Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/04/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]The rangefinder on the Hexar has been redesigned in the last four years; it's my understanding that both that problem and the use of a brass RF adjustment screw were corrected. I just repeated your test with my latest (and now only) body (S/N 14506xx) and a mini-mag lite (I assume this is a "small" torch) in a dark room. Nothing. This is a lot more light than is ever supposed to be coming through a diffuser window, and it never made it down that shaft. And even if any (pretty attenuated) light did get down that shaft, it would be in front of the shutter, which is usually only open for a fraction of a second. It seems that either you have an old body from before the RF redesign, or the flare you are seeing is coming from pointing the lens at the sun. Any time an RF coupling ring has a bright surface, it can flare. I understand that this is a known problem on Leica IIIs that don't have good baffling. You could probably also expose the film by holding a small flashlight against the film window on the back... On Apr 4, 2004, at 4:37 PM, lindnich@lindnich.plus.com wrote: > Having owned a Konica Hexar RF for nearly four years it came as a > shock to discover that it suffers from a light leak from the > rangefinder. An early UK review of the camera commented on poor flare > performance so when I noticed flare into the light, especially with > the 28mm f2.8 Hexanon, I assumed this was what I was seeing. Only > after finding a comment on the web about a light leak from the > rangefinder did I check for this. I found light leaking from the > central window down a short tunnel which carries the cam-follower > pivot. Its easy to spot with the lens off by holding a small torch > against the centre window. The 28mm Hexanon adds to the problem by > exposing some bright brass and chrome of the rear helicoid to this > light and reflecting it directly towards the film. Now I see why the > Hexar is cheaper than a Leica! > > Has anyone else on this list come across this problem? > > This camera was bought new so I returned it to the dealer who returned > it to Konica/Minolta as they are now called. They have had the camera > for eight weeks. They had my explanation of the problem from the > start, but they have so far only run tests on it. They haven't felt > inclines to believe my explanation. Even though two weeks ago I spoke > to one of their technicians, who proved to his own satisfaction that > light could be seen through the lens throat as explained above. He > didn't believe this was the cause of the problem! > > Has anyone else on this list had problems of this sort with service > departments? > > I complained to the manager of the service department who wasn't > forthcoming with any explanations for the failure to fix the camera in > eight weeks. But he promised me the camera would be fixed this week. > > I wonder whether I can trust these people to put the camera back > together properly. > > For any Hexar owners wanting to check their camera for this fault the > quickest test is as follows: > > With a lens fitted and a lens cap on, using auto exposure and 100 iso > film, point camera straight at sun and shoot. My camera gave an > exposure which sounds like one 15th second. Repeat pointing camera > towards a shady area; exposure is about 30 seconds. This simple test > was too difficult for Konica/Minolta uk service department to work-out > for themselves over eight weeks ;[ > > Of course, it took me nearly four years...... > > > BWs Gordon Nicholson. > > > > > > > > mailto:lindnich@lindnich.plus.com > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > ____________ Dante Stella http://www.dantestella.com