morten_brakestad2

" Autowind doesn't change what winding does. There is no real

"control" aspect with autowind. I don't choose to wind or not wind

film, I have to do it to get to the next frame."

<p>

The point (to me at least) is that, besides silent winding, with a

Leica you also have control over WHEN you do the winding -

when you press the shutter on a Hexar RF you get the film

winding noise after the shutter release whether you like it or not.

The same goes for film rewinding. Canon thought about this

when they made the Eos RT (fixed pellicle mirror) several years

ago, and added a custom function which let you delay the film

winding until you released the shutter button after the exposure.

As long as the Konica designers couldn't put a silent winder into

the Hexar RF they should at least have thought of something like

this. The Hexar RF seems to me to miss the point, not by much,

but still by enough decibels for me to get a second-hand M6

instead. Ironically, as it was the news about the Hexar RF which

gave me the impulse to go shopping for a rf this time. I have

thouht about it for years but thought Leica too expensive, but after

carefully testing it against the Hexar RF and Contax G2, a

second-hand M6 seems the best choice. Even though the prices

are silly and there are a lot to be desired about the camera, it's

still the most inconspicuos and silent rf around - and that's the

main reason I see for getting one apart from the optics, which I

believe are overrated anyway. I noticed a change for the better

when I traded my Olympus OM gear for Canon Eos and L optics,

but seriously doubt if anyone can tell the difference between

good Canon optics and Leica in a blind test.

<p>

But I may end up getting a 90 mm Hexanon; not the focal lens I

use most of the time but at Konica's price I may still decide I can

afford one. The photodo.com site even rates the Hexanon lenses

over the comparable Leica's. As for the other focal lengths I have

found Leica's lenses with tab's to be much easier to focus and

will prefer Leica's own for this reason. But I feel pretty sure that

both brands will deliver pictures that more than fulfils any

serious picturemakers needs. After all, most rf pictures are taken

under less than favourable conditions where the ability to hold

the camera steady when exposing have greater impact on image

sharpness than the quality of the optics. The Hexar RF was a

nice try; in my opinion close but no cigar.