Two Hexar users walk into a bar... [Archive]

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amateriat

01-26-2006, 15:03

...and we get to chatting about starting a new forum here for us Hexar users (Mostly the RF, but I think we can/should include the Hexar autofocus for the sake of continuity, as well as making the forum more viable). So, I'd love to kick it off, but how does one get a forum started here? (And, can I get a show of hands as to how many of you guys and gals actually have and use one?)

- Barrett (hoping to high heaven he's not asking for trouble here;-)

Kevin

01-26-2006, 15:09

I think the Hexar RF and the Hexar AF are completely different cameras. I don't think there is anything quite like the AF AFAIK, so maybe a pure Hexar AF forum would be a good idea, with Hexar RF posts most welcome.

I believe several members here have an AF.

sockeyed

01-26-2006, 15:21

I'm trying to get my hands on a Hexar RF. Then, I could join this forum (should it come to pass).

aizan

01-26-2006, 15:34

*raises hand*

back alley

01-26-2006, 15:41

eventually i want a hexar af but i have been thwarted in the past by poor timing.
if i had the $$ there were none around and if i was broke there were many! :)

for a whole new forum you must ask the big cheese.
but be warned i think we are running out of forum space (or something like that).
i asked about a seperate section for handheld meters a while back but none has appeared as yet.

amateriat

01-26-2006, 15:57

Kevin: True, but I think the two cameras share more than just the Hexar name and a bit of developmental DNA, and, having spent five years shooting with a Hexar AF, I can also say it's the proverbial breed apart from other fixed-lens rangefinders. (I reluctantly parted with my "HAF" to partly fund my HRF system; recently got hold of a clean Auto S3 to do the "tiny rangefinder" thing and as a non-motorized option.)

Khaled

01-26-2006, 16:43

One more hand for a Hexar RF forum!

It's been more than a year now since I found this forum and always wondered why us Hexar users were being discriminated, without a proper home and left into the cold of the general discussion :confused: :confused: :confused:

Maybe it's because the Hexar RF is the best rangefinder there ever was or ever will and everybody knows this deep in their gut but don't want to accept it as it would drive Hexar prices to heights unknown even to leica-rhino-balls-leather-camera users! :p :p :p

Khaled --- Orange is the color of my revolution

Disclaimer: I tend to get quite silly after midnight :D

julianphotoart

01-26-2006, 18:28

I'm all for sticking up for the maligned Hexar RF. Bring on the forum.

dgray

01-26-2006, 19:35

I have one of each. They are my two main film cameras and make quite a nice kit together along with 24 and 50 mm lenses for the RF. I really love not having to use a separate viewfinder for the 24. As much as I love these cameras, it seems to me like an entire forum for just one camera model might be a bit of overkill. Leica and Bessa each have a whole range of models and an extensive lens line up. I agree that the Hexars are special, easily in the same league, and with nice lenses, but there just might not be enough diversity and quantity wihtin the line to justify a whole forum. If I'm wrong and this happens anyway, I'll be the first to jump in, though.

laptoprob

01-26-2006, 22:02

As lovely as the Hexar RF is, I do not think a separate forum for every 'animal' is useful. Here in Holland we have a terrible tradition of separate institutions for all kinds of 'different' groups of people. Religious, politics, all separate organisations.
All this is wearing off nowadays, thankfully.
Our society was called a 'columned' society.

After all I regard the RF as the Leica that Leica never made.

Rob

Warren G

01-26-2006, 23:39

Paul McCarthy

09-13-2011, 13:05

Did anything become of the good intentions expressed in the posts above? Also, does anyone know how to stop the date imprinting on the negative when using the Hexar AF? Thanks.
Paul

FrankS

09-13-2011, 13:20

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=133

flip

09-13-2011, 14:14

hmm. I always figured it would makes sense to put the Hexar RF and IKON close to each other place as they seem to share so much. A such and such and its derivatives category.

The AF, despite being an extremely advanced P&S, still fits in that category, I believe.

Juan Valdenebro

09-14-2011, 18:38

If the RF was quieter, it would possibly be the best camera ever for street shooting... Yet I prefer the option of manual advance (talking about louder than Ms cameras) because you can advance "later" if that's a better option because you're close to people... I wouldn't use it as my only camera just because of its noise, but it's an amazingly complete camera that's great for most situations...

The AF is to me the best camera ever from any brand, because you can use it in manual, in aperture priority, in its superb program mode, and has the best autofocus I've used in my life, not to mention that wonderful fast sharp lens with great bokeh inside a really protective rigid barrel... And it's so silent, sometimes it can't be heard by the photographer! I need real silence to hear it when I hit the shutter, so most of the times I can't hear it at all while doing street photography... I've used it next to people's head inside silent churches and no one has ever noticed its focusing or shutter noise... Priceless... With other cameras I love, I can get the first shot for sure, but sometimes people notice me because of the noise, and I just can't shoot there (or around) again, but with the AF I can keep shooting: I take it to eye level for no more than a second, and most people next to me have that "he repented" face... :) By the way, its compensation button is VERY fast: I can set any + or - compensation in thirds, in less than a second, or manually change ISO that fast too... Before buying mine, I read several times on the web its buttons were a pain: that's incredible: they're a fantastic design indeed, as the aperture wheel with half-stop clicks: adorable, and I enjoy it better than aperture rings placed on lenses... Its top shutter speed of 1/250 is half true only: with my ND8 it goes to 1/2000, and with my ND64 it goes to 1/16000... :) Not a camera to be used indoors and outdoors with the same film without NDs....

