Konica SLR equipment is now only a historical note. Production ceased a while ago, and is generally available at very low cost on the used camera market. I am not a collector, so the following is not full of 'how many of this were produced in this year, and in this serial number range'. I used these cameras to take photos, and that's what they were good for. If you wish to collect them, great. They can be had for very little, as noted, and you could probably have a fairly representative collection for the cost of a couple of Leica items.

So: the discussions are based on use. One of the main problems with these cameras is that they used PX625 batteries, which are no longer available in many parts of the world. There are, however, sources for alternate batteries or solutions that work. One is the use of an adapter that allows the use of a 76 alkaline or silver battery, available from CRIS camera services. Another is the Wein cell, which is a bit hard to find, and more expensive over the long run.

The other problem with getting these (or any older camera) as a user is the lack of spare parts. With the price of Konicas being as low as it is, it is probably a good idea to get a spare or two for parts.

Cameras

• *Autoreflex (the first) - a unique camera that can be used for taking pictures, or just for driving your photofinisher crazy. Its claim to fame is that it can be switched from 1/2 frame to full frame in the middle of the roll. You can even alternate, so that every second picture is 1/2 frame (18 x 24mm in size, as opposed to the usual 24 x 36mm). But, as noted above, if you do this your photofinisher will be your enemy for life, or until you buy him lunch and promise never to bring a roll of film like that to him again. All your lenses had of course narrower angles of view if used in 1/2 frame mode, so that a 50mm lenses when used for 1/2 frame had the angle of view of a 70mm lens would have had on a full frame. This effectively made telephotos more powerful, but introduced problems on the wide angle side. A 28mm lens when used on a half frame acted like a 40mm lens on a full frame, and to get everything in that you expected with a 28 on full frame, you had to actually mount a 20mm lens when shooting half frame. Aside from the 1/2 frame feature, the camera is a quaint design, not to say odd, and was one of the first auto exposure cameras. Where other makers made their cameras Aperture Priority, the Autoreflex was designed in the mold of the few previous autoexposure cameras to be Shutter Priority. That is, you set the shutter speed, and the camera meter, in this case non-TTL, decided and set the aperture to suit light levels and the film sensitivity. The Pentax ES was actually the camera that started the Aperture Priority trend, and it came out a few years later. Aperture vs. Shutter Priority was a big issue in the early 70's, and was only resolved when cameras came out with both, and with program modes. The exposure system worked on the 'trapped needle' method, where the light measurement was displayed by a moving needle attached to a galvanometer, and the first part of the shutter release pressed against the galvanometer needle, trapping it. The position of the needle was used to lock the extent of the diaphragm closing mechanism during exposure. A lot of this was controlled by bits of string, which had to be both strong and non-stretching. That this turned out to be a very reliable means of automating exposure and was at the same time very durable in the Konicas is truly amazing. The name 'Rube Goldberg' springs readily to mind, but this worked, and admirably so. The shutter used was the Copal Square, one of the first vertical metal blade shutters made. It was offered to many camera makers, but Konica was one of the first to use it. It was durable, accurate, fairly cheap and loud. It also allowed flash synchronization a 1/125sec, fast for that time. The lens mount was a new design (Konica had an earlier SLR series, the FP, FM and FS which used a different mount) which was needed to allow the autoexposure information to be transmitted both ways. The lens had to tell the body what the maximum aperture was, and whether or not the lens was ready for autoexposure, ie, whether or not the lens was set at the minimum aperture. At the time of the exposure, the camera then had to tell the lens what aperture to use. At a time when the most common lens mount was the M-42 Praktica-Pentax screw mount, this was indeed a selling point. Generally at this time, only more expensive cameras had bayonet mounts.

• *Autoreflex T - This was the camera that really took off. It had through the lens metering, was styled handsomely in a mainstream sort of way, and handled in a very easy, straightforward way. The outward design and easy handling probably had as much to do with the success of this camera as did the features and on-film performance. The main lenses had also been redesigned in a more modern fashion, and this also helped sales.

