KONICA HEXAR RF
Electronically controlled rangefinder camera
A review and Photo example of the HEXAR RF
Table of contents
Gallery
- The lens is CONTAX G HOLOGON 16mm.
- The film is Fuji Film PROVIA 400.
Review
1．Overview
The Hexar RF is a Leica M-mount compatible rangefinder film camera released by Konica in 1999.
This rangefinder camera is equipped with electronic devices such as automatic film advance, LCD film counter, and AE exposure control. Two CR2 batteries are required, and the shutter will not fire if there are no batteries.
The viewfinder has a magnification of 0.6x and a baseline length of 69.2mm.
The reference book, “All about HEXAR RF: Exploring the appeal of the latest rangefinder cameras with the Hexar RF” (ei mook 2005) is a good book with a lot of information on the Hexar RF, but since it was published in 2000, it does not include information on the HEXAR RF LIMITED body or the M-HEXANON 50mm F1.2 Limited, M-HEXANON 35mm, and M-HEXANON 21-35mm lenses that were released after that.
2．Usage
This is the M-mount compatible film camera that I ended up with, as I didn’t have the financial means to buy a film Leica M body at the time. Before this camera, I used the MINOLTA CLE, Rollei 35 RF (same as the Bessa-R2), and the CONTAX G1/G2.
Compared to M-type Leicas, the Hexar RF has a slightly louder shutter sound that some people prefer, but it has many advantages, such as a functional display in the viewfinder and automatic electronic film winding.
Because the viewfinder magnification is low, it is suitable for shooting with wide-angle lenses, but it is difficult to focus with medium telephoto lenses of 75mm or more.
The Hexar RF is a highly automated camera, and the film spool is not inserted by the user into the gap, but rather the camera automatically winds the film to the initial position when the film is set in the camera.
In this operation, the film is wound by the protrusions of the spool catching on the perforations (holes on both sides of the film) of the set film.
There is no problem if the film is wound to the initial position when the back cover is closed, but in rare cases the following can happen, so care should be taken.
When the film is loaded and the back cover is closed, if the position of the spool protrusions and the film perforations are significantly misaligned and the film is repeatedly loaded, the spool protrusions will wear out due to interference between the spool and the film perforations.
When the spool protrusions wear out, the film perforations will eventually not catch on the spool protrusions and the film will spin freely and will no longer be wound to the initial position. The first Hexar RF I used was a fully automatic camera, so I didn’t pay much attention to it and kept loading film and taking pictures, but the spool wore out and the film would no longer wind, so I had to ask for a repair to replace the spool.
This is because the spool protrusions are made of plastic, so they are certainly prone to wear.
As a user, I think it is safe to minimize this wear by closing the back cover when the film perforations and the spool protrusions are aligned when loading the film into the camera, and to use the camera so that the spool does not spin freely.
The Hexar RF is already an old camera, and repair parts will not be available in 2024, so if you are buying a used one, it will be necessary to check whether the camera’s spool protrusions are abnormally worn.
I realized from the description on this page that film without a DX code does not wind automatically, Camera Talk 10, 1999, Leica Boogie Woogie Conclusion (Field Camerama note by NAGY), and I felt relieved to know why the film does not wind when using a suspicious film. Although it does not wind automatically, it is possible to take pictures by setting the film correctly and releasing the shutter.
3．Add info.
The camera’s viewfinder magnification is 0.6x, so the image is small, which is good for using lenses with focal lengths of 50mm or less, but when using large-aperture lenses with long focal lengths of 75mm/90mm and F2 class, I was concerned about the focusing accuracy. Unlike digital cameras, you cannot check the results of the shot in a preview, and with the HEXAR RF you can only shoot with a limited number of films, so I rarely used lenses with focal lengths of more than 50mm.
The Zeiss Ikon (COSINA / released in 2005) has a long baseline length and high magnification, making it easier to see in the viewfinder and more accurate.
Specification
| カメラ | Rollei 35 RF | Zeiss Ikon | HEXAR RF |
| Finder Mechanisim | Real-image reverse Galilean perspective finder | ← | ← |
| Viewfinder Magnification | x0.7 | x0.74 | x0.6 |
| Finder Frame | 40 / 50 / 80 | 28,85 / 35 / 50 | 28,90 / 35,135 / 50,75 |
| Baseline length(mm) | 37 | 75 | 69.2 |
| Effective baseline length(mm) | 25.9 | 55.5 | 41.5 |
| Shutter Mechanisim | Vertical travel laminar metal focal plane shutter | Electronically controlled vertically moving metal focal plane shutter | ← |
| Shutter speed(sec) | 1/2000〜1 | 1/2000〜1 | 1/4000〜16(Auto) 1/4000〜1(Manual) |
| Photometry method | Center weighted TTL average metering upon light depression of shutter release | ← | Shutter curtain, TTL direct metering |
| Battery | LR44/SR44 x2 | CR-1/3N x1 SR44 x2 LR44 x2 | CR2-3V x2 |
| Size(mm) W x H x D | 135.5 × 81 × 25.5〜33.5 | 138 × 77.5 × 32 | 139.5 × 80 × 35 |
| Weight(g) | 440 | 460 | 560 |
| Release date | 2002 (2006 sales end) | 2005.10 | Normal (1999.1） Limited（2001） |
Options
- Flash HX-18W
- Leather case
- Konica M mount lens
| Focal length | Lens name | Release date | Technical Report |
| 28mm | M-HEXANON f28 / F2.8 | 1999年 | 28/50/90mm-PDF |
| 50mm | M-HEXANON f50 / F2 | 1999年 | 28/50/90mm-PDF |
| 90mm | M-HEXANON f90 / F2.8 | 1999年 | 28/50/90mm-PDF |
| 35mm | M-HEXANON f35 / F2 | 2000年 | 35mm-PDF |
| 50mm | M-HEXANON f50 / F1.2 | 2001年 | 50mm/F1.2-PDF |
| 21-35mm | M-HEXANON f21-35 / F3.4-4 | 2002年 | 21-35mm-PDF |
Reference links
Update history
- 2024.05.18
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