Konica Hexar RF...Any Good?

Huck Finn said:
I like most of what I saw on the Konica Hexar RF. I decided not to buy it because I didn't want the low magnification (0.6x). Despite this magnification, Konica chose to clutter the viewfinder with 135 mm frame lines despite the fact that such a lens is virtually unusable at this magnificaiton. Even a 90 mm lens will have focus problems at f/2 on this camera. The parts/service issue also scared me off.
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I would disagree with your statement that the 135mm lens is unusable on the Hexar RF. I used a 135/4 Tele-Elmar with it in Iceland and had no problems at all. I mostly shot at f/4 and f/5.6. Here are some samples:

horsefarm-ruins-imacon.jpg


stranded-chick.jpg


tern-post.jpg


cowgirl.jpg


It works fine, you just need to be attentive and careful. As long as you use good technique and have decent eyes (or contacts like me...) you should have no trouble focusing the 135mm lens on the Hexar RF. I did not have many problems with the 75/1.4 either, but I did not shoot it wide open and close up very often...that is hard to focus on any body.
 
The Hexar is an excellent camera indeed, but the problem is in its reliabilty. I bought one recently, and returned it, sadly. Electronic problem - the camera would reset itself mid-roll and do the leader-winding sequence.. caused by a worn switch or something.. fairly common from postings on the internet.. Also, the sound did not bother me, the RF did - the window is square, not rectangular, and smaller and much less contrasty than on the leica...

To get this Hexar I sold my M4-2, and the R2 before it... damn, now I am rangefinderless... I can afford the M7, but the price is not fun at all.. I'd rather take a vacation in some place interesting enough ;)

Can you imagine the humilation the Hexar RF has cost me? To shoot bw film I had to buy a Canon (yuck) Rebel Ti (omg:).. paint it black with a permanent marker as I could not stand the color ;) and what do you think? It is a *much* faster camera than any RF and very quiet too.

I'd like to buy a M7 someday though :(
 
Great camera with some caveats..

Biggest detractor is the film advance whine. It just doesn't rhyme with RF photography. Maybe I had a very bad sample in this regard, but I couldn't get used to that screeching noise..
 
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I have on a number of occasions taken the opportunity to praise the Hexar RF here on this forum. I concur with the favorable comments above regarding its reliability, the quietness of its shutter, its accurate metering, overall build quality, and superb quality of the lenses.

I do not understand the comment about its rangefinder patch being square -- it's rectangular, though maybe more square than that of a Leica. However, it's definitely the brightest rangefinder patch I have ever experienced, which makes focusing very easy, even with the .58 magnification. I have used 135mm lenses with it without problems. As a glasses wearer, moreover, being able to easily see the 28mm framelines is a real boon.

I have heard several reports of its rangefinder patch being rather easily knocked out of adjustment. All I know is that any rangefinder camera should be treated with care in order to avoid this occurrence. As for repairs in the U.S. (or North America), I think Greg Weber in Nebraska is well-equipped to work on Hexars.
 
SteveM(PA) said:
Wow Stuart. Wow.
I don't have one, but I always enjoy Hexar threads. People always post excellent photographs.
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Steve,

I think you made a very important point and one that often gets lost in gear/tech babble: "People always post excellent photographs."

Yeah, the Hexar RF and the Hexanon lenses make excellent photographs. It's not a perfect camera (is there such a device???) but there is far more to like about this system than to dislike. And the results.......

Best Regards,

Bob
 
Hexar RF is the pre M-8...

Hexar RF is the pre M-8...

KoNickon said:
I have heard several reports of its rangefinder patch being rather easily knocked out of adjustment.
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I have been only a reader of the forum for over a year now, and really enjoy it i must say. I have learned and learned many a new thing from it. I have decided to finnaly start posting due to my love of this camera.

I have been a proud Hexar owner for over 6 years now, and use it as my daily camera. it is with me everyday. I think of my my camera as like my keys, never to leave home without it. About it being knocked out easily, yes this is true. I have had mine re-set twice since owning it. But i think any camera that is going to be "used" should have a proper visit for a check up.

