Size, build quality, optics including contrast, resolution and ease of focusing. Also I appreciate the design as it is a very well thought out lens design for ease of use (I am a professor of Design). It is also a relatively compact lens from a manufacturer know for their innovative camera products.

Rare and therefore expensive. Only 800 made and the price listed above is half what I am seeing these days ($2700) on ebay. I expect the price to increase as the excellence of the lens is discovered. Relatively slow at f3.4 to 4.0. Too slow for night street photography, one of my past times.

This is not a zoom lens as it has two distinct focal lengths, 21 and 35, nothing in between. This is the reason it is called a 'Duel Lens' lens by Minolta. I have compared it to the Leica Vario-R 21-35 and it does very well. I do not have the tri elmar 28-35-50 so I cannot comment on that for a comparison but I understand that it is an excellent preformer too. The Leica Vario-R is a true zoom and therefore has an advantage in that you can take sharp picthres as all focal lengths, but I have not found that to be a problem. The advantages of the Konica Hexanon over the Leica Vario-R is its size and ability to rangefinder focus. It does come with a 21mm viewfinder with 35 line corners built in and this viewfinder is brilliant. I did note slight barrel distortion here but not enough to disturb. I did not use the viewfinder as I am using this lens on my Leica M ( typ 240). It is a perfect lens for this camera. You can see exactly what you photograph and composition is much easier than through the rangefinder (35mm) or viewfinder (21mm). Using live view with focus check works great with this lens. Also you never shoot using the 21mm when you think you have the lens set at35mm.

Ease of use. I love the ease of use of this lens. The f stop ring (very close to the hood) feels different than the focus ring (close to the lens mount). Each has a distinct feel. Also the focus ring has a tab to guide you. There is another ring for the duel 21or 35 focal length settings (between the prior two) and it has more resistance and a grid pattern so you know which you are moving. Also the depth of fields are color coded for each focal length on the lens barrel. This is an ingenious way of communicating information. Comparing it with the Leica Vario-R 21 to 35, it is smaller and of course does not require the R adapter M to use on the M line of Leica cameras. The Leica Vario lens cannot be rangefinder focused as there is no cam to do this. Further I find the Minolta because of its size is easier to use. You do not need to remove the sun shade on the hexar as it is built in and small enough to be left on the lens all the time. Also since there is no lens cap this is not in the way either. As for the optics I find little difference. I have taken the pictures with both lens at all f stops and both are very contrasty and sharp. The MTF diagrams of Erwin Puts and those found on the Minolta website indicate that the Leica lens has better all over resolution at both focal lengths but I cannot see the difference in practice, that is in my pictures taken during the day. Therefore although I own both lens, I prefer the Minolta, and that from a confirmed Leica person. Also the Hexanon takes up much less space in my lens bag. I have read that there are back focus issues with the Minolta Hexanon lens but I can say that comparing the live view focusing with the rangefinder focusing, they both agree at both focal lengths and f stops so I see no back focusing issues with the Hexanon lens I own.

In conclusion, I like this lens very much. If you like the wide angle world, it is a perfect lens with the focal lengths that are the work horse of 35mm photography. It is relatively compact, has sharp optics, and is very easy to use. I prefer it to the Leica Vario-R lens as there is no lens shade to put on and no lens cap to remove. Also it is smaller and less expensive alto the price of the Hexanon is going up each year as people find what a fine lens it is. I use the code of the Elmarit 21mm f2.8 Asp lens and it seems to work well with lightroom.

Customer Service

Do not know, Minolta sold the photo division to Sony in 2006, I think.

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The Leica 21-35 Vario-R lens for the R series Leica Cameras has the identical focal lengths and f stops. It waos has a dimilar price now. When you have the R-M adapter on they are vertually very similar. Both are slow but sharp lens with about the same f stops. The Vario with adapter is marginally heavier and feels much larger. To use the Leica lens one must remove the lens cap and reverse the lens shade. The Minolta-Hexanon 21-35 is much more convient if you leave the lens shade on as I do. You can rangefinder focus with the Minolta lens and cannot do this on the Leica Vario and therefor it cannot be used on film cameras as focusing may be an issue (after all it is a wide angle lens). The Vario-R has an advantage as it is a zoom. This means you can take pictures at any focal length between 21 and 35mm and they will all be in focus. I have tested this with the Hexanon and the pictrues inbetween 21 and 35 are slightly out of focus, enough so you would not want to use them. Both have excellent build quality. Both cost about the same presently although originally the Hexanon was half the price of the Leica Vario-R 21 to 35 zoom.