Beesa R3A vs Hexar Rf Which to buy?

anaanda

anaanda

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Between a Beesa R3A + 40mm and a Hexar RF w/ 50mm...... which would you buy and why? I can get a used Heaxr with lens for about $1200 and Bessa set up for about a $1000. Last option would be to buy a Hexar AF on Ebay for about $500 yet I will be stuck with one focal length. Any thoughts would be appreciated....

Thanks
 
The Hexar ofcourse, more camera than any Bessa. $1200 is a lot for a Hexar with 50mm though. Should be possible for around 900.

Think auto framelines, strong body, 1/4000 shutter...

going home now, mor ad-talk later.
 
The $1,000 for the R3a and 40/1.4 seems high to me, even new.

Will you have a chance to try out both cameras? I think you will find they're quite different -- 1:1 finder in the Bessa and low magnification finder in the Hexar (but with 28 and 35 framelines); auto winding in the Hexar vs. manual wind and rewind in the Bessa; DX film setting in the Hexar and only manual film speed setting in the Bessa -- to name three things.
 
KoNickon said:
The $1,000 for the R3a and 40/1.4 seems high to me, even new.

Will you have a chance to try out both cameras? I think you will find they're quite different -- 1:1 finder in the Bessa and low magnification finder in the Hexar (but with 28 and 35 framelines); auto winding in the Hexar vs. manual wind and rewind in the Bessa; DX film setting in the Hexar and only manual film speed setting in the Bessa -- to name three things.
Click to expand...

Yep, I should have said I'd choose the hexar because I like wider lenses, if you shoot 50mm all the time the 1:1 finder of the bessa should be great.
 
fortunately and unfortunetly (for camera shopping) I live in San Diego and there are no really good camera stores here so I will not be able to try the different cameras. I have a canonet GIII QL 17, its a great little camera but just doesn't feel right in my hand and the lever focusing is a little akward.

How about a Leica CL for 999 from BH Photo is excellent conditon??
 
Like the others said, the Hexar is a lot more camera - more features and better built. Unless you want small, I don't see what the Leica CL gets you over a Bessa except an older, used body, slower shutter speeds and a Leica name. Perhaps it is better constructed?
 
999 for a CL sounds like a lot to me too.

I can get you a Hexar kit with new 50mm for $900. Only drawback is the lens has been in the box all those years so it has a tiny coating mark on the front.
Pouch and strap are still in plastic, pink velvet box intact and all.

I can get you pics if you want.

This kinda dropped onto my path recently.
 
Huck, why a warranty for the Hexar? Or do you just mean that there may be a question about servicing an apparently orphaned camera? These are quite well made and reliable cameras.

I think I'd definitely opt for the R3a over the CL -- seems like there are definitely some meter and other problems with the CL that people on this list have mentioned.

But given the different framelines of the Hexar and the R3a, which camera to buy requires a great deal of thought beforehand. I guess I'd opt for the Hexar since the range of framelines is more versatile -- 28-135mm.
 
There's a couple of people who can work on Hexars. I had Ken Ruth fix a broken/misaligned RF for me, and he made sure that the lens mounting distance was in spec for leica lenses (some people have this issue, some do not). Greg Weber is the main go to guy for Konica work in the US, I think.
The only part of the Hexar that I think isn't built like a tank is the RF, which seems to be vulnerable to going out of (vertical) alignment if you drop the camera. Ken Ruth felt that the design wasn't very robust and he beefed it up for me.

I trudged through the ruins of Angkor Wat, various temples in Thailand and the back alleys of Singapore without any maintenance issues on my Hexar. It was only when I dropped it at the Singapore Airport that the vertical alignment went off a little.

BTW - a Hexar RF in good shape with the Hexanon 50/2 for $900 is a decent deal. The bodies typically close in the $500 - $600 range on the Evil Auction site, and the lens generally goes for around $300 - $400.
 