As for repairs, in (NYC), I think Nippon Photo Clinic: 920 Broadway, 7th Floor, Suite 705 NYC (212) 982-3177 in NYC is the best spot to work on any camera. these two guys are amazing.

I wont get into the Leica vs Hexar debate, cause they are just different cameras.
try it, you might never know if you like it, or not; till you do in life.
 
netzspannung said:
The Hexar is an excellent camera indeed, but the problem is in its reliabilty. I bought one recently, and returned it, sadly. Electronic problem - the camera would reset itself mid-roll and do the leader-winding sequence.. caused by a worn switch or something.. fairly common from postings on the internet.. :(
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One of my Hexars had this same issue, and I had it repaired by K-M just before the sale to Sony (probably some of the posts he mentions on the internet are mine :) )

It has its quirks, but I love AE mode and the M7 is just out of my price range.

The other one for me is that the camera does not hang well on a strap... it noses over. The eye-piece falling off is another, and they are as rare as "hens teeth"... just ask Matt at 1pt4.com: http://www.1point4photography.com/blog/category/cameras/

The big concern for me right now is parts and who is going to repair them here in the US. Greg Weber is very well respected, but parts are very difficult to find, and he tells an anecdote about boxes of parts being thrown out by K-M with the sale. I have yet to read of a successful repair, by Sony, on one of these by anyone living in the U.S. since the sale. I hope I won't be the first attempt.

I was able to get my hands on a service manual for the Hexar RF, which makes me feel a little better, unless of course I get the dreaded "blinking 10" error .

I must admit, thought, that for RF I have been shooting the G2 more, simply because it is a one-handed camera (AF), especially nice with small children)
 
I just added a Hexar RF to my M-rf collection. I've read all the conflicting info on lens compatiblity, rf missalignment, etc., and still bought this beauty, as I have dreamed of having one since they were introduced--I love digital--it has made all the cameras I only dreamed of owning so much more affordable!

Any case, I have a mismash of lenses I use on a Bessa R, a ZI, and an M6. They are:
a CV 40 1.4 nokton & 35 2.5 color-skopar PII, (CV)ZI 50 f2 planar, (CV) ZI 28 2.8 biogon, and a 90 2.8 tele-elmarit. Any particular issues I should consider before mounting one of these lenses on the new Hexar? Thanks for all the help--Love this forum!
 
The thing that doesn't often get mentioned about the Hexar RF is what a great point & shoot camera it can be. When I travel with my family, I can take the body, the 40 Rokkor and the VC 21 and its size guarantees I'll always have it with me.

When I sell mine, it will only be if I quit shooting film. (God, if Sony would only turn the RF into a digital body!)

The attached pic is cropped from a VC 21/Hexar RF shot taken at arms length on Fuji NPH.
 

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Berliner,

I have a Hexar RF and have used Konica, Leica, CV and ZI lenses on on it. I have experienced no problems with compatability. I think most agree that any compatability issues are due to specific bodies/lens combinations. There is no evidence that there is, or ever was, a universal problem.

Additionally, I have used the Konica lenses on my Leicas and various CV bodies with no problem.

Best Regards,

Bob
 
Wow...amazed I missed this thread until now.

I'm into my fifth year of using the Hexar RF (two of them, actually), along with a trio of M-Hexanon glass – 28, 50, 90 – as my Main Axe camera system. Aside from a few early teething issues with one body, I positively love this camera, in terms of "feel", build quality, control layout, and speed of operation. I've run a lot of film through both bodies, and they've served up great results (although I've been really knocked out by others' examples in this thread). It's the camera that helped me leave the SLR world for dead, and with no regrets.

Some details, based on some comments in this thread:

- Although the motorized film advance/rewind function adds some noise to the operation, in most instances this isn't a major issue. The vertical-travel shutter itself is surprisignly quiet...or maybe not so surprising, since the shutter blades, besides being decently dampened, are made not of metal, but of carbon-fiber.

