2015
Konica AR 40 f1.8 - Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde
The Konica AR 40 f1.8 was a standard lens shipped with some Konica SLRs starting in 1979 and produced throughout the early 80s.
I got this lens for 50 bucks not expecting a whole lot. I mean, how good can a lens that costs so little be? Pretty damn good, actually, and sometimes pretty damn bad, too.
Konica AR 40mm f1.8 specs:
I got this lens for 50 bucks not expecting a whole lot. I mean, how good can a lens that costs so little be? Pretty damn good, actually, and sometimes pretty damn bad, too.
Konica AR 40mm f1.8 specs:
- 6 elements in 5 groups
- Weight - 140 grams
- Length - 27 mm (48mm with adapter)
- Filter size - 55 mm
- Min. focus distance - 0.45 m
- Aperture - 6 blades, f1.8 to f22 in full stops
Build Quality/Handling (Very good/Excellent)
The Konica AR mount has the shortest flange focal distance (40.5mm) of any 35mm SLR system. This means that the AR to E-mount adapter is thinner than most other adapters, creating a truly compact package with this pancake lens. Together the combo is only 50mm long and is a great fit for the Sony A7s, resembling in look and size classic standard SLR lenses of the 70s and 80s.
The build quality is surprisingly good for such a cheap lens. It's a combo of plastic and metal with a rubberized, just adequately wide focus ring that's slightly stiff on my copy. The focus throw is pretty short at about 130˚.
The plastic aperture ring feels ok and clicks between f-stops well-enough, but is slightly 'spongy'-feeling, lacking the confident metal clicks of something like a Canon FL lens (but is better than Canon FDn). While we're on the subject, I wish the lens had an f-stop between f1/8 and f2.8, but oh well...
Image Quality (Sometimes great/Sometimes not so good)
As the title of this review suggests, this lens has multiple personalities. There are times when it can produce great images, and some of my favorite shots from the Sony A7s have been taken with it. The AR 40 can be sharp, contrasty, with nice colour rendition, and good bokeh. At the same time, there are situations in which it is at best challenging, and at worst virtually unusable. Let's look at the good stuff first.
Sharpness is pretty good wide open, but images can be a bit 'glowy' (visible in the flower example).
The Konica AR mount has the shortest flange focal distance (40.5mm) of any 35mm SLR system. This means that the AR to E-mount adapter is thinner than most other adapters, creating a truly compact package with this pancake lens. Together the combo is only 50mm long and is a great fit for the Sony A7s, resembling in look and size classic standard SLR lenses of the 70s and 80s.
The build quality is surprisingly good for such a cheap lens. It's a combo of plastic and metal with a rubberized, just adequately wide focus ring that's slightly stiff on my copy. The focus throw is pretty short at about 130˚.
The plastic aperture ring feels ok and clicks between f-stops well-enough, but is slightly 'spongy'-feeling, lacking the confident metal clicks of something like a Canon FL lens (but is better than Canon FDn). While we're on the subject, I wish the lens had an f-stop between f1/8 and f2.8, but oh well...
Image Quality (Sometimes great/Sometimes not so good)
As the title of this review suggests, this lens has multiple personalities. There are times when it can produce great images, and some of my favorite shots from the Sony A7s have been taken with it. The AR 40 can be sharp, contrasty, with nice colour rendition, and good bokeh. At the same time, there are situations in which it is at best challenging, and at worst virtually unusable. Let's look at the good stuff first.
Sharpness is pretty good wide open, but images can be a bit 'glowy' (visible in the flower example).
f1.8 ISO 100
100% centre crop
|
100% edge crop
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f1.8 ISO 320
100% crop
f1.8 ISO 6400
100% crop
f1.8/ISO 100
100%
|
f4/ISO 100
100%
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f5.6/ISO 100
100%
Stopped down sharpness looks good and the lens becomes increasingly sharp at higher f-stops at close-focusing distances and infinity, which is good news for those interested in shooting close-ups or landscapes, or both.
Corner shading is not an issue wide open and distortion appears to be minimal as well. Bokeh is generally pleasing but can get a bit harsh with high contrast backgrounds.
Corner shading is not an issue wide open and distortion appears to be minimal as well. Bokeh is generally pleasing but can get a bit harsh with high contrast backgrounds.
f1.8/ISO 100
f1.8/ISO 400
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f1.8/ISO 400
f1.8/ISO 100
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f1.8/ISO 100
The image above illustrates the somewhat nervous bokeh produced by the lens in certain conditions, visible especially in the top corners of the frame. The photo also shows one of several weaknesses of this lens - susceptibility to flare (particularly wide open), seen above as slight veiling in the bottom of the frame. It's pretty minor here but it can get pretty spectacular, especially with the light source just outside the angle of view.
f1.8/ISO 320
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f1.8/ISO 100
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As seen in the photo on the right (above), stray light is accompanied by general loss of contrast. The good news is that stopping down to f2.8 improves matters quite a bit.
f1.8/ISO 100
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f2.8/ISO 100
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The AR 40 has a fair bit of chromatic aberrations up to about f4 (visible, for example, in the electrical pole in the top-left corner of the frame in the photos above). But where it truly shines (in a bad way) is high contrast highlights at night.
f1.8/ISO 5000
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This little lens turns into a terrible monstrosity after sundown and the photo above shows the full horror its capable of in the dark - there's coma, halation, purple fringing, and ghosting (also purple). I gotta say, it's a bit of a mess. Fortunately, most of these problems do improve significantly upon stopping down; unfortunately, the purple ghosting remains, hanging around like an unwanted guest. All in all, a disappointing performance at night.
Conclusion
Would I buy this lens again knowing what I know now about it's dark side? Yes! In fact, it's probably my favorite daytime lens - it's small, good enough wide open, fast enough to give decent subject isolation, and sharp enough stopped down for rendering finer detail. It's also pretty contrasty with nice colours, and the RAWs I get when using this lens don't require much post-processing. Finally, I love the 40mm focal length and the extra room it gives when shooting in tight quarters. It's a great compromise between the 35mm (sometimes a little too wide for me) and a 50mm focal length and I wish there were more 40mm lenses out there.
For the price, you really can't go wrong... during daytime hours (just make sure you get a lens hood to minimize its flare problems).
Check out the Motion Studies section to view a short video shot with the Konica in Tokyo's Asakusa district a few weeks ago.
Related reviews
Sample Images
Conclusion
Would I buy this lens again knowing what I know now about it's dark side? Yes! In fact, it's probably my favorite daytime lens - it's small, good enough wide open, fast enough to give decent subject isolation, and sharp enough stopped down for rendering finer detail. It's also pretty contrasty with nice colours, and the RAWs I get when using this lens don't require much post-processing. Finally, I love the 40mm focal length and the extra room it gives when shooting in tight quarters. It's a great compromise between the 35mm (sometimes a little too wide for me) and a 50mm focal length and I wish there were more 40mm lenses out there.
For the price, you really can't go wrong... during daytime hours (just make sure you get a lens hood to minimize its flare problems).
Check out the Motion Studies section to view a short video shot with the Konica in Tokyo's Asakusa district a few weeks ago.
Related reviews
Sample Images
