Konica Auto S3: Could you show images at close distance and widest aperture ?

R

ruben

Guest
Today, I took a day off from work, arranged some papers and quickly found myself happily shooting at the streets. As my film ended, and I felt spiritually very good, I broke two of my own commandments:

a) Not buying any more cameras

b) Not buying any camera at an Israeli shop, as they must be broken or deffective

Therefore by the path to hell I find myself with a Konica Auto S3,
which by the way and very interestingly is of the same size like the Olympus RC, but f/1.8.

Therefore if the RC is for Iso 200, my idea is to use the S3 for Iso 1600. And have both at my daily hip pouch, plus flash and Flashmate Sekonic.

But.... what's the quality of the Konica Hexanon at widest aperture and close distance ?

Kindly post examples, or opinions, or both.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
Fellows, don't rush so fast !

Here I have found a mamouth size something:

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=422267974&size=o&context=set-72057594057684157

Notice that the area of critical focus is at the lower right side of the woman.

Besides this image comfirms my feeling that in a compact camera the widest apertures from below f/2.8 are quite unusefull for very close distances, due to both the miserable depth of field and the highly demmanding accuracy of focusing, highly demmanding both from the photog and the camera.

But perhaps the possible movement of the woman is fooling me.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
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Ruben,

I have this camera. It's one of my favorites. The center resolution of the camera ranges from 60 to 80 lpi at all apertures. But don't take my word for it:

Photoenthography
Everyone praises the Hexanon lens which reportedly gets between 62 and 82 lpi, which is amazingly high performance (Leica-class) for a compact rangefinder.
http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?KonicaAutoS3.html~mainFrame

Cameraquest
Compact 35 Rangefinder with 38/1.8 lens, focusing to 36" The six element four group lens is an exceptional performer, called "one of the best semi-wide angle optics of its speed we have ever tested" by Modern Photography. Amazingly, ALL apertures had center values between 64 to 82 lines per mm.
http://www.cameraquest.com/kons3.htm

I increasingly reach for this one, and have only 5 or 6 rolls with it. But I would never give it up. I know you asked for scans but I'm a print kinda guy and only mainly scan MF black and white stuff to make prints. However, the lens is markedly sharper wide-open than any other camera I have. It's noticeable in the prints. I also like its color rendition and it's bitingly sharp by f4.

Put a roll in her and open her up (her aperture, that is :) The "bokeh" is average. Not terrible but not like the bokeh of my Jupiter 9, Summar, or Pentax f1.4/50 but it's fine.
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the REAL question is....what is she shying away from so emphatically?

Exact focus certainly is critical at wider apertures, and I imagine that the DOF is measured in mere inches (I haven't done anything but empiracal testing...) at closest focal distances. For me, the only way out would seem to be to use film that's fast enough to allow for smaller apertures, THEN maybe even pushing the development times? I'll have to do some experiments!

Regards!
Don
 
Ruben, what you say is true but - as you know, to me faster = better performance stopped down (say to 2.8 where the K3 is stellar) where DOF and critical focus is less an issue. Also, the camera only meters to 800 and is 100% shutter priority. Are you suggesting metering at 800 and giving the film an extra stop? I'd say that's a good idear.
 
NickTrop said:
Ruben, what you say is true but - as you know, to me faster = better performance stopped down (say to 2.8 where the K3 is stellar) where DOF and critical focus is less an issue. Also, the camera only meters to 800 and is 100% shutter priority. Are you suggesting metering at 800 and giving the film an extra stop? I'd say that's a good idear.
Click to expand...


Well, the max iso 800 is easy to override on behalf of iso 1600, by metering at 1/15, half tripping and then moving the speed ring to 1/30.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
ruben said:
Well, the max iso 800 is easy to override on behalf of iso 1600, by metering at 1/15, half tripping and then moving the speed ring to 1/30.

Cheers,
Ruben
Click to expand...

Huh? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... never thunk of that. To the Batcave!
 
Today I went with both the RC and the Konica Auto S3 to a full daylight day of picture-taking in Tel Aviv.

I loaded the Konica with Neopan 1600, but the trick of metering, half tripping and changing the speed doesn't work so good. In principle it works perfect, but in fact after you have changed the speed you still have to maintain the shutter button half tripped until the moment of firing.

This produces two disadvantages. A) It is very unconfortable when you are waiting for the decisive moment and b) there are half chances you will actually fire by mistake out of this dis-comfort.

Therefore, Olympus RC plus hand meter for Neopan 1600, Konica S3 for Iso 200.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
Ruben,

What is the battery situation with the Konica Auto S3? Does it want a mercury battery? What are you using?

Thanks!
 
I am using what came within the camera: "Varta V13GA, made in Germany", which looks pretty small.

I assume that a hearing battery 1.4V will fit as good and will be quite accurate, as shown by my Oly RC.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
Actually, to clarify for future readers of this post, the Auto S3 originally used a PX 675 battery, while the Oly RC used a PX 625. Different voltages....

ruben said:
I assume that a hearing battery 1.4V will fit as good and will be quite accurate, as shown by my Oly RC.

Cheers,
Ruben
Click to expand...
 
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