Konica Konica 40mm f1.8 Heritage

Overview

The Konica Hexanon AR 40mm f/1.8 is a pancake standard lens that was shipped as a kit lens with Konica SLR cameras during a couple of years in the mid and late 1970s. Although it is not a true wide-angle lens, its 40mm focal length is slightly wider than a normal 50mm, which many photographers find helpful for street photography as it includes more of the environment from the same camera-to-subject distance while avoiding the perspective distortion of a faster 35mm lens. When it was introduced, some photography magazines reportedly considered it among the sharpest lenses of its time, though there is no hard proof of that claim. Today it enjoys a cult following largely because it can be found very cheaply (around $20-30), is genuinely compact, and adapts beautifully to modern mirrorless bodies like the Nikon Z6/Z7 and Fuji cameras. No established nicknames or community jargon for this specific lens are evidenced in the reviews.

Verdict: The Konica Hexanon AR 40mm f/1.8 is a cheap, compact, and characterful pancake standard lens ideal for street and everyday shooters who want a classic 40mm rendering with smooth wide-open bokeh and lovely color. It rewards shooting at f/1.8 or stopped down for sharpness, but its busy, jagged bokeh at intermediate apertures and awkward aperture ring are its main compromises. For the price, it's an easy recommendation for adapting to mirrorless.

Optical Character

Bokeh

Smooth and bubble-like at f/1.8 with strong subject separation, but becomes busy with jagged aperture edges at f/2.8 and f/4.

Color

Lovely, pleasing color rendering.

Sharpness wide open

Sharpness is 'ok' wide open at f/1.8 and improves stopped down to f/5.6-f/8.

Flare resistance

A little prone to flare, though it can have artistic value.

Community Insights

What people love

Smooth, background-destroying bokeh at f/1.8 with strong subject separation at close distances
Lovely color rendering
Extremely compact pancake design (only 27mm long) that is unobtrusive on small mirrorless bodies for street photography
The versatile 40mm focal length that 'feels just right' and avoids the perspective distortion of a faster 35mm
Very cheap and excellent value at around $20-30

What people dislike

Busy, distracting bokeh at higher apertures (notably f/2.8 and f/4)
Uneven, jagged aperture edges at f/2.8 and f/4 that can appear in bokeh bubbles
A little prone to flare
Awkward aperture ring with a stiff, full-stop-only clicking action and an AE lock position that can trap the ring
Some noticeable dispersion (chromatic aberration) at f/1.8
Aging samples can have stiff focus and some play/throw in the focus ring

Pro Tips

Shoot wide open at f/1.8 for the smoothest bokeh; avoid f/2.8-f/4 if you want clean out-of-focus highlights, as the aperture edges turn jagged and busy there
Use the 40mm focal length for street photography to capture more environment without wide-angle distortion
Stop down to f/5.6-f/8 for maximum sharpness in landscape/general use
Be mindful of strong light sources given its tendency to flare; use a hood or shade if needed
Requires a Konica AR adapter for use on mirrorless bodies (e.g. Nikon Z, Fuji), and the rear aperture-control fin is useless on digital

Sources (1)

Web-grounded synthesissecondary

The Konica Hexanon AR 40mm f/1.8 is a pancake standard lens that was shipped as a kit lens with Konica SLR cameras during a couple of years in the mid and late 1970s. Although it is not a true wide-angle lens, its 40mm focal length is slightly wider than a normal 50mm, which many photographers find helpful for street photography as it includes more of the environment from the same camera-to-subject distance while avoiding the perspective distortion of a faster 35mm lens. When it was introduced, some photography magazines reportedly considered it among the sharpest lenses of its time, though there is no hard proof of that claim. Today it enjoys a cult following largely because it can be found very cheaply (around $20-30), is genuinely compact, and adapts beautifully to modern mirrorless bodies like the Nikon Z6/Z7 and Fuji cameras. No established nicknames or community jargon for this specific lens are evidenced in the reviews.

https://phillipreeve.net/blog/konica-hexanon-ar-40mm-f1-8/https://en.fotografmania.com/konica-hexanon-40mm-f1-8-review/https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4213391https://lenslegend.com/konica-hexanon-ar-40mm-f1-8/https://www.robertallenkautzphoto.com/konicahexanonar40mmae