tonyk

Phil,

I use the 15mm CV lens with a Leica 35mm M-Mount/Screw Mount Adapter on my Hexar RF all the time. No physical restrictions of any kind, but I find that the 15mm viewfinder is a bit too loose when attached to the hot shoe for my taste. It's much tighter on the M6.

TonyK

I never liked rewind cranks. I actually prefer the M2 style rewind to the M2 style of rewind (yeah, I know, I'm weird that way). Nothing is more annoying than rapidly turning that little lever handle with my thumb and index finger (with my pinky sticking out, no less!), and having the whole contraption slip and the rewind knob/handle turning back the other way. Which necessitates repeating some of the process to make up for the slack caused by it slipping. Never happened with the M2. I bet it's even easier to operate it with gloves. Maybe I'm challenged in a eye-hand coordination way.

Your mileage may vary.

TonyK

Does anyone know where I can get info on the development time for

Ilford HP5+ shot at ISO 800 and Arista liquid film Developer (normal

dilution is 1:9)? I can't find anything on push processing times for

this chemical (not even on the Freestyle website, and yes, I've even

tried to email them (no response).

I've been using the Arista chemicals for a little while now (B/W is

not my primary work). I tried a roll at 13 minutes (8 minutes for

ISO 400) and ended up with grossly underdeveloped negatives (although

the exposed portion of the film leader came out nice and black). How

exactly is this developer classified? What is it closest to (trade

names?)? Thanks in advance.

TonyK

John. I was in the same boat as you. My wife/partner and I use Mamiya 6 outfits for our wedding gigs, but found it to be quite bulky for vacations, travel, etc.

I bought a Leica M2 with a 1970's Wetzlar 50mm and I was able to carry this, a Vivitar 2800 flash, and an extra roll of film in the now discontinued LowePro Camera Pocket hip pouch. I just hang the Sekonic L-208 meter around my neck (looks kinda like a stopwatch/pedometer), or use the really excellent MR meter which makes the shutter speed dial on the camera bigger and easier to adjust settings.

But like you, I missed aperture priority (available on our Mamiya rangefinders). I then read about the Konica Hexar RF which is supposed to be a Leica M mount compatible camera with titanium covers, motor drive, aperture priority, and a preference for wide angle lenses (with it's finder magnification). There's a big controversy regarding whether it is actually M-mount compatible (do a search, but I have not experienced any compatibility problems), but I took the plunge and bought a Hexar RF kit (body with Hexanon 50mm f2 lens and really small flash). The body is just about the same size and weight as my M2 (but with motor drive and aperture priority), but the Hexanon lens is bigger than my Wetzlar 50mm, so I don't use it.

So now, I carry in my LowePro Camera Pocket hip pouch a Hexar RF with homemade wrist strap, Leica 50mm f2 Wetzlar Summicron, Konica HW-18 flash (smaller than a pack of smokes), and because I no longer need to carry the leica meter on the camera, I have room for 2 rolls of film and a Voigtlander/Cosina 15mm f4.5 lens.

This works so well for me, in fact, that I'm actually selling the Leica M2, Konica Hexanon 50mm, and the Leica MR meter. If you are interested ;) (Shameless promotion, I know...)

Since it's a leisure camera (family get togethers, vacations, etc), I figure I can carry it around with me almost everywhere and it's quick enough to operate like a point and shoot for those once in a lifetime walk to the supermarket photo-ops.

Good luck with your homework.

TonyK

OK.

Jay may have a point, but it worked for me. Also, before the

adjustment on my camera, the image on the RF patch seemed smaller than

image on the RF itself. This solved it for me. Your mileage may

vary.

As for the chromatic aberation fringes on the letter "a", it's the

conversion from a 2700 dpi / 25.7mb photoshop file to a 130K JPG file

that did it. It actually is very sharp in the original file.

Although this is not a big magnification, it is enough that at 2700

dpi (original image), pixelation starts to be noticeable at the edges

(limits of the scan). That is why I did not make any further

magnifications, as it would really tell you nothing.

As for the unclear sketch. Sorry, but these are just quick notes that

I took at the time. The upper left side shows the camera. The

"Adjustment Open" should actually be the "Adjustment Opening". There

is a small plastic cap there. Inside looks like the area around the

dashed circle. Once the cap is removed, there should be no problem

identifying the parts.

I was going to test the Hexar RF side by side with my M2 for

comparison, but instead, during this excursion, I compared it to a

Contax G2 (with a Zeiss 45mm f2). The slides from both cameras seemed

equally sharp under high magnification on a lightbox and scanned.

I still really like this camera. Sometimes you don't want to hand

meter everything. I took some neat street fair photos with it

recently and saw some gentleman there removing his M6 from his soft

case and taking the photo. Needless to say, I was there and gone

before he could even start focusing. Yes, I know, sometimes you want

to take your time for a photo. That's why I have my M2 for. It's

strange... As I get older and lazier, the less I want to carry for

the usual "out and about".

