Konica Hexar
AF 35mm f/2 (1993 ~ 2006)]
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Konica Hexar Silver (46mm filters, uses a 2CR5 battery, about $760 used in 2026 if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH). enlarge.
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Konica Hexar Silver (about $760 used in 2026 if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH). enlarge.
Konica Hexar Silver (about $760 used in 2026 if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH). enlarge.
Konica Hexar Silver and dedicated HX-14 Flash. enlarge.
Konica Hexar Silver and dedicated HX-14 Flash. enlarge.
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Ryan Rockwell sitting by an Open Door, Aviara, September 2007. Fuji 400 shot in Konica Hexar, process and scan at Costco. bigger or original scan (4.5 MB JPG).
See more details and Hexar sample images at Free Digital Camera.
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The Konica Hexar is a magnificent 1990s 35mm film camera that no one has ever seen. It is probably the best hand-held, low-light camera ever made. Even the noisiest version of the Hexar is quieter than any other 35mm camera I have ever used.
I was always curious, but I never saw one until 2007 when this one was given to me so that I could write about it.
The Hexar was developed by Konica, who was the world's largest maker of film, paper and professional photo lab gear, to show off what it could do. It was introduced in 1993. "Hexar" is related to all the other "Hex" product names Konica had been using for decades. When I started serious photography in the 1970s, Konica called its 35mm SLR lenses "Hexanon."
The Hexar was expensive, since it was designed by and for photographers with little or no compromise. It was not designed for snapshooters to have showy features which would allow camera stores to push them on easily impressed amateurs. Just as a great, high-priced camera today without enough meaningless megapixels wouldn't sell, the Hexar wasn't loaded with enough stupid features that get in the way of real photographers to let it sell well in the USA.
I forget for what it sold originally, since I never saw one in a store and all the magazine ads said "call."
in 2007 you could get them used for the same price as a throw-away digital compact, and the Hexar works soooooo much faster and cleaner.
The Hexar is a handsome, pure camera. It has and does what you need it to, and doesn't have silly fluff features, like repeating flash, that get in your way.
The Hexar competed against the LEICA Minilux, Nikon 35Ti, Contax G1 and G2 and T3 and TVs and other near-$1,000 35mm film compact cameras.
Unlike its competitors, the Hexar is always ready to pounce on a shot. The Hexar's lens is always ready to go, it does not need to extend when the Hexar is turned on. Other compacts have a slow motor to extend the lens, which can miss shots. You can leave the Hexar's power ON all the time. It goes to sleep after a couple of hours, and wakes up instantly as soon as you touch it.
I'd get the Konica Hexar used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or look for it used at KEH.
The Hexar has a standard 46mm filter thread. 46mm filters are inexpensive. I leave a UV on it all the time, so I never have to worry about losing the nice dedicated metal slip-on cap:
Konica Hexar Silver, with solid metal cap. bigger.
History top
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I'd get the Konica Hexar used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or look for it used at KEH.
1993
Konica introduces the first Hexar. It's black and has no date-back. The date version came a little later.
Also in 1993 Konica made 2,000 chrome "Classic" versions in a commemorative box and engraved something like "120th anniversary, since 1873." If you were even sillier,m there was a Gold version, of which 500 were made, and the case, not the camera, was marked 120th anniversary. The Gold and Classic added autobracketing, otherwise they're the same as the other first Hexars.
Rhodium
The Rhodium version was pinkish silver, otherwise, its' the same camera as the black ones. It came out about 1994. Rhodium adds AF for IR film, manual GN entry, direct exposure compensation entry, and multiple exposures.
1997
Silver (seen here).
This Silver version is slightly different from the earlier versions. The bad part is that it's silver, not professional black. The Silver adds all of the newest features which may or may not be in your copy of earlier versions as Konica invented them. Specifically, the Silver has :
Ability to key in the guide number of any external manual flash for full-auto flashmatic use.
Date-imprinting back (Mine has a sticker on the box that says "with AUTO DATE," so this possibly was an option.
Ability to tell the Hexar that you're using infra-red film, after which it will automatically compute the correct focus! Not only that, it's smart enough that you can tell it if you're using Kodak or Konica IR film, and it adjusts optimally for each. Heck, I have no idea for what film the single IR marks are on every other lens I own, and this Konica does both.
Multiple Exposures, and counts them up until you hit 9. It stops counting, but can keep going, if you want. It's not smart enough to compensate additive exposures automatically.
