Konishiroku lenses in Leica screw mount

This article is a stub. You can help Camera-wiki.org by expanding it.

This is a work in progress.

Konishiroku (predecessor of Konica) made three standard lenses in Leica screw mount in the 1950s. In the 1990s, before the introduction of the Hexar RF, Konica made other lenses for the same mount: see Konica lenses in Leica screw mount.

Commercially produced lenses

Announced in 1954

In October 1954, Konishiroku exhibited various products that were under development in three department stores in Tokyo; among them were four different lenses in Leica screw mount. These included two Hexanon standard lenses: a 60mm f/1.2 and a 50mm f/1.9. The following year, the company released a range of three standard lenses: first a 50mm f/3.5 Hexar in collapsible mount, from Spring, then the two Hexanon, from December.

Hexar 50mm f/3.5, collapsible

The Hexar 50mm f/3.5 lens has a Tessar-like formula, of four elements in three groups. The same lens was mounted on the Konica I and IIB at the same period. The version in Leica screw mount normally has a all-chrome collapsible barrel, obviously inspired by the Leitz Elmar 5cm f/3.5. The aperture scale is on the side of the front part, graduated from 3.5 to 22, and the diaphragm is positioned behind the second lens element.

To be continued.

List of lenses

• 35mm f/2.5 Hexanon (six elements in five groups), rigid, all chrome, focusing tab (experimental only)
• 50mm f/3.5 Hexar (four elements in three groups), collapsible, all chrome, focusing tab
• 50mm f/3.5 Hexar (four elements in three groups), rigid, all chrome
• 50mm f/3.5 Hexanon, collapsible, all chrome, focusing tab (on the Ichicon-35)
• 50mm f/1.9 Hexanon (six elements in five groups), all chrome, focusing tab, ¥23,500
• 50mm f/1.8 Hexanon, black and chrome (experimental only, for the Konica FR)
• 50mm f/1.5 Hexanon (seven elements in five groups), all chrome, focusing tab (experimental only)
• 60mm f/1.2 Hexanon (seven elements in six groups), black and chrome, ¥78,000
• 75mm f/3.5 Hexanon^{source needed}
• 135mm f/3.5 Hexanon, black and chrome (experimental only)
• 15cm f/4.5 Hexar Ser.1, pictured in this page at mflenses.com, all chrome barrel, perhaps for Leica screw mount
• 40cm f5.6 Tele-Hexar (Note: lens uses a 39mm LTM, but it is unknown if it were intended for use on rangefinder cameras or on other cameras using that mount.)

Among these, several of the standard lenses were notably mounted on the Honor, Ichicon-35, Chiyoca and Chiyotax.

Bibliography

• Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Konika FR" (コニカFR, Konica FR). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.58, March 2001. ISBN 4-257-13032-6. Tokushū: Raika bukku '01 Raika kenkyū (特集:ライカブック'01・ライカ研究, Leica book '01: Leica research). Pp.80–3.
• Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). Articles in Sekai no Raika renzu (世界のライカレンズ, Leica lenses of the world) Part 1. Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2003. ISBN 4-87956-061-8.
  • "Hexanon 50mm F1.9". Pp.130–1.
  • "Hexar 50mm F3.5". Pp.128–9.
  • "Raika to sekai no raika-yō renzu" (ライカと世界のライカ用レンズ, Leica and other Leica-mount lenses). Pp.178–88.
• Hishida Kōshirō (菱田耕四郎). "Konica history 10. Sengo no kamera." (Konica history 10. 戦後のカメラ. Postwar cameras.) Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.10, September 1987. No ISBN number. Konishiroku kamera no rekishi (小西六カメラの歴史, special issue on Konishiroku). Pp.60–75 and 156–7.
• Miyazaki Shigemoto (宮崎繁幹). Konika kamera no 50nen: Konika I-gata kara Hekisā RF e (コニカカメラの50年：コニカI型からヘキサーRFへ, Fifty years of Konica cameras: From the Konica I to the Hexar RF). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 2003. ISBN 4-257-12038-X. Pp.10, 13, 169–70.

Links

In English:

• Konishiroku standard lenses in Leica screw mount, containing a reproduction of an original advertisement, at Photostream
• Hexar Ser.1 15cm f/4.5 at MFlenses

In Japanese:

• Hexar 50mm f/3.5 (collapsible) at Aho Ressha Pictorial