The last roll – I sold my Konica Hexar AF

I love to get new cameras and try them out. However, I’ve come to a point having so many cameras and not being neither able nor willing to use them all. Yeah, I have cameras that cost €30. I shot one or two films with it and they are sitting in the shelf now waiting for better days or just enjoying a well deserved retirement. I’m not going to bother about these anyway.

Then, I have cameras that were quite expensive (range of €300 to €800), that are loaded with features or gimmicks (from the eye of the beholder) and I still don’t use them. The first item on the chopping block is a Konica Hexar AF. I believe I’ve owned it for about two years and I shot three (tops four) films with it.

Why did I buy the camera in the first place? Since giving up 100% on digital photography, I’ve slowed down a lot. I only own one autofocus camera and that is a heavy and bulky Mamiya 645AF. So, i thought it’s time to get a bit faster again and to invest in that little AF support since my eyesight is deteriorating more and more. The article of the Japan Camera Hunter certainly intrigued me into getting the Hexar AF, It is interesting how the “advanced” compact camera market changed and how more and more people are going crazy to get their hands on a Ricoh GR, a Contax G and a Konica Hexar AF.

What bothers me about the camera? I guess I never got warm with the feel and the handling of the camera. I shot a film. It was ok but i wasn’t really thrilled with the results. Sometimes when I focus on a subject close to me by pressing the shutter half way and move the frame and press the shutter, the camera starts to focus like crazy and the shot has its focus far behind the chosen object. Yes, I’m in single AF mode and not continuous AF. Often it just works but it is annoying since the behavior reduces the number of good frames.

Second and in my opinion the main reason, I can’t get attached to the camera, is it’s speed. I shoot, the machine loads the next frame automatically, and I shoot again. It’s like shot after shot and feels like digital photography without its advantages of course. Also, before even a couple of satisfying images had built up in my head, the film is already gone. In other words, the camera doesn’t slow me down enough and I just don’t enjoy the “autobahn” style of photography.

There is another thing that drives me nuts. I love high speed films and hardly use film rated under 400. I love pushing films even in normal daylight. The problem is the fastest shutter speed is 1/250 and end up shooting with arpartures of 16 or 22. It’s a nightmare to come up with images that all look like taken with a phone.

Some minor things that bother me are: finding the manual ISO settings, manual focus is pretty much unusable, exposure adjustment is always reset when the camera is switched off.

Here are the last images I took with the Konica Hexar AF before selling it on eBay. I took the camera to a Renaissance fair close to my home. As usual quite a number of shots are focused somewhere behind the main subject as I described before. However, the shots that are focused correctly are spot on. The lens is incredibly sharp and the autofocus is quite fast to be able the react fast and take the right shot. It also reminded me of the days when I was shooting right into people’s faces more often. But, as I said before, the yield of good shots is quite low.

While I scanned and edited the images, I felt a bit of regret but it was too late. The camera had been sold already. I know I wouldn’t use it often and hopefully the next owner knows how to appreciate the camera better.

The images are taken on Ilford Delta 400 pulled to ISO 200 and developed in Spuersinn HCDnew.