Minimum Wide angle Hektor 28mm F6.3
A review and Photo example of the HEKTOR 28mm F6.3 with the LEICA M6 and LEICA M9.
Table of contents
Gallery
- Sample photo taken with the LEICA M6(Mishima-taisha Shrine, Shizuoka, Japan) and LEICA M9.
Review
1．Overview
The HEKTOR 28mm is a wide-angle lens manufactured from 1935 to 1950. 11,255 units were made in 15 years.
The mount is a screw (L39) mount, and an L/M adapter is used when using it with an M-mount camera.
The lens is made of 5 elements in 3 groups, and is a derivative of a triplet lens, with the front and rear lenses of the 3 groups being glued together. The filter is a 34mm screw-in or A36 cover. The hood is a trumpet-shaped SOOHN that attaches to the front frame, and is very expensive on the used market.
The lens exterior comes in two versions, a chrome version and a nickel version, and although the lens structure is the same, the coating differs depending on the era. The nickel version is manufactured in small quantities and is priced at a premium, while the chrome version is sold in large quantities and is available in stores at a fairly reasonable price.
2．Usage
The HEKTOR 28mm is a small lens, so its operability is not good. The aperture ring is on the front of the lens, so it is difficult to change it when a hood or filter is attached. However, the maximum aperture is 6.3, which is dark, so there are few situations where you need to narrow the aperture.
As shown in the example, it is an attractive lens when used with a film camera to cut down the exposure and reduce it where necessary.
The lens is 25mm thick, so its compactness is attractive. However, as mentioned above, it is a dark lens, so when used with a film camera, it is only used outdoors during the day.
Digital cameras in the 2020s can be used with high ISO on a regular basis, making this lens easier to use. However, when using a lens with a dark F-number on a digital camera, you need to be careful of dust on the sensor being reflected, so you need to clean and remove any dust on the sensor surface. If there is dust on the center part in particular, you will be disappointed with the results.
There is almost no peripheral light falloff, but the shortcomings of old lenses, such as poor depiction in the peripheral areas, become apparent. Also, because it is an old lens, many lenses are cloudy due to balsam separation at the bonding surface between the front and rear lenses.
The focus lever has a large rotation angle of about 180 degrees, so in the film era, if you stopped down to F8 and took a pan focus, there was little opportunity to operate the focus lever.
With digital cameras, if you do not set the focus position precisely, the focus position will shift and the photo will be slightly blurred, so there are more opportunities to touch the focus ring. In this case, the 180-degree angle that makes it easy to fine-tune is an advantage.
From the 1990s to the early 2000s, it was one of the unpopular lenses that could be purchased quite cheaply because it had a slow maximum aperture of F6.3, but in the 2020s, the price of this lens has risen due to the aforementioned high ISO compatibility of digital cameras and the rising prices of old lenses.
3．Summary
In conclusion, to sum up the HEKTOR 28mm, its compactness is an appeal that modern lenses do not have, and if you fall in love with the styling, it is worth owning.
The image quality is as you would expect from an old lens, so when purchasing, you need to decide whether the lens is worth the price. If you want to enjoy the original performance of the lens, the reproduced SUMMARON 28mm F5.6 is also a good choice.
There are many options for 28mm lenses for rangefinder cameras, such as Voigtlander and Chinese lenses, with a wide range of products available in the 2020s.
Specification and Competitor
| Items | HEKTOR | SUMMARON |
| focal length(mm) | 28 | 28 |
| Maximum aperture | 6.3 | 5.6 |
| Minimum aperture | 25 | 22 |
| Leaf blade | 6 | 8 |
| Lens configuration | 5 elements in 3 groups | 6 elements in 4 groups |
| Minimum distance(m) | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Lens length(mm) | – | 18 |
| Lens max diameter(mm) | 49 | 49 |
| Filter type | 34 | 34 |
| Weight(g) | 110 | 150 |
| Hood | SOOHN | SOOBK |
| Lens mount | L39 | L39 |
| Release date | 1935-1950 | 1954-1971 |
| Production numbers | 11,255 | 9,169 |
Reference links
- Hektor f= 2.8 cm 1:6.3@Leica wiki(English)
- LEICA Summaron-M 28mm Official page
- Summaron 28mm f5.6 description page by LEICA Wiki
- ELMARIT-M 2.8/28 (first generation) explanation page by LEICA Wiki
Update history
- 2025.5.22
- 2024.12.26
- 2024.03.01:Update article
- 2022.05.26:First draft
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