Sleeping with the enemy

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Hello;

I am in Korea and wandred past a camera store that had a black Konica Hexar non-M mount fixed 35f2 lens. I \bough it more or less or a whim and am truly AMAZED.

I have my M6 with me with the 50mm cron, and can not get over how fast the autofocus is, how fast it winds and how good the images are. I shot one roll of T400 CN and every one is bang on exposure, focus and contrast. They were all street shots in street markets in Seoul and about a third were shot from my waist: all in focus. I was in the store to see if they had a pre-asph 35 cron but had this instead. I will keep the M6 for now, but teh Konica is my street camera of choice, even better than the Konica RF.

Now if Leica could only make a C-1 with teh 35mm cron....?

Question: Will I still be a good person, capable of being loved and not laughed at as I walk down the street?

Cheers

RI

What a great camera, for l;ess than half teh $$$ of a used Summi.

-- RICHARD ILOMAKI (richardjx@hotmail.com), December 06, 2001

Answers

I'm not surprised Richard. Most of the better AF, fixed focal lens cameras are capable of superb performance. That particular camera has quite a following. Makes you wonder sometimes why we bother with such old fashioned things like setting exposure and focus, doesn't it?

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), December 06, 2001.

IMHO, where all the AE cameras fall short is correct exposure. T400CN can be exposed pretty much anywhere between ISO 50 and 800 with decent results, and it is IMHO, not the best film to judge the capabilities of camera. Put some Velvia or Provia 100F through it and then we shall see. As for myself I find that Bessa-R with 35/1.7 Ultron suits me much better for not much more money.

-- Alexander Grekhov (grekhov@wgukraine.com), December 06, 2001.

...And people keep asking "So when is Leica gonna come out with an entry-level rangefinder?" D-uuuu-h! They're already here....! KH, BR.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), December 06, 2001.

It really is nice, Richard, isn't it, when we rediscover that we can make good pictures with less expensive cameras? :-)

By any chance, does yours have the silent wind? If you have a later model, they can be modified, as I understand it.

Not to spoil the party, but were you shooting in the daytime?

I would think that 400 speed film, a 35mm lens,daylight exposures in a camera with a 1/250 top shutter speed will yield pictures where every detail is in focus adding to a perception of sharpness and focusing accuracy.

All of which does not take away from a reputedly very good lens design, of course...Have fun in Seoul!

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), December 06, 2001.


I owned a Hexar for 5 years and it is one of the few cameras I regret having sold. I did so for two reasons: 1)with TriX loaded, 1/250 shutter speed is not enough on a sunny day, and 2)the controls were so finicky (manual exposure). But I miss it. For a 'grab shot' camera it was superb, far faster on the run than anything I currently own.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), December 06, 2001.


Bob- Why not get a neutral density filter for that camera? I think Leica ought to produce a small entry level camera along the lines of the Rollei 35s. It could have an electronic shutter. No rangefinder. It might have frames for 28-35-50mm. It would take M lenses that are plentiful on used shelves, or you might buy something like the 3E for it.

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), December 07, 2001.

I shoot Kodachrome in a Hexar (AF) and the metering is fine. After testing, I found I didn't have to change the EI of the film.

I'm not sure about the "enemy" thing - it's about taking photographs. Cameras aren't in the "enemy" category unless you are against taking photographs.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), December 07, 2001.


Hello Richard, Greetings from the U.K. A Leica camera user for over 40 years, I, like you, some 8 years ago visited a camera store to buy something Leica(I cant remember what it was now) but ended up walking out with a Minolta CLE body + 40/f2 Rokkor M lens. Eight years later and it is still my favourite camera. No it doesn't have autofocus but I find that the 40mm Rokkor covers most candid situations perfectly. I use Velvia 50 and Kodachrome 200. What Leica Camera are playing at I don't know, they seem to be more interested in producing countless special limited edition M6 cameras rather than putting efforts in developing a top quality compact with modern electronic specifications like the Konica or Voigtlander.

-- David Seaman (Lincolnshire,England) (david@leicam.freeserve.co.uk), December 07, 2001.

I recently acquired a Minolta CL and 40mm Rokkor. I really wanted an "M" but the price for the CL was so reasonable that I couldn't pass it by. The CL seems to be a very smooth-working camera and, though I have yet to finish the first roll of film, I expect no unpleasant surprises from the Rokkor lens [ A Tessar configuration?]. However, the CL does not seem to "satisfy" the way I think a Leica M would. I might say that it seems to lack that certain 'je ne sais quoi' that the Leica M's seem to have. I'm afraid that I have begun to see the Leica M as a sort of objet d'art and this is probably not a good thing unless it is one's intention to become a collector of Leicas rather than use them to record images. They do seem to be rather good at that sort of thing, recording images. OTOH, my [also recently acquired] Rollie 35 has become my most used camera, possibly because it almost always with me.

John

-- John Myers (mymacv@aol.com), December 07, 2001.


I have both an M3 with 50/90 and a Hexar Classic.

Sleeping with the enemy??? Hardly sleeping, they're both used on an almost daily basis.
Sleeping with the enemy??? Not really enemies, though the M3 could have some reasons to be envious: the Hexar is silent and fast and has a very accurate metering system and a great lens. Its meter is so reliable that I use it only for slide film (Scala)!

-- George (gdgianni@aol.com), December 07, 2001.



Paul, in response to your ND suggestion. So everyone knows, the early Hexars (maybe the problem was eventually rectified) had a small problem. When the Hexar focuses to its minimum distance (where I shoot a lot) the lens racks out and will actually ram into any filters that are screwed on. This will eventually damage a gear that then needs to be replaced (anyone using filters who suddenly has focus problems with this camera - this is it). After the repair Konica supplied me a thin ring that they make to place between the filter and lens - unacceptable IMO. Otherwise a great camera......

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), December 07, 2001.

I also have a Black Konica Hexar that I love. In silent mode it is dead quite. Exposure if dead on, even in program mode, which is the best program mode of any camera I've seen. It will bias itself to the aperture that you want and shift only if that aperture will not give a correct exposure. Its autofocus is fast and accurate. It will never replace my M6, but I do find I grab the Hexar a lot more than I thought I would when I bought it.

-- David Cunningham (dcunningham@attglobal.net), December 07, 2001.

Just be careful in backlight, or with strong light sources outside of the metering area -- on my Hexar AF, these lights will bias the readings, resulting in gross underexposure occasionally. That little cell on the camera front seems poorly shielded from extraneous light.

-- Douglas Kinnear (douglas.kinnear@colostate.edu), December 07, 2001.

Question: Will I still be a good person, capable of being loved and not laughed at as I walk down the street?

Au contraire, no one will notice. People never notice this camera (I have the black original)... only when the prints come back ("wow! what kind of camera d'you use?!"). I love this camera- and fill flash is such a breeze (1/250 sync). It just feels bulky and plasticky now compared to the M6, which the Hexar led me to...

-- Tse-Sung (tsesung@yahoo.com), December 07, 2001.


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