[Leica] Hexar re-appraisal

[Erwin Puts <imxputs@knoware.nl>]

I have the Hexar RF now for a long period and will report on it in 
several parts. Handling and use now, measurements of lenses and other 
functions later.
First of all some observations. The noise of the motorwinder is very 
low and while in two very distinct clicks, is on M level per click. 
The viewfinder is bright and the rf patch is yellowish and certainly 
not as clear as the  M version. The framelines are a bit distorted, 
but it depends how close you can get your eye onto the ocular. The 
rangefnder alignment has a slight insecurity when you want to do 
precise aligning, but for most situations the rf measurement is quick 
and seems to be accurate for the lenses employed. (Accuracy 
measurements later).
In practical use the viewfinder is very nice to work with and when 
you forget about the inevitable comparisons should be considered as 
excellent.
The exposure measurement is done with two white painted shutter 
blades, so not a spot but a vertical area.  Again in practical 
shooting the number of success pictures is very high.
The automatic exposure is a real pleasure to work with.  It is fast, 
troublefree and your shooting becomes relaxed and intuitive. No 
anxiety about exposure errors or manual adjustments. For street 
scenes and all kinds of casual photography the Hexar is a serious 
consideration and a competitor to Leica, without any doubt. It misses 
TTL, which I do not overvalue. Any flash can be tuned to service you 
in those situations.  The lack of a flash synch shoe is more a 
problem. No studio flash or professional  flash equipment.
Handling the camera can be done without a 100 page manual, all 
controls are as far as possible conform Leica layout and switching 
from M to RF is easy.
The body cover is quite rough and the matte-black topcover also shows 
a fine granular pattern. This makes touching the camera  a bit 
strange at first as your fingers are accustomed to Leica surfaces.
The Konica then is a very fine mix of M body and RF system, Contax G 
shutter and electronics. It is not the best of both worlds but a 
viable alternative, a kind of third road so favored in politics.
A non-Leica user who wishes to downgrade from a complex SLR or to 
upgrade from a compact or lowlevel SLR might be more tempted to buy a 
Hexar than a Leica M. Which is fine with me. More RF system buyers 
will broaden the market niche.
On a more philosophical level there is one very clear distinction 
between the Hexar and Contax on one side and the M on the other side,
Handling the Hexar is smooth, convenient but there is one issue I 
would like to emphasize. The controls of the Hexar are remote as far 
as tactility goes. You touch the button, but there is no feedback, no 
response. Here the mechanical operation of the M gives a finer 
haptics. You feel you are using the instrument, where with the Hexar 
your senses do not get the feedback and touch you want to get that 
feeling of using a high precision mechanical instrument. It is 
difficult to express, but here is the core of the different 
philosophies. As a photographic tool the Hexar is an admirable piece 
of work. It lacks the feel of an exquisitely engineered mechanical 
instrument as the functions work in a  more remote fashion. The motor 
works deep down in the body and you no longer register the winding on 
of the film. Press the release button and you do not feel the 
mechanism anymore, you hear a click. So you need your auditory senses 
to register a manual act, pressing the shutter. There is also a 
slight delay between pressing the button and the sound of the click.
These remarks are of course outside the functionality of the Hexar 
which can hardly be flawed. But then current japanese technology for 
producing fine photographic equipment needs no praise anymore. The 
philosophical comments are relevant however.
The Hexar is at least functionally capable of challenging one segment 
of the Leica domain: the casual and intuitive shooting style.


Erwin