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Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary

Thibaut Alberny · Published: · Updated:

Some time ago, I had the opportunity to buy a non-working Konica Hexar AF for a modest sum. Knowing the lens’s reputation, I did not hesitate for long. I was hoping for an easy repair: a simple electrical fault or slightly…

Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary
Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 1
Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 2

What are we working on?

  • Konica Hexar AF (Wikipedia)
  • Production: 1994
  • Flickr album:
  • A diary of my repair attempt
Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 3

Introduction

Some time ago, I had the opportunity to buy a non-working Konica Hexar AF for a modest sum. Knowing the lens’s reputation, I did not hesitate for long. I was hoping for an easy repair: a simple electrical fault or slightly dirty battery contacts…

A year later, I have to admit that my enthusiasm got the better of me. Finding information and documentation for this camera proved difficult. I hope this article can help you save yours.

My camera did not work at all. A new battery made no difference.

Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 4
Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 5
Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 6
Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 7
Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 8
Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 9

Initial diagnosis

After the usual checks for dirty battery contacts, disconnected wires and so on, I opened it up to investigate.

The top comes off after removing a series of screws around the casing and underneath the rubber covers.

To remove it completely, the three flash hot-shoe wires must be desoldered. Inspection revealed nothing visibly wrong in the upper section.

A quick Google search brought me to this useful article by Jabcam: https://jabcam.wordpress.com/2016/08/24/topic-resurrecting-konica-hexar-af-from-the-dead/. It contains plenty of repair information, including corroded traces caused by a leaking capacitor in the lower part of the circuit. That is what I will check next.

Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 10
Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 11
Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 12
Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 13
Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 14
Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 15
Konica Hexar AF: a repair diary — photograph 16

Under the baseplate

After removing the battery cover, I removed the baseplate, starting with the three screws holding the tripod socket, then the two baseplate screws. I then removed the left front panel by undoing the remaining screws.

The first thing I noticed was one or two darkened circuit traces beside the capacitors. Gently lifting the circuit revealed corrosion on the contacts beneath them.

This is a fairly common problem with this camera: ageing capacitors eventually leak and corrode the surrounding traces.

Without a circuit diagram, and with traces running on both sides of the plastic substrate, the only option is to follow the current path from the battery contact and try to find where things have gone wrong.