My Konica Hexar RF Limited.

Hi Guys,


As some of you might have noticed, I've been selling off some of my Leica gear.
The reason for this was that I found an unused Konica Hexar RF Limited, number
1253/2001.

I absolutely love this camera. I couldn't think that the virefinder would
actually be as good as it is.
I read on the internet that the RF was not on par with Leicas, I think it is.
The smaller mag, .60 is the
only negative thing I can think of. The .72 is more practical when using 50mm
lenses.

Another thing I realized was that it's not possible to use the Leica Mag
1,25X .
For me this is a bummer. I used the mag a lot. However, I think you can make
it fit somehow.

The lens included is a jewel. 50mm F1.2! As the original Noxtilux. It looks
like the nocti too!
The lens is also special edition and has the same serial as the body.

The body feels great in the hand, the camera is pretty heavy, but this is due
to the lens aswell.
Big piece of glass.

The controls are well designed and easy to use. Loading the film is easier
than on an SLR! Incredable.
Motordrive is a nice extra, well I wouldn't have liked it less if it had an
Film advance crank either.
Talking of film advance, the shutter is as quite as a M6, but the motor drive
makes it a bit noisier.
Still this is a very quite camera.

The finish is actual Titanium. And I just love the feel of Titanium. I have
always used Nokias "Zippo"
models as mobilephones (8910) for example had an Titanium shell, and I loved
it aswell.

A great choise by Konica was to leave the body in the natural color of
titanium. I might be wrong here,
but I don't think it's painted.


Anyone else here with this marvelous camera?

-Andreas

 

A pic.

 

Nice camera. Hopefully you'll have better luck with it than I did with my black RF.

 

Hi Stephen,

Please tell me more...

 

I have heard that they are very reliable unless you jar the VF rangefinder by letting the camera bonk into something. OPtech has a cross body strap that is elastic type harness and the camera is restrained against your midsection when not at you eyelevel. Or it would look nice in a burgundy half case which would cushion any shock.

 

Basically, the RF in my camera would go out of alignment with only the slightest jostleling in the field, i.e., along dring a bike ride. It went back to Konica, N.J. five or six times. It would be out of alignment out of the box.

Search my posts or PN in general.

 

Obviously, I was typing when Harvey posted.

I was shooting in a church (my GF is Catholic, I'm not) during Easter and the RF's motor turned heads, my M6 did not. It would've been a nicer camera if the built-in motor could be turned off and a lever was provided.

 

Ho much did you find the kit for?

I have the lens and am looking to trade it. Mine has a noticable scratch on the lens barrel back near the mount but optically is fine. I have never been convinced it foussed correctly on my M6 and as I just traded off my Noct, am looking to trade this as well. Anyone have a 28 'cron they aren't too attached to?

 

Unused in original packaging, 730euro.

 

That's a good price. I sold my RF body for $450, IIRC, but the new owner reported an E02 (?) error. I split the repair price with him...never again.

Mark, how much are you asking for your lens, as I don't have a 28/2?

 

I had the same RF problems, it would not stay in alignment. After several trips to the
Konica factory repaair shop in NJ and many phone calls, I finally got a Konica repair
technician to admit that even if they fixed it, it was likely to go out of alignment in the box
on the way back to me. Hopefully they fixed this in the copy you got. Good luck, very
pretty camera.

 

I've got two Hexar RF's, and neither has ever given me any RF alignment problems. The Hexar is kind of particular about your eye placement; place your eye anything off of dead center, and it's easy to think that the VF is misaligned. If the alignment does go out, you can adjust it fairly easily by fiddling with the two screws under the plastic plug on the top deck.

The titanium is pretty.

 

Hi Andreas.

After hearing all these horric stories of RF misalignment, if you don't intend to keep it, do let me know. I am keen.

Cheers!

yol

 

I never had any problems with focus accuracy for the Hexar RF either. I sent it to DAG
when I got it to make sure it worked with Leica lenses and after that it was perfect (it was
probably fine before too). Anyway, I also have the 50/1.2 limited and it is a great lens. I
would say that it's closest comparison is the 50/1.4 Summilux R. It has a lovely character,
and while still being sharp, contrasty and modern looking, it is not as sharp and contrasty
as the 50/1.4 ASPH. It is a truly great lens. Here are some samples:

<P><img src="http://www.stuartrichardson.com/jodie-800.jpg"><P><img src="http://
www.stuartrichardson.com/presidio-bells.jpg"> <P>I did a setup comparison between the
50/1.2 Konica at 1.2 and the 50/1.4 ASPH at 1.4. I did adjust the contrast on both to be
similar, so don't look at this for contrast so much as overall image character. The Lux
ASPH is sharper wide open, but it is not a knockout. I did these on a tripod with a 1.25x
magnifier. <P>Konica<P><img src="http://www.stuartrichardson.com/bt-50hexanon-
limited.jpg"><P>Lux ASPH<P><img src="http://www.stuartrichardson.com/
bt-50asph.jpg"><P>Konica crop<P><img src="http://www.stuartrichardson.com/
bt-50hexanon-limited-crop.jpg"><P>Lux ASPH Crop<P><img src="http://
www.stuartrichardson.com/bt-50asph-crop.jpg">

 

there are two cameras i would love to have in my collection. one is the mamiya 7II, the other
is the konica hexar rf. maybe someday i will...

