Hexar RF / mid-roll film exchange?

[Kawabatnam]

I don't know this camera but I've read somewhere -though can't trace the source back- that the Hexar RF offered mid-roll film exchange. Does it mean that it is possible to rewind the film at will, leaving the film leader out of the canister to allow for instance reloading and resuming shooting with the rest of the unexposed film? If this is correct, it is a very convenient feature, quite similar to interchangeable backs.
Thanks for any information.

 

[Al Kaplan]

You can do that with any 35mm camera. Just be careful not to wind the film all the way into the cassette, keep the lens covered while clicking off over and past the already exposed film when you reload, and go one or two frames past that point just to make sure that you don't double expose any frames.

 

[Keith]

When you activate the rewind button on the left of the camera it will pause for a few seconds at the end of the rewind process leaving the leader out of the canister. When it does this pop the back open straight away and remove your film as turning the camera off doesn't seem to stop it completing the cycle.

The first time I tried it with mine in spite of actually turning the camera off it continued to wind the film right in after the initial pause!

 

[Al Kaplan]

Ahhh, the wonders of modern electronics.

 

[Keith]

Ahhh, the wonders of modern electronics.

It's not something I did much when I had my Hexar Al but when I did I was amazed at the accuracy when returning the paused film to the camera. Because of the auto load system where you line the film tab up with a particular spot when loading and the camera does the rest when you close the back, you can return your film back to exactly where it was within a millimeter or so provided you remember which frame you were on.

I still miss my Konica ... they're a hell of a camera!

 

[Kawabatnam]

It's not something I did much when I had my Hexar Al but when I did I was amazed at the accuracy when returning the paused film to the camera. Because of the auto load system where you line the film tab up with a particular spot when loading and the camera does the rest when you close the back, you can return your film back to exactly where it was within a millimeter or so provided you remember which frame you were on.

I still miss my Konica ... they're a hell of a camera!

Thanks, that's exactly what I wanted to hear (read...)! Now, the hunt for a Hexar RF may start! (the fact is that I usually shoot 645 medium format and feel very comfortable with 15-16 photos with 120 rolls without needing to change ISO; 36 photos on 135 film is a new world to me...).

 

[infrequent]

yeah, its a pretty neat feature. the hexar's have a optical frame counter and rewind and reload works faultlessly to a single frame!

also anytime you are done with a roll in a hexar, it auto-rewinds until the LED reads "--". this is a little pause for couple of seconds that allows for the back plate to be opened. after the pause, it sucks the leader in. pretty handy if you develop your film or want to try double exposures! ; )

also the optical frame counter is accurate enough to give you 38 frames from every roll, every time. pretty amazing that!

 

[Kawabatnam]

yeah, its a pretty neat feature. the hexar's have a optical frame counter and rewind and reload works faultlessly to a single frame!

also anytime you are done with a roll in a hexar, it auto-rewinds until the LED reads "--". this is a little pause for couple of seconds that allows for the back plate to be opened. after the pause, it sucks the leader in. pretty handy if you develop your film or want to try double exposures! ; )

also the optical frame counter is accurate enough to give you 38 frames from every roll, every time. pretty amazing that!

By the way, when you reload say a half-exposed roll, do you just shoot with lens cap on until reaching the first unexposed frame, or does the Hexar RF provide a more sophisticated procedure?

 

[Gary Sandhu]

Shoot with the lens cap on: nothing more sophisticated than that. However, set the speed to 1/4000 and to continuous advance and you get there very quickly. Great camera.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Shoot with the lens cap on: nothing more sophisticated than that. However, set the speed to 1/4000 and to continuous advance and you get there very quickly. Great camera.

Yep, the sagest of advices (for mid-roll changes). That's exactly what I do (when I do mid-roll changes) with all my film cameras.

 

[Gary Sandhu]

Yep, the sagest of advices (for mid-roll changes). That's exactly what I do (when I do mid-roll changes) with all my film cameras.

Dear friend, I sense misplaced sarcasm. My instructions above were for placing a previously partially exposed roll of film in the hexar and advancing to that part of the film which is still unexposed. Advice for removing a partially exposed film was already given in the previous posts in this thread. I wanted to make it clear to the original poster that the hexar rf does not have an alternative, more advanced process, as was asked in the post just before me, other than the usual. However, I also wanted to clarify that the hexar rf has a rapid continuous advance mode (about 2 1/2 fps) and a top shutter speed of 1/4000. Clear enough, or too clear perhaps?