- I can't speak from experience using a 135mm lens on either of my HRFs (although Stuart's eye-popping examples show that it can be done, to say the very least), but I've used my M-Hex 90mm f/2.8 wide-open without incident, and can say from my results that I doubt any other camera/lens combination can seriously better it.

While I've happily lived without the three ring circus of auto-everytihing SLRs for a while now, the Hexar has just the right amount of modern (for RFs, anyway) creature comforts such as DX film coding, wide shutter-speed range (16s-1/4000sec), motorozed film advance and rewind, and auto flash-sync (at 1/125sec), among others, all underneath a sober, Clark-Kent-like exterior devoid of anything unusual besides a small LCD panel which serves as frame counter and highly-useful heads-up battery condition indicator.

To say the least, if I had it to do over again, I certainly would.


- Barrett
 

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Berliner said:
Any case, I have a mismash of lenses I use on a Bessa R, a ZI, and an M6. They are:
a CV 40 1.4 nokton & 35 2.5 color-skopar PII, (CV)ZI 50 f2 planar, (CV) ZI 28 2.8 biogon, and a 90 2.8 tele-elmarit. Any particular issues I should consider before mounting one of these lenses on the new Hexar? Thanks for all the help--Love this forum!
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There is a thread on p-net, started by Lutz Konnerman[sp?] that mentions some slight camming differences between thh Hexanon lenses and everything else (you calibrate the RF for one set, but the alignment is out on the other). Since your "mismash" does not include a Hexanon, you'll be fine.

In that thread some folks said they didn't see a difference; admittedly, Lutz uses a nice large meter-stick and does some critical focusing images.

One of my Hexar RFs came back from K-M assumingly aligned for Hexanon lenses, and I had to reset the horizontal adjustment for my Leica lenses (meaning that when I mounted a Leica or VC lens, and set the lens to infinity, and looked the VF, the patch alignment did not match when I looked at something at infinity). Once that was done, no issue on Leica or VC glass (I don't own any Hexanon glass).
Could it have been knocked out in shipping? Certainly.
 
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davichan said:
I have been only a reader of the forum for over a year now, and really enjoy it i must say. I have learned and learned many a new thing from it. I have decided to finnaly start posting due to my love of this camera.

I have been a proud Hexar owner for over 6 years now, and use it as my daily camera. it is with me everyday. I think of my my camera as like my keys, never to leave home without it. About it being knocked out easily, yes this is true. I have had mine re-set twice since owning it. But i think any camera that is going to be "used" should have a proper visit for a check up.

As for repairs, in (NYC), I think Nippon Photo Clinic: 920 Broadway, 7th Floor, Suite 705 NYC (212) 982-3177 in NYC is the best spot to work on any camera. these two guys are amazing.

I wont get into the Leica vs Hexar debate, cause they are just different cameras.
try it, you might never know if you like it, or not; till you do in life.
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Heck, I almost totally forgot about Nippon...haven't been there in quite a while, and good to know they're still around. Have you actually taken you Hexar to them?


- Barrett
 
amateriat said:
Heck, I almost totally forgot about Nippon...haven't been there in quite a while, and good to know they're still around. Have you actually taken you Hexar to them?


- Barrett
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yes, I have had nippon re-align the hexar for me twice in the 6 years of using it, and also had nippon do a few other tasks from tighting lense barrles to bringing back dead camera's... if yo uhave been there bfore, then you know this place is truly a gem hidden inside NYC.
 
I just had the focus on my Hexar RF adjusted. I also bought a 1.3 magnifier for it. A while back a found a screw that could, with a little work, replace the one that held in the frame preview lever. Before that I used a little bond on the hot shoe that kept falling off.

The magnifier is also a dioper. I do think Konica made any.

This would be a great camera were it better made and if parts were available. But serial # is 1444656, a later and better version.

I have had no back focus problems with Leica lenses. Except for the problems I've mentioned, the camera has held up well since I got it in 2000.

It has traveled with me everywhere. It has been to Paris. It's finish is well worn, showing that it has been put to much use. So far nothing has gone totally wrong.
 
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