Krosya
Konicaze
Well,
this is how the story goes. A recent thread here about one camera/one lens got me thinking. While I'm not about to dump all my gear and be left with just a camera and one lens (some people here know how much I love my Hexanons 😉 ), I decided to get a fixed lens camera and see how I like the idea. Sure, I could just put one lens, let's say 50mm M-Hexanon on my Hexar RF, but that ability to change lenses would probably make me bring some other lens along anyway. As I said, since I'm a big fan of Konica gear, I found this little beauty:
This a Konica AUTO S. As you can see, it came with the original box, Leather case ( a bit worn), manual, and even ORIGINAL KONICA silica gel ! How cool is that?!
I have seen Konica Auto S2 gets lots of compliments, but didnt hear much on this one. While it was a bit dusty and VF was rather dirty, it looked promising. So, I took it apart, got all the glass cleaned up in a VF. Lens was clear, shutter seemed to work at all speeds just fine. No lens wobble, as some seem to have. All in all - it came out looking almost new.
As some may know - it has a great VF. Once cleaned out, I learned it for myself - one of the best VF I looked through. Crisp, clear and VERY easy to focus. Having used Leicas, Hexar, Bessas, etc - I have to say - it's as easy to use. Plus it has a moving frame - auto adjusting position and size based on how close/far you focus. Built-in meter needs one of those old mercury batteries, which I dont have. I stuck one thats similar size and voltage - and meter works!, just may be not so accurate. But it gave me a chance to check if it's "auto exposure" mode works - and it does!
Its amazing to me that such a good camera was made years ago and didnt seem to have much following.
Feels solid and good in hands.
So - so far so good. But does it take good pics? Is the lens sharp? How's bokeh?
Well, we had a little grill-out last weekend, so I loaded it up with some cheap film and took it for a spin. It's a pleasure to use, I tell ya.
And the best part - when i got the pics back - I'm blown away! I really never expected it to be so good. These are just some fast flatbed scans from prints, but I hope even so you can see how good this camera/lens is. It's a Hexanon 47mm/1.9 with built-in hood is VERY sharp, yet has smooth bokeh! I'm still yet to run more film through to test it better, but so far - it's a perfect "take-everywhere camera" .
this is how the story goes. A recent thread here about one camera/one lens got me thinking. While I'm not about to dump all my gear and be left with just a camera and one lens (some people here know how much I love my Hexanons 😉 ), I decided to get a fixed lens camera and see how I like the idea. Sure, I could just put one lens, let's say 50mm M-Hexanon on my Hexar RF, but that ability to change lenses would probably make me bring some other lens along anyway. As I said, since I'm a big fan of Konica gear, I found this little beauty:
This a Konica AUTO S. As you can see, it came with the original box, Leather case ( a bit worn), manual, and even ORIGINAL KONICA silica gel ! How cool is that?!
I have seen Konica Auto S2 gets lots of compliments, but didnt hear much on this one. While it was a bit dusty and VF was rather dirty, it looked promising. So, I took it apart, got all the glass cleaned up in a VF. Lens was clear, shutter seemed to work at all speeds just fine. No lens wobble, as some seem to have. All in all - it came out looking almost new.
As some may know - it has a great VF. Once cleaned out, I learned it for myself - one of the best VF I looked through. Crisp, clear and VERY easy to focus. Having used Leicas, Hexar, Bessas, etc - I have to say - it's as easy to use. Plus it has a moving frame - auto adjusting position and size based on how close/far you focus. Built-in meter needs one of those old mercury batteries, which I dont have. I stuck one thats similar size and voltage - and meter works!, just may be not so accurate. But it gave me a chance to check if it's "auto exposure" mode works - and it does!
Its amazing to me that such a good camera was made years ago and didnt seem to have much following.
Feels solid and good in hands.
So - so far so good. But does it take good pics? Is the lens sharp? How's bokeh?
Well, we had a little grill-out last weekend, so I loaded it up with some cheap film and took it for a spin. It's a pleasure to use, I tell ya.
And the best part - when i got the pics back - I'm blown away! I really never expected it to be so good. These are just some fast flatbed scans from prints, but I hope even so you can see how good this camera/lens is. It's a Hexanon 47mm/1.9 with built-in hood is VERY sharp, yet has smooth bokeh! I'm still yet to run more film through to test it better, but so far - it's a perfect "take-everywhere camera" .
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