, direct exposure compensation entry,
The one thing the Silver lacks is the extra-super-silent mode. So? Have you ever used a Hexar, or just read about it on the internet as I did before I got one? The Silver is the quietest 35mm camera I've ever used. It's so quiet that I often don't know if I took a picture or not! I want the super-silent mode, but I'll bet you if I ever had one with it that I'd not use it. It's freaky not knowing if the camera fired or not, and that's with my Silver without the magic super quiet mode.
2003
Konica and Minolta merged.
2006
Konica Minolta sold to Sony, who dumped all the film products.
Versions top
I'd get the Konica Hexar used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or look for it used at KEH.
Hexar 1993 - Aug-97 |
Rhodium (pink) |
Classic (chrome) |
Gold (gold & brown) |
Silver Apr 1997 - |
Titanium (Titanium) 3/1999- |
|
| quiet | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
| super-quiet mode (try this to add it) | yes | yes | yes | yes | maybe | |
| AF for IR film | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
| GN | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
| Multi-exp | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
| Date | opt | opt | yes | yes | yes | |
| Direct manual exposure entry | ? | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
| AE autobracket (try this to add it) | no | no | yes | yes | no (try this to add it) | no |
| cover | pebble rubber |
Prices top
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I'd get the Konica Hexar used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or look for it used at KEH.
June 2026
About $760 used if you know How to Win at eBay.
Dec 2001
$550, new.
12/99
Hexar M: $1,600, new.
121/99
$539.95 Quartz Date, new at B&H.
4/97
$600 w/flash, new.
Specifications top
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I'd get the Konica Hexar used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or look for it used at KEH.
Lens
7 elements in 6 groups.
While some may think the lens is based on a LEICA SUMMICRON, in fact it's based on the 1958 Nikon 35/1.8 W-Nikkor S-mount rangefinder lens.
No shutter cocking.
0.7x finder magnification.
290 step AF, 2-channel active IR. IR film compensation. Spherical aberration (focus shift) compensation.
15º meter angle in Auto, 4º in manual!
Meters EV 0-16 in auto or LV 3-18 in manual.
6 ~ 6,400 ISO.
No remote or cable release.
mid-roll rewind, pauses at --- for film tip out.
Battery: 2CR5.
Leaf shutter, so the flash syncs at all speeds.
Rear flash Sync.
Performance top
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I'd get the Konica Hexar used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or look for it used at KEH.
Distortion: Barrel, use +2.0 in Photoshop CS2's lens distortion filter to correct it.
Ghosts: Yes, a big orange blob opposite the light.
I measure the dedicated HX-14 Flash with a real GN 28' @ ISO 100 (GN 8.5m @ ISO 100).
User's Guide & Pro Tips top
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I'd get the Konica Hexar used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or look for it used at KEH.
Here's the PDF of the original manual.
Below are many notes, not particularly well edited.
In PFL, if flash not yet recycled, the Hexar remains ignorant of the flash status and will expose as if the flash will fire.
Secret Access to the Ultra Quiet mode in the Hexar Silver
It really works!
My Hexar silver whispers, although I had to do the whole procedure twice because I made a little mistake which disabled all the other extras like ABC and infrared focusing. Everything's working fine after following these instructions more carefully a second time.
Good luck, and remember that there is always the possibility you could screw up your camera permanently with these off-lable attempts at reprogramming it.
0: Turn it OFF your Hexar.
1: Set f/22
2: Turn the camera on and press SELECT. The display will show +/-0.0
3: Press SELECT again. The display will show [0].
4: Turn the camera off, then on. (don't press anything). The display shows [0]
5: Enter the ROM with the exposure compensation buttons below the aperture dial:
Press the right button once
Press the left button twice
Press the right button 3 times
Press the left button 4 times
Press the right button 3 times
Press the left button twice
Press the right button once.
The camera will rattle and buzz and the display will show a flashing "'232."
6: Set f/13 (between f/11 and f/16) on the aperture dial. The display shows A[38]. Use the left exposure compensation button to go to A[00].
7: Set f/16. The display shows D[FB].
8: Set the display to D[FA] with the exposure compensation button.
9: Turn off. The display shows f16.
10: Press the shutter release for 2 seconds. f16 disappears and the camera turns off.
11: Press MF while turning it ON, and the display should show L[0].
