Which Hexar to take?

[pukupi]

I'm off to various parts in the Middle East next month for work and although there is a lot of work to do, my primary concern right now is which Hexar I should bring with me

I can only bring one camera and will be in some very dodgy areas so what would you choose: Hexar (AF) Classic or Hexar RF Limited with 50/1.2?

 

[Nick R.]

I'd take the wider angle AF.

 

[FrankS]

What Nick said.

 

[ABarGrill]

I love the Hexar AF. And it's probably less expensive to replace than the RF (although the prices sure have gone up in the past couple of years). But, if you are really going into rough areas, perhaps a Stylus is a good accompanyment.....it is a good little machine that can be lost without requiring a long mourning period.

Alan

 

[StuartR]

I have both of these setups, and if it were me, I would definitely take the AF, especially if you don't plan on taking any other lenses with the RF. In this sort of situation, the AF is a better choice -- it is more durable (no rangefinder to knock out of alignment), much quieter, looks more like a point and shoot, and gives you a wider angle. The one caveat -- if you are going to be shooting during the day, I would highly recommend bringing a couple of beefy neutral density filters. 1/250th will not get you very far in the middle of the day in the desert, unless you are using techpan or something.

 

[pukupi]

Thanks for the advice. I'll pack the Hexar AF, an ND-8 and lots of film.

Stuart, how's the Hexar RF going? Mine is great but I wish it had the unobtrusive black shell.

 

[StuartR]

It's great! I have the black body, but I was lucky enough to find a used 50/1.2. It did not come with the hood, but I have found the lens to deal with flare very well...I really like the Hexar RF for slide film. I think that the electronic shutter deals very well with the narrow dynamic range. The 50/1.2 is a great lens isn't it? It doubles as a really nice loupe too, since it's front element is so large.

 

[pukupi]

It did not come with the hood, but I have found the lens to deal with flare very well.

The hood makes the lens monstrous, blocks too much of the viewfinder and IMHO, is not really needed as the lens handles flare well. It is my dream lens, almost as fast as the Noctilux and a lot cheaper!