Konica Auto S3 / Auto Up 3 : What were they thinking at Konica ??

I have this nice Konica Auto S3 that I bought for peanuts during the "analog panic" circa 2005-2010. On a separate occasion I found a Konica Auto Up 3, like new in box, i.e. a one diopter lens plus some corrective optics in front of main+RF windows.

Only today did I have the curiosity to mount the latter onto the former. See pics below. iPhone pictures with the lens approx level with the AutoS3's top plate.




Clearly the corrective optics is not in front of the v/f windows. Did I make a mistake? Back to the small user manual included in the box: clearly intended for the AutoS3 or the C35FD (same camera, same 38/1.8 lens except silver top and targeted at Japan home market). A little picture even shows what to expect in the viewfinder, with the frame of the Auto Up obstructing the view... at least the rangefinder patch is preserved!!

So : what were the Konica engineers thinking?
Just to save some bandpass : no confusion with the C35 (plain) whose barrel diameter is smaller.

I think it has to do with parallax correction.

p.giannakis said:

I think it has to do with parallax correction.

Click to expand...

Sure. That much I had understood and expected. And besides parallax correction it should enable proper rangefinder operation with the close-up lens.

The point of my OP is that the Auto-Up 3 as it is designed seriously obstructs the view through the v/f. It's hardly worth speaking of parallax correction when there is a fat strip of metal in the middle of the frame.

Strange, but I 'd expect some kind of logic. You can see roughly the upper half and the RF patch through the accessory finder. Will the lower half, the part you don't see through the acc. finder be completely useless and out of focus? Or are the 'goggles' only needed for the RF patch? Then you would be able to see around the close-up finder.

I found this webpage in the auto-up variations. Focusing is fine, framing is difficult!
Anyone with user experience?

SUPER NOOKY!

Dang, that's just made my day!

The Brits will all come out of the woodwork now.

I recently purchased a similar Pleasant Auto Up for my Nikon S 2. It also doesn't really allow seeing a lot of the frame although the focusing seems to be accurate. The genuine Nikon version that I have for my Nikon SP shows the whole frame as well as providing accurate focusing. I'm not surprised that my knock off version for the S 2 is less than optimal since it was probably significantly cheaper than the original and some people would have bought the one that they could afford rather than the one they wanted. I would have gotten the genuine Nikon one for the S 2, but they are hard to find and expensive when you do find one. These attachments are yet another reminder of why SLRs became the dominant "serious" camera design in the 1960's.