Will a Hexar AF.....

S

szekiat

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I currently shoot the hexar RF and an M2 as my staple film gear and will soon be adding a F3 w/85f2 just for portraits. The thing is, i've heard so much about the abilities of the hexar AF as a stealth cam with quality.

I love my current setup to bits, but am curious as to just how good the hexar AF is compared to say a hexar rf with 50hex and 28 ultron. Is it every bit as sharp at f2 or is it one of those lenses that performs when stopped down to 2.8.

Gah, this is thinly veiled GAS!!! Anyone with a hexar af to trade in the uk let me know what u want!
 
I don't think it's really about the lenses. It's more that the AF is a completely different aesthetic, a completely different way of working from an M2 OR the Hexar RF.

I'd never take the AF when, say, I go out to the market on a Sunday, it would simply be too easy to get a good shot, perfectly focused and exposed, takes some of the difficulty out of it. But when I'm shooting serious stuff, and I have to nail a subject, it's the only camera I take. As far as the lens goes, I'd say it's great... I have no clue really as to whether it's better than my old Summicron 35, or my current SUmmicron C., it seems a semantic question, because for capturing people, just when they have the right expression, without interrupting the flow of a conversation, taking in their background too, I'd say it's incomparable.

Performance at /2 is pretty good, I think, but I would normally shoot at f/2.8 or f/4, because I normally use it for shooting people, and people move.
 
The lens is just superb. It is incredibly quiet. I found the ergonomics awkward on the Hexar AF. It's not a small camera. I decided to sell mine and get a Leica, which works out to be about the same size, has interchangeable high quality lenses, and is relatively quiet. I've been much happier with a Leica as it has much more freedom. The Hexar AF is a great picture taking machine, but it is really a largish point and shoot camera.
 
Paul T. said:
I'd never take the AF when, say, I go out to the market on a Sunday, it would simply be too easy to get a good shot, perfectly focused and exposed, takes some of the difficulty out of it. But when I'm shooting serious stuff, and I have to nail a subject, it's the only camera I take.
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You take an AF AE camera for the serious stuff? Usually it's the other way round. Most people don't use manual focus and exposure to introduce an element of 'difficulty' but to have full control and get things just right. Of course, it depends whether the "serious stuff" is action sports or night scenes with difficult lighting for example.
 
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Paul T: I take that as a sort of tongue in cheek way of saying its definitely the better cam?

Gah, now for someone to sell one at a reasonable price in the uk. There was one not too long ago. Should have snapped it..... argh.
 
Everytime I read one of these threads I think that I should go ahead and sell my Hexar AF Silver since I'm just not using it. I either shoot with my Leica or my recently acquired dslr.

-Randy
 
i'd make u an offer randy if not for the fact that i've just about contributed enough to HM Customs this year...
 
szekiat said:
Paul T: I take that as a sort of tongue in cheek way of saying its definitely the better cam?
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Yes. The AF is, for instance, far superior to the RF in my view, far more radical. And that lens is, I guess "good enough". It's different from the Leicas, but we know how all the Hexanon-Ms are currently sough after, and that's what it is.

Anupam Basu said:
You take an AF AE camera for the serious stuff? Usually it's the other way round.
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I guess we're just different. I don't ENJOY using autofocus, in the way I ENJOY focusing the Summicron Collapsible on my m3. But it's faster, silent, far less obtrusive and generally more accurate. The AE is OK, by the way, more fooled than some others by back-lighting.

(I use the Hexar for photographing people, in conversation.) But with all of this, I don't say it to stimulate (that awful word) GAS. It's a different camera, it's not as satisfying to hump as a Leica, it's just that it works.
 
will keep all this in mind. The only other thing stopping me at the moment is that i've never been a 35mm man, having used and sold the 35 1.7, 35hex, 35cron v4. I'm normally a 50 and 28 person. That said, I really want a fast compact AF camera with a wide aperture for low light stuff. Same application as Paul actually, for interviews and stuff. AF is infinitely more reliable than my eyes after so many years of staring at forums late at night!
 
I'm a 28/50 person, too. But the Hexar AF makes use of 35 real easy with min focus of .6m and variable framelines ....

I'm with Paul: for many situations the fast auto focus in available light is great. This would have been difficult with a Leica, for instance:

216982889_bwTde-L.jpg


(at least for me).

Roland.
 
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FWIW, here's a shot from my last roll. The Hexar also seems to work well in dimmer, less contrasty surroundings, too.

it has a clean, modern look to it that, for instance, looks markedly different to my Leica or Jupiter lenses. But the bokeh, if you care, can look fantastic, sometimes you can get very 3-D shots. But this isn't a camera for fondling, or extolling its visual qualities, it's not exciting... it just does the job.

Hadfield.jpg
 
Hexar AF vs Ultron 35

Hexar AF vs Ultron 35

I have a long used Hexar AF ; and a 35mm/1.7 Ultron since 3 years.
I made slides with both in a same session (severe backlight, lawn at some distance...). Impossible to detect a significative difference.
Hexar is unbattable where you want to be discreet (you look to a direction, and under your elbow Hexar makes pictures to another - autofocus works fine). But the feeling is specific, it does not react very fast.
 
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needless to say, i have a few issues with the hexar af. i will outline these:

-- silent mode: well its way too silent and i am not talking about the much heralded silent mode. my subjects had no chance. heck, half of the time even i didn't notice a shot had been taken.

-- autofocus: possibly way too fast. if you are used to focus hunt delays like me, this might be an issue.

-- program mode: too clever by half. always takes a properly exposed shot by changing the set aperture. utter blasphemy!

on a serious note, i loved it for the two weeks that i had one. it convinced me to consider RFs strongly and ended up getting its bigger bro -- hexar rf. if i ever switch to a digital RF, i will get a hexar af as a film body. its pure awesome.
 
skibeerr said:
Just sold mine to chikne,
it is to easy to get good images with, there's no more suffering in it.
My work has deteriorated since I do everything manual
but who wants the perfect travel camera. :bang:

The only serious remarks I can make is the sensitivity of the release button, locking af resulted in many unwanted frames. And it takes a while to get used to the buttons.

The black ones are IMO nicer and les obtrusive. And cost more:(
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As been said the sensitivity of the release button is probably down to the dirty contacts on the shutter switch and this is documented in the silvergrain website. It's an easy fix that can be done without any solder work.

On the buttons, I know a lot of people say this but I've never understood this. The three modes are simple enough and the other modes aren't used enough to warrant worrying about but using them once or twice soon commits them to memory.

For the record I sold off all my other equipment and now only have two hexars. No worrying about what lens to use or what camera.

Only downside is that these are going up in price all the time. You used to be able to score these for $300 all day and night, now it's closer to $500.
 
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