🚀 go-pugleaf

Konica Hexar
reviewed by Richard Caruana for photo.net
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
The Hexar is an excellent camera aimed at "real" photography. It's one of
the fastest operating cameras I've used, and thus can serve double duty as a
point-and-shoot. But it's not a point-and-shoot; if you want something
completely automatic that will fit in your pocket, you'll probably be
happier with a Yashica T4, Nikon 35Ti, or Contax T2. What makes the Hexar
stand out is its f2.0 lens, excellent viewfinder, smooth shutter release,
almost spooky quietness, and operating modes designed to aid serious
photography.
The Hexar is well thought out and well executed. To me, it feels almost like
an automated Leica M6. I prefer it to the Contax G1 because the Hexar is
faster and quieter with a better viewfinder. That the $500 Hexar compares
this well to cameras costing much more is impressive. But the M6 and G1 have
one big advantage -- interchangeable lenses. If you find a fixed 35mm lens
too limiting, don't buy a Hexar, except as a second camera. At the price of
a lens for these other cameras, though, it makes a great second camera. It's
so pleasant to use, you'll end up taking more pictures with it than you
think.

Before jumping into specifics, let me describe the three basic operating
modes: P(rogram), A(perture preferred), and M(anual).

Exposure Modes
The Hexar's P mode is like the program mode on most cameras except that the
exposure settings are biased by the preferred aperture and minimum shutter
speed you set. This biasing makes P mode more useful than the program mode
on other cameras. Here's how it works: If there is enough light for the
camera to use the aperture you set at shutter speeds as fast as the user-set
minimum, it uses the aperture you set and raises the shutter speed. It
starts closing the aperture past your setting only after it hits the
camera's top shutter speed. If there is not enough light to use your set
aperture at the user-set minimum shutter speed, it starts opening up the
lens, keeping the shutter speed at the user-set minimum. I wish all cameras
had a mode like this. The Hexar's P mode let's you bias the settings, but is
also fairly foolproof. I even prefer this to Nikon's exposure shift because
the Hexar lets me bias the settings before making an exposure reading.
Cleverly, in P mode the top-deck LCD displays the shutter speed if the
camera can use the aperture you set, but displays the aperture when it can't
(the shutter speed is at the max or user-set min so you don't need to see
it). This way of keeping the photographer informed while minimizing display
clutter works well. Note that in P mode the Hexar will not use a shutter
speed slower than the user-set minimum, even if it is required for proper
exposure, but still takes the picture. While this prevents blur, it can lead
to underexposure. The camera warns you of this by flashing the underexposure
warning light in the finder and the LCD display on the top deck. You can set
the minimum shutter speed as slow as 1/8, and there's little reason to use P
mode when not using the camera hand-held, so this isn't a problem. The other
exposure modes give you back full control when you want it.

In A mode, you set the aperture and the camera sets the shutter speed. The
camera flashes a warning light in the viewfinder if the shutter speed falls
below the user-set minimum, or higher than the max, but the camera takes the
picture anyway. In A mode the Hexar assumes you know what you are doing --
unlike P mode, it will use a shutter speed as long as 30 seconds if
necessary. Comment: With other cameras I usually use aperture preferred or
manual exposure; I rarely use program modes. The Hexar's P mode, however, is
such an excellent marriage of program and aperture preferred automation that
I use P mode on the Hexar more often than A mode. In both P and A modes,
exposure locks when you partially depress the shutter release.

In M mode, you set the aperture and shutter speed. Red plus and minus signs
in the viewfinder act as a match needle; when both light up you're within a
third a stop. In P and A modes, the camera uses centerweighted metering. In
M the meter switches to spot metering. Personally, I like this design, but
you do need to keep it in mind when metering manually. Shutter speeds are
set via up/down buttons. I'm not in love with buttons in general, but the
Hexar's up/down buttons are well located and easy to use. They also allow
you to set shutter speeds in 1/3 stops over a range from 30 seconds to
1/250. Note that most point-and-shoots, including the T4/35Ti/T2, do not
have manual exposure. I usually find manual exposure is the easiest way to
handle tricky lighting. And sometimes there just isn't any other way. This
is an important advantage of the Hexar over its competition.