I agree with the OP both RF and AF have the same "spirit in common": they seem made for fast shooting, and also as if they were made as better tools than Ms for some situations... Obviously their designers had Ms in mind and went for something to fill empty spaces... The RF, even with its louder shutter and advance, has its unique 1/4000 shutter that's great for focus control... Not too different from Bessas' and ZI's 1/2000, but two or three stops of difference compared to Leicas, are a big difference...

Cheers,

Juan

KoNickon

09-14-2011, 19:18

Count me in. Beautiful cameras and lenses, both.

raid

09-14-2011, 19:58

I don't know if I did the right thing for my photography needs when I sold my AF to buy a RF instead. Both are great cameras.

dct

09-15-2011, 02:29

I think there should be some acknowledgement for the Hexar RF. It is a truly great camera system and a complete pleasure to use, having a brillant combination of traditional and modern technology. I would really want have a forum for the Hexar and Hexar RF.
W.

Nowadays we have the forum. And I have a HRF :cool:

@Administrator: This thread should had been moved to the right forum many years ago...

dct

09-15-2011, 02:43

hmm. I always figured it would makes sense to put the Hexar RF and IKON close to each other place as they seem to share so much...

I don't think so. If you look closely to the technical specifications, the controls, the ideas behind the user interface: The panoramic Fuji TX/Hasselblad XPAN seems like big sisters of the Hexar RF.

The ZI is more another interpretation of the Cosina new Bessa rangefinders and has not many details in common with Konica Hexar RF. My opinion is, the ZI forum should be enlarged to cover all Cosina RF cameras of both brands (Voigtlander & Zeiss Ikon). Or the Voigtländer brand should have a separate forum by its own.

Moriturii

09-15-2011, 02:53

I agree with Juanito, Hexar AF is made for photographers and not just a teen kid who's daddy gave $1500 and now wants to buy his first dSLR herp derp.

I think Konica then aren't the best PR people, like Fuji for example (fuji guys) so the Hexar has not gotten the attention it deserves.

Like Juan said, the Hexar AF controls isn't designed like modern dSLR's, it's designed like the old Contax or Nikon rangefinder cameras, where you use your middle finger to focus and index finger to take pictures (although with Hexar AF it's middle finger to focus AND take picture, index finger for exp compensation, shutter speed etc).

I am a Hexar nut now, I own both the Hexar AF and RF, my leica's are gone (although gorgeous mechanical cameras they are) but I can't pass up state of the art precise shutter (albeit little bit noiser, not half as bad as you think with it in 'C' mode), state of the art viewfinder, built in motors etc etc.

Hurrah Hexar!

Moriturii

09-15-2011, 02:54

I don't think so. If you look closely to the technical specifications, the controls, the ideas behind the user interface: The panoramic Fuji TX/Hasselblad XPAN seems like big sisters of the Hexar RF.

I am pretty sure the same design team that designed the Hexars also designed the Hasselblad XPan... I think i've read that somewhere, dante stella maybe.

furcafe

09-15-2011, 12:17

I see clear similarities, down to the parts level, between the Hexar RF & the Kyocera Contax G2.

I am pretty sure the same design team that designed the Hexars also designed the Hasselblad XPan... I think i've read that somewhere, dante stella maybe.

Moriturii

09-15-2011, 12:33

I see clear similarities, down to the parts level, between the Hexar RF & the Kyocera Contax G2.

"No one knows the exact origin of the Hexar's design, but it is probably fair to say that it was the same design house that created the Hexar autofocus, the Contax G2, and the Hasselblad/Fuji X-Pan, all of which the Hexar RF strongly resembles."

Dante Stella's review. Probably true. All great cameras.

hlockwood

09-27-2011, 08:48

Iver Aldas

09-27-2011, 09:35

Juan,

I couldn't agree more. I think it's the noise of the advance that is the real culprit. So, for a really quiet environment, the M7 is my choice, just a quiet "snick".

Harry

But if you can live with the noise then it would be a great save for your money compared to buying an M7. I had the chance in using the AF(borrowed it from a friend) in one my projects and i was greatly amazed with it's performance. I am forever in love with that camera. Hopefully I will have a chance in owning one in the future.

http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo273/iver20/7.jpg

Hexar AF with 35/2 fixed lens - Legacy Pro 400 souped in D76; 1:1 @ 20°

hlockwood

09-27-2011, 11:03

But if you can live with the noise then it would be a great save for your money compared to buying an M7. I had the chance in using the AF(borrowed it from a friend) in one my projects and i was greatly amazed with it's performance. I am forever in love with that camera. Hopefully I will have a chance in owning one in the future.

http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo273/iver20/7.jpg

Hexar AF with 35/2 fixed lens - Legacy Pro 400 souped in D76; 1:1 @ 20°

Yes, but see my sig; I've got both of them.

Harry