flipflop
Well-known
Hi,
Just wondering if there are some happy Konica Hexar AF users on the site that could comment on there expierience with the camera. I currently use the Contax G1 with the 35mm lens. But I am considering selling the 35mm for the G and getting the 28 45 90 and also adding a g2. This way I would have 2 G bodies and I would also have the hexar with the 35mm lens.
Things I am interested in are.
Is the 250th of second shutter speed too limiting? How is the spot meter? Is the camera really a quite as I have read on other photo sites? Have you expierienced any electronic problems with the camera. Also do you think the camera is worth 450+??
Do you think the lens is compareable to the big 2 (leica) and (contax or zeiss)??
Let me know how this camera compares to the G1 or other rangefinder you are familar with.
Thanks in advance and I look forward to reading your commnents!
Just wondering if there are some happy Konica Hexar AF users on the site that could comment on there expierience with the camera. I currently use the Contax G1 with the 35mm lens. But I am considering selling the 35mm for the G and getting the 28 45 90 and also adding a g2. This way I would have 2 G bodies and I would also have the hexar with the 35mm lens.
Things I am interested in are.
Is the 250th of second shutter speed too limiting? How is the spot meter? Is the camera really a quite as I have read on other photo sites? Have you expierienced any electronic problems with the camera. Also do you think the camera is worth 450+??
Do you think the lens is compareable to the big 2 (leica) and (contax or zeiss)??
Let me know how this camera compares to the G1 or other rangefinder you are familar with.
Thanks in advance and I look forward to reading your commnents!
amateriat
We're all light!
Okay...no longer a HAF owner (gave it up, reluctantly, to help pay for my first HRF). Had a solid five years of use from it (this was the original, black "stealth" version with the extremely-rare data back). Fantastic camera. The 1/250 top speed was less of an issue than I had feared - most popular film to run through it was Ilford XP2, followed by Kodak Portra 160NC. Did a lot of after-dark shooting with it. Lens was killer, even wide-open (some have reported a bit of softness at f/2, but I couldn't see it). Never experienced a glitch. The only "caveat" I can think of is that you may find yourself using your Contax Gs a bit less as you get used to how quiet the Hexar is by contrast.
I suppose you can file this under "recommend".
- Barrett
I suppose you can file this under "recommend".
- Barrett
flipflop
Well-known
is it worth the price?
amateriat
We're all light!
If the camera (1) comes with the flash, (2) comes with the manual (including that plastic-coated pocket-guide!), and (3) is in reasonably good shape, then, yes, it's worth it.
flipflop
Well-known
Cool...I think im going to be getting an original black one with 1 roll of film ran through it. Its in the original presentation box with everything...and yes its mint shape. flash included
sirius
Well-known
The camera takes quite a bit of getting used to. It is quirky. The buttons are strange to work with. For example, if you want to get a focus lock you need to partially depress the shutter and then while you are pressing it reach over with another finger and press the MF button! The focus lock and ae lock work together. So, if you are shooting a backlit person it might be hard to meter and focus somewhere else and then get the the subject in the proper range. This camera fits into a really odd niche for what it is and can do. I'm sure you know about all the specifications of it. Yes, it is super quiet. You start the quiet mode by pressing the MF button when you turn the camera on. If you are willing to adapt how you photograph to all the personality quirks of this camera you will probably enjoy using it and the photos that come out of it. Because of the prominent aperture nob, your way of working with this camera definitely leans toward aperture priority. The manual shutter speed adjustment is there if you need it but it's a little awkward to meter and use.
I think you found a great price for a practically new one. I think you could easily sell it for that price if you don't like it, if not for a little more if it is in mint condition. The lens makes lovely pictures. It's really fantastic. The images have a beautiful depth and sharpness that makes the picture look demential. The colour is lovely. In P mode you are pretty much assured a technically good photo, as long as you make the right choices about framing, focus, aperture, etc . . . I'm a beginner in photography, but to my eye the quality of the lens is as lovely as photos that I have seen from new Leica systems. There is a look to the images that reminds me of many of the modern Magnum photographers. The blacks are rich. Everything people say about the lens is true. Does that help?
