Konica Minolta Hexar Rangefinders
Konica Minolta Hexar Rangefinders
|
[Jan 09, 2002]
rennies
Intermediate
Strength:
Lens.35/2.0 it handels the light so beautiful.... the built quality...good materials.... great for light travel.....
Weakness:
It does''nt cook your dinner..... The love of my photographic life.... If I should choose (thank god uptill now I don''t have to..)one camera... Yes ! this baby would be the one..... the fixed 35mm lens....well it''s heaven.... Sharp and sometimes a nice softness at the same time.... images with caracter.....color & B&W , all good. the way this thing feels....it''s almost better than.. once you get used to the controls it becomes a very familiar tool... IR adjustment....fast & accurate focus ( AF)...... P, A & manual modes.... It ''s very quiet too.... the biggest invention since the wheel..... Get your hands on one..... It fabulous & def.worth looking out for..... The money is nothing for the quality you get ! Customer Service Good.One time needed.thought there was dust in the vieuwfinder... They cleaned it out quit fast.... Similar Products Used: Ricoh gr1s,vintage stuff |
|
[Dec 19, 2001]
Sacla
Intermediate
Strength:
easy to use,easy to load the film and I also think Konica is one of the best cameras product from Japan.Thiey were the ffirst company to make cameras in Japan.
Weakness:
need more speed ==1000 The reason I bought this camera because of it''s discontinue,and plus heard a lot about it''s sharp lens. oh boy they''re right the lens is very sharp. I took a lot of pictures from this camera and I coulldn''t tell the difference with Leica m6...If I have to go some where that I ''m not sure about hte area I will take this camera instead of Leica m 6.So most of the times end up using this camera I love it and rate it above Contax T3 which I just bought Customer Service not needed now Similar Products Used: i have too many cameras,sometime forget what I have |
|
[Dec 04, 2001]
eltonlee
Beginner
Strength:
Lens, compact size, built quality and medium fast lens. I have heard about problems with accurate focus, I have not encountered this yet, even when I am normally trying to get as close as I can to objects. Very quite, hard to tell if a shot has been taken sometimes.
Weakness:
Difficult to access the Select and Manual Focus buttons, they are very small. Slow shutter speed can make it difficult to shoot in bright sunlight even with 100ISO film. I have been looking for a first camera for a while now, and almost from the outset I had my sights set on the Contax G2. I had heard wbout the Hexar, I had read the reviews but I was stuck on the Contax. A friend kept suggesting the Konica Hexar and many times I refused. In the end I couldn''t justify the Contax price and went reluctently for the Hexar. Wow! What a great camera. I have run 3 films through it so far and all I can say is this camera is fantastic. The images are sharp and the contrast as well as bokeh is nice. I as well as everyone else (admittedly none professional) comment on how wonderful the images look, it''s definitely the lens. Customer Service The shop I bought from have been very helpful. The guys at Konica Australia have also been very helpful in getting the product to me. They have put me in contact with someone who can enable some of th Similar Products Used: none |
|
[Oct 14, 2001]
jsmith45
Expert
Strength:
Excellent lens, allows pre-set minimum shutter speed, good build quality, large enough to allow you to hold it with more than your fingertips, accurate exposure meter and accurate autofocus.
Weakness:
I wish mine did not have a data back. When I forget to turn it off, I get an annoying date stamped on to the picture. Data back makes the camera larger. The best all arount autofocus "rangefinder" around. This is, for the money, the best camera I have. The lens alone is worth more than I paid for the camera in terms of quality. Especially well-suited to street photography and low light photography. Customer Service Not needed Similar Products Used: Leica Minilux, Yashica T4, Nikon 35Ti |
|
[Oct 04, 2001]
dnobile
Intermediate
Strength:
a) Lens Qualtiy b) Very Bright and Clear Viewfinder c) Rapid Focus - little/no shutter lag Quiet
Weakness:
a) top shutter speed of 1/250 sec limits use of film choice for outdoor/daylight shooting b) owners manual is a bit cryptic I''m glad to see this review forum has put this camera in the Rangefinder section since it''s a lot more than an average Point-and-Shoot camera. There are enough controls on it to override it''s automatic functions when you need to do that. One featue of Point-and-Shoot cameras that I hate is the manner in which they focus the lens. Most cameras focus the lens only after the shutter is pressed . That causes a time delay as well as making noise. If your taking candids, it will make your timing a bit off and you may not capture the moment you wanted. The Hexar, on the other hand, quietly focuses the lens when the shutter release is partially depressed. Only when the shutter release is fully depressed, will the shutter fire, making the timing of the actual moment of exposure alot more accurate. The operation of the camera with it''s push-buttons is initially non-intuitive. However, with practice, it begins to make sense. The "P" Mode is intelligent and is the way I use the camera most often. Another excellent feature is the viewfinder. Unlike other Point-and-Shoot cameras, it is almost Leica-like in it''s brightness and clarity. The frame lines move for parallax compensation, making framing a lot more accurate. I shoot B&W and use mostly Iford PanF+ for outdoor scenes. With the Hexar''s excellent 35mm F2.0 lens, the results are quite stunning and comes close to medium format quality. If you''re going to carry one camera, this is the one. Customer Service None - it''s built like a tank Similar Products Used: Leica M4 w/35mm f2.0 lens |
|
[Sep 19, 2001]
jack bristow
Intermediate
Strength:
well built. fantastic lens. nice size, quiet. encouages thought about the picture being taken.
