Konica Autoreflex T3

[ronnies]

Hi,

I've just acquired a T3 (not a T3N) from a charity shop in Edinburgh. There are a couple of minor issues with it which need attention (but don't stop it from being used !).

1. The eyepeice and hotshoe are missing. Not serious I can get them from evilBay but the threaded part the eyepiece screws into is also missing.

2. The shutter speed indicator tape in the viewfinder is way out of sync with the selected speed.

3. I've opened up the top to see what I could do about 2 and immediately found the meter switch around the shutter release is connected with a spring to a '9' shaped piece that's not attached to anything.

4. The meter works but seems to be always on (maybe related to 3) and the needle seems to come against a hard stop at f/4. This happens even with the battery check so there may be a blockage....

Does anyone have notes on how to fix any or all of the above ?

Ronnie

 

[M Currie]

I can't help on most of this, but on the eyepiece, you do need the part that is staked into the top, if you're going to put it together properly. However, on a T3 I have, that was obviously dropped, I found that one can carefully drill through the flash bracket and the top, and simply bolt the flash bracket to the top. It's ugly, but if the top is already damaged, as mine was, it's one way to get a functional flash bracket. Getting the contact to engage was tricky, but once done it stayed. The rest of the eyepiece is plain glass, so it is not missed except cosmetically, unless you need a diopter to screw in.

It's been a long time since I had one apart, so I don't remember just how the switch works, but there should, of course, be some kind of detent to keep it off. I'd experiment with the "9" shaped piece, and see if there is anything on the switch that it engages with. It's possible that the spring is put in wrong. At best, these switches are pretty slack, and tend to go on in transit if you don't check often.

By the way, I have two T3's and both of them are almost exactly correct with hearing aid batteries, and the ASA dial set down by 2/3 of a stop, i.e. two clicks.

Here's "the Konica from Hell," which my wife once had to use in an emegency and utterly hated, but which actually works pretty well.

 

[ronnies]

Thanks for the reply !

I've actually had a go at this with help from notes from Rick Oleson and some notes I found on the Konica SLR group at Yahoo.

I've managed to fix the shutter tape so it's reading the correct speed in the viewfinder now. While I had the prism out I noticed what looked like a bare wire which was blocking the meter needle at f/4. A wee tug on this with tweezers and it just came out and turned out to be the missing spring from that '9' shaped bit attached to the meter switch.

It looks like the '9' is a detent to hold the meter switch in the off position. It's held onto the top plate by this spring and a small 'stud'. This stud is still missing and may b in the camera somewhere but I can't hear it rattling. The spring attached to the switch and the '9' must be to switch the meter on when you pullout the wind on lever. This must move the '9' in some way.

So the meter needle now has full travel, the shutter display in the viewfinder is correct. All I need now is the 'stud' for the switch detent ('9' shaped bit) and the eyepiece part staked to the top. The camera is however completely usable without either !!

Ronnie

 

[steveclem]

Great cameras,do you know anything about the shutter pre-firing issue that afflicts these things in their dotage?

 

[M Currie]

I'm afraid I know nothing about the shutter prefiring problem, as both my T3's work fine.

 

[ronnies]

Sorry, I am also unfamiliar with the prefiring problem. Have you looked at the Classic Camera Repair forum archive now hosted here on RFF ?

Ronnie

 

[steveclem]

I've had a look but it must be lurking under my radar as I've not found it.
Alternatively, is there a Konica repair centre in the UK? I tried Alan Marlowe and he's not able to do it.
The shutter pre-fire is a known issue but can be intermittant dependent on the lens one is using.
Right now my 28mm 3.5 is working between 1/2 second and 1/1000. Other lenses lke the 50mm f1.7 it will fire the shutter as the lever wind nears the end of its stroke. Most vexing sometimes but I have another body which is good so I should just leave the 28mm on that particular body.

 

[ronnies]

Where about in the UK?

I'm sure Cameratiks in Edinburgh would have a go at it. There must be others who would too.

Ronnie

 

[pdh]

it's a shame Alan Marlowe doesn't do this sort of work any more, he did a very neat inexpensive repair on an AR lens for me a couple of years ago, but also recently turned down working on my Konica TC.

There are a surprising number of camera repairers still "at it" fortunately, but none of them come cheap.

You could try Black On White in Bristol; they did a CLA on my TC and recalibrated the meter for SR44 cells

Also the old faithful of Newton Ellis in Liverpool.

But you'll have to be prepared that your wallet will be getting a belting

 

[steveclem]

That's the problem really, a nice user in vgc can be had for around £40 tops, a proper sort out at the repairers will likely treble that.
If the pot was bottomless then I'd love to get all these old mechanical marvels up and running just because they deserve better than the scrap heap.

 

[pdh]

Perhaps it is helpful to focus not on the initial cost of the camera but on the total cost of getting a fully working camera?

The thing that I keep thinking is that a "nice user" example of a 40-year-old camera is quite hard to come by; these cameras have often been sitting in a cupboard, garage or loft for a couple of decades, and not being used hasn't done them any favours let alone any of the problems that occur with dust, lube hardening, fungus and so on.

So let's say we obtain a functional but tired T3 (or F2 or OM1 or whatever) for £30-£40. A CLA by reputable technicians like BonW or NewtonEllis will indeed cost around the £100-£120 mark.

But that also means you then have a fully working, reliable camera that will last for another few decades (or as long as film is still manufactured), for around £150. If you can afford £150 and like taking photos, that seems like almost bargain territory to me (although I suppose you can also get a brand new Vivitar slr for a bit less)