johannielscom
Snorting silver salts
True, if you want the cap to go on the lens hood, a 52mm lens cap will do the trick. I used a Nikon 52mm cap to clip into the hood and that worked fine.
If you want a slip-on cap that goes onto the filter, a 48mm cap does just that.
Regarding the ND4 filter: I would not bother. If using 200ASA film, you can have a lot of sunlight before it's too bright for 1/250th + f/16.0. Should your lowest hand-held shutter speed be 1/15th, than it's 10 stops before hitting 1/250th + f/16.0. That's a lot of different lighting conditions on one roll of film.
I'd leave the ND4 at home and load 200ASA, bring the flash instead for those darker indoor shots. The Hexar has truly brilliant flash-automation!
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sniki
Well-known
As spacer between Hexar lens and filter - in order to avoid contact and possible seizure at minimum focus - I just use a thin and small (like a coin) rubber band, put on filter threads: it works like a gasket without adding to much filter/lens depth.
With ND filter act as follows:
ND.3 (exposure adjustment = 1 stop, reduces ISO 1/2)
ND.6 (exposure adjustment = 2 stops, reduces ISO 1/4)
ND.9 (exposure adjustment = 3 stops, reduces ISO 1/8)
With ND filter act as follows:
ND.3 (exposure adjustment = 1 stop, reduces ISO 1/2)
ND.6 (exposure adjustment = 2 stops, reduces ISO 1/4)
ND.9 (exposure adjustment = 3 stops, reduces ISO 1/8)
muf
Well-known
Thanks for the advice. I got really lucky. I checked fleabay and there was only one plastic slip-on 48mm cap on sale. I couldn't believe what make it had on it!!!
Paul
Attachments
Arjay
Time Traveller
Just to add a little bit of Hexar AF know-how from another thread, because this one has developed into a repository for Hexar tricks:
Although the Hexar doesn't have a directly accessible AE lock feature, there is a workaround: (a) Do the Hexar AF firmware upgrade for one-touch exposure setting in M mode, and (b) set your camera to M and spot-measure a specific part of your subject using one-touch mode.
Voilà, now you have locked your auto exposure.
The caveat is that the metering pattern is different between M versus A or P mode. Metering in M mode is on a circular 4 degree spot, while in A and P mode it's a 15 degree wide rectangle.
Although the Hexar doesn't have a directly accessible AE lock feature, there is a workaround: (a) Do the Hexar AF firmware upgrade for one-touch exposure setting in M mode, and (b) set your camera to M and spot-measure a specific part of your subject using one-touch mode.
Voilà, now you have locked your auto exposure.
The caveat is that the metering pattern is different between M versus A or P mode. Metering in M mode is on a circular 4 degree spot, while in A and P mode it's a 15 degree wide rectangle.
muf
Well-known
How can I check if its had the firmware upgrade already?
Paul
Paul
Arjay
Time Traveller
Quick exposure setting in M mode
- Select aperture in M-mode.The camera will display the last selected shutter speed.
- Partially press and hold shutter release button.The camera will display the currently measured shutter speed.
- Press UP or DOWN to select that time.
- Release the UP or DOWN key. After a short delay, you will see the newly selected shiutter speed displayed.
If the update has not yet been done, go to Buzzardkid's Silent Mode update description (scroll down until you get to the white table).
To add quick exposure setting in M mode and bracketing to your Hexar, just follow the Silent Mode procedure, but instead of setting code D[FA], use D[FE]. This will also enable IR-photography for sure, as well as manually setting the guide number. Stick to the procedure carefully, or you will risk getting an expensive paper weight.
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muf
Well-known
Thanks for the tips. I tried your instructions in M mode. It didn't fix the speed as you indicated which must mean that the update hasn't been applied. So looking at your direction towards the white table and enabling silent mode. It seems strange to add silent mode to my camera as it already has silent mode enabled. So why would I add it again? I'm not being funny just a genuine question.
Also, do you think I could get around the problem by using exposure compensation. If I am photographing a scene that is heavily backlit by a bright sky, I could use a +1.5 compensation. I'm confident that the Hexar struggles with backlit subjects as I've seen on my recent results.
I'm a bit scared of applying the update from the white table as I really don't want a £300 paperweight. But I would like to see some nice pictures rather than the disappointment I got from my first two rolls.
