Darn good little Konica C35 EF3

[relistan]

I recently picked this Konica C35 EF3 up for $5 at Goodwill (charity shop). I loaded up some Fomapan 100 and threw it in my bag. The results were very very good. The camera is pleasant to use and the lens is quite crisp. I accidentally set the ASA rating to 35 rather than the intended 50 and developed accordingly. Dev times were a little short.

Here are some shots I managed with it. In the shot with the ship I had the focus set wrong but it came out pretty well anyway, I thought. I encourage anyone to pick one of these cameras up if you see it.

More on my Flickr stream, if you're interested.

Cheers,
Karl

 

[Trius]

The Konica C35 series was really nice. "The lens alone is worth the price."

 

[relistan]

I picked it up because the lens looked so nice. Also it can take screw in filters, though they appear to be in the rare 4.25mm size. The only disappointment for me is that the slowest shutter speed is 1/60s.

Cheers,
Karl

 

[daniel~]

Konica EF3 actually takes 43mm filters.
It's a wonderful camera indeed. Enjoy it.

 

[feenej]

Nice shots. I have a C35 EF that takes razor sharp photos too. I haul it out every year for my festival photography - shutter is very very quiet. Also got mine at a thrift store.

 

[Harlee]

Picked mine up on Ebay for dirt cheap, but in like new condition along with a like new case. I had mine in Russia with me and the pics came out really sharp and crisp. My only negative would be there are only two shutter speeds, 1/125 for daylight shots and 1/60 for flash. IMHO Konica has always made great cameras with sharp lenses. I recently picked up a C35 AF which also takes fabulous pictures. Another favorite of mine is the old standard C35. The one I presently use I've had for probably 10-12 years and it often goes with me to Russia and Ukraine. Great little camera; thinking about picking up another standard C35 but they go fast on EB and are bringing high prices.

 

[relistan]

Daniel, yes I figured that out, too. Bought a 43mm yellow filter and it worked great.

Thanks, feenej! Yeah the shutter is almost imperceptibly quiet. Probably would be good for some street photography.

Harlee, I think it's the C35 EF that only has two shutter speeds. In theory the EF3 is good from 1/60 - 1/500. I don't know if it's stepless or not. I wish it could go down to slower than 1/60, though, I've needed it lately.

The advantages are the super small size, AA batteries, built-in flash, quiet shutter, great lens, and self-timer. Lacking are lower shutter speeds and any manual control. I really wish it were aperture priority!

Karl

 

[btgc]

haha, to have Av it should have longer speeds. Pity Konica didn't produce this variety of C35. But well, some guy on flickr has modded EF3 to allow Bulb mode - search for flickrite PTZ!

I wouldn't call it super small (that's where XA series shine) though it is reasonably sized. And funny colors (any color, except black!) make it looking like a toy camera so people don't look at it as machine being able to steal their souls.

 

[daniel~]

haha, to have Av it should have longer speeds. Pity Konica didn't produce this variety of C35. But well, some guy on flickr has modded EF3 to allow Bulb mode - search for flickrite PTZ!

Yeah I noticed that mod too. He's even posted a night scene shot at "roughly 1 sec". Seems it really works!