 

I have one as well, picked it up second hand 2 years ago. I think the body is varnished as mine has a few minor spots where it has been worn off. The spots have the same color, but are more shiny.

/H嫡n

 

I have now shot two rolls of film trough it, and it seems to work as a dream. I love that you can easily change shutter speed with your indexfinger, the Leica M6 require thumb and finger to set the shutter speed.

Is there TTL flash metering?

 

"I love that you can easily change shutter speed with your indexfinger, the Leica M6 require thumb and finger to set the shutter speed.

Is there TTL flash metering?"

Yes, the shutter speed dial is a piece of ergonomic genius. In my opinion, nothing beats the Hexar RF for egronomics.

There's no TTL flash metering, but this camera seems to work well with the auto function on Nikon flashes.

 

Andreas...next time you're having your M6 serviced, you might ask them to loosen the
shutter speed dial a bit. I have no problem turning the shutter speed dial with one finger on
any Leicas I have used (M3, M6, MP or M7). It should not be very hard...in my opinion, the
M7's larger dial is just as easy as the hexar RF...

 

No it's not stiff, but the smaller M6 classic shutter speed dial, at least from me to operate carefully requires two fingers. I't similar in resistance as the Konicas.

 

Congratulations, Andreas. You have got a very nice camera and lens at an incredible low price. And be sure that the lens is every bit as good as you can hope for. Please have a look here. The lens sits on my black Hexar RF. Mads

 

My thoughts: No focussing problems on my Hexar RF (black), later serial number. However, Noisier than a Digital SLR, quiter than a film SLR (canon eos elan excepted), and much noisier than a lens-shutter digital point and shoot or M7 or M3. Handling and ergonomics are great; film loading is easy; viewfinder and focussing square are bright; build quality is excellent; longer shutter delay than an M3 or Nikon D200, shorter than a Nikon D50 or similar DSLR and consumer film SLRs. Built in christmas tree like exposure meter is easy to use (doesn't read the acutal speed below 1/4 second, but it does expose to 30s [I believe]).
See what Dante Stella wrote here: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/hexarRF/message/4954
He explains how he used a Nikon eyepiece magnifier on a Hexar.

 

I bought my Hexar RF from "Marc", what a steal, sent it to NJ to get it calibrated with Leica lenses, has worked fine since then. It has essentially replace my M4-P. BTW your 1.25X can NOT be made to work on it since the last optic on the Hexar RF is powered (ie has curvature, don't ask what type since I have forgotten). You can find a whole bunch of info on this camera at Nemeth's site, including how to align the rangefinder, and how to remove the lens shim so Leica lenses will focus correctly. BTW things I really love about the Hexar RF, built in meter, flash sync at 1/125th, built in motor, easy film loading, ... ok it is noiser than my M4-P but compared to most DSLR's it's really quiet.

Gerry

 

"I love that you can easily change shutter speed with your indexfinger, the Leica M6 require thumb and finger to set the shutter speed."

I have never used the Konica Hexar RF. From photos of the Hexar, I would have to say that the Winners and still Champions of the shutter speed dial design and placement are still the Leica M5 and Canon EF. I don't know which came first. Both were introduced at nearly the same time. I am fortunate to own and use both cameras.

If the Hexar RF's speed dial is better, we owe the M5 and EF credit for setting the standard.

I would really like to own the M-Hexanon 50/1.2 lens. I may have to start shopping.

Thanks for sharing all of this information.

Cheers!

Wayne

 

My Konica RF stopped working one day with a flashing number 11 in the LCD. I had dropped it a few weeks early. It worked after the fall and looked undamaged. I sent it to Greg Weber, the Konica specialist. He had it for a couple of months, waiting for parts that never came from Japan. Now the camera is a paperweight unless somebody out there can make another recommendation for how to get this camera fixed. I used this body with Leica glass for several assignments alongside an M6 and it was great. DAG adjusted the rangefinder to my lenses awhile back. Help me get this camera back in action!

 

It looks like you got a great deal on a wonderful camera. I sold my Hexar RF through Photonet, and have always regretted letting it go.