Oh, speaking of the lens, I would get a filter on that right away. There's no changing out a scratch. I bought one and I discovered that it had cleaning scratches when it arrived. so sad
I think you found a great price for a practically new one. I think you could easily sell it for that price if you don't like it, if not for a little more if it is in mint condition. The lens makes lovely pictures. It's really fantastic. The images have a beautiful depth and sharpness that makes the picture look demential. The colour is lovely. In P mode you are pretty much assured a technically good photo, as long as you make the right choices about framing, focus, aperture, etc . . . I'm a beginner in photography, but to my eye the quality of the lens is as lovely as photos that I have seen from new Leica systems. There is a look to the images that reminds me of many of the modern Magnum photographers. The blacks are rich. Everything people say about the lens is true. Does that help?
Oh, speaking of the lens, I would get a filter on that right away. There's no changing out a scratch. I bought one and I discovered that it had cleaning scratches when it arrived. so sad
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flipflop
Well-known
how do you like your hexar? Sounds like the lens is good...but compared to other cameras is it the camera you reach for, or does it gather dust?
sirius
Well-known
Have you seen the pbase gallery? I find this camera really excels when photographing crowds or scenes with lots of tonal variety. For close-ups of objects I like what my SLR does.
http://www.pbase.com/cameras/konica/hexar_af
http://www.pbase.com/cameras/konica/hexar_af
sirius
Well-known
I trust that it will take a good picture when I need it. Like I said, I'm rather new to this kind of photography. I have a Canonet giii ql17 and a Canon P that are new arrivals. I am still playing around with them all. I can't say which I reach for more right now.
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flipflop
Well-known
canon p is on the wish list as well!
Finder
Veteran
The manual is terrible. The controls are OK. Fairly quick for normal things, a little tricky for buried features like IR focus compensation.
The lens is excellent. The camera is quiet (even the Silver which I have). When taking posed portraits, the subjects sometimes ask if I actually took the picture because they did not hear anything. The viewfinder is nicer than the Contax G and that is what sold me on the Hexar over the G.
The only problem I had was with a sticky shutter button after about 5 years of having it. Focus lock would cancel before I took the picture. Konica fixed it and I have not had that problem since.
The meter is good, even for chromes. I don't use the spot meter. I shoot 400 speed film and have not had a problem with the 1/250s shutter limit - the lens stops down to f/22.
Not quite a pocket camera. I wish it were a little smaller. I mostly shoot medium format and got the Hexar for a point and shoot and as a possible backup camera. I mostly use it for family stuff or when I can't be bothered to take anything bigger.
I do have a friend with a black Hexar. He had an unusual problem of the lens focusing PAST the minium focus distance. The mechanical stops did not work for some reason. Never known anyone else to suffer the same problem. The camera worked fine, it would just move past the minium focus distance - strange.
The lens is excellent. The camera is quiet (even the Silver which I have). When taking posed portraits, the subjects sometimes ask if I actually took the picture because they did not hear anything. The viewfinder is nicer than the Contax G and that is what sold me on the Hexar over the G.
The only problem I had was with a sticky shutter button after about 5 years of having it. Focus lock would cancel before I took the picture. Konica fixed it and I have not had that problem since.
The meter is good, even for chromes. I don't use the spot meter. I shoot 400 speed film and have not had a problem with the 1/250s shutter limit - the lens stops down to f/22.
Not quite a pocket camera. I wish it were a little smaller. I mostly shoot medium format and got the Hexar for a point and shoot and as a possible backup camera. I mostly use it for family stuff or when I can't be bothered to take anything bigger.