T

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<p><img src="http://www.tk-photo.com/images/hexar-adj.jpg" width="493"

height="338">

</p>

<p>The above drawing shows the adjustment of the rangefinder on a

Konica Hexar

RF. This shows how to completely (vertical and infinity) adjust the

rangefinder

on this camera. I've been looking around the web for information

regarding Vertical

alignment adjustment, but could not find any details on it. So, after

taking

the plunge and purchasing one, I found that my infinity alignment was

right

on (with both my Summicron 50/2 and Hexanon 50/2), but my vertical

alignment

was slightly off. It bugged the living stuffing out of me, so I just

took out

the adjustment plug and went for it. Sorry for the quality of the

above drawing,

but it was the best I can do at 2am in the morning. Basically,

looking down

into the adjustment hole (lens facing away from you), there is the

toothed wheel

that is attached to the notched frame on the camera. I have read that

people

have been able to adjust infinity alignment here, but it really is

the vertical

alignment adjustment. Pick a rectangular object on a wall not too far

away (light

switch is fine). With the camera on a tripod and at about the same

height as

this object, focus on the corner so that when out of focus, you can

see the

double images of the rectangle. Use whatever tool you need to to move

the toothed

wheel either away from you (lowers the focusing patch) or towards you

(raises

the focusing patch) until the two double images are at the same

height. Focus

the object in and out of focus will confirm this. Next, you need to

adjust the

infinity focus, as messing with the vertical alignment will probably

affect

the infinity alignment. With your trusty 50mm (or whatever you have)

M lens

mounted, go ouside at night or day and focus on a distant object (I

chose a

bright star, but you can choose a distant mountain top (peak or

antenna). At

infinity (on the lens), the double image of your distant object

should line

up in the rangefinder. If it does, then close up the adjustment hole

and go

take pictures. If not, then you'll need to get a small flat-head

screwdriver

and adjust the screw to the upper right of the toothed wheel. When

looking down,

it is the screw that seems to have a "C" retaining clip on

it. It

appears to be just on the left of a condenser lens of some sort (on

the rangefinder).

Tightening the screw (clockwise) will move the focus patch to the

left, while

loosening (counterclockwise) the screw moves the focus patch to the

right. After

your best adjustment, make sure that infinity lines up by focusing

once on your

distant object the normal way, upside down, vertically, and upside

down vertically

(basically, turning the camera 90 degrees until a complete circle is

made, while

focusing in and out to infinity). By doing this, you can make sure

that the

infinity alignment is correct.</p>

<p>Needless to say, do this at your own risk. This worked for me and I

am just

informing the general public of my adjustment method. I am not

responsible for

anything YOU do to YOUR camera. </p>

<p>I just had the pleasure of using this camera the next day for a test

and this

is what I got:</p>

<p><img src="http://www.tk-photo.com/images/hexar-tree.jpg" width="400"

height="608"></p>

<p>All images were scanned with a Nikon LS-1000 film scanner at 2700

dpi. The

images were then reduced in resolution and saved in jpg form.</p>

<p>This is an enlargement of the "a" in "Argentina"

on the

sign, in the middle of the photo.</p>

<p><img src="http://www.tk-photo.com/images/a.jpg" width="400" height=

"400"></p>

<p>This is also an enlargement from the photo. It shows a bundle of dry

pine needles

just underneath the word "Bolivia" on the sign.</p>

<p><img src="http://www.tk-photo.com/images/twig.jpg" width="400"

height="388"></p>

<p>The picture was taken with the vertically/infinity aligned Hexar RF

with a

Black Wetzlar Summicron 50/2 at the minimum distance of just under

0.7m. I focused

on the captical "A" in Argentina and then re-framed the

picture to

put the sign in the middle of the frame.</p>

<p>Finally, a quick-draw M travel camera I can live with.</p>

<p>Good Luck.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>TonyK</p>

<p> </p>

<p> </p>

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Add another vote for the Mamiya 6 / 6MF. We use 2 (one 6 and one

6MF) on all our photo gigs. Lightweight (especially appreciated when

mounted on a stroboframe with a Metz 60 CT-1, while carrying a

battery pack with 2 spare batteries), easy to focus in dark reception

halls (RF), and 6x6 (no need to flip the camera in the vertical

position). Both Color and B/W prints look stunning, as long as you

use a handheld meter (the built-in non-TTL meter is worthless).

16x20's are the norm for wedding portraits and I haven't had any

complaints yet. On the other hand, my Nikon F4s auto-everything

setup (for backup and inexpensive wedding packages) sometimes gives

very questionable results, and is a much heavier setup. Eh...What

can you do? My Leica M2/f2-summicron is my recreational camera.

Sorry, but I can't use it's 1/50sec sync with 400 speed NPH for fill

flash portraits at the beach, but it is my ideal out and about camera.

<p>

Oh yeah, the Mamiya 6/6MF is collapsible, so about 1 inch of the

total lens length can go into the body for storage (like in a hip

pouch).

<p>

Not a Leica, but definitely worth trying.

<p>

tk

I don't know if you want to try it, but a low budget way to do it is this: You first remove the mirror and scrape off all of the silver off, until it is just a plain piece of glass. You can also cut a piece of glass that exact size. Second, go and buy some chrome or gold colored metalic paint in a spray can from your local hardware store. The kind of paint is VERY important, because they are not all the same. The kind I'm talking about will give you a mirror surface on the other side (side sticking on the glass) if you spray it on evenly. Be careful and spray evenly or the final mirror will be distorted. Try out different cans of paint and use the one you like most. Like I said, it's best to cut another piece of glass of the same dimensions to try this. After it dries, look at the non-painted surface and you have a new mirrored surface. Hope this helps.

Tony

I just bought an old Rolleiflex Automat (c1939) with the same problem. The leather was not only inconsistent (past restoration attempts...patchy) buy curling out. I bought an 8x10 self adhesive leatherette (fake leather) sheet from www.micro-tools.com and replaced the leather myself. It took about 4 hours. I had to carefully remove the original leather, then tape it against either the leatherette or an index card to make a tailor's pattern from which to cut the leatherette from. Since I didn't want to mark up the leatherette (other side has was paper), I taped each pattern onto the new leatherette and slowly (very, very slowly and carefully) cut it out to the exact measurments. Of course, trimming and adjustments must be made, but overall, I am pretty proud of my Rolleiflex Automat.

Tony