KoNickon said:
Huck, why a warranty for the Hexar? Or do you just mean that there may be a question about servicing an apparently orphaned camera? These are quite well made and reliable cameras.
Click to expand...

I love the Hexar RF, but I have read too many stories about rangefinder misalignment out of the box which could not be corrected even after repeated returns for service.

Also one of the posters here has a Hexar RF that has been sitting with Greg Weber for the past 6 months because Greg can't get the necessary part from Konica. Given that Konica-Minolta has abandoned itc camera division, I wouldn't expect this situation to get any better.

I'm a "nervous Nellie" when it comes to buying mechanical things second hand. I know that one of the reasons that people sell is that they are unloading a lemon. I'm just saying that if I were buying this camera from a dealer, I would insist on a warranty. Even 30 days would satisfy me because it would make the dealer responsible for any problems out of the box. I would prefer 60-90 days. If I were buying from a private individual, I would ask that the sale be pending an inspections by Greg Weber. I would pay for the inspection, but would insist on the right torefuse the purchase if Greg found anything wrong - unless the seller paid for the repair & Greg assured me that the problem was corrected without any foreseeable recurrence.

Just my 2 cents . . .

Huck
 
So far, most discussion has centered around the perceived build level..

But let's look some more at the finders. There's a world of difference between a 1:1 finder -as on the R3a- and a 0.6x finder. If you're into lenses in the 50mm range, the 0.6x finder isn't really the best match IMO. I found the 50mm framelines to occupy a fairly limited region of the HexarRF's total viewfinder. It goes downhill fast with anything longer. For wide lenses it's great however, and I could frame the 25mm without external finder no problem.

Another differentiator is the motorized film advance. You either love it or hate it. It's fast, but not anywhere near silent. On the plus side, it has a film leader out pause during rewind and a very accurate registering of frame advance, allowing you to swap films half-roll without any trouble.

I'd say first make up your mind about the finders, and motorized advance. These are things that affect the way you'll use the camera day after day. Then select the one that fits best..
 
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yup, if your lens of choice is 50mm, go for the r3a's 1:1 viewfinder. 35mm and 28mm? hexar rf all the way.

as of april 1st, sony will be handling all repairs for konica minolta. here's a pdf of unrepairable cameras. the hexar rf and af aren't on it, even though they're older than 7 years (the age of cameras that generally may not be repairable).

http://kmpi.konicaminolta.us/eprise/main/kmpi/content/cam/repairtracking/Unrepairable

stop creepin' people out, huck! there's a miniscule chance they won't get a lemon. 😉
 
Last edited:
aizan said:
stop creepin' people out, huck! there's a miniscule chance they won't get a lemon. 😉
Click to expand...

Aizan, I deserved that. 🙁 I'll own up to the fact that I am paranoid about these things. I often repeat the mantra of all of my kind: "Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get you." 😱

I love the Hexar RF. It's a great camera. That's why I was disappointed when I read of problems that people had with it. I didn't buy it because of my paranoia. That's my story & I'm stickin' to it. 😛

Huck
 
How many own both the R3A and Hexar? I do -- along with just about every other M mount camera. It's my biz afterall.

I think the Hexar RF is better made than than the R3A, but this is to be expected since it was originally designed with roughly double the selling price.

However the R3A or R2A both have better brighter rangefinder / viewfinders than the darker and lower magnfication Hexar RF.

With its built in motordrive, the Hexar RF is signficantly heavier than the R3A / R2A, if weight is a factor with a carry all day long camera. Size is roughly the same.

both have electronic shutters, so dead batteries mean no pics.

I like the 1/4000th top speed and the AE lock on the Hexar RF better than the 1/2000th and back of the top plate AE lock on the R3A. And the Hexar RF is quieter.

But not so fast. The killer is that not only is the Hexar RF discontinued, Konica as a camera company is DISCONTINUED. If parts and repairs are not difficult to get now, they will be in the near future -- and the Hexar RF is NOT an easy camera to work on.

Don't worry, none of us will get out of this alive anyway.

Stephen
 
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