Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/01/29

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Subject: [Leica] Hexar RF: My first impression
From: Gaifana@aol.com
Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2000 12:18:47 EST

Est arivee at a local dealer. I compared it to an M6 which was on hand.

I was impressed, although the dealer wanted $2200 for the set.

The viewfinder is fine. Although it is low mag, the front window was huge, 
and it is very easy to see the shutter speed LEDs. The rangefinder spot is 
easy, and overall, it looks a little crisper than the M6TTL I saw with it 
(maybe less flare or less chronic RF fingerprinting), since we were under 
flourescent lights). Nice little rubber eyepiece will save your glasses.

* It properly focused (at least the RF )with an LTM lens and one of the Gandy 
adaptors. 

* It has a nice feel, and although I am not the biggest fan of rubber grips, 
it is easy to grab. If I remember my shoe repairman's explanation, rubber 
wears a lot less than leather (which the Leica is not, BTW). I don't know if 
I believe that after wearing out some Nikon grips. But that's cheap to fix.

* Noise is not a big deal, and it's not as loud as the old Hexar in Loud 
mode. It's not much louder than an M6 TTL, but as I think someone pointed 
out, it's sustained a little longer due to the motor drive.

* The self-timer uses a tiny LED on the front
* The 90 and 135 frames aren't as bad as people say. You get some eye relief 
before the 28 frame disappears. If you are using 35mm and up, it has great 
eye relief. The RF spot does not go vertically out of line if you move your 
eye, as someone reported earlier. It is also very hard to get the M6 blackout 
with the spot.
* The overall controls feel like a G2.

The 50/2 is very, very solid - interestingly, the apeture blades are 
dodecagonal like on a Leica, down to between f/8 and f/11 where they become 
circular. The built in hood is a nice touch. Lens cap is metal.

The HX-18 flash - not that exciting.

As soon as mine comes in...

Cheers
Dante