• *Autoreflex T2 - minor upgrading, nothing really outstanding. It was not labelled T2, but still T.

• *Autoreflex A - a stripped down T2. A simplified shutter (no 1/1000 sec.), no on-off switch, etc.

• * Autoreflex T3 - the last of the large Autoreflexes. It has a multiexposure provision. All the Autoreflex cameras with TTL metering had a unique metering system that depended on the incoming rays to determine the metering pattern. The metering system was basically center weighted, as were most new cameras with TTL at the time, but Konicas had a varying metering emphasis which depended on the focal length. Long focus and telephoto lenses cme close to an averaging pattern, while wide angles metered with a strong emphasis on a narraw band which ran for about 1/2 the length of the long side down the middle of the frame. This tended to provide a better balance of exposure between telephoto and wideangles than most center weighted system. There was one other significant advantage to the way the Konica metering system worked. Since Konica did not have as big a range of lenses, especially at the start, as most of the major manufacturers, they made a range of adapters that allowed the use of lenses with other mounts on their cameras. These adapters were made for Nikon, M-42 (Pentax and Praktica), Exakta, and Konica FP. Konica FP were not that interesting, but the others were. Especially interesting for me were the Nikon adapters, because they allowed the use of the Nikon PC lenses; initially the 35/2.8, and later the 28/4 when it came out. Now the really intersting part: on the Nikon, the PC lenses had to be centered before metering could take place, as otherwise an exposure error would result. When mounted on the Konica, these Nikons (with adapters) could be shifted while metering, and would still produce accurate exposures. Therefore, in many ways, the PC lenses were easier to use on the Konicas than they were on the Nikons then and today. As these lenses are preset anyways, and stop down metering is required, no functions were lost in mounting them on the Konicas. I also used a 400/5.6 Nikon, a 17/4 fisheye Pentax Takumar, and a variety of Visoflex Leica lenses on the Konicas. The adapter for the latter was custom made, but it allowed TTL metering with my Leica lenses in a manner which was a lot easier than using the Visoflex with my M5.

• * Autoreflex TC - a simpler T4. No slow speeds below 1/8th, and a few other things were left out as well.

• *Autoreflex T4 - a full featured Autoreflex in a compact, largely plastic body. A winder was available, but it could be removed, which was nice as the winder was relatively large, noisy, and not very fast.

• *FS-1 - basically an electronic Autoreflex T4 with a winder built in, the first for any SLR, and autoloading, another first for any SLR. LED readout; the trapped needle exposure system was gone, and with it the long shutter release travel. It ran on 4 AA batteries; no more button cells. It now used the Copal CMS electronic shutter, and Gallium Arsenide photocells, which improved response tremendously.

• FC-1 - an electronic SLR without a built in winder. Otherwise similar to the FS-1.

• FP-1 - a camera with program mode; however, it only had program mode. Winder available.

The Autoreflex series of cameras was the most reliable I have yet owned. For about 10 years they were my main 35mm SLR's, and during the latter part of that were used professionally. I switched to Nikon when it became clear Konica was abandoning the market, but since that time my Nikons have been in the shop on a regular basis, as have my Leicas since time immemorial, and some Canons and Pentax's I've used.

Lenses - all are Hexanon unless othewise noted - * denotes lenses I have used. I have also listed other Hexanons which I have not used, but which were produced and offered for sale from the time the first Autoreflex came out until the SLR line folded.

One major change in lenses came when the Autoreflex T came out. From then on, all AR Hexanon lenses came with an AE lock button on the diaphragm ring.

