konica hexar

[DwF]

Cameras are personal and especially feel. This is a great one though. I don't understand the limitation you'd feel about this camera. While it is not for those that like telephoto shooting or macro it does so much with one great piece of glass.
As for the comparison to the Canonet or even the Konica Auto S3 or of that ilk, it is a different feel altogether.

 

[DwF]

P.S.
not a putdown of the Auto S3. That is a very nice camera.

 

[pvdhaar]

Hexar: never gets in the way..

Hexar: never gets in the way..

The Hexar AF is the camera I enjoy using most. It's extremely flexible; it can be used as a point and shoot, or can be controlled to the n-th degree for a contemplative approach. Despite the enormous range of controls, I find it easy to operate once the logic of how it's arranged sank in. The motorized framelines give tremendous feedback on what it's doing. There are no illogical interlocks like on the AF-SLRs I used to have. I find the Hexar AF a camera that never gets in the way.. always does what I want it to.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

DwF, you said it well... Cameras are a personal thing. I expected this one to be smaller. Who knows? Maybe I would have liked it better had I not seen all RF cameras through my Canonet experience... At a given moment, I didn't go for the Yashica GS for the same reason: I felt it strangely big, didn't quite match my expectations. The very Leica I love was, initially, a shock because of its size. The only camera that has impressed me very favorably besides the Canonet was the Contax G1: to me, it's small enough, and very competent.

But then, my opinion is just an opinion; the fact you guys love the little Hexar probably means I didn't appreciate it enough. Or that my expectations were unrealistic.

 

[jbw]

Sorry, don't want to be completely discordant but this camera turned me off... There was a time in which I was literally hunting for one, as I saw it as the best Canonet incarnation there is, but when I finally got to handle one in a store... I just didn't like it. Too big, too plastic, and at times a bit limited. And I have thick fingertips so the little buttons just didn't click to me.

Notice I'm not blaming the camera, but my personal impression of it.

However, the set for that price is a real bargain... Did you buy it jbw?

i am going to see the camera after work today and see if it is love at first site.....it doesn't come with a case.. does anyone know where i can pick up a case? it comes in a presentation box... but no case...

joanie

 

[jbw]

konica hexar case...

konica hexar case...

am going to see the camera after work today and see if it is love at first site.....it doesn't come with a case.. does anyone know where i can pick up a case? it comes in a presentation box... but no case...

joanie

 

[DwF]

Hi Joanie,
I would like to suggest (and I also own the Konica Hexar leather wrap Frank S described) the Temba P 26. It is a balistic nylon shoulder bag that is narrow and tall in profile. I have carried it now for three or four years and love this bag. Small and unobtrusive like a rangefinder should be (IMHO). I think the wrap is very nice too but use it to store my camera.
Anyway see if you can find one. Glazers in Seattle always carried it and it is perfect for camera, flash, wallet, glasses, phone, film and hug the body if you set the strap height correctly. Detailing is also very nice (bag is black with trim in blue around zippers)

 

[hoot]

Is this a real rangefinder camera with rangefinder patch?

 

[Doug]

I've not had one, but I think I'm correct in saying it does not have an RF patch, and that it's an Auto-Focus rangefinder camera in the same sense the Contax G is, and the Fuji GA645 as well.

 

[hoot]

So, when using AF, the only way you can tell whether the camera has focused correctly is by reading the LCD display, which tells you the current focusing distance?

 

[Doug]

It should do better than that, and most likely does. Here's an illustration of what the Contax G2 does. There's a very small LCD on the top deck at the left that also shows a distance readout, as shown. This can be handy when using manual focus, or when shooting 'from the hip'. If the camera cannot find focus, then the viewfinder shows two blinking dots, one at each end of the distance scale.

 

[hoot]

Thanks for the scan, Doug!

To your knowledge, is there some kind of visible marking in the center of the viewfinder (akin to the tiny circle in the viewfinder of an external spot meter) which acts as a visual aid; i.e. you make sure that when you half-depress the shutter release to activate AF, the subject you want to be in focus is within this marking?

 

[Paul T.]

It doesn't show a distance reading. There's an autofocus 'guide' in the VF that's a diagonal line which represents 0.6m - infinity- it shows a 'gap' in the line at the autofocus point. Hence it will tell you instantly whether the autfocus is fixed on the subject 2m away, or the forest 15m behind him/her... but it's not finely graduated so in theory there could be focus errors you wouldn't detect (I think there can be parallax errors at close distances, because while the framelines shift to accommodatre a close subject, the autfofocus crosshairs don't move).

Anyway, i've found the autofocus system brilliant. the only problem i've ever found was in very cold weather, when my fingers were so cold I couldn;t detect the half-way focus lock position of the shutter and kept taking shots when I was trying to lock focus!

 

[hoot]

Paul (or anyone else who's used a Hexar) - I know the comparison is a bit fruity, but how do the size, weight and handheld ergonomics of the Hexar AF compare to a Leitz-Minolta CLE with the CLE's 35mm lens mounted? These may be very different cameras but I'm on the fence between the two as to which I'm going to get as a "carry around every day" camera for street photography. (On a side note, I've tried - and been turned off by - smaller cameras such as the RC, the XA and the 7sII, which all have the same problem of hard-to-see rangefinder patch.)

 

[Doug]

Not sure how much it really helps for me to say what the Contax does when the question is Hexar AF... but in my manual's illustration that I attached to the previous post you can see the focus bracket marks in the viewfinder over the model's mouth. 🙂 I'm sure the Hexar has something similar.

Paul, I had similar trouble snapping photos inadvertently with the Contax G1, as its half-pressed position is hard to detect. Fortunately, the G2 added a separate focus-lock button on the back, visible in the sketch in the previously attached illustration.

 

[hoot]

Oh, I was wondering about that. Figured the lady had a moustache.