User-Set Minimum Shutter Speed
The Hexar allows the user to set the minimum shutter to be used for
hand-held photography in P mode. The camera comes preset to a minimum speed
of 1/30. Any speed between 1/8 and 1/60 can be set. The Hexar will not allow
the shutter speed to fall below this in P mode. In A mode it will set the
shutter speed as slow as 30 seconds if required, but the minus sign will
flash in the viewfinder to warn you when the speed falls below your set
minimum.
Flash Modes
The accessory flash is small, lightweight, and moderately powerful. The
guide number is 43 at ISO 100, which translates to 21 feet at f/2.0 (or 43
feet with ISO 400 film). It is up to you to attach the flash and turn it on
or off, the camera does not make this decision for you.
In P mode the Hexar uses flashmatic, like almost all point & shoot cameras.
The flash fires at full power and the camera sets the aperture based on the
focussed distance. The shutter speed is automatically adjusted to balance
the background exposure with the flash exposure, but never goes below the
user-set minimum speed to minimize ghosting. This system works well. It
provides maximum depth-of-field up close where it is needed most, but allows
the camera to use maximum aperture to achieve maximum flash range. Like
Nikon's 3-D flash system, it is also more likely to give correct flash
exposure with off-center subjects than the TTL flash metering in most SLRs.
However, because each shot fully discharges the flash, you have to wait 5-10
seconds for the flash to recycle and batteries are consumed faster.

In A mode, you can keep the flash on full power, in which case it is up to
you to calculate and set the correct aperture. Alternately, you can set the
flash to its single auto-aperture mode, which uses an in-flash sensor and
auto-thyristor to quench the flash when there is enough exposure. The
auto-aperture is f/4.0 for ISO 100, f/8.0 for ISO 400, etc. (It's still up
to you to set the camera's aperture. There is little integration between the
flash and camera.) In A mode the shutter speed will be whatever is needed to
balance background exposure at that aperture; this can easily be longer than
you want to hand hold. For this reason I usually use M mode when using the
flash on auto aperture. Konica foresaw this, and added a twist to flash in A
mode to make it more useful: they moved flash synchronization to the rear
curtain. If the exposure is long enough to bring the background exposure
into balance, moving subjects may be blurred; rear curtain synch means that
the blur is "behind" the sharp image captured by the flash, which fires just
before the shutter closes.

There is no red-eye reduction mode; the flash is far enough away from the
lens that it isn't needed. Also, unlike the T4/35Ti/T2, the Hexar can be
attached to standard on and off-camera flashes. There's no PC socket,
however, so you have to use a flash with a hot foot, or use a hot shoe-to-PC
adapter. Unlike the Leica M6 or Contax G1, the Hexar's leaf shutter can
flash synch at any speed up to 1/250, making daylight fill-flash easier.

Focus
The Hexar focusses to 2 feet using active multibeam autofocus. Unlike other
multibeam systems, the goal of the multiple beams is not to provide wide
area focus, but to provide very accurate single spot focus. As with other AF
cameras, focus locks when you partially depress the shutter release.
Distance is indicated by a scale in the viewfinder (more on this later), by
a scale on the lens that rotates as the lens focusses, and can be displayed
digitally on the LCD on the top deck if you switch to manual focus. The
viewfinder scale is sufficient for most purposes; I rarely look at the lens
scale or LCD.
Under testing with resolution targets, the Hexar's autofocus proved highly
accurate. I may have observed a small bias towards focussing closer than the
target, but I'm not sure. If there is a focus shift, it is less than 1/2 the
depth-of-field at f/2.0 at both 3 feet and 10 feet. (I used three targets at
different distances and autofocussed on the middle one. The middle target
was always sharpest, but the closer target appeared sharper than the distant
one. The distance between targets was less than half the DOF at f/2.0, so
the effects I'm describing are small. Moreover, I'm not sure my setup is
accurate enough for me to be confident of the findings.) In real
photography, I do not observe any focus shift problems. In fact, I suspect
the Hexar focusses more reliably than I do manually with an SLR.