• 15/2.8 UC FE - the fisheye. Fairly rare.
• *21/4 - a large (77mm filters) lens with excellent performance. The best lens in this range at the time, with great sharpness, eveness of illumination, low distortion and good flare control. Better than Nikon's 20/3.5 of the time.
• 21/2.8 - a very late addition to the line; very rare. A compact lens which took 55mm filters. Part of the 'compacting' of the product line.
• *24/2.8 - a good lens in this focal length. Not as good as Nikon's, but that was the best in this focal length.
• *28/3.5 - a very good 28. As good as anybodies.
• *28/3.5 Hexar - the cheaper version.
• *28/3.5 (late) - the re-labelled Hexar; not as good as the old one.
• *28/1.8 UC - a top class lens in a very high price range for Konica. Quite large.
• *35/2.8 - Excellent lens, but then almost every manufacturer had an excellent 35/2.8
• *35/2 - a worthy competitor in the fast 35 range.
• *40/1.8 - a very compact lens introduced with the compact series of cameras.
• 50/1.8 - least expensive standard lens of later years
• *50/1.7 - the later higher-performance slower 50 in the later years.
• *50/1.4 - the later 50/1.4. I believe the optical farmula changed at least once.
• *52/1.8 - the early inexpensive 50.
• *55/3.5 - top quality macro lens, with a switch to allow the diaphragm to be auto-compensating or not. This was the best solution to a sticky problem, which some of the other manufacturers should have copied.
• *57/1.4 - older 1.4. Quality was similar to the later ones; good for the time.
• *57/1.2 - one of the best 1.2 lenses made.
• *85/1.8 - a great performing lens.
• *100/2.8 - a compact lens in a fairly popular focal length.
• *105/4 bellows lens. With the Auto Helicoid, this lens could be used as a regular 105, with close focussing to about 1:4. All automatic functions worked with the Auto Helicoid. Automatic extension tubes were available to get closer, as was a bellows attachment.
• *135/3.5 - the early 135 carried over from the 'F' series.
• *135/3.5 Hexar - a bit bulky, less expensive alternative.
• 135/3.5 (late) - re-labelled Hexar
• *135/3.2 - the best of the 135's. Focussed to 3', which made it much more useful than anybody else's 135.
• *135/2.5 - fairly heavy, but excellent except for a propensity to flare.
• *200/3.5 - the first 200, quite large and decent performance.
• *200/4 - the later, compact version. Top quality performance
• *200/4 Hexar - an inexpensive, rather bulky lens. Not as good as the 200/4 Hexanon.
• *300/6.3 FL - an outstanding 300 in a size that was less than most 200's, but rather slow. High priced, but excellent. Fairly fragile with the flourite elements.
• *300/4.5 - a very good lens in a size and weight that competed directly against Nikon and Minolta. Performance was fully competitive as well.
• 400/5.6 UC - a very late addition to the line; very rare.
• 35-70/3.5 - a very late addition to the line. Not quite as rare as the 70-150 or the 400. Fairly long.
• *35-100/2.8 Varifocal - a monster; took 82mm filters, and was 140mm long and weighed 1090g. So-so performance.
• *45-100/3.5 UC - a very expensive, quite compact lens of not particularly good performance.
• *65-135/4 - fairly compact, slim zoom of excellent performance
• 70-150/4 - a very late addition to the line; very rare. This lens was part of the decision to compete against Olympus, therefore the small size and the focal range which had been popularized by Olympus.
• *80-200/4 - a nice sharp and contrasty lens which had a big flare problem.
• *80-200/3.5 - the older zoom, with generally decent performance for the time.

Early lenses re-mounted for the Autoreflex - manual aperture or preset. These are not automatic. Most of the first series of lenses offered for the Autoreflex were reworked F series manual or preset lenses as well, and many were offered as inexpensive alternates to the 'AR' (Automatice Reflex, or Autoreflex) lenses.

• 200/5.6 - a very lightweight, compact lens, but it was not as short as the later 200/4.
• *400/4.5 - 2.4kg. Not very good performance.
• 800/8 - 5.6kg, 775mm long.
• 1000/8 Reflex - 8.5kg
• 2000/11 Reflex - 18kg.
• 70-230/4.5 - this was, I believe, the precursor to the 80-200/3.5. Manual aperture.
• *58-400/4 - a monster, manual aperture lens that got down to 16ft. Performance not that bad; in a similar range as Nikon's old 50-300.