How does my just received Hexar AF feel?

I set the minimum to 1/8 almost immediately, but am thinking about dropping it to 1/4. Subject motion blur will be a problem before camera shake—this thing is solid.

Here's one at 1/8
 
Autofocus Noise

Autofocus Noise

I just watched a video of the Hexar AF AF'ing. How loud is the autofocus of the camera when on silent mode? When I get a RF it will be because I think the mirror slap of film slr's is too loud.

Do you think the AF sound of the Hexar is louder or softer than the mirror slap of an SLR.
 
I was thinking that focusing with a hexar is basically an improved version of focusing an RF. Think about it, with an RF you focus in the middle and recompose. With a Hexar you do the same, but the first part is done automatically and faster than you will ever be able to do it manually. So why an RF? becaust it doesnt hunt in the dark. Neither does the Hex. Because it's accurate. But so is the Hex. Quieter? There is a bzt sound in Hexar's focusing but it lasts a split second and it's barely audible, it could become annoying if it hunted back and forth, but it doesnt. Ever. The only thing you give up really is the focus ring markings for zone focusing purposes, but prefocusing with the buttons is an acceptable substitute. If you know your dof by heart, which you should anyway :)

Chris, AF on silent mode is for all intents and purposes, silent. But it is also slower and not worth the trouble in my opinion. Maybe in a church or something like that.
 
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ChrisP said:
I just watched a video of the Hexar AF AF'ing. How loud is the autofocus of the camera when on silent mode? When I get a RF it will be because I think the mirror slap of film slr's is too loud.

Do you think the AF sound of the Hexar is louder or softer than the mirror slap of an SLR.
Click to expand...

The sound of an SLR and the Hexar AF are totally different... Miles away.
An SLR can be heard by your subject even if you're not close...

On its normal mode, the Hexar AF is a low noise camera, and can be used for street shooting like that, because its sound is not obtrusive at all, and it won't be heard unless you're close to your subject's ears and there's absolute silence and you're indoors, and that's not common... On its silent mode, the camera does all things a bit slower: makes no difference to me as it's very fast anyway, and composing takes me more time than its autofocus... It's real fast and has no "doubts". The green dot focus confirmation and the distance info and moving framelines let you know, just as you half depress the shutter, where your camera is focused, instantly, and then you compose and fire, all in a fraction of a second, AND all this is done knowing the camera didn't focus on the background: it's amazing, and using it is a real pleasure... On silent mode its focusing, shutter noise and film advance can't be heard by people close to you... While testing it, I made several shots at its minimum focusing distance (60cms!) behind sitting people in silent places, and I was afraid, ashamed being that close, and no one knew I was shooting... Autofocus is very silent (having the camera in my face, I hear it a bit, but people don't) and shutter and film advance just disappear. It's a really nice achievement, especially because you don't feel blind about the focused point. I can focus and shoot with my Hexar AF faster than with any of my SLRs and RFs. I can preset my Hexar's focus for instant shooting too, as with my RFs when set at 8 feet and f/8, but it's so fast using its autofocus that I'm just not interested. I haven't missed any shot because of focusing delay: it takes me more time to raise the camera to eye level and find the viewfinder...

Cheers,

Juan
 
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Thanks guys (or maybe I should be mad at you, your praise of this camera is gonna cost me some money).

Its always hard to tell on videos how sensative their microphone is, it sounds like this is my dream camera.

Just out of curiosity, can it focus on glass objects like wine bottles or wine glassses or does that throw the IR off? For example in Bennysyverson's image above, if you wanted to focus on the champagne bottle instead of the woman's face would the camera be able to do that for you?
 
Chris, I think that wouldn't be a problem for the champagne bottle, but I wonder how it well it would work with a wine glass... Honestly, if you need to focus on the rim of a wine glass, it's time to break out the SLR.
 
Thanks

Thanks

bensyverson said:
Chris, I think that wouldn't be a problem for the champagne bottle, but I wonder how it well it would work with a wine glass... Honestly, if you need to focus on the rim of a wine glass, it's time to break out the SLR.
Click to expand...

Thanks, for the info, sometimes you just can't beat a split prism for focusing hey! But great info, it'd be hard to get my hands on one to play with where I am so your experiences are a huge help.
 
Just got mine in the mail today... well, my newest one anyways. I have owned two in the past (black and silver versions) and have just ended up with another silver one. I have been without a Hexar for a year now, as I grew tired of automation and missed the process of focusing manually with the patch and the film advance lever and mistakenly sold my last one. I have come to realize that these are (for me) trivial matters in comparison to the quality of the final image and I believe my camera-related priorities have matured in this past year to the point of caring less (but not at all) about the little things with cameras...
I am excited to get out there and shoot it.
 
That's a cool story, filmfan!

Returning to a previously used and sold camera, speaks well about the camera, and speaks well about the photographer...

Cheers,

Juan
 
Juan Valdenebro said:
Thanks for the advice, Roland!

OK, I'll set it to its native 1/30 again... If see I'm doing fine there, I'll go on to 1/15...

Cheers,

Juan
Click to expand...

I set mine to 1/20, maybe I should go lower. When setting it you have the choice of 1/30 and the next step down is 1/20, but if the camera thinks 1/25 is just right it goes there. It seems like that give a touch more flexibility--if that makes any sense.
 
I am also a big fan of this camera. In fact, I love it so much I bought 2 of them, one has the autodate back. I actually prefer the autodate backed one because it's heavier and makes the camera seem/feel more robust!

Anyway, today I bought another P&S - the Klasse W!
 
I'm waiting for an AF to arrive next week or so. I like to use very slow films, like 25-50ASA, and I thought AF could be a good option for me.
 
Juan Valdenebro said:
GOD BLESS ALL THOSE INVOLVED IN THIS CAMERA'S DESIGN!
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Well, my Canon Rebel has a faster shutter, can use zoom lenses, has a flash and takes 16 GB CompactFlash cards. Your boutique camera can't do any of that, can it? :rolleyes:


Just kidding. Really.


I love the camera, too. It's stored right now because I gave away all of my film prior to my move last year. It is a gem of a camera.
 
My first Hexar AF arrived today. I ripped it out from the package and without any further notice loaded a roll of APX 100. I had no clue what P mode was so I shot the roll on A mode and set it on f/5.6 ( I've since read the unofficial manual at pnet and I know I was doing it all wrong).

Well... I like how the camera operates. It's fast and quiet. It's smaller I had envisioned and definitely feels like tank. All very good so far.

I have a feeling that I'm going to like this camera a lot.

This is out of my first test roll (APX 100, f/5.6, Xtol 1+1):

5468482919_74811589b9_b.jpg
 
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