A User's Notes: Hexar RF–ZI Comparo, Part One

amateriat

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Well, once again, I was off across the river to assist someone on a tech job. And, once again, he brought his newly-acquired Zeiss Ikon with him. This time, though, I brought my Hexars as well, in the name of setting up an after-work comparison for everyone out here who might be curious about the cameras' similarities and differences. Last time out, I declared that the ZI is the near-perfect non-motorized body to use alongside a Hexar, or the camera to grab when you know anything with a motor (except perhaps a Hexar AF) isn't going to work at all. Now I have a bit of photographic evidence to this end.

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I like the finish of the ZI: neat, straightforward and businesslike. Nothing distracting. Funny how that's becaome rather novel in a new camera these days...


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Controls: yes, there's a bit of a difference here; the Hexar's shutter-speed/exposure-mode dial is out at the edge of the body, while the ZI's is well-inboard. Ah, but, in my case anyway, I'd likely be using both cameras in AE mode roughly 75% of the time. The exposure control counts a bit more often, besides exposure-lock, is the exposure-compensation dial. Look at the similarity in location in this case. (Though, yes, I see that the dials are biased in opposite directions. This would not keep me up nights.) (Edit: In fact, the direction of operation is identical, although just glancing at the dials would have you think otherwise.)

Both cameras are near-identical in height, width and depth, and have rather similar handling characteristics, in spite of the fact that, as Konica chose to square-off the camer at all corners, while Leicas are fully-rounded, Zeiss splits the difference with squared contours at the front of the body, and softly-rounded corners at the back.

(Edit 2: You might have noticed the film-plane indicator on the Hexar's top plate. The ZI has one as well, hidden under the film-advance lever. Why there? You tell me.)

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As much as I like CVs, one deal-breaker has been the manual frameline-setting arrangement. A lot of people can live with it, and that's fine. I can't. The ZI, of course, aces this one. I also love the VF overall. Both cameras' shutters betray their OTF metering arrangement in this photo. (Note: yes, this Hexar's lens mount is a tad scratched up. I'm not kidding when I say I put a lot of mileage on the things.)


On to Part Two.


- Barrett
 

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Hexar RF–ZI Comparo, Part Two

Hexar RF–ZI Comparo, Part Two

Other matters:

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Film-loading: that one's a no-brainer. :) Also note the (slight) difference in rear-body contour of both bodies. The Hexar has the option of automatic (DX) or manual film speed setting; the ZI is strictly manual in this regard.

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A view from the top. I was a little concerned about using ultrawides that require external VFs on accoung of slightly-different hot-shoe locations on both cameras. But then I noticed the relative positioning of the lens mount to hot-shoe, and I calmed down a bit. (Never used an external VF with a rangefinder, so tell me if I'm out of my depth here.)

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Verdict: I'm getting a ZI. It'll make a solid-working trio. And, don't they look so nice together? :rolleyes:


- Barrett
 
Question: did someone mention that there was essentially no issue regarding the ZI's 85mm framelines when used with 90mm lenses? (I imagined the difference being negligible, but I'm asking anyway.)


- Barrett
 
A nice run-down. Thanks for posting it!

(BTW, when is RF Gen Disc going to show up on the front page again??)

...Mike
 
mfunnell said:
A nice run-down. Thanks for posting it!

(BTW, when is RF Gen Disc going to show up on the front page again??)

...Mike
Mike: Thanks. It's a mystery why it doesn't show up on the front page. I'd hate to have to double-post it elsewhere in order for more people to see it. :bang:


- Barrett
 
the zi 85 fl has been measured and is identical to the leica 90.
i think it was roger hicks or his wife who measured and printed it in a published review.

joe
 
Thanks for that info, Joe...I had thought someone had compared their 85 to someone else's 90, but had no memory as to whom.


- Barrett
 
I can second every one of Barret's comments. I would add that the ZI's shutter is noisier than the Hexar's.

On the Ikon I pretty much only shoot the 75mm Summilux, which brings up the 50mm frameline. This is a bit of a pain in the a**, but it is easy enough to nudge the frameline selector to confirm composition with the 85mm frameline. And isn't it nice that the framelines on the ZI are labeled?

I spent most of Sunday afternoon outdoors with the Hexar/90mm Elmarit/Efke 50.

- John
 
John: I noticed the ZI's shutter being a tad sharper in sound than the Hexar's, but not as noisy as I'd been led to believe by some; it's quiet enough, and the fact that it's not motorized helps as well.

(For anyone who has never handled a Hexar RF: the Hexar's motorized advance is not crazy-noisy; I've used it in some instances where a number of other motorized cameras would have turned heads and had no problem, but there are places and times where most anything with a motor in it, save for something like a Hexar AF, would be intrusive. For me, that's where the ZI comes in.)


- Barrett
 
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