How to add AE Bracketing
Follow the steps as above.
At step 8, instead of setting D[FA] set D[FE].
Power off, then
hold the shutter release as described above.
You should then get Silent Mode, AEB as well as all the extra Hexar Classic features.
Infrared Auto Focus Compensation
You may lose the IR mode after the above shenanigans. If so, try:
Load film, and switch camera on to P, A, or M mode.
IR film is non DX, so press the shutter release button to advance to frame 1. (IR Mode will not work with DX coded film)
Switch to A mode, then press SELECT until ISO values are displayed.
Within 3 seconds, press DOWN until [---] is shown.
Immediately press MF once to select [750] for Konica IR750 or press MF twice to display [850] for Kodak 850nm IR film.
After 3 seconds, the display will show [ISO 100] if you did it right.
You're on your own for setting the correct manual exposure; the meter won't rear IR.
I always rated Konica IR750 film at ISO 8 (or ISO 25 on my Nikon) and used a red-filter on the Hexar.
Multiple Exposures
Switch from Off to P-mode while pressing SELF.
The display will show "0" left of the number of frames advanced, for instance, 0[03]. The left number increases with each exposure, for instance, 1[03], 2[03] and so forth.
Switch to Off for the film to advance to the next frame.
More than 9 exposures are possible, but not shown.
Manual Selection of Flash Guide Number
If using a different manual flash, or correcting the value of the HX-14,
Switch from Off to P-mode while pressing SELECT.
Keep pressing SELECT and use UP/DOWN to set the GN.
When releasing SELECT, the camera displays [PFl].
Switch to Off, and the selection is deleted.
When the desired GN number isn't available, select nearest lower number. For instance, if you want GN4 and it's not there, pick GN23.
Fast Metered Manual Exposure Setting
Select the aperture in M-mode.
Partially press the shutter.
The display shows the metered shutter speed.
Press UP or DOWN, and that time is selected as the actual speed used!
This allows for a very quick spotmetering. When now the composition is changed, including DOF, the measured time still is used.
Bracketing
Switch to M-mode and press SELECT until you see [+/- 0.0].
Press UP/DOWN to select the increment from 1/3 to 2 stops.
Press the shutter release and it make 3 shots.
Notes:
Even in M-mode, you may switch to A or P before pressing the shutter.
Bracketing varies the shutter speed time.
If the speed is slower than the minimum for a sharp handheld photo in P mode, it opens the aperture if possible.
Autofocus locks and stays locked for all three exposures.
The shutter speed is shown in A or P mode is for the first (±0) exposure. It will be slower or faster for the other shots, so plan accordingly hand-holding in low light.
If the aperture and shutter speed combination falls outside the available exposure range, the Hexar skips it and makes fewer exposures.
If you hit the end of the roll, it stops and rewinds.
You can use exposure compensation A or P mode and everything changes accordingly for your bracketing.
You may not bracket with flash or T (time) exposures.
Bracketing is cancelled by setting the EV back to [+/-0.0].
Recommendations top
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I'd get the Konica Hexar used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or look for it used at KEH.
I use a clear (UV) protective filter instead of a cap (exactly like an iPhone) so I'm always ready to shoot instantly. I only use a cap when I throw this in a bag with other gear without padding — which is never. The UV filter never gets in the way, and never gets lost, either.
Use the excellent and inexpensive water-resistant multicoated Hoya NXT+ 46mm UV, multicoated B+W 010 MRC MASTER, or any multicoated Hoya filter.
If you want a fancy filter, go for the LEICA 13033 E46 UVa II in black, the LEICA 13034 E46 UVa II in silver or the Fujifilm PRF-46 Protector Filter.
All these filters are just as sharp and take the same pictures, the difference is how much abuse they'll take and stay clean and stay in one piece. Since filters last a lifetime or more, there's no reason not to buy the best as it will last you for the next 50 years; I'd get the water-resistant multicoated Hoya NXT+ 46mm UV. Filters aren't throwaways like digital cameras which we replace every few years, like it or not. I'm still using filters I bought back in the 1970s!
I'd get the Konica Hexar used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or look for it used at KEH.
More Information top
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I'd get the Konica Hexar used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or look for it used at KEH.
Frank Van Riper, The Washington Post, September 9, 1993.
Thank You!!!
I got this as a gift to the Retirement Ranch from Jim Greenberg in Pittsburgh.
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