After having spent a little time with both the M6 and the Hexar RF, I'm leaning towards the Hexar. But I know I definately want the Leica 35 asph. Does anyone use this combo? And are there any quirks that I should know about.

Thanks for the help.

-- Jim Tardio (jimtardio@earthlink.net), August 09, 2001

Answers

I use it a lot. Everything works as advertised. Not sure what else to say, there's nothing that seems better or worse than you would expect.

Tattoos, Leica 35/2 and Hexar RF, Copyright 200 Jeff Spirer

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), August 09, 2001.

Which 35 ASPH, Summicron f/2 or Summilux f/1.4? I have used both on the Hexar, they work perfectly, just like they would be on an M6 0.58. Currently I still own the 35/1.4ASPH, it mostly gets used on the M6 (0.72) because the Tri-Elmar lives on the Hexar, but sometimes I've switched off and the results are just as spectacular.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), August 09, 2001.

Jim,

I use the Hexar and the 35 asph all the time without any problems. I use the Hexar for color and the M6 for B&W. I have used the M6 for color slides with great success. I just find the Hexar handier because it reads the film speed, is easier to load, and has the A/E feature. The 35mm 2.0 ASPH lens fits mine without any problems. If it focuses past infinity I don't notice or care.

As previously mentioned many times, it is easy to knock the vertical RF adjustment out of line with the Hexar so handle it with care.

Finally, I find the Hexar HX-18W flash very convenient. It came with the Hexar kit I purchased. I use the flash for it's simplicity. I don't know enought about photography to be good at indoor lighting. I just set the flash to Auto-1, set the f stop on the lens to the recommended stop and fire away. Good results so far out to 5 meters or so.

I'm into brainless photography. The M6 is a better camera than the Hexar. (Feel, metering, viewfinder) Not that much better. It just lacks the automation and handy features of the Hexar.

I just spent a few days in the Sawtooth mountains boating and river running with the family. I used the Hexar and the 35 most of the time. The weather, mountains, and scenery is out of this world. The Hexar RF was perfect for the quick shots of the kids, the scenery of the fabulous mountains, and the changing lighting a forest offers. I did use the M6 for a roll of B&W. We had the obligatory weenie roast and campfire and the B&W was great for the campsite scenes. I love using the M6.

I used my Konica SLR for the river rafting and action shots. It has a zoom out to 200mm and very handy for kids in rafts, birds, wildlife, and bringing those mountains up close. Plus, I didn't want my Hexar or M6 to go swimming in the Salmon river.

All in all great fun!! I have used the Konica FT1 since 1986 and am used to Konica camera's. They make as good a camera as any of the Japanese makers. They don't make SLR's anymore, but the Hexar RF is a very nice camera. Having an M6 and a Hexar RF is an ideal combo. If you have to have just one, I wouldn't know which to advise.

-- David S Smith (dssmith3@rmci.net), August 09, 2001.

Thanks for the responses so far. I plan on getting the 35/2 asph. Also, do the Voigtlander lenses work OK on the Hexar? I'd like to get the 15mm, and perhaps the 21mm when it shows up in the stores.

-- Jim Tardio (jimtardio@earthlink.net), August 09, 2001.

There's no reason the Voigtländer lenses wouldn't work just fine if the Leica lenses work fine.

Godfrey

-- Godfrey DiGiorgi (ramarren@bayarea.net), August 09, 2001.

I've been using the Voigtlander 15mm on my Hexar. There really isn't much to go wrong here - since it's uncoupled, the focus is guess. The only problem I have had is with parallax and the finder, but that's a known problem with add-on finders in general, and the unmarked Voigtlander 15mm in particular. You just have to compose looser.

There have been some reports about problems with M adapters and the 15mm lens with the focus mark not lining up at infinity. I'm not sure if anyone has reported use problems relating to this.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), August 09, 2001.

I recently added a Konica RF to my classic M6; usually I mount the asph 35 summicron to the konica, and the 50 cron to the M6. Works beautifully! In absolute terms both viewfinder frames look very similar (ie a 50 on a .72 vs a 35 on a .6), which takes a bit of getting used to! Swapping the lenses round however, exaggerates the difference between the 50 and the 35, which sometimes I prefer.

I bought the RF for all the obvious reasons -- to add motordrive and AE to my second body. And I agree with the observations made that suggest that in most regards the RF is a shade inferior to the M6 (viewfinder a TAD dimmer, framelines a TAD stickier) -- but for a second body it is unbeatable. (I couldnt see the point of a second M6, dont care about TTL, and will invest the price difference in a Voigtlander 21).

-- Martin Davidson (martin@foxcombe1.demon.co.uk), August 11, 2001.

On the Voigt lenses, I have been using the 35mm Ultron with my Hexar and have no probems whatsoever with focusing, or quality for that matter. It could be a little smaller...

-- nick (shredder@daemonworks.com), August 12, 2001.

GENTS;

I have used the VGT/Cosina 25 & 15 lenses on teh Hexar RF and they work well. focus calibration on tehse lenses is a waste of time, as the depth of field is so large.

Metering is no problem so long as you remember that a very large field of view will often have great differences of light intensity, so meter the area you want to emphasize, 'specially for slides.

Over & out

-- RICHARD ILOMAKI (richardjx@hotmail.com), August 15, 2001.