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Hexar RF gripe #lost count


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Mine finally made it's way back from Greg Weber in time for a six week trip to

India (with an M2). Greg had done a fine job of sorting out the rangefinder's

problem, infinity focus is still a tad out but that's a cheap local fix.<p>The

latest problem has manifested itself as I begin to process the several dozen

rolls of Tri-x that went through it - the camera has taken it upon itself to

squeeze a frame 38 on the end by skipping a sprocket (at least that's the end

result, frames 37 & 38 slightly overlapping, this is a consistent result that

only occurs at the end of the roll).<p>Of course it can be avoided (provided you

know the problem is there) but I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this

or can shed some light on it (no pun).<p>Thanks in advance to anyone with the

knowledge, Johnny.

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Change your loading technique. Increase the amount of film you expose from the canister to load the camera. An extra 3-8 mm should do. This film extension will be short enough to not foul the loading but will make a 38th frame impossible. The camera will fail when trying to set the 38th frame. Hence no overlap. I used to do this with a Pentax point and shoot.
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Um... you're the one who's making the camera shoot 37 and 38. If this is turning into a

problem, you can use the little nub that is on the strap buckles to press the rewind button

when the camera reaches 37.

 

The Hexar winds on less than other cameras when you load it. Usually, frame 38 is pretty

easy to get. Pulling more film out while loading should, as a previous poster said, obviate

the problem.

 

The other problem might be that the optical sensor is getting confused.

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Jerry,

 

The Hexar RF is fast becoming a collectors item and they are exchanging hands (when you can find them ) for around 500 pounds sterling, and if you have the kit with lens and flash they are going for lots, there is a company in UK selling a kit for 1100 pounds sterling.

 

The camera was and still is a very popular Leica M backup, and many people were hoping the M7 would have been modelled on it - the camera and lenses are superb, well made, robust and they produce good results.

 

In the UK you can still get them repaired, I sent mine last year to a company called "Johnsons Photopia", they sent it to Sony in Germany (They have a stock of Konica/Minolta parts), instead of repairing it they sent me back a new replacement body, this has now only had 1 film through it to test it - not bad for a 65 pound repair cost.

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If it matters, the camera is from a company that is still in

business. That business is no longer cameras. The camera business

was turned over to Sony, yawn; but the interesting bit is that,

at least in my part of the world, Sony has taken over the

surprisingly considerable responsibility that KM thought it had for

servicing, and is staffed with knowledgable technicians from KM.

Sony recently took a look at my Pearl III, only slightly younger

than Sony itself.

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