so perfect aberration control, or the opposite. I really don't know. But I do know that I like the results. In fact, I think this lens will find a permanent home on my old NEX-5N as a B&W only tool. The out of the camera JPGs in High Contrast Monotone preset mode are quite nice.

Does anyone lese have any insight into why this lens is or isn't particularly well suited for black and white photography?

[TrueLoveOne]

Here's an old thread of my 1.4/57 on a film body, Konica FS-1, loaded with Foma 100:
(first 2 pics were taken with the 1.8/40)

http://forum.mflenses.com/konica-fs-1-1-8-40-and-1-4-57-on-fomapan-100-t60542,highlight,%2Bkonica+%2B1+%2B4+%2B57.html

[JJB]

I wonder if part of the credit goes to your NEX-5? And to your skills as a photographer? The boat image is especially nice.

I have a number of KH lenses, not the 57/1.4 but the 50/1.7 and several others. On the Fuji XE-1, using its B&W settings, the results I have obtained are nothing extra. However, converting to B&W in PP, they can be very pleasing. Just for fun, I converted this test shot I took this morning in JPEG with the KH 200/3.5. Taken at ISO 400, f 5.6 or thereabouts.

[StillSanj]

I couldn't begin to explain why its good for B&W except for good contrast and rendering, but those shots are lovely. The water in the first one looks really nice.