The Hexar's active focus seems to conk out somewhere around 20-30 feet,
depending on the subject and ambient illumination. When focussing on
progressively further targets, my camera jumps from a reported focus
distance of 7 meters to 20 meters. At f/2.0, the DOF for these two distances
barely overlaps, and the DOF for 20 meters barely includes infinity (i.e.,
the hyperfocal distance at f/2.0 is about 20-25 meters). This suggests that
you may have trouble at f/2.0 with subjects at 10-12 meters and infinity.

Actually, things aren't as bad as a simple DOF calculation suggests because
at f/2.0 lens quality limits on-film sharpness more than the potential focus
discrepancy -- the focus accuracy necessary to achieve near-optimal on-film
resolution drops when lens quality becomes more of a limiting factor than
the DOF. But the Hexar is close to the margin for objects at 10-12 meters
and at infinity when used wide open. I feel more secure closing down to
f/2.8 if possible for objects near these distances. Most of the performance
improvement you'll get stopping down from f/2.0 for subjects at these
distances will be due to improved lens performance, though, and not to
increased DOF. (You might expect the T4/35Ti/T2 which have smaller maximum
apertures to have less difficulty here. Because they are smaller and use
smaller batteries, however, they have shorter baselines and may project
dimmer focus beams to conserve power. Thus it's not clear that the
T4/35Ti/T2 do better with distant subjects at f/3.5/2.8/2.8 than the Hexar
does at f/2.0. Plus the Hexar focusses more accurately than it needs to when
closed down to f/2.8.)

You can manually set focus in finer increments for distant subjects. At the
far end of the scale, the available manual settings are 5m, 7m, 10m, 20m,
40m, and 999m (infinity). The DOF at f/2.0 for these distances overlap
considerably. When using the lens at f/2.0, you might get slightly better
performance by focussing manually for subjects beyond 7 meters. I must
admit, I've yet to bother doing this myself, in part because I'm rarely at
f/2.0 for subjects this far away, and also because the difference in
performance would be so small. The Hexar let's you switch to infinity focus
by pressing a single button, so I usually do this for distant subjects.

So what about manual focus? In autofocus, the camera focusses when you
partially depress the release. If you press the MF button while holding the
release partway down, the Hexar switches to manual focus with the distance
set to the autofocussed distance. The distance is displayed digitally (in
meters) on the LCD display and also on the lens barrel, and is adjusted via
the Up/Down buttons. To switch back to autofocus, hold the MF button down
for a second; the LCD displays "AF" and the lens rotates back to its AF
position. If you press the MF button without holding the shutter release
part way down, the camera goes to infinity focus.

Manually focussing the Hexar is not nearly as fast, convenient, nor pleasant
as with a Leica M6, or perhaps even a Contax G1. First, adjusting focus with
up/down buttons feels awkward to me. Second, there is no confirmation when
the distance you set manually matches what the autofocus system detects.
That said, however, I don't find the Hexar's manual focus to be a drawback,
largely because I rarely have to use it. The Hexar's multiple beam autofocus
is reliable, both indoors and out, and with a variety of subjects (active
focus does not depend on subject contrast). The Hexar even seems to focus
through most glass, including smoked glass. Add to this reliability the ease
with which you can get to infinity focus, or freeze focus at the currently
sensed distance, and you quickly find that 99.9% of the time what you want
to do with focus is fast and easy.

Viewfinder
The viewfinder is excellent. It is large, bright, distortion free, and I
don't have to take off my glasses to use it. Basically, it's the next best
thing to the finder on a Leica M6. It's much nicer than the finders on the
T4/35Ti/T2, or even on the Contax G1 (which I find too small and too dim).
The lens does not block the finder image, even with the lens hood extended.
The Hexar's frame lines move to compensate for parallax and image scale. The
framelines are moved by motor instead of using a projected LCD display. At
first I thought this old tech solution would be inferior. Now I don't.
Believe it or not, the nicest thing about motorized framelines is that you
can see them move! LCD framelines pop instantly into place. Seeing the
framelines move makes for much surer focus confirmation and composition. You
learn very quickly to judge how far away the camera has focussed by how far
the framelines move. In the rare cases where focus is not what you wanted,
you know immediately that it is wrong. You don't have to look at a scale,
you don't have to see if a focus indicator light is blinking, you just know.
It's remarkably intuitive.

