Few lenses and a bellows - All Konica

guardian · Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Posts: 1746

Guys just won this auction:

Click here to see on Ebay then click see original listing

While I like the lenses just fine, I already own a copy of each. The real juice here for me was the bellows. It will be my first 35mm bellows.

I contacted the seller prior to bidding. The bellows is Konica AR both ends. You can mount a Konica AR lens onto the front, and the rear of the bellows mates with any Konica AR camera . . . or . . . via adapter . . . with my mirrorless camera . . I hope.

I'm really green where bellows are concerned. Candidly bought this on gut feel . . . . which surely could be off the mark.

How did I do? Does that bellows look to you like the real deal? Or did I make a bellows beginner's mistake?

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

I did fix you post, due Ebay link will gone soon and this post will visible for years later.

Any of Konica lenses or bellow not a 60 USD value... and you got three items for ~ 60 USD

Congrats!!

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

You got a few lens and a bellows set for under $60 I would call that a great deal.

guardian · Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Posts: 1746

Thanks, guys. I really appreciate your very kind remarks.

Candidly, regarding the lenses, here in USA only the Hexanon 35mm is at all noteworthy or has much value. And it's just good but not great in terms of marketplace interest. I'm well aware Hexanon 50mm 1.7s are excellent lenses. But here they are ubiquitous. Three or four come up for auction every day! It's a good lens, sure, but here not a special lens at all. The other two lens pieces are equally pedestrian.

Thus, again, it was the bellows that caused me to bid as I did. And it was a shot in the dark. I didn't (and still don't) know enough about bellows brands, quality, and so forth, to bid intelligently.

I did have a tiny bit of good news on the bellows from the seller this morning. He e-mailed me with the warning to watch out for the bellows manual he has enclosed in my shipment. It is heartening to learn somebody took the time and went to the effort to write such a manual in the first place.

The only other noteworthy item in the auction is that lens hood. If it turns out to be one of the old metal genuine Konica hoods, I will be happy to have it. You cannot own too many of those.

kenetik · Joined: 02 Mar 2014 Posts: 521

The Hex 35 2.8 often goes for as much as you spent on the whole auction, so I think you did well.

pdccameras · Expire: 2014-08-11

Congratulations on a nice deal.

Just from the photo, assuming the bellows is in good working order, it seems well made to me.

The adjustment knobs look large and easy to grasp. The bellows itself is protected when closed and relatively compact. The single track looks like a sturdy dovetail design with what looks like a nice big white Delrin (Nylon) bearing surface. The gear rack seems