Lomo MC Volna 50mm F1.8 Review   2017-02-04 by Robert Deep Lomo MC Volna 50mm f1.8 is somewhat rare Russian Pentax K mount lens. This affects the value for money a bit. It was a kit lens for the Almaz-103 professional camera. The camera was produced from 1973 to late 80s. Russians made only around 9500 copies of the camera and even fewer copies of this lens. Almaz (Diamond) cameras were excellent cameras and they generally supplied good lenses. Lomo MC Volna 50mm f1.8 is no exception. The lens is very well constructed with an all metallic design and polished look. It feels like a tank although it's not so bulky. This lens has a depth of 46mm and it weighs 253g. It's still not too heavy for a walk-around lens but it's on the heavy side for my taste. Focusing is manual with the focus ring located in the front of the lens. Focus ring turns for about 270° what makes focusing precise and enjoyable. The rubberized part of the focusing ring is 9 mm wide and provides a firm grip. The minimum focusing distance is 45cm. Unfortunately, my beat-up copy of this lens is not mechanically flawless and it suffers from some focus skipping near infinity. It's still usable but it takes some extra time to achieve accurate focus.  (C)Robert Deep Lomo MC Volna 50mm F1.8 profile photo Aperture ranges from F1.8 to F22 with half stops in between. Moving between aperture settings is accompanied with soft clicks. The metal aperture ring has nice corrugation which totally eliminates slipping. Iris diaphragm has 6 blades forming hexagon shape from F4 onward. From F2.4 to F4 blade petals form so-called wave shape (check the picture above). My copy has some oil stains on blade petals and is working properly only down to F11. It usually stucks between F11 and F16. (C)Robert Deep 4608 x 3456 px - Unmodified full-size sample - Olympus OM-D E-M5 Lomo Volna 50mm @f5.6, 1/800s, ISO 200 Both full resolution samples are jpeg files copied directly from the camera and are not processed with any additional software. (C)Robert Deep 4608 x 3456 px - Unmodified full-size sample - Olympus OM-D E-M5 Lomo Volna 50mm @f4, 1/500s, ISO 200 Lomo MC Volna has a good multi-coating with a distinctive red glow. Optical design features 6 elements in 5 groups (Ultron design) and is similar to Zenitar-M 50mm f1.7 lens. The official resolution should be 45/27 lpmm. In other words... it's quite sharp for an old lens. Close distance shots at f1.8 may be little soft while far distant ones are showing better sharpness. You have to put a lot of love in close focusing at f1.8 - DOF is extremely shallow. It gets easier when you move away from the subject. (C)Robert Deep Lomo MC Volna 50mm @f1.8 - resized crop (C)Robert Deep Lomo MC Volna 50mm @f1.8 - resized crop (C)Robert Deep 100% crop from original jpg (no sharpness or any other setting applied) - Olympus OM-D E-M5 Lomo Volna 50mm @f1.8, 1/80s, ISO 200 Colors are rich and well saturated when stopped down for a stop or two and softer when wide open. It's the same story with the contrast. Bokeh is not perfect but is quite smooth and nice looking for an f1.8 lens. Circles of confusion are nicely rounded at f1.8 but if you stop down to f2.8 they get circular saw blade shape. (C)Robert Deep Lomo MC Volna 50mm @f8, 1/100s, ISO 200 - backlight test (C)Robert Deep Lomo MC Volna 50mm @f8, 1/800s, ISO 200 - no CA visible The lens handles backlight situations with ease. It's possible to get some unwanted flare effects in certain situations (purple fringe). CA is also well controlled although some purple fringe may be visible at the corners. Lens hood might help in some situations.  CONCLUSION: Volna MC Lomo 50mm f1.8 is very well constructed Russian lens for Pentax-K mount. Optical performance of this lens is good. It's sharp enough even wide open. It gets really sharp when stopped down for a stop. Colors are well saturated with good contrast. Bokeh is soft and very pleasant for an f1.8 lens. It has no problems with backlight situations. CA is well controlled. The lens is rare so expect to pay a little more for it. PROS: - solid metallic construction- good sharpness even wide open, really sharp when stopped down- well saturated colors with good contrast- no problem with the backlight- CA is well controlled- smooth bokeh for an f1.8 lens CONS: - expensive for a normal f1.8 lens- rare and hard to get- heavy for 50mm f1.8

