KonicaHexar AF

Place the Konica Hexar AF in context and you land in the early 1990s, when premium compacts and motorised zooms split the market in two. Catalogued as a autofocus rangefinder-style, it pairs the Konica 35mm f/2 with a 35mm film path. Worth knowing up front: 'Silent mode' makes it the quietest AF camera ever — a ninja's tool.

Format

35mm

Year

1993

Lens

Konica 35mm f/2

Min. focus

0.6 m

Flash

Hot shoe (HX-14 dedicated)

Battery

2× CR123A

The Konica 35mm f/2 is genuinely fast for a compact — it handles indoor light, blue hour and concert pits where slower lenses give up. Standard 35mm keeps it compatible with whatever Kodak, Ilford, Fuji or CineStill stock you find on the shelf today. A single CR123A lithium cell powers everything including the motor; still cheap and stocked at most camera shops. The matching clip-on flash dedicates with the body and disappears off the front when you don't need it. Minimum focus is 0.6 m, close enough for a coffee cup or a face but stops short of true macro. Worth knowing in the field: the 35/2 lens is widely considered the equal of the Leica Summicron. Best for street, travel and environmental portraits — 35mm is the all-rounder documentary photographers default to.

Pocket rangefinders with this much aperture are vanishingly rare; the Konica Hexar AF is one of the few that still come up at sensible prices if you're patient. A footnote that often comes up: beloved by wedding and documentary photographers in the 90s.

• §1'Silent mode' makes it the quietest AF camera ever — a ninja's tool.
• §2The 35/2 lens is widely considered the equal of the Leica Summicron.
• §3Beloved by wedding and documentary photographers in the 90s.