M-Hexanon 2.8/90 on Bessa R2 / R3a?

thmk · 11-26-2004

Hello, I am looking for a 90mm lens for use on the Bessa. The M-Hexanon would be my favourite because of its reasonable price and inbuilt hood but I am a little bit unsure because of all these discussions about incompatibilities with the M-Hexanon lenses on other cameras than the Hexar RF. Does someone have experiences with the combination Bessa / M-Hexanon? Or should I better take the Voigtländer APO-Lanthar into consideration? The Elmarit-M would be the first class solution I assume but I cannot afford it.
Many thanks for your help.

rover · 11-26-2004

Welcome to the group thmk!

I believe the compatibility issue was with some of the Hexar bodies, not the lenses. That being said, my concern would be the baselength of the R2's rangefinder. Supposedly the 90/3.5 is as long and fast a lens that the R2 can focus. I guess there are 2 peices of good news to go along with this. First, it is an excellent lens, and there are pleanty of people around here that shoot longer and some faster lenses with their R2s.

And just a question, what is the going price for the Hexanon 90 these days? I didn't think that it was much less than the Tele-Elmarit ($500ish max I think) which I agree would be a great find.

peter_n · 11-26-2004

Welcome to the forum thmk!

I can't speak to the Bessa, but I had the 90mm/f2.8 M-Hexanon on a Leica M6 for a while and had no focusing problems at all. It's just a great lens!

Huck Finn · 11-26-2004

Rover, I would think that the increased magnification of the R3A would make it ideal for focusing a 90/2.8, wouldn't it?

EDIT - Erwin Puts says that an effective baselength of 29mm is needed to focus a 90/2.8 - just beyond the reach of the R2's 25mm EBL, but comfortably within the 37mm EBL of the R3A.

rover · 11-26-2004

Correct Huck, my comments are in regards to the R2. I forgot to mention that the R3a should be fine.

thmk · 11-27-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by rover
And just a question, what is the going price for the Hexanon 90 these days? I didn't think that it was much less than the Tele-Elmarit ($500ish max I think) which I agree would be a great find.

The cheapest offer for a new lens I could find here in Germany is about 555 Euro. Compared to the 1295 Euro for the Elmarit-M that is quite a difference.

rover · 11-27-2004

I think you can do really well with a used Tele-Elmarit, type 2 as described on this page.

http://www.kbcamera.com/elmarit90mm.htm

My thought is that the Konica new and used TE would be about equal. They are both excellent lenses, and in my little mind the 39mm filter thread of the Leica lens is a plus because my 21, 35, and 50 all take 39mm filters. The CV 90 also takes 39mm filters.

thmk · 12-02-2004

I found a type 2 Tele-Elmarit with a serial over 3060000 for 400 Euro at a local store (condition "B", including 1 year warranty for used goods according to the EU guidelines). Maybe I do not insist on the built-in lens hood as offered by the Konica and take the Tele-Elmarit and save some bucks :-) Thank you for your hints.

rover · 12-02-2004

Sounds like a good deal, congrats.

peter_n · 12-02-2004

That's around $530 which sounds like a reasonable price. The slide-out lens hood can sometimes be a problem, but the Konica ones work better than the Leica ones, that's for sure.