Konica Hexanon AR 52mm F1.8 Review 2016-07-30 by Robert Deep I bought this lens on Ebay for $40 USD without expecting too much from it. The lens arrived with an original Konica push-on metallic front cap and some generic rear cap. It's an early chrome ring AR mount version for Auto-Reflex system cameras. It's in pretty good condition considering its age. Sure, there are some minor mechanical glitches and some cosmetic ones, but that is to be expected for an old lens like this.Konica introduced new AR (Auto-Reflex) bayonet system in 1965. Older Konica lenses fit F bayonet mount. There are at least 7 versions of this lens. The early chromeAR version can be recognized by the yellow EE markings and no EE lock (EE was renamed to AE on later versions). (C)Robert Deep Konica Hexanon 52mm F1.8 profile - Olympus OM-D E-M5 Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm @f6.3, 1/30s, ISO 200 Konica Hexanon AR 52mm features 6 elements in 5 groups optical design. The front and the rear glass element are both single coated. Coating changed a lot through the versions and is much better later on. The front element is deeply recessed and forms a kind of lens hood and makes the lens more resistant to the side and scattered light. The lens is fully metallic in construction and is very well built like all older Japanese lenses. Chrome ring adds to the design and makes this lens stand out from the all black crowd. The lens is really beautiful. Filter size is 55mm. Lens with the original front cap weights 222g and is not too heavy for using with modern mirrorless bodies. The lens is very convenient for everyday use. Aperture ranges from f1.8 to f16 with middle stops in between and a special EE position. A metallic aperture ring is 6mm wide with a ribbed design. Switching between aperture settings is easy and accompanied with prominent clicks. The diaphragm has 6 blades and it forms nice hexagon shape when closed down. Focusing is manual with a metallic focusing ring located in the front of the lens. The focus ring is 18mm wide and 10mm of it has a splined grip. It rotates for about 250° so focusing can be precise. Distance markings are well placed ranging from 0.45-10m and to infinity.  It's pretty easy to focus with a digital camera using focus peaking or zoom function. (C)Robert Deep 4608 x 3456 px - Unmodified full-size sample - Olympus OM-D E-M5 Konica Hexanon 52mm f1.8 @f5.6, 1/160s, ISO 200 The full resolution sample above is jpeg file copied directly from the camera and is not processed with any additional software. The optical quality of this lens is quite good as all of Konica lenses. It's not the best Konica lens out there but it's certainly good enough. Successors like Konica 50mm f1.7 and f1.4 are better performers. Konica Hexanon AR 52mm is capable of producing sharp images with sufficient contrast and natural colors (when stopped down a bit). Side light resistance is well controlled, but the backlight scenes are a bit of a challenge for this lens and will produce some flare. (C)Robert Deep Konica Hexanon AR 52mm F1.8 - lens flare test (C)Robert Deep Konica Hexanon AR 52mm F1.8 - lens flare test   When wide open this Konica lens produces slightly harsh bokeh. Out of focus highlights are rendered as "bad" bokeh.  A more distant background is nicely smoothed but there is still some room for improvement. (C)Robert Deep Konica Hexanon AR 52mm F1.8 - "bad" bokeh test @f1.8 (C)Robert Deep Konica Hexanon AR 52mm F1.8 - smooth bokeh test @f1.8 CONCLUSION: Chrome ring version of Konica Hexanon AR 52mm f1.8 is very well built and lovely looking lens. Optical performance is good although not excellent. Stopped down few stops it produces decent quality photos with natural colors and good contrast. It's suitable for portraits and street photography but not so much for landscapes. Should you buy this lens? If you're looking for a well balanced and cheap lens to play with, then you should definitely consider buying it.  PROS: - solid metallic construction- decent sharpness and contrast when stopped down few stops- pleasant natural colors - resistant to the side light (eliminates the need for a lens hood)- eye-catching design- cheap and widely available- chromatic aberration is well controlledCONS: - soft wide open with some loss of contrast- prone to flare - especially ghosting- bokeh could be better