Weakness:
minimum focusing distance a bit long this is the best camera i have ever used. i carry it all the time. there is a little pocket on my shoulder bag it fits perfectly. slides look great. the ae system is very good. its discrete. i would happily buy another one to load with b+w and carry all the time as well. Customer Service knowing there was no chance of finding one of these in moscow, i e-mailed konica uk ahead of a trip to london and received a reply the next day with the names and addresses of three stores in london w Similar Products Used: None |
|
[Jul 28, 2000]
Ron Smith
Expert
Strength:
Superb 35mm f/2 lens, excellent ergonomics, very quiet shutter release and advance, nice silver finish, lots of overrides and options, plus full manual control of focus and exposure.
Weakness:
Sort of limiting 1/250th sec top shutter speed, dinky flash that I probably won't use much, wish I could see the shutter speeds and f/stops in the viewfinder. I wanted a rangefinder camera with AF to supplant my ancient manual-focusing Hi-Matic F, plus the choice of many overrides and options. After shooting only 1 roll, I scanned some of the resulting T400CN negs in my ES-10 film scanner, at 600 x 800, and I was absolutely amazed at the sharpness and contrast of the 35mm f/2 lens! This optic easily performs as well as any of my prime Canon EF lenses. I guess I found the camera I was seeking....If anyone wants to see these sample scans, my e-mail address is: rjsmith@mby.auracom.com Customer Service Never required it, yet. Similar Products Used: Minolta Hi-Matic F. |
|
[Jul 10, 2000]
Allan Møller
Intermediate
Model Reviewed:
Hexar
Strength:
The lens is very, very sharp.
Weakness:
The built in meter almost alway overexposes about 2/3's of a stop. The camera is a real joy to use, as long as you know that the metering needs to be corrected manually. But it's almost impossible to use anything faster than ISO 100 film in this camera, because the top shutter speed is only 1/250 sek. Customer Service None needed Similar Products Used: Contax 159 SLR |
|
[Jul 07, 2000]
Michael Maletic
Intermediate
Model Reviewed:
Hexar
Strength:
Sharp lens, consistently reliable auto-focus, and as inconspicuous a high-quality camera as you'll find - the shutter is ridiculously quiet. Useful and novel location of the aperture dial on top of the camera where the shutter speed control usually is.
Weakness:
The camera doesn't feel 100% bullet-proof in the way that higher end pro models can: the controls can feel a little loose and the buttons are smallish. Still, you're not paying anything near pro prices... A fantastic camera. I took it on a long trip and got beautiful results. The 35mm lens is great - that combined with auto-focus and super quiet operation make it an ideal camera for candid photography. Also, the price is very reasonable. Customer Service no need for them yet! Similar Products Used: Contax G2 |
|
[Mar 30, 2000]
JM Dehon
Casual
Model Reviewed:
Hexar
Strength:
Son poids, sa discrétion, sa fiabilité tout terrain et surtout son prix.
Weakness:
Le flash est vraiment ridiculement faible. Mono objectif. Haute vitesse limitée au 1/250e. L'Hexar est vraiment un outil professionnel. Sans pouvoir le confondre évidemment avec son grand frère le Leica M. Il est sûrement moins robuste, ses caractéristiques optiques ne sont peut-être pas à comparer, mais offre des avantages non négligeables au photographe exigeant et non fortuné. Similar Products Used: None |