Konica Hexar RF purchase concerns

[FrankS]

My Hexar RF (bought new last year in Cologne w/o lens) also turned into a costly disaster.
I am most pleased with the Hexar's performance and bought - up to now - the 90 and 50 mm M-Hexanons. The 28, 35 and - maybe - the 21-35 are on my wishlist.
The Hexar just fits into the pocket of my jacket and therefore gets some banging around. Up to now, no problems whatsoever. Haven't used my SLR since I have it.
I am very happy I didn't save up to get an M6, which would also have been an option. Instead, I enjoy aperture prioriy metering, built-in winder instead of the lever sticking into my right eye (I am left-eyed!) and the quality of both the camera and - mainly - the 50 M-Hexanon.
Best regards,
Uwe

Uwe, it sounds like a good thing. Why disaster?

 

[Uwe_Nds]

Uwe, it sounds like a good thing. Why disaster?

Well Frank,

it's a disaster for my bank account...😉

The camera itself and the lenses are just great - no complaints whatsoever.
And, had I bought a Leica with Leica glass it would probably have been a much greater disaster 😱

 

[KoNickon]

I'm guessing it's a disaster for his bank account -- needing to add Hexanons!

I'd like to know more about why the Hexar's controls are "WHIMPY" [sic]. The dials, power switch, shutter release all seem quite sturdy to me.

I must say, this camera has to be one of the most polarizing ones out there, at least based on the responses I've seen in this and other threads. Maybe its code name, for the next year at least, should be "Hillary" (no, not Sir Edmund).

 

[Uwe_Nds]

I'm guessing it's a disaster for his bank account -- needing to add Hexanons!

😀
Nick,

Your post should have come first.

BR,
Uwe

 

[aizan]

I'm glad it's not a problem for you, but it can certainly be an issue in the real world for others. If you wear glasses, your eye doesn't always "naturally" center itself in the eyepiece & I don't think the Hexar's fuzzier patch edge helps @ all.

maybe i should have mentioned that i wear glasses. 😀

the patch's edge doesn't get fuzzy...it fades out as your eye moves off-axis.

i wonder if there's a simpler way to say it, but the hexar rf is a camera you either love or hate, and is also the quintessential camera leicaphiles love to hate.

 

[Pablito]

the hexar rf is a camera you either love or hate, and is also the quintessential camera leicaphiles love to hate.

Not at all....I LEARNED to hate it. Bought it in good faith, hoping to use it alongside my Leicas. Had great expectations which turned to big disappointment as I tried to use it! 😱

 

[furcafe]

Yeah, but you're not me & don't wear my glasses. I shoot w/the Hexar RF often, so I know exactly how the camera's RF patch behaves . . . for me. When looking through it, the slightest movement of my eye causes the secondary image to move around; while the entire RF patch fades out, as you say, when the eye moves too far off axis, there's a lot of room for the secondary image to shift & cause a potential misfocus before that point is reached. My M6 TTL 0.58 never displayed this problem (nor does my M8, which has a similar magnification). I love my Hexar & don't hate it @ all, but I'm not going to minimize 1 of its shortcomings.

maybe i should have mentioned that i wear glasses. 😀

the patch's edge doesn't get fuzzy...it fades out as your eye moves off-axis.

i wonder if there's a simpler way to say it, but the hexar rf is a camera you either love or hate, and is also the quintessential camera leicaphiles love to hate.

 

[KoNickon]

I am a glasses wearer also and I can't say I've ever noticed this shift of the secondary patch.