Best KONICA AR SLR reflex

[caila77]

Which one is the best konica ar camera based on your experience?
I had two Tc and one FC1, all of them failed!
but I love the 40mm and the 50 1.7

 

[splitimageview]

If you can find one that has been safely stored (i.e., not in a garage or hot attic), not neglected, that's more than half the battle. So it isn't necessarily about the model, more about the care an indvidual camera has experienced.

I've had working TC, T3, T4, and A3 so my comments apply to those mechanical cameras, not the later plastic bodied models with built in motors. I don't have experience with those.

 

[valdas]

Konica Autoreflex (half/full frame model).

 

[KoNickon]

Though I like the T4, your best bet I think would be a T3, either the "regular" model (with removable accessory shoe) or the T3N, whose accessory shoe is permanently attached. Much better made than the later, smaller, plasticky cameras.

Either will work without batteries, though of course the meter requires batteries -- 2 x 675, which are mercury (1.35V) -- or use zinc-air 675 hearing aid batteries. Or, just use 357 1.5V batteries, which last a long time and are easily available, and cut the film speed in half -- ISO 200 with 400 speed film, for instance.

Make sure the meter works -- a lot of these have dead meters, for some reason.

 

[KoNickon]

Konica Autoreflex (half/full frame model).

More of a collector camera than anything else these days, and hard to find.

 

[valdas]

More of a collector camera than anything else these days, and hard to find.

More reliable than any electronic versions (I remember my struggles with FS1), built like tank, very nice half frame feature that can be switched on/off mid roll.

 

[das]

The FT-1 is the best imho. Brightest focusing screen, the motor drive is nice, regular batteries, exposure lock. I don't think any prior AR bodies come close.

 

[KoNickon]

The FT-1 is the best imho. Brightest focusing screen, the motor drive is nice, regular batteries, exposure lock. I don't think any prior AR bodies come close.

Not for me -- the AAA battery compartment is flimsy, and as I recall there's no depth of field lever. The switches are rather delicate. The Nikon N2000 (F801[?]) is a very similar camera but much better made I think.

 

[CameraQuest]

Possibly the best handling half frame ever produced
the finder shows beyond its film gate !

Konica FT-1 Pro Half Review by Jason Schneider

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Of those that are commonly available- The T3. I picked up one cheap, $50 with the 50/1.4 on it. The finder needed cleaning and that was a chore.

I picked up an FC-1 along with several lenses and other bodies from a long-time RFF member Rick Berman, long-ago when he retired. The FC-1 works perfectly, looks new. Which will last longer- probably the T3.

 

[Rayt]

I wonder why Konica opted for shutter priority when aperture priority is more useful. These camera don’t seem like they were designed for sports. Anyway the optics are excellent.

 

[Cascadilla]

I wonder why Konica opted for shutter priority when aperture priority is more useful. These camera don’t seem like they were designed for sports. Anyway the optics are excellent.

I think Konica developed its auto exposure SLRs before electronic shutters were widely available. Canon's first widely distributed auto exposure SLR (the AE 1) was also shutter priority even though it had an electronically timed shutter. Many photographers still pick a shutter speed they can hold steady or which will freeze action and live with whatever f/stop that will give a proper exposure. Of course now, with many DSLRs and mirrorless cameras you can pick both shutter speed and f/stop and let the camera change the ISO to get the correct exposure, a great convenience in many situations.

 

[petronius]

The FS-1 was always my favorite, design-wise. But having three dead bodies lying around (ahem) I use my AR lenses only on the A7 (40mm/1,8, wonderful!). (The T3 is a beast, but way too heavy for me).

 

[das]

I have used them all. My two cents. My problem with the T3 is that it has a dark viewfinder and is rather bulky. The T4 was a misstep and not fully thought out, being just a "better" TC (that's probably why Konica pulled it so quickly). The TC is not good at all given the alternatives. The FC-1 is a essentially a defeatured FS-1/FT-1 with a darker viewfinder, no exposure lock, and no integrated motor drive. The FS-1s seem to all fail in some unrepairable way.

The FT-1 is a very nice camera - and its quality viewfinder allows much easier use of the slower aperture AR lenses. It just has a deteriorating gasket problem that can be fixed. Yes, the AAA battery door could have been better designed but it's not a reason to avoid it. 🙂.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I have the AA Battery compartment for the FT-1, replaced the AAA compartment.

 

[das]

I have the AA Battery compartment for the FT-1, replaced the AAA compartment.

This is the way! I really need to track one of those down one day. 🙂.

 

[aw614]

Something about the 80s and poor battery door designs lol.

I held a mint t3 at the thrift store, and it was really tempting to buy, at the time I still had the pancake 40mm and a 50 1.8, but I still don't need another body. What stood out to me was it had a vertical metal traveling shutter

After having a 35 RC for a little bit, I started to see some use of shutter priority, especially with how annoying it was to handle to aperture ring, it was quicker to just shoot by choosing shutter speeds and not using that ergonomic nightmare that was the aperture ring lol

 

[das]

I think Konica developed its auto exposure SLRs before electronic shutters were widely available. Canon's first widely distributed auto exposure SLR (the AE 1) was also shutter priority even though it had an electronically timed shutter. Many photographers still pick a shutter speed they can hold steady or which will freeze action and live with whatever f/stop that will give a proper exposure. Of course now, with many DSLRs and mirrorless cameras you can pick both shutter speed and f/stop and let the camera change the ISO to get the correct exposure, a great convenience in many situations.

Konica's AE system was rather ingenious for the time, and I believe that it was first to market with it. I think you would need an electronic shutter to have aperture-priority, but not for shutter priority -- as I believe Konica's system relied on a mostly mechanical system that coupled the light meter to a notched connector plate that interacted with a ring in the lens mount. You get both open aperture metering and exposure lock in the same mechanism. I believe it was Pentax with the 1971 ES that deployed an electronic shutter for AE operation.

 

[KoNickon]

Yes, I think it's referred to as "trapped needle." I think it works really well -- yes, the Olympus 35 RC has it, as does the Konica Auto S3. As noted, it's easy to lock in an exposure reading.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

The Konica C35/C35V use this arrangement for program autoexposure.
The trapped needle system is useful as an autoexposure memory lock.

Chris