[Leica] Hexar RF review

[Mikiro <arbos@silva.net>]

Here I pick up several sentences from a detailed 15-page comparative review
of Hexar RF (with G2, CLE, M6 TTL) in Asahi Camera Nov issue.  They might
attract attention of some of you, both those interested in and disgusted
with this camera.  I will not pick up the info shown elsewhere.  My comments
are placed between <>.

Compatibility: as far as a current Summicron 50mm is used, no problems in
handling, rangefinder accuarcy, and metering were found.

The mechanical design of the rangefider is surprisingly similar to that of
an M6. (Figures of those of Hexar RF, M6, CLE are shown).

<According to K-Repair in Osaka, this is not a dead copy but a result of
some collaboration with Leica.  Konica is said to have had discussion and/or
negotiation with Leica before development of this camera, and the Hexar RF
resembles one of the M prototypes with an R shutter.>

The shutter sounds more silent than that of a G2 which has a similar
vertical travel system.  It also sounds more silent than that of a CLE with
a horizontal travel cloth membrane, although their sound characters are very
different.  The sound itself may not be so emotionally pleasant as that of
an M camera.

The rangefinder double image has high contrast and enables split-image
focusing.  The magnification of 0.6 makes it easier for glass wearers to see
the 28mm frame lines, while it may be a problem with fast standard lenses
and long lenses.  It is hard to make one which satisfies all the factors
involved...  The finder looks a little blueish but not annoying so.  The
tester did not feel the finder much inferior to that of an M6 when he used
both cameras one after another.

The black paint titanium cover is very well made with outstanding quality.

With the ordinary back cover, one needs no tips with film laoding.  The
tester knows very well that most Leica users would never accuse the
conventional bottom cover even though they secretly feel film exchange is
troublesome with their M bodies. <The tester is a well known Leicaphile.
;-)>

Lenses: I summarise as fllows.
All the three lenses share a character.
1) Not so contrasty as other modern LTM lenses.  At the first glance the
images give mildness rather than crispness.  The bokehs are very mildly
rendered and pleasant with 3-dimensional look.
2) Image quality is very high in the center from wide open but some
fuzziness remain in the corners until stopping down to f4.
3) They seem to be designed with priority to better bokeh and mildness
rather than to utmost contrast and crispness.

<This is exactly what Erwin predicted from the MTF data!>

To me, at least, the most attractive feature of this camera is 1/4000 sec
shutter speed. I often want to use my Nocti at wider apertures in daylight
with ISO 400 film.  The 0.6 is on the borderline for 1:1/50mm in terms of
rangefinder accuarcy. I hope a 0.72 or 0.85 version will appear.

This camera is a crappy junk for some and a good tool for others who use it
for their specific purposes.

Cheers,






Mikiro
Strasbourg, Europe
http://arbos.silva.net