Konica RF adjusting question...

[Jamey777]

Greetings, I am new to the world of RF, coming from Pentax SLR.

I have cobbled together a working (mostly) Konica Auto S2 from a couple of different 'for parts' ebay auctions.

So far it has been fun, I have wanted to learn how mechanical cameras work and I can now take the top cover off blindfolded 🙂

In any case, I did a focus check @ infinity using the slr < infinity = infinity > rf and have good confidence that it is dead on at infinity.

The rangefinder I also set to infinity, eyeballing it, and I have it very accurate. My problem is most of my shots are from 3-8 ft and there appears to be a 6 inch back focus based on how I have the rangefinder set.

Common sense tells me that I should be able to use the published minimum focus settings to set the rangefinder for close focusing and not worry about infinity in the rangefinder.

Is this the case?

I have shot two test rolls so far. The first I didn't know what the three screws under the black lens band were (aha... infinity!) and of course were out of focus. The second was today and I am much closer than I was.

Next up the meter 🙂 It registers perfectly but only at one aperture, no matter what the camera aperture is set at.

Thanks,

Jamey

 

[Jamey777]

nevermind, screwed it up. 🙂

I got three 'for parts' to learn off of, and boy have I learned a lot. Unfortunately each one has something that I can't fix now.

fun fun fun.... back to my pentax for a while.

 

[btgc]

Konica Auto series are nice cameras, but when you discover pre-Auto models....that's where goodness is! Your skills will be useful when you'll put your hands on one of this 🙂

 

[Jamey777]

I will keep my eye out, thanks...

 

[farlymac]

Normal procedure for adjusting rangefinders is to set the Infinity, and then all other distances should fall in place without further adjustment. But it may need some fine tuning if things are a little off when you close focus. Your Infinity target should be no less than 100ft/32m away.

PF

 

[Bigsaint]

Here's my take after working on and adjusting a bunch of these cameras... I set mine to be dead on at minimum distance if close subjects and a small depth of field are preferred. When I shoot at infinity it's never wide open, usually stopped down and I have yet to see a distant subject out of focus. If you adjust for infinity and then check your minimum you will find it off. You can split the difference between the two for an averaged rangefinder and that will also work if you are shooting stopped down when close. You will be off if the aperture is wide open.

 

[Bigsaint]

Konica Auto series are nice cameras, but when you discover pre-Auto models....that's where goodness is! Your skills will be useful when you'll put your hands on one of this 🙂

More true words could not have been spoken. Do a search on the SII ( not auto S2). Really well designed camera, looks to be a very good lens of which the build quality is superb. As soon as I run some film through mine I will speak of it optically 😀

Scott