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