The top frameline slides along a distance scale so you can read the
approximate focus distance from the frame's position on the scale. You'll
rarely look at the scale. After a few rolls of film you just know about how
far away the camera has focussed by seeing how far the framelines moved. It
doesn't take any conscious effort. You'll just know. I really like this.
Projected LCD frameline systems would do well to emulate this by scanning
their framelines to the right place instead of jumping there right away.

One other thing the framelines do is go back to their infinity setting as
soon as the exposure is done. This might not seem useful, but the camera is
so quiet in stealth mode that immediate visual confirmation that the picture
has been taken can actually be useful. (In manual focus the framelines
always stay at the position determined by the distance you set.)

The framelines on my Hexar are very accurate. The lack of accurate
framelines is one of the reasons I decided against the T4/35Ti/T2 -- I do a
lot of work in medium format and want to make maximum use of the smaller
negative when shooting 35mm. I also want accurate framing when shooting
slides.

The viewfinder manages to convey a lot of info with a few unobtrusive
indicators. In P and A modes, the match needle indicators are used to warn
against over and underexposure, and if the shutter speed falls below the
user-set minimum. Focus lock is indicated by a separate LED, and the
approximate focus distance can be read from the frameline's position on a
distance scale. The LEDs are usually visible, but not so bright as to be
distracting.

Lens
Ok, so the exposure modes are well thought out, the focus system is
accurate, and the viewfinder is good. This is all for naught if the lens
isn't good. Guess what? The lens is good. Very good. I've compared it with
several prime 35mm lenses, both using resolution targets and by looking at
pictures. The Hexar's lens is as good as or better than anything else I've
used. It is good at f/2.0, better at f/2.8, and outstanding at f/4.0 and
beyond. Not only is sharpness high, but contrast, color fidelity, and
eveness of illumination are excellent, too. I really like the pictures this
lens takes. The smooth, predictable shutter release and vibration-free
shutter help you get the most out of the lens when using the Hexar handheld.
Unlike the T4/35Ti/T2, the lens is threaded for filters (46mm). The threads
do not rotate as the camera focusses so using a polarizing filter is easier.
Keep in mind, though, that using polarizers on a non-SLR is tough because
you aren't viewing through the lens so can't easily judge the effect. When
the lens focusses, it moves inside a solid, fixed barrel. Because of this,
the lens and focus mechanism are protected from abuse, even when in use.
There is a traditional focus scale on the lens visible through a clear
window similar to the windows found on many SLR autofocus lenses. There
aren't any controls on the lens, however; focus and aperture are both
controlled from the top deck.

The lens has an abbreviated depth-of-field scale with marks for f/8.0 and
f/16.0. I'd prefer a more complete scale. It also has an infrared focussing
mark, though this is unnecessary with the Rhodium and Classic models, which
can be programmed to AF with infrared film. The retractable lens hood
operates smoothly and extends far enough to do a reasonable job of
minimizing flare.

