Hexar AF thoughts?

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v_roma

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I hope this is the right forum to post a question on the AF. If not, apologies. I've been considering getting an Hexar AF as my day to day camera and also for street photography. I have an Olympus XA that I used for street photography but I'm getting tired of the (understandably) small viewfinder and rangefinder patch. In addition, there are some non street situations where I could use the AF. Hence, the Hexar. In addition to a good viewfinder and the auto-focus, I like that this camera is supposed to have great optics, is very quiet, has center-weighted/spot metering, and a 35mm focal length. It is bulkier than I would have wanted for an everyday camera, the manual focus implementation could be much better, and it has no in-camera flash, which I happen to use frequently for certain situations. Even with these drawbacks, I am leaning towards getting it but was wondering if anyone has any additional thoughts or experience with the Hexar AF they'd like to share, or can think of any other cameras I should look at as an alternative to the Hexar.

Thank you in advance for any help,
Roma
 
The HExar is my desert island camera. If you've done some reading you'll have seen about its advantages - great optics, silent operation , fantastically usable Program mode- and disadvantages - 1/250 max shutter speed, plus it's slightly bulky.

I would suggest you also look at the photo threads on here. The AF does have a distinct photgraphic signature to me; more contrasty, I'd say less creamy mid tones than my LEica lenses (not worse, just different), very nice out of focus areas (altho I haven't tried shooting christmas tree lights etc).

I use it as my only 'work' camera, photographing subjects I'm interviewing - I don't think it's given me an unusable shot from maybe 100 people. I only tend to use it with TriX, but it's fantastic for colour, too.

(Hang on - i DID photograph some OOF lights! I would guess this is shot at f/2.8)

PhillippeAulliac.jpg
 
I sold my Hexar AF not long ago, to fund a CL/Summicron 40. You're right on several points (relative my experience) about the Hexar - it's just a bit bigger than I could really carry all the time, and with specific exceptions, the MF was pretty unuseable for street shots - unless you wanted a picture of the street - they're patient enough for you alternate to the top panel to get a good handle on the focus set!). The metering is really great, and the viewfinder is nicely sized and clear, but I was never really happy with the moving framelines and focus distance scale. Even though it almost always got the shot perfect, I was worried about things being cut off and focus being at the wrong point right up until I saw the negatives!
The program modes on the Hexar are wonderfully useable, but I never really warmed up to the lens. That's a matter of personal preference tho - I love my Summitar to death and favor it over many 'better' lenses.

The CL doesn't have autofocus or autoexposure, but both are VERY quick manual processes, intuitive, and 'trustable' before you release the shutter. I'll probably get a lower rate of 'keepers' with the CL, but I'll feel better about it in the process.
 
Thanks for your thoughts, Paul. That's a great picture too. Have you found the 1/250th max shutter speed to be a huge issue? That seems to me to be the main limitation of this camera. Though at f22, even with 400 film, I don't think there'd be that many situations where you'd be forced to overexposed due to the 1/250th speed. But you do give up the ability of having a narrow depth of field.
 
Thanks for your thoughts as well, sykotec. I'm an AE guy (for the time being, at least) so I think the CL is not a real option for me at this point. I do worry about focusing for the street shots but the ability to AF and then "lock" the focus at that distance sounds like a good enough "workaround" for range focusing. Without having used the camera before, my guess is that I'd probably have the camera manually set at an appropriate focus distance (e.g., 3 meters) and switching to AF only in situations where I have more time to focus precisely on the subject. No matter how fast the AF is, I have trouble imagining using AF for most street photography situations. I could be wrong, though.
 
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Exactly. I don't tend to shoot wide open outdoors, and on program mode the aperture closes down if necessary in bright light.

I too own a CL, it's always been my favourite Leica. But for me it's the Hexar I'd really rely on. I photograph people as I speak to them, I don't want them posing, so I need that AF to be super-fast, and it always is. I take a max of three or four photos, I can't remember it mis-focusing because the AF spot is very tight. And altho others differ, I can't remember the framelines ever misleading me, certainly they're more accurate than any other RF I know.

I know we all have a common failing on RFF, of saying our choice of camera must be the best one. So I don't want to say that. I would just say the AF is a great camera, and it's best for me. It's not the tactile experience of using an M3, it doesn't look as cool as the CL, but it's my friend. I hope the Fuji X100 comes close, I'd be surprised if it did!
 
Oh, and as far as street shots. I shoot at around f/8 and it never lets me down. You can focus on an object, switch to manual, and it will stay at that distance, for hyperfocal (altho I don't tend to do that).

I have used the AF to focus on a friend, swinging on a rope tween two trees, 80 feet up in the air, bloody fast. IT always tends to work, not like modern day expensive digitals that won't fire if they're confused... if you have it at f/5.6 or f/8 I can't imagine the AF failing for street shots, altho of course everybody's working methods and tastes are different.