I do have a friend with a black Hexar. He had an unusual problem of the lens focusing PAST the minium focus distance. The mechanical stops did not work for some reason. Never known anyone else to suffer the same problem. The camera worked fine, it would just move past the minium focus distance - strange.
flipflop
Well-known
thanks sounds good...is it a serious shooter or would you spend your hard earned cash elsewhere?
sirius
Well-known
I like my Canon P. It is really fun to use. I like hand metering and seeing how close I can guess with the sunny f16 rule. I heard that the craftmanship was really fine on the P and I agree. I have a 50mm f1.8 which is a common and much praised lens for sharpness. Well, the photos that came out of the Hexar are so much nicer . . . it kind of spoils the Canon lens for me. Ha, I know it is not really a fair comparison. So, I have to remind myself that the camera doesn't really matter when it comes to making good pictures---it's the photographer that matters. If the Hexar gathers dust I'm sure that there would be someone on RFF that would be happy to give it a home!
Finder
Veteran
flipflop said:
It is a well made camera and is a serious tool. If you beat up your equipment, you may find the Contax could take a little more abuse. If you take reasonable care, it will take the normal bumps and wear a rangefinder should.
Finder
Veteran
One more thing, dust can get into the viewfinder. I have a little in mine - I bought it in 1996. Not a lot of dust, but if you are a perfectionist, you my find it annoying.
pvdhaar
Peter
Over the years I've had two Hexar AFs. It started with a black one in '96, which I traded in four or five years later, to help paying for a Hexar RF. Didn't take long to get sellers regret. IMO, the Hexar RF can not compete with the Hexar AF. The lens is not the problem, but the Hexar RF seemed like a Frankenstein contraption, half manual, half electronic, half motorized. The Hexar AF is much more consistent in how it's thought out and implemented. A while later I managed to get hold of a used Silver model. I took plenty good pictures with it, though step by step it got less use after I discovered the joy of an entirely mechanical RF camera.
Last autumn, I had a hard look at all the gear I had accumulated over the years and decided to trim down. There was so much duplicate functionality. I sold all my non-mechanical film cameras, including the Hexars, and from that money bought a dSLR. I now basically have decided on a 2 camera setup; a Bessa-T and a dSLR, each at the opposite end of the photographic spectrum. Between them, they cover the things I used to photograph with the Hexar AF.
There are just two things that I now have to live without:
1. Quietest shutter ever. Inaubible film advance in silent mode.
2. Best thought out combination of auto/manual features ever.
I'm managing though..
Last autumn, I had a hard look at all the gear I had accumulated over the years and decided to trim down. There was so much duplicate functionality. I sold all my non-mechanical film cameras, including the Hexars, and from that money bought a dSLR. I now basically have decided on a 2 camera setup; a Bessa-T and a dSLR, each at the opposite end of the photographic spectrum. Between them, they cover the things I used to photograph with the Hexar AF.
There are just two things that I now have to live without:
1. Quietest shutter ever. Inaubible film advance in silent mode.
2. Best thought out combination of auto/manual features ever.
I'm managing though..
Paul T.
Veteran
I use my M4 and 35/2 Summicron for holidays, and my Hexar for work - I need to travel light, impromptu, reportage photos. If I had to sell every camera and keep one, it would be the Hexar. The lens seems great, it's quick, quiet and unobtrusive, you can snatch a shot without the subject registering and get much better, less posed photos than if you use a Leica or an SLR. In bright sunlight you have to put up with a much wider depth of field than you might ideally like, but I really think this is a classic design that in its sheer functionality rivals, for instance, the M6.
And that $450 pricetag is half the cost of a 35mm Leica lens that is not demonstrably superior.
And that $450 pricetag is half the cost of a 35mm Leica lens that is not demonstrably superior.
aizan
Veteran
/nm. wrong tab, wrong thread!
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flipflop
Well-known
thanks for the replies!!!!!!!!Keep them coming! Can you still get this camera serviced?
N
Nick R.
Guest
Another positive about the AF is that you can change film mid-roll. Not something you do often, but can really be a plus when you have to.
Looking back over the shots I took last year, I see that I used the AF a lot at events like birthday and holiday parties. It's the camera I grab when I want to get a quality shot but don't have to worry about leaving my camera on a table filled with cake and drink.
Looking back over the shots I took last year, I see that I used the AF a lot at events like birthday and holiday parties. It's the camera I grab when I want to get a quality shot but don't have to worry about leaving my camera on a table filled with cake and drink.