Shutter Lag
The Hexar's autofocus system seems to be about as fast as other autofocus
systems. But there is a big difference between the Hexar and most
point-and-shoots. The Hexar moves the lens when it measures distance, i.e.,
when you partially press the release. When you press the release the rest of
the way to take the picture, the lens is already in place and the aperture
is already stopped down, so there is no noticeable delay. Many
point-and-shoots do not focus the lens until you take the picture,
introducing considerable delay between when you press the release and when
the picture is taken. To me, this delay is too long for pictures of people
or animals -- expressions can change a lot in a half of a second. Although I
haven't tried measuring it, the Hexar's shutter lag feels as short as any
other camera I've used, including the Leica M6. In other words, shutter lag
isn't a problem if you pre-focus. If you don't pre-acquire focus, but just
fire the release all the way in one shot, lag seems about average.
Ergonomics
The ergonomics are great. The rubber coating looks good and feels wonderful.
When I hand the Hexar to experienced photographers, I often get the same
sequence of reactions. First they comment on how nice it feels in their
hands. Then they look through the viewfinder and comment on how nice the
finder is. Then they fire a few shots and comment on how quiet it is and how
good the shutter release feels. Then they ask how good the pictures are.
Which brings us to the shutter release. The Hexar's shutter release is very
good. I might even prefer it to the release on the M6. The Hexar release is
in exactly the right place for my hand, and I have no difficulty depressing
the release half way for focus/exposure lock, and then smoothly and
predictably pressing it the rest of the way to take the picture. The nicest
thing about it is that it feels like I can fire the shutter without shaking
the camera at all. The shutter release and controls, however, are awkward
with thick gloves. The knurled aperture wheel around the shutter release is
large, easy to read, easy to turn with your forefinger (but not so easy that
you'll do it accidentally), and has half-stop indents that make it easy to
adjust without removing the camera from eye level.

The Hexar is quiet. Incredibly quiet. People often comment on how quiet it
is -- and that's when I use it in the normal "noisy" mode! When turned to
the quiet mode, it is almost inaudible, even to the photographer. My wife
and I do a lot of photography, yet we often can't tell when the other has
taken our picture with the Hexar. In manual focus the camera is even
quieter.

In "stealth" mode, film advance and rewind are also extra quiet. One nice
feature is that if the camera starts to rewind the film you can turn the
camera off and rewind will stop. Rewind continues when you turn the camera
back on. If you turn the camera back on in quiet mode, rewind continues
quietly. Very nice! Note: as the instructions explain, the camera can have
trouble rewinding some thick films at slow speed. For example, my camera
sometimes has trouble with 36 exposure rolls of P3200 (TMZ). When this
happens, rewind stops and the LCD flashes instead of continuing to count
down to zero. The LCD display continues to flash even when you turn the
camera off to remind you there's unfinished business -- wouldn't want to
open the back back prematurely! Restarting the camera in normal mode
finishes the rewind.

The LCD frame counter counts backwards as the film rewinds. When it hits
zero, the camera pauses for a second and blinks the LCD display several
times -- if you open the camera back then the film leader is left out. If
you don't, the camera pulls the leader in a moment later. There is no
special mode to remember to set or unset.

Auto DX, Manual ISO, and Exposure Compensation
Unlike the T4/35Ti/T2, the Hexar lets you overide the DX film speed and set
the ISO manually. This lets you shoot P3200 (TMZ), which is DXed for 3200,
at something more realistic like 1250. I find being able to adjust film
speed a much more convenient way of compensating for how I shoot B&W film
and some slide films than using exposure compensation. The Hexar also has
exposure compensation (+- 2 stops in 1/3 stop increments), but I use this to
handle tricky lighting, not to correct an entire roll's film speed. That's
just as well -- the Hexar's exposure compensation resets when you turn the
camera off.
A nice touch is that the Hexar remembers the last film speed you set
manually and automatically uses that when you put in a non-DX roll of film.
This is helpful if you often load your own film into non-DX cartridges. When
you put in a roll of DX film, the Hexar uses and displays the DX speed. If
you always use the same film and always shoot it at a speed different from
the DX speed, you have manually reset the speed every time you reload.
Annoying, but it prevents you from acidentally shooting rolls of DX film at
an ISO you manually set for some other roll.

Metering
Pop-Photo reported that the Hexar they tested underexposed 2/3 a stop. My
Hexar is within 1/3 of a stop of the other meters I use. I can't assess how
much variation there is model to model, but my Hexar is accurate. In any
case, manual ISO setting allows one to bias exposure the way one would with
most SLRs.
The Hexar uses center weighted metering for P and A, and spot metering for
M. I like this, but not everyone will. A separate averaging/spot switch
would give more control, but would also slow you down and maybe increase the
number of mistakes. I can live with either aproach.

