Help..Konica Auto S2 or Minolta Hi-matic 7s

J

jazzwave

Well-known
Local time
4:31 PM
Joined
Apr 27, 2008
Messages
320
My friend want to sell one of his RF to me; Konica Auto S2 or Minolta Hi-matic 7s.

Both in good condition and same price.

Please help me to choose ,which one is better? and why?
or link of these cameras comparison if any.

Thanks in advance

~ronni~
 
Last edited:
borrow both, shoot one or two rolls with each Camera and then decide. I think, they're both great Cameras but you also have to check your feeling with each camera.
 
Last edited:
blonde or brunette?

yeah, that's the best advice:

cweg said:
borrow both, shoot one or two rolls with each Camera and then decide. I think, they're both great Cameras but you also have to your feeling with each camera.
Click to expand...
 
BUY both and fit new lightseals, then try them out. They're both fine and see which one you like the best. Neither one will break the bank in cost.
 
jazzwave said:
My friend want to sell one of his RF to me; Konica Auto S2 or Minolta Hi-matic 7s.

Both in good condition and same price.

Please help me to choose ,which one is better? and why?
or link of these cameras comparison if any.

Thanks in advance

~ronni~
Click to expand...

Konica Auto S2, hands down. I figure, at some point, you're going to have to work on it -- at least to clean it. Hi-Matics, like Canonets, are among the most difficult cameras to work on without screwing up. The Auto S2 is an excellent camera, with a truely great lens, and it is simple to work on. Want to clean the shutter? Unscrew the front lens element, twist a locking screw, remove a wavy nut, and the front of the shutter just lifts off. A few squirts of naptha, an artist's brush and some Q-tips later and you'll be ready to put it back together again. A mildly retarded chimp could probably learn to do it.
 
Last edited:
FallisPhoto said:
Konica Auto S2, hands down. It's like having the choice of a Contax or a Yashica.
Click to expand...

wow...that's the comparison....while KAS2 has signs of good engineering (say - RF metal cover secured by screws, instead of black paper; nice lens), I've thought about it as a....downstep model of Konica RF's, similar to any of FLRF of that era?

Is MHM7s really so flaky compared to KAS2 (I don't have 7s)? I see difference between Petri 7s and KAS2, hands down (despite Petri's nice lens and really smooth shutter release).
 
btgc said:
Is MHM7s really so flaky compared to KAS2 (I don't have 7s)?
Click to expand...

I have owned both. They are both good cameras, but the Konica Auto S2 is among Konica-Minolta's best rangefinders ever. It is a classic. The better Hexanon lenses are renowned for sharpness and are often said to rival some of Leica's glass (although I have doubts about that particular statement).

The biggest problem though, is if you have to CLA them. The S2 is easy, but the Hi-Matic 7S is sheer hell to get into. You pretty much have to take the whole front of the camera apart to get at the shutter -- and god help you if you want to clean the self-timer, because then you have to partially disassemble the shutter to get at that.

Now add to that that the self-timer is the Hi-Matic's weakest point. Fully half of the 7S cameras I have worked on had their shutters jammed by the self timer -- the hardest part of the camera to get to for cleaning. Some of the Hi-Matics I have seen had had their self timer levers removed or cut off (doubtless to avoid this very problem).

To add the cherry on top of the joys of Hi-Matic repair, at least some of them have thin aluminum shims between the shutter and the lens (which does not speak well of their construction). Last one I took apart had two tapered shims in there. They fell out and god alone knows what their original placement was.
 
Aha, you mean serviceability. True, have read lots of horrors on Minolta RF's. Btw, once I got Minolta Auto Wide, 35mm scale focus vintage - Holy Grease, very solid and hard to repair camera - seems to be hallmark of Minolta.

FallisPhoto said:
Konica Auto S2 is among Konica-Minolta's best rangefinders ever.
Click to expand...

oddly enough, I can't get over and still count old Konica cameras as Konicas not K-M's. But this can help to find them listed in wrong categories, you know what I mean :)

FallisPhoto said:
To add the cherry on top of the joys of Hi-Matic repair, at least some of them have thin aluminum shims between the shutter and the lens (which does not speak well of their construction).
Click to expand...

In cup on table are lying two thin aluminum rings from same place in Konica III (while shutter is sent to Greg Weber - broken aperture parts). Is it so bad design?
 
btgc said:
Aha, you mean serviceability. True, have read lots of horrors on Minolta RF's. Btw, once I got Minolta Auto Wide, 35mm scale focus vintage - Holy Grease, very solid and hard to repair camera - seems to be hallmark of Minolta.



oddly enough, I can't get over and still count old Konica cameras as Konicas not K-M's. But this can help to find them listed in wrong categories, you know what I mean :)



In cup on table are lying two thin aluminum rings from same place in Konica III (while shutter is sent to Greg Weber - broken aperture parts). Is it so bad design?
Click to expand...

The problem with the Hi-Matics was that they required incredibly close tolerances. Their construction was not always done to those tolerances though and thus they sometimes needed shims to bring them up to spec. The design of the Konica Auto S2 either was a little more forgiving or they paid closer attention to their tolerances. I've never seen shims in an Auto S or an Auto S2.

Edit: If you REALLY want to see a Minolta with tolerances close enough that they actually caused problems though, you need to look at the Minolta SRT-series SLRs. The mirror, swinging up and down, practially shaved the back of the lens. The mirror would actually hit a lot of aftermarket lenses, so when buying an SRT, the first thing to check for are cracks and chips of glass missing from the edge of the mirror.
 
Last edited:
I have recently fixed the slow speeds on my Auto S2 (1/30 was 1/4, 1/15 was 1/2 a,d 1/8 was a second - 1, 1/2 and 1/4 were unaffected) so if I can do it.....

Very nice camera, brilliant viewfinder.
 
I have both and I prefer the Auto S2. The 7S is really a superb camera but the lens on the Auto S2 is simply phenomenal and you've got the metered manual option, a rarity on RFs. I think it's a legendary camera, simply brilliant.

Andy
 
Wow, great discussion.
Many thanks for your input, finally I choose Konica Auto S2.

The camera in good condition, "clean" body/lens and light meter still working.
Tommorow I will test this camera, wish me luck...:)


~ronni~

Taken with Nikon 50m f1.4 AiS
KAS2_400-1.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom