Questions about Hexar AF Silver

[h.v.]

I'm meaning that when you depress the shutter halfway, the camera will do the focus. If you keep the shutter depressed halfway, it will stay locked focus to that distance and you can move the camera to the framing you'd like. It's a bit difficult with fine focusing though. It'd be nice if it'd show you the focus in the viewfinder like on an SLR, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. OTOH, I got your e-mails Craig. Thank you. I'm still looking through them.

I am still curious about the non-exposures I was dealing with though.

 

[AgX]

Maybe that "Focus-Hold" in post #19 is a focus-lock that remains after taking the finger off the release button again. With the camera on a tripod.
In that case it would be possible to activate both buttons simultaneously, which would hardly be possible during normal handheld operation.

May this be an explanation??

 

[nathantw]

I'm joining this thread late and if it's been answered already, I apologize. The black Hexar had the silent mode. Not all the Hexar units made had that mode after they were sued by Minolta (ironic that Konica is now part of Minolta and Sony). Silent mode was truly one of the more important aspects of the camera and I wouldn't have purchased it if it didn't have it. To get silent mode you just need to press and hold the M button while the camera is off, then while still pressing M switch the camera on. If an "L" shows up next to your frame counter you're good to go.

The date imprinting was only available on one or two models. Wish my black unit had it.

I've been shooting with my Hexar since the 1990's or a few years after it came out. I purchased mine used and it was nothing but trouble when I first got it. It went back to Konica more times than I could count and it got to a point that Konica had the camera longer than I had it in my hands. However, after that initial pain I finally got to use it and it had been my go to camera for basically decades. Never had a problem since the initial days of ownership. I think 90% of my pictures were taken with the Hexar. I didn't post many of the pictures I took with the camera, but I did post some if you'd like examples. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathantw/sets/72157629604314421/

 

[h.v.]

The Silver Hexar I got still can do silent mode, it just needs to be programmed. I am wondering, because someone said on the previous page I wouldn't need to reprogram it. So does that mean I can change batteries without reprogramming silent mode? Do I switch silent mode on and off like I would on a Black Hexar after its been programmed?

I still am wondering about the shutter lock issue I was having. Could've it been the indoor lighting? I was doing a bunch of shooting Saturday, mostly outdoors, and didn't have an issue.

I'll post some photos shortly.

 

[agphotography]

You'll definitiely need to program your Silver Hexar for silent mode (unless the previous owner already did that for you). However once it's programmed, it's in, you won't have to reprogram it each time. I update my black Hexar to get some of the additional features like spot metering in manual mode. It was easy to do if you follow the directions.

 

[h.v.]

Okay, but how can you tell? Once it's programmed, do you switch the silent mode on and off just like you would on a black or rhodium Hex?

Here's some street photos from my first roll...

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Shot with some Fuji Superia Xtra 400 24exp. Surprised how well the Superia did. These were all taken around West Edmonton Mall.

 

[h.v.]

So, I have an issue with my Hexar...

I've long needed to do slight levels adjustments to scans of my negatives (especially B&W). But they were usually slight and not on almost every photo. This was with my Nikon's and my Yashica. I knew this because of results from index, contact, and regular prints from the lab.

Fast forward to the Hexar. Colour is generally ok, but B&W (including C-41 Ilford XP2) seems to come up flat, moreso than with my SLR/TLR images, which leads me to wonder if it is the photos from the camera itself. I don't have optical printing equipment so I can't try that unfortunately to be sure.

Yesterday, I began processing my own B&W film. The flatness is even more exaggerated now. Both rolls were HP5, one with a Nikon F90, the other with a Konica Hexar. I noticed early that the Hex seems a bit overexposed to me, maybe because I'm used to slight underexposure, so I try and make sure to set the camera to -0.3 each time. I did that for the Hexar roll I processed myself for most of the roll. The F90 roll has a bit of flatness, which I sort of expect, as that is due to the scanner, but not to the same degree as my Hex roll. The Hexar roll, 95%+ of the frames come out flat and with lots of middle grey. I know it was a bright sunny day, in the winter, so lots of snow, ice...but wouldn't that generally trick the camera into underexposure? Should I try -0.6 or -1.0?

Maybe this is better suited for the B&W processing forum? It could be my darkroom processing. It is worse than on the film I've got lab processed. I'm using DD-X.