In real picture taking situations, the Hexar's metering appears to be
consistent and reliable. It does not have multi-pattern metering, though, so
it is up to you to recognize and compensate for situations that will fool
it. Personally, I prefer this, not because I don't believe multi-pattern
meters are accurate in more situations, but because I don't know how to
predict when a multi-pattern meter will not be accurate, or how to
compensate it when it isn't. Center weighted metering is simple enough that
I know when it will work and what to do in those situations when it won't.
And, because I understand it, I find it easier to modify a centerweighted
reading to achieve a special exposure effect.

A series of pictures taken by varying the aperture and shutter speed to
provide constant exposure indicate that both the aperture and shutter are
accurate -- I saw no difference in exposure between the frames when
comparing them side-by-side.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

Drawbacks
The Hexar Is Not A Point-And-Shoot
In Program mode the Hexar acts almost like a point-and-shoot, but not quite:
it is up to you to attach the flash and decide whether or not to use it,
exposure is affected by the aperture you set and the minimum shutter speed
you allow, and the autofocus system is designed more for precise control
than to be foolproof (autofocus on some point-and-shoots is made more
foolproof, but also less controllable, by using multiple target areas and
focussing on whatever is closest, which is often, but not always, the right
thing to do).
You have to remember to take the lens cap off, and then not lose it. You can
take a whole roll of pictures with the lens cap on and not know it --
everything still works.

The camera is solidly built, but it's not protected by a clamshell or
porthole cover. I'm not sure it would survive as much abuse as a closed
T4/35Ti/T2. I don't think I want to fall on my Hexar. On the other hand, the
lens on an open T4/35Ti/T2 is much more fragile than the lens on the Hexar.

Top Shutter Speed is 1/250
The top shutter speed is 1/250. Actually, the 35Ti and T2 apparently go to
speeds higher than this only in special situations. I suspect all three
manufacturers had difficulty making small, quiet, low power leaf shutters
that are fast enough when the lens is wide open -- even the leaf shutters on
most pro cameras top out at 1/500. Maybe the 35Ti and T2 achieve their top
speeds only when the lens is closed down enough that they don't have to
fully open the shutter? Anyone know? [Ed: it is certainly tougher to build a
leaf shutter for an f/2 lens than for an f/3.5 lens since the area to
cover/uncover is much larger.]
Anyway, the Hexar's top speed of 1/250 is a problem, not because it is not
fast enough to freeze action, but because it limits your choice of aperture
when using fast film outdoors. The M6 and G1, which both have focal plane
shutters, don't have this problem. I considered carrying a 3 or 4 stop
neutral density filter just for those times when I'm stuck with fast film in
sunlight, but I found a better solution: the Hexar lets you leave the leader
out when rewinding. The winding mechanism is repeatable enough that you can
reload a roll and leave only one frame blank. (Actually, loading is
repeatable enough to leave no blank frame if you are carefull to load the
leader slightly further when reloading -- then you only lose part of a
frame, which works fine with 8x10 contact sheets of strips of six frames.)
Because the Hexar has a "manual" lens cap and manual exposure, advancing
past used frames is not the problem it would be with most point-and-shoots.

So I carry different films for indoors and outdoors and just switch rolls
when necessary. Actually in some ways it is nice to be forced to use the
right film for each situation. One trick I've found is to place a roll of
film into the camera, but to not turn the camera on unless I want to take a
picture. The Hexar does not advance the film to the first frame until you
turn the camera on. This let's me put in a roll of film so that the camera
is ready, but switch the roll to something else without rewinding if I
haven't taken a picture yet. BTW, mid-roll rewind requires a pen or similar
instrument to press the small, recesed rewind button. After getting caught a
few times without a pen, I bought one of those "space pens" to keep in the
camera case. It's small, and writes on film cartridges well enough to let me
note the last exposed frame on the roll.

No Cable Release
The Hexar doesn't have provision for a cable or electric release. Yes, the
self timer helps fill the void, but sometimes nothing but a cable release
will do. Given how well they did everything else, I don't know how Konica
left this out.
[Ed: you can build your own cable release for the Hexar.]