Paul
Also, do you think I could get around the problem by using exposure compensation. If I am photographing a scene that is heavily backlit by a bright sky, I could use a +1.5 compensation. I'm confident that the Hexar struggles with backlit subjects as I've seen on my recent results.
I'm a bit scared of applying the update from the white table as I really don't want a £300 paperweight. But I would like to see some nice pictures rather than the disappointment I got from my first two rolls.
Paul
RFluhver
Well-known
I love the Hexar AF. I love it so much I bought 2 of them, one has the autodate back.
If anyone is interested in a Gold Hexar AF, there are 2 of these over at Camera Box in Tokyo.
If anyone is interested in a Gold Hexar AF, there are 2 of these over at Camera Box in Tokyo.
Brian Levy
Established
When the AF came out I tried it as it seemed like a great concept. Maybe I was too used to my CL but it seemed to take longer to set up the shot than the CL and I spent more time on the technical than the visualization of the image with it. Average nuber of good shots betwen the camera were about the same, maybe a few more to each camera depending on the day. The 1/250th vs the 1/500 speeds to me were no big deal but I usually shoot a slower film. The image quality was different between the cameras and this finally was the kiiller for me.
I tend to prefer the images from the European formulated and glass, a litle less contrast, slightly less dry analytical image. The European glass seems to lead me to look at the whoe picture as a complete story vs the Japanese formulations/designs that tend to led me to look at the components of the photo. Neither is better or right buut for me the emotion and story seems more important than the detail. The AF was great but I seemed to lose the story I was trying to capture.
I tend to prefer the images from the European formulated and glass, a litle less contrast, slightly less dry analytical image. The European glass seems to lead me to look at the whoe picture as a complete story vs the Japanese formulations/designs that tend to led me to look at the components of the photo. Neither is better or right buut for me the emotion and story seems more important than the detail. The AF was great but I seemed to lose the story I was trying to capture.
Arjay
Time Traveller
A perfectly legitimate question, Paul. I found that updating for Silent Mode wasn't necessary on my Hexar (old, black version), but the other functions apparently need to be activated separately by using D[FE] instead of D[FA] as a value for step 8.
The instructions sound scarier than they actually are. It seems that the majority of the steps in the instructions are just about navigating in the camera's ROM address space. When I did the update, I had a number of surprises, but no damage:
I followed the instruction steps 1 through 6 (as denoted in column A), and then the data displayed on LCD did NOT match with the description. I continued with step 7 regardless, and found that I was able to correctly set the D[xx] data. Note that [xx] denotes a hexadecimal number which can take on one of 256 states, so be patient and lo a LOT of button pushing. Take your time and precisely follow the instructions, then there shouldn't be any problem. If others have done it (like me), then you should be able to do it too.
It also seems that is is possible to do two consecutive update runs - one for silent mode (if needed) and one for one-touch M mode exposure setting (incl. several other new functions). I did the second update run (for one-touch M mode exposure setting), and it didn't influence my camera's silent mode performance.
There's no patent solution to your question, because the amount of compensation depends on the camera's measuring pattern. So, you have to experiment because maybe you were accustomed to another measuring pattern, and the Hexar might react differently than your previos camera. +1.5 is a reasonable starting point, but it (a) also depends on the actual contrast of your scene, (b) on the Hexar's metering pattern and (c) on the film you're using. I've also had success by only using a factor of 1.0 - but YMMV.
If you have a little more time when measuring your backlit scenery, you could use the Hexar's spot metering function in M mode. Measure your normal mid tomes, and then the highlights. Anything in the highlights that is >3 EV above the exposure that you have selected for your midtones will probably be blown (this is for negative film only, slide film has less latitude!). This ought to give you more meaningful info about the actually required compensation factor, which you need to select as a compromise between midtone-based exposure and highlight blowout prevention.
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muf
Well-known
This is also very strange. When I compose on a lightbulb, at f8 in P mode I get 1/80 but in M mode it gives me 1/125. I've just tried something in M mode. Which is that I pointed the camera at the lightbulb and it says 1/125 and then I used the up/down to select 1/125. Now no matter what I point it at, even when it reads 1/15 when I trigger the shutter it shoots it at 1/125. Is that normal?
Thanks for the helps guys.
Paul
Thanks for the helps guys.
Paul