[Leica] Konica Hexar RF

[alal at duke.poly.edu (A. Lal)]

When offering advice to a fellow LUGGER I like to err on the side of 
caution, hence my comments.

1.    The back focus problem is real enough, IME. Both of my Hexars and one 
belonging to a friend - that's 3 out of 3 - did not line up at infinity with 
three different 21mm Cosina, lenses. All three 21s worked  just fine on two 
different M7s and one M6TTL. The 50mm Hexar lens in my kit needed 
re-collimation (this is a DIY adjustment if one is careful) to line up at 
infinity with my M7s.

My friend's Hexar was subsequently adjusted to collimate properly with a 
21mm Super Angulon M that was known to be in good fettle. When tested with a 
90/2.8 Elmarit -M  that was known to be good this body, after adjustment, 
did not track well at intermediate distances when compared to our Ms. At 
distances of approximately 6-8 feet the Ms and the re-collimated Hexar body 
were off by about 1.5 feet going by the 90's focus scale.

I urge anyone owning a Hexar RF  to try a few simple tests with their Leica 
or CZ lenses on the RF body and report back to this group.

I believe, and this is purely speculation on my part, that not only was the 
back focus different on the Hexar bodies, but the RF cam profile may well 
have been different too. Perhaps Konica did not have the focus set up for 
the Leica default  focal length of 52 mm?  A similar situation existed back 
in the 1940s when Nikon and Contax had the same lens mount and backfocus but 
different focus profiles.

2.    I would no longer recommend ANY orphaned electro-mechanical  camera - 
this includes the Contax G2 and SLRs - if an all mechanical or un-orphaned 
body can be used in its place. The Plaubels, Rolleis, or if you will, Alpas 
and Contarexes [had to get those in, :-)] are mostly mechanical and my 
remarks do not apply.

3.  I made no comment on resale values. If resale is important a black Leica 
IIIg or Nikon SP would be nice to buy and use.

4. Agree that the real issue is how much does one want to spend on film 
cameras and systems.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dante A Stella" <dstella1@ameritech.net>
To: "Leica Users Group" <lug@leica-users.org>
Sent: Thursday, 09 October, 2008 3:32 PM
Subject: RE: [Leica] Konica Hexar RF


> To DAG will adjust the back focus for something like $35 or 55 (if you 
> believe such a problem exists).  Not much of a gamble there.
>


> Being "at the mercy of independent repair people" is no different from 
> owning a Contax G, a Plaubel Makina, a Rolleiflex (or a Leica for that 
> matter, if time and money have any meaning to you).  Leica's service 
> prices are only really justifiable in reference to how much the equipment 
> costs.
>
> And Hexars seem to hold their value a lot better than Leicas.  Uncorrected 
> for inflation, a Hexar sells for about the same price as it did when new. 
> An M7 or M8, not so close.  I bought an M8 because there was no digital 
> Hexar.  But I knew long term, it would be depreciation hell.
>
> But the real question is how much you want to sink into a film based 
> system these days.
>
> Dante
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: A. Lal <alal@duke.poly.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2008 1:55 PM
> To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org>
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Konica Hexar RF
>
> Hi Philip,
>
> I had two Hexars at one time, sold them both, never regretted the sale. 
> They
> are now orphaned, neither Konica-Minolta nor Sony will support them, so 
> you
> are at the mercy of independent repairers should something go wrong. The
> parts problem will only get worse with time. There may well be a problem
> with collimation and focus of Leica M and Cosina lenses on some Hexar
> bodies.
>
> TO summarise, if you are a gambler, and hope that the camera will not go
> wrong, and that your particular specimen will focus properly with your M
> lenses, then go for it; otherwise,  I'd recommend saving your pennies and
> getting a user M7 if you need auto exposure.
>
> Regards,
> Akhil
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Philip Forrest" <photo.forrest@earthlink.net>
> To: "Leica Users Group" <lug@leica-users.org>
> Sent: Thursday, 09 October, 2008 11:06 AM
> Subject: [Leica] Konica Hexar RF
>
>
>> How many LUG'gers use a Konica Hexar RF? The reason I ask is that I
>> really want the features of an M7 or Hexar, yet the Hexar is 1/3 the
>> price of the M7 and has back-door loading. I love my M4, but want to
>> move into an M body with a meter and aperture priority ability.
>> The case could be made for me to get an M6, but then I'm still in the
>> same price as the Hexar, but don't have the back door for much quicker
>> loading, nor the AE and high shutter speeds of the Konica product.
>> Thoughts?
>> Phil Forrest
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>
>
>
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