No Case
The accessory flash comes with a small case, but the camera does not. There
is an optional leather case for the camera that costs about $50. The
optional case is soft, high quality leather, and appears to be well made,
but has openings on each side for a camera strap. If you don't use a camera
strap, the openings are so large that they let dirt in and won't adequately
protect the camera near the strap lugs.
Battery Dependence
Likemost modern cameras, the Hexar is useless without a battery, so carry a
spare. Fortunately, the Hexar is rated for more than 200 rolls of 24
exposures, turns itself off if accidentally left on, and doesn't use the
camera battery to power the flash.
Small Buttons
The buttons used to switch the camera to manual focus mode, to manual ISO
mode, to exposure compensation mode, and to self timer mode are small and
hard to press. Note that these are not the buttons used to turn the camera
on and off or to select P, A, or M mode. They are also not the up/down
buttons used to set the shutter speed, exposure compensation, and distance
for manual focus. The on/off/exposure mode switch and up/down buttons are
very nice and easy to use. It's the small buttons that you use less
frequently that are the problem.
No Continuous Firing/Focussing Mode
The Contax G1 lets you take multiple pictures after you lock focus and
exposure by lifting the shutter release only half way between exposures in
single-shot mode, or by holding the release down in continuous mode. With
the Hexar, you must lift the release all the way before the film advances,
so focus and exposure lock are lost and must be reacquired. Switching to
manual focus or manual exposure solves this problem for those situations
where repeatedly reacquiring focus or exposure would be awkward, but the
G1's solution is sometimes more convenient.
Viewfinder (the downside)
I really like the viewfinder and moving framelines, but sometimes the
framelines are not easy to see. This isn't a big problem, but it could be
better. The aperture and shutter speed are not displayed in the viewfinder.
Nor is exposure compensation or flash information. I can't decide if this is
a bug or a feature. It keeps the finder uncluttered, but you have to look at
the LCD display on the top deck to check things. When taking the first
picture in a new setting, I often end up removing the camera from eye level
to see what's up. I don't like having to do that. Yet, for subsequent
pictures in the same setting, I really like the fact that the finder is
"quiet" and let's me concentrate on composition and timing. Hard call.
Instruction Manual
The instruction manual is poor. All the info seems to be there, but it isn't
easy to follow. Fortunately, the Hexar has few modes, and the control
sequences are pretty logical once you understand the philosophy behind the
camera. This is one of those cameras where the more you understand about
photography, the more you understand why the camera works the way it does.
There's a thin plastic wallet reference card that summarizes all the control
modes. In contrast to the manual, this card is very well done, and actually
manages to explain almost everything. I don't carry this card with me
because the camera makes so much sense that it was easy to learn how to do
everything the first night.
Size and Weight
The Hexar is significantly bigger and heavier than T4/35Ti/T2 class cameras.
It's not big, but it's not small, either. Although it fits in a coat pocket,
it's not really pocketable. The Hexar is similar in size to a Contax G1 with
a 45mm lens -- the G1 with lens is only slightly bigger and thicker. The M6
is only a little larger than the G1, but is heavier.
To me, the real competition for the Hexar is the Leica M6 and Contax G1, not
the T4/35Ti/T2. The fact that I even mention the Hexar in the same class as
the M6 and G1 is testament to how well done it is. Add to this the fact that
it costs about $500, and in some ways is more pleasant to use than the M6
and G1, and the Hexar starts to look very attractive. The main loss is the
lack of interchangeable lenses. This is a big loss; if you can't live with
the 35mm focal length, this isn't the camera for you. (But at a price less
than or equal to a 35mm lens for a M6 or G1, it's one hell of an extra
camera!)


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

The Hexar's Competition
Why did I buy the Konica Hexar instead of the T4/35Ti/T2, Contax G1, or
Leica M6? Here's my reasoning. Keep in mind that I already own several
cameras -- what I was looking for was something small enough to carry around
most of the time, yet good enough to let me do some "serious" photography
when the opportunity arises.
I've never used a Yashica T4/T4 Super. I hear they're great. I just knew
that being stuck in program mode all the time was going to be too limiting
for me for anything other than snapshots.

