Dan Kerin

 Konica Hexar RF

An often-overlooked camera in the rangefinder world, the Konica Hexar RF is one of the most advanced and under appreciated M mount cameras out there. Introduced towards the end of 1999 and having a short production run of just 4 years when in 2003 it was discontinued without notice when Konica and Minolta merged. Being Japanese, this camera is filled to the brim with technology making anything Leica had to offer outdated. Having a titanium top and bottom plate the camera feels solid in the and while also not being that heavy, coming in at 560 grams. In addition to the excellent build quality the Hexar RF also had a maximum shutter speed of 1/4000th and an impressive Aperture priority mode, which also incorporated an AE – Lock feature.

From shooting with this camera for a short while I found it to be very easy to use and almost effortless at times. The Hexar RF supports 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, 90mm and 135mm framelines. However, if you like using focal lengths over 50mm you may be struggle. When using this camera with the Hexar 50mm I found that on a couple of occasions I missed focus. While the rangefinder is very clear it has a magnification of 0.6. This is great if you like using wide angle lenses or wear glasses, however this does make it more difficult to use longer focal lengths on this camera. This is not to discount this camera as an option, just something to keep in mind. If you are a 28mm or 35mm user than I am sure you will have nothing to worry about when using this camera and if you are a 50mm user then it may just take some getting used to.

Though I only shot with this camera for a short while I can see the appeal of having a fully electronic camera like this. The built in light meter is very accurate and the aperture priority mode works very well. Another point I didn’t mention above is the automatic advance and rewind. This makes loading and unloading this camera super easy and quicker than a Leica in this area. If you are looking for a rangefinder camera which has some form of automation, I would highly recommend this.