Re: [Leica]Konica Hexar...It ain't no Leica..

["Dan S" <dstate1@hotmail.com>]

Dante, it just goes to show that handling is a subjective thing...But I do 
have one concern.  Why is a a Konica HexarRF, made in Japan, with electronic 
shutter and some fairly standard specs and no TTL, worth as much or more 
than a Nikon F100?  The profit margin for Konica has to be tremoundous!

I just can't imagine wanting a rangefinder AND aperture priority bad enough 
to pay such a price for a 3rd tier manufacturers product. By all it's specs 
this camera should be selling for 600-700 dollars.  I really think Cosina 
hit closer to the mark with their offering.  A lower priced alternative to a 
leica.  (And if all the news about screw mount lenses available in America 
soon is true I know of a 35mm Summicron asph SM that is calling my name!)

At a lower price the Hexar really would be a consideration.  You can pick up 
a nice used M6 for 1200.00 that will hold it's value over time, or one can 
choose the Hexar.  Will the Hexar hold up as well over the next 30 years?  I 
don't know.

Best wishes
Dan



>
>
>In a message dated 2/14/00 11:54:53 AM, dstate1@hotmail.com opined:
>(and Dante, who passed over an M6TTL for the RF this week, replies, having
>blown through sixteen rolls of film testing the RF over the weekend, in
>temperatures from 75 degrees F down to 15:)
>
><< I had my first opportunity to fondle the new Konica Hexar RF over the
>weekend.  A camera that was described by the dealer as the Konica M6...what
>a load of hooey that is..
>
>You're right. It's not an M6. The finish and materials are nicer than a 
>black
>chrome M6. The styling is cleaner. The controls are better. The on/off 
>switch
>is better. The loading is easier, with one hand. You can see the 28mm 
>frames.
>You can shoot wide-open with high-speed film. The shutter is stepless and
>quartz-timed. You can synch at twice the speed and shoot at twice the 
>speed.
>The metering pattern is more usable. No, it's not better.
>
> >>>Sadly the camera looks a lot better on the net than it does in your 
>hands.
>
>The squared frame makes is look like a plank of wood, and it feels a bit
>like one in your hands.
>
>If it's a plank of wood, then planks of wood have much better natural grip
>surfaces than do the M6. I think that it's pretty tough to hold onto
>something as small as the right end of an M6 - they're not designed for
>bigger hands.
>
> >>>The lens mounted in a very un-Leica way...Sticky!  It felt like I was
>jamming a chisel into a block of wood..
>
>Zzzzz. I have one in front of me, and it's pretty hard to duplicate your
>negative experience with this. And it's irrelevant to any performance
>measure.
>
> >>>The viewfinder was bright and clear, with only a hint of pincussion
>distortion of the 28mm frames.  The rangefinder was a little antsy.  It may
>be the shorter base line, but it was easy to overshoot your target of 
>focus.
>   The biggest flaw with the finder to me was the lack of contrast in the
>focusing patch. Focusing an M6 is really easier in low contrast situations.
>
>This is a nice rationalization, but the M6 patch is neither as bright nor 
>as
>flare resistant. I have tried for about a week to flare out the RF on the
>Hexar, and it so far hasn't worked. When I compared it to an M6 directly, 
>the
>M6 came out quite poorly in the flare department. There is nothing lacking
>about the RF, and if you can see, you can focus.
>
> >>>My biggest gripe is with the shutter speed dial placement. It is a 
>thumb
>wheel and it is very difficult to work the dial while keeping your index
>finger on the shutter button.  Clearly Konica expects users to keep this
>thing in Aperture Priority most of the time.  The meter is a bit hard to 
>get
>used to, with shutter speed numbers dancing up and down on the left side of
>the veiwfinder.
>
>Three responses to that:
>(1) Shutter speed numbers dancing in the margin shouldn't be hard to get 
>used
>to for anyone who has bought a camera in the past twenty years. And if you
>compare that to an M6, I'd rather have numbers in the margin, which I can
>ignore, rather than 3 LEDs right in my field of vision. In addition, since
>you know what speed the shutter is at, you can tell just how low it is 
>going.
>
>(2) The shutter speed wheel is fine and so is the EV comp dial. In fact, 
>the
>key advantage of the placement of the controls is that you can switch the
>camera on and off by feel, which is not possible with the M6TTL.
>
>(3) And if you have AE with exposure lock and a thumbwheel for 
>compensation,
>why does it matter if you never take it out of AE? If you're going to pull
>out a handheld meter, it is easy enough to set the shutter speed by hand.
>
>The shutter and motor were about as quiet as the Contax G's, and
>the quality of materials was similar but without the beautiful shape and
>color.
>
>The G2's color is a liability. And it's materials simply aren't as nice. 
>And,
>frankly, it's pretty ugly compared to the Hexar.
>
> >>>I know this sounds pretty negative, but I really expected more 
>considering
>the hype and the price of this camera (1950.00 with 50mm F2).  The handling
>really leaves something to be desired, especially considering the fact that
>all they had to do was match a camera that has been on the market since the
>50's.
>
>I would expect, for $2200, more than a camera body made in the 1950s. If 
>it's
>not a match, I would have to ask you where the waiting list for M6s is.
>
>If you have bigger hands, the handling is superior to the M6, which I 
>suspect
>was a continuation of the design of the M3, which in turn is a lot like the
>screwmounts, which are TOO DAMN SMALL TO HOLD.
>
> >>>The excitment over this fairly average camera really points out the 
>void
>in
>the market for an Aperture Priority M...Leica, are you listening?  Contax
>should also be looking at this market.  I'll wager that a manual focus G
>would out-sell the auto be a large margin..
>
>Which is why Contax is making it? Leica is probably not listening.
>
>Cheers
>Dante

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