This Old Camera/Analog Therapy: Konica Autoreflex TC… More Konica Hexanon On The Cheap.

This Old Camera: Konica Autoreflex TC… More Konica Hexanon On The Cheap.

I have a well documented ~~rangefinder~~ Konica camera problem.

Sidebar: Turns out it was a much needed distraction. My immediate family and I are fine but health news from a friend really caused me to to once again reevaluate what is and is not a real problem.

Have written posts in this space about all of them. The first two listed below were featured in a recent post about top great performing used and affordable cameras.

I have owned other Knica variants in the past but they did not hang around for long.

Konica Hexar AF
- Nice, but another favorite fit my needs better.
Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D
- A fun brief distraction with an early DSLR but it did not hang around for long.

But… how did I end up with this little camera here?

I am glad I imagined you asked. Easy. The Konica C35 twins featured in that recent blog post I mentioned above.

You read that right. A post about inexpensive used camera alternatives… cost me money.

They are inexpensive with wonderful Hexanon lenses. But I had wanted a lens faster than f/2.8 and closer to 50mm than 35mm. Theoretically I could have gone the Hexar RF route, but unfortunately those M mount Hexanon lenses are prohibitively expensive. The 50mm f/2 goes for around $1000 and the f/1.2 many times that amount. That will just not do. But… “What if I bought a Konica SLR?” I thought. To KEH! I set the Grade from Bargain on up and sorted by price in ascending order and…

This can’t be right. An EX grade Konica Autoreflex TC for around $60.

What?

Ok, so the lens will cost me… An EX Hexanon AR 52mm f/1.8 for around $30…

What?

This could go one of two ways at this point.

Walk away because I already have perfectly fine SLRs at my disposal.
Buy it, buy it, buy it… Is it here yet?

We all know what happened next. Come on. Why else would we be here? A 52mm f/1.8 lens for a bit under $100 with a camera attached! Compared to many hundred times more for a fast M mount Hexanon lens? I have no defense for such things.

So what of the camera? Here is the run down.

A fine consumer grade SLR with enough features, bells and whistles not welcome here.

Shutter priority.
- I usually bang on about preferring Aperture priority but Shutter priority is pretty handy in bright settings. Set it to 1/1000s (which is welcome over 1/500s) and let it rip.
- No issue in lower light. Just spin the shutter dial until you get to the aperture speed you want on the match needle in the viewfinder.

Metering.
- So far solid as far as the first roll displays anyway.
- Easy to use. Manually set the ISO set the lens to EE where it locks until you press a button, and set the shutter speed to get the aperture reading you want on the match needle in the viewfinder.

Easily sourced batteries.
- I read and watched some odd takes on the auto exposure. One chose an external meter instead and one mentioned that they did not like internal meters… Another said the batteries were not available. What? Why buy this camera then? I plopped in the two batteries Amazon said would work… and they worked.
Easy to load and rewind film.
- Something newer cameras on the market did not manage to pull off.

Lens is excellent.
- No surprises here. It is a Hexanon lens.
- Nice build and feel also.

An ergonomic nicety.
- To turn on metering it has a nice little trick. You pull out the winder a bit and it stays on. When you are ready to turn it off you press a little button on the back and the winder goes back up against the camera body. An elegant little touch that I really like and leaves no doubt as to whether the metering is on or not.

A decent looking thing.
- Does not help take a better picture, but it is appreciated nonetheless.

So on to the main thing. Photos. No frills. Just a solid, straightforward SLR experience. For the film, I went with a favorite. Fujifilm 400 developed with Cinestill CS41. Here are the survivors from the first roll.