Film Konica anyone?

[tonyturley]

I was beginning to think my Eye 2 was DOA, as the vinegar cleaning didn't work. I decided to remove the bottom cover and check things out. I used a tapered sanding stick to scrub the contacts, and cleaned out the compartment again. I also adjusted the spring tension on the positive contact. After reassembly, I popped in a Varta V76PX silver oxide cell, and the meter sprang to life. I walked around testing the camera on different areas of light and shade, and the meter responded appropriately. I also worked the film speed ring, checking the meter's response to various ASA ratings. Again, it responded as I would expect.

While my preference is for cameras with manual settings, I bought the Eye 2 because it was unique and in fantastic shape. It does have an aperture ring that allows a pseudo-shutter priority; that is, one can use a light meter or Sunny 16 to determine the required exposure, then set an aperture value based on a fixed SS of 1/30. I'll play with that some to see how that works out. I'm currently running Agfa Vista 200 Plus through both my Pen F and D3, but I'll soon load some of the same film in the Eye 2 to see how it goes.

TT

 

[phigmov]

My Hexar AF . . . looking at the lens a little more this weekend I notice a bit of a smudge on the lens. Hoping its not fungus.

Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[jomerads]

instead of tin foil Tony, use hard thin wire (from AC Moore or such used to support long stem flowers) that is looped around itself. First in a circle then across the circle.

The other thing to do is to test the meter with a correct sized battery but of higher voltage. You can even use this as your battery but decrease the ASA rating by using another camera's meter. Usually it overexposes by a stop to stop and a half.

 

[tonyturley]

For the past couple of months, I've been running a roll of Agfa Vista 200 Plus through the Eye 2. I messed up about a dozen of the frames by forgetting to reset the scale focusing ring, or setting it without looking at it and thinking I was on infinity when it was set for 1m. Yikes. I still got a lot of good photos. The meter is decently accurate, although some of the frames were overexposed somewhat. Not bad at all for a 50 year old half frame camera.

TT

 

[tonyturley]

A recent project camera. The leatherette and light seals were in poor shape when I bought it. The lens I already had. I'm not entirely certain the shutter speeds are accurate; they sound slow to me, but then it might just be the sounds of this particular camera. I guess I'll know after I run some film through it.

TT

 

[phigmov]

A recent project camera.

Some nice brassing

 

[tonyturley]

Some nice brassing

Indeed.

 

[kennethcooke]

Konica Hexar? Japanese Leica M6 and lenses fully interchangeable, great rangefinder viewfinder, brilliant street camera

 

[tonyturley]

Konica Hexar? Japanese Leica M6 and lenses fully interchangeable, great rangefinder viewfinder, brilliant street camera

. . . and extremely expensive in today's world. I've spent a lot of time investigating the compact high quality film cameras: Hexar RF/AF, Contax T/2/3, Fuji Natura/Klasse, Minolta Minoltina/TC-1, Nikon 28/35TI, Rollei AFM 35, etc. Even the plastic Yashica T4 goes for big $$$. I'd love to have a small, well built manual film camera with a 35mm FL lens, but I'm not willing to pay eBay prices for a camera that could quit working at any time. I guess the closest I am going to come is my Olympus 35RC with its 42mm lens.

 

[MoonMind]

I don't want to put down any of the above-mentioned powerhouse compacts, but the real sleepers are the cheaper cameras - the Olympus 35RC is a great example. I've all but stopped hunting for any of those since I have my two super-compact cameras (Olympus XA and, above all, Minox GT-E), but whenever one of those old RF fixed-lens cameras crops up on one of my favourite auction sites, I feel tempted. I might fall for a Canon Canonet QL17 GIII at some point - but that doesn't mean a Konica, Yashica, Ricoh or Olympus wouldn't do just as fine a job. And the Leica CL with 40mm Summicron-C isn't much bigger ...

Having said that, the compact film camera I'm enjoying the most at the moment is - the Leica AF-C1 (yes, the Minolta clone ... it's actually a great camera to shoot with ...). It's quite well thought-out, did cost less than $50 (about $30, actually), and the dual lens setup is surprisingly helpful in-use. ... Would I like to have one of those later AF premium models? Most probably. But I think I wouldn't enjoy it a lot more. We'll see if the lens of the AF-C1 lives up to its solid reputation ...

M.

 

[johnson4096]

I had a mint T4 factory kit with body + 3 lenses and flash, bag, straps, everything. I bought it for $100 at a camera swap meet. When the local Konica rep saw it he arranged for me to sell it to Konica for inclusion in their museum. Made 4X on that deal.

I used to work in a camera store which is why I knew the Konica rep.