Personally i think it's the 'look' of the AF that works for one, or doesn't. I don't actually think its a really 'Leica' look like my Summicron C- it's more modern. But it's easy to judge, there are lots of examples here on rff.

Hadfield.jpg
 
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Thanks, Paul. It's great to hear from someone that's used the camera extensively, even if that means a biased opinion :) I like the look of the hexar well enough but I am more interested in what it can do. There are probably other cameras out there that may look better to me don't do half of what the hexar does.

By the way, that's another great picture. What work do you do?
 
v_roma said:
....the manual focus implementation could be much better...
Click to expand...

compared to what camera? To focus manually is really slow. You have to press the mf-button a few seconds, then you can use up-down to dial in a distance. Then wait for a short time and the lens is set to that distance.
The toggle between AF and infinite is quite nice though.
 
I've used the AF quite a bit myself and I think it's one of the best 35mm cameras ever, excellent for everyday carrying and street shooting.

A ND filter solves the 1/250th speed issue.
 
Tom, I'm not sure if you misunderstood what I said, which is basically in agreement with what you're saying. The MF implementation on the Hexar AF seems to be a weak point (at least compared to using a focus ring with a scale, even if that's potentially less precise).

tom.w.bn said:
compared to what camera? To focus manually is really slow. You have to press the mf-button a few seconds, then you can use up-down to dial in a distance. Then wait for a short time and the lens is set to that distance.
The toggle between AF and infinite is quite nice though.
Click to expand...
 
Shamelessly plugging my article on the Hexar AF.

Because I think I put some nice info in it, that I haven't seen on other sites too often. Feel free to disagree though.
 
The Hexar AF is the number one camera I wish I never got rid of.
I sold it to fund my first Leica, a mint M2. Now I have an M4 and still pine over that Hexar.
It's one of the best cameras ever made when the user lets the camera use its strengths = silent mode, hyperfocal programming and autofocus.

Phil Forrest
 
Yeah shooting with it is almost the opposite of shooting with a manual Leica, both approaches have their merits and you can grow to be responsive with both. But the Leica always has that extra step or two that makes you consider the picture a bit more, with the Hex you tend to waste more shots but sometimes are more spontaneous.
 
I had one of these and it was indeed quiet. But the top shutter speed of only 1/250 (if I remember right) was a deal killer since I like to shoot 400 ISO Tri-X. The lens was darned sharp. I didn't think that it gave images nearly as interesting, or whatever the word might be, as a Leica. So I sold it.

For $50 get a Konica Auto S2. It's pretty large for a fixed lens rangefinder, but not that heavy, has a higher 1/500 top shutter speed, works in auto or manual mode, has AE lock (which is amazing for a camera at it's price point) and has a lens that I think is a lot better than a Hexar RF or most any other camera.
 
Frank Petronio said:
Yeah shooting with it is almost the opposite of shooting with a manual Leica, both approaches have their merits and you can grow to be responsive with both. But the Leica always has that extra step or two that makes you consider the picture a bit more, with the Hex you tend to waste more shots but sometimes are more spontaneous.
Click to expand...

A good overall description. I don't think I take the same pleasure in shooting the Hexar. The pleasure in having it hanging from your wrist is, however much we deny it, an intrinsic part of the appeal of a Leica (or a Nikon RF, or a Rollei or a Plaubel Makina). But I maybe get more pleasure looking at the results with the Hexar.
 
I have a Hexar AF, as well as other cameras. The Hexar is a true delight. I've never understood why there are no other cameras with this system approach, which is fast and accurate. It has that "something more" that makes you fall in love with it quickly.
Best regards
 
Steve M. said:
I had one of these and it was indeed quiet. But the top shutter speed of only 1/250 (if I remember right) was a deal killer since I like to shoot 400 ISO Tri-X. The lens was darned sharp. I didn't think that it gave images nearly as interesting, or whatever the word might be, as a Leica. So I sold it.

For $50 get a Konica Auto S2. It's pretty large for a fixed lens rangefinder, but not that heavy, has a higher 1/500 top shutter speed, works in auto or manual mode, has AE lock (which is amazing for a camera at it's price point) and has a lens that I think is a lot better than a Hexar RF or most any other camera.
Click to expand...

I agree 1/250 is almost a joke... I can surely use it to get "an image" but it's a lot weaker than my 1/2000-1/4000-1/8000 cameras... If I decide a specific DOF and aperture with the Hexar AF, I must use a film with the precise ISO for that situation, but I can't use a real different approach from the DOF point of view unless I change film, so it's a VERY limiting tool... If I'm shooting at f/8-f/11 with a decent shutter speed and then I decide to shoot wide open, I can't, unless I stop and do things...

Cheers,

Juan
 
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