Hexar AF

The 1/250 without ND filter and with 400+ film, requires very small apertures which may give more DOF and lesser lens performance than you want, but it's nice that they have f22 there.

Good to use with 100-800 film, rated at 50-400, good saturation.

I've found K25 to be too slow for indoors use, unless shooting still things on a tripod.

The date feature works, but imprints very light, lighter than newer Olympus film P&S for example, but it may be due to the processing too. It does make the body a tad thicker, but you don't need to use the dateback, or even keep the coin battery in there if not used.
 
The Hexar AF never grew on me. I did not have enough control of the focusing, and it was too quiet. The 1/250 max speed never bothered me. I used ASA100 film in the camera. I replaced it with the heavier Hexar RF.
 
I got one already for $420 in Hongkong, black with day date, excellent condition. I ran 2 rolls already but has not developed it yet. This camera is awesome very intuitive if you know how to set it. I now have a few notes of the secret commands in my wallet just in case I need them. I think I'm gonna enjoy this camera.
 
I kept backing away from this camera until my eyesight problems suggested it might be a useful solution. It is a quality camera, quiet, reliable and easy to use. I set it on P and forget it. I've used 400 film in it and there were no problems even in bright sunlight (not sure why this would be) but I do have a bunch of color 100 film in the freezer waiting to be loaded. I can convert to B&W later if needed. It is really a carry everywhere camera.

I paid over $500 for the black original, in box, with all original parts, including the manual that is very hard to understand and some nice reference cards to carry with you. And the flash and the flash case, and the original unused strap. Worth it, to me. I've spent more on less.
 
I think prices for this camera on ebay are too much. Here in Japan, you can easily find the Hexar AF for about 20,000 yen or so. That's roughly half the average price on ebay. So cheap are these babies that I ended up buying two - one is normal, while the other has the data back.

Frankly, I don't mind the one with the data back. It's only sooo slightly bulky!
 
I have a question about using ND filters on this camera. This seemed like a good a place as any to ask. Recently I've been trying more to shoot wide open, but I have exposure problems even with 100 iso film. I shoot on the beach a lot. I'm guessing the reflection off the sand and water might have something to do with it. I've read on other posts and this one that the ND filters help but you need to compensate for the filter. (here's my dumb question) what does that mean? Does that mean I manually set the iso to a slower speed?

For example if I use a ND2 filter with 100 iso film I need to set the film even lower? Or am I off the mark?

Any advice is welcome. Educate me please 🙂
 
You can either set the ISO lower or put + exposure compensation.
If you plan to shoot the whole film with ND filter it is easier for you to set lower ISO.
If you plan to take only few pictures with ND filter it is easier to set exposure compensation.
However, when you change the ISO value the camera remembers it for the whole film, it doesnt matter if you turn the camera off and on. When you set exposure compensation once when you turn your camera off and then on again it is set back to zero.

dogbunny said:
I have a question about using ND filters on this camera. This seemed like a good a place as any to ask. Recently I've been trying more to shoot wide open, but I have exposure problems even with 100 iso film. I shoot on the beach a lot. I'm guessing the reflection off the sand and water might have something to do with it. I've read on other posts and this one that the ND filters help but you need to compensate for the filter. (here's my dumb question) what does that mean? Does that mean I manually set the iso to a slower speed?

For example if I use a ND2 filter with 100 iso film I need to set the film even lower? Or am I off the mark?

Any advice is welcome. Educate me please 🙂
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At first I thoiught that auto focus would be ideal for street shooting, but many times the subject does not cover the center part of the frame where the auto focus sensor looks. This results in the camera setting focus to infinity while the off-center subject may be 2 meters away. For street shooting, I prefer to zone focus, setting focus manually, something that can be done with this camera.
 
You know that the framelines shift and shrink depending on the focused distance, right? Perhaps you were framing before activating the auto-focus. Or perhaps on your camera this frame zooming/parallax compensating feature was defective. It seems to me that if a camera was sophisticated enough to do this, the framing would be accurate, otherwise why bother with this feature?

In any case, if critical framing is required, an SLR offering 100% viewfinder would be the better tool.
 
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FrankS said:
You know that the framelines shift and shrink depending on the focused distance, right? Perhaps you were framing before activating the auto-focus. Or perhaps on your camera this frame zooming/parallax compensating feature was defective. It seems to me that if a camera was sophisticated enough to do this, the framing would be accurate, otherwise why bother with this feature?

In any case, if critical framing is required, an SLR offering 100% viewfinder would be the better tool.
Click to expand...

Yes, I know. Camera was not defective. I am very familiar with parallax compensating finders. I have been making my living with cameras for over 30 yrs. I can deal with Leica, even the M6 which is worse than previous M's in this regard. I have all sorts of SLRs including ones with 100% frame coverage but prefer Leicas for some types of work. Having said all that, I still found the Hexar AF an unworkable camera for me. The 250th sec top shutter speed never bothered me though as I had hoped to use this camera for low light situations anyway. I never really felt I could trust the Hexar. That may be irrational, but so what. It only affects me! ENJOY YOUR HEXAR AF.
 
Some street photos IMO great for this purpose. This is one of the most chaotic and exciting place in the heart of old city of Manila.

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f/22 allows not to need any ND filter, even in bright light and with 400 ISO.
The frame IS very incurate, and requires seriouscompenstion, specially on the right side.
Brilliant camera overall!
 
I sometimes forget how much I use/like this camera. I sold this photo at a recent gallery showing (after cleaning it up better and printing it large on exhibition luster paper) that I took only because my digital camera ran out of batteries this particular day. It's one of my favorite recent photos...

 
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