Deciding between the Hexar and the 35Ti/T2 was difficult. I picked the Hexar
over the 35Ti for the following reasons (presented in order of their
importance to me):

more accurate framing and better viewfinder; the 35Ti only has a single
close-up frame and its viewfinder is too busy
manual exposure; the 35Ti does have exposure shift, though
manual ISO -- I don't like having to use exposure compensation to adjust
film speed, e.g., once you use Nikon's +- 2 stop exposure compensation to
bring P3200 down to ISO 1000, there's little room to compensate left, and
you can't switch to manual exposure to solve the problem
f/2.0 vs. f/2.8 -- an extra stop of light makes a big difference if you are
trying to take pictures in available light
the Hexar works with any flash; the 35Ti is limited to its in-body flash
which to me is only really useful for fill
But the 35Ti has a few pluses:

it fits in your pocket!
it fits in your pocket!
the flash is built in (yes, this is a plus sometimes)
shutter speed visible in finder
it fits in your pocket!
I almost bought the 35Ti, mostly because it is truly pocketable. In the end,
however, I decided that it would frustrate me too often. Under its beautiful
clothes, the 35Ti is still a point-and-shoot. I have nothing against
point-and-shoots; they're great for snaphots. Unfortunately, they're not
usually great for much more than snapshots. But if I were going to buy a
point-and-shoot, I'd probably buy the Nikon. If it had manual ISO, manual
exposure, and more accurate framing, I'd buy one tonight!

Deciding between the Hexar and G1 was also difficult. The G1 is almost as
light and compact as the Hexar, the G1's automatic and manual modes are well
done, the lenses are excellent, and the lenses are interchangeable. I
finally selected the Hexar because it was smaller, lighter, operates faster,
and because I didn't like the G1's small, dim viewfinder. (I could also buy
four Hexars for the price of a G1 and lens.)

The Leica M6 is a great camera with great lenses. For me, though, it's a
little too big and too heavy to carry around all the time, even with a
collapsible lens. It also lacks autofocus and autoexposure. Although I often
prefer manual exposure and manual focus, automation is nice sometimes,
particularly autofocus. If I had both an M6 and a Hexar, I'd use both. The
Hexar, however, is probably what I'd carry around in my daypack, take to the
office, and use most around the house.

Buying a Hexar
There are three Hexar models currently available: the original, the Rhodium,
and the Classic. I bought the original. For $30 you can have the original
upgraded to all the features of the Rhodium. This adds infrared autofocus,
manual GN entry for flashmatic with flashes other than the Hexar flash, one
touch exposure correction (not sure what that is), and multiple exposures.
The Classic has all the features of the Rhodium, plus autobracketing. I'd
like to have bought the Classic, but it just didn't seem worth the extra
money to get autobracketing. I'll "upgrade" my Hexar to the Rhodium specs as
soon as I'm willing to part with it for a few weeks.
Why is it so hard to find a Hexar in a store? I asked several pro shops.
Each said the same thing: the Hexar's niche is too small; they don't expect
to sell enough of them to make it worth keeping on the shelf. Someone
wanting the ultimate luxo point-and-shoot is going to buy a 35Ti or T2,
someone wanting the ultimate rangefinder is going to buy a Leica M6 or
Contax G1, and almost everyone else is going to buy a much more compact, and
more automatic, point-and-shoot. Some of the camera stores that used to
carry the Hexar stopped carrying it when the 35Ti and G1 were introduced.

Many people at the stores have never actually seen a Hexar. This is
unfortunate because I think the niche for this camera would be larger if
stores carried it and the people behind the counter promoted it properly.
The folks at Konica obviously put a lot of thought into the Hexar. (I
suspect designing the Hexar was a "reward" to the designers who stayed with
the company when it stopped making non-point-and-shoot cameras.) It's a
shame their labor has not been rewarded with more market share -- they did
such a nice job! I enjoy using the Hexar. Every now and then when I'm
stuffing it into a coat pocket or into my backpack, I wish it were smaller.
But when it's in my hand, I'm very staisfied. I'm thinking of buying a
second one for my wife; she likes the Hexar more than I do.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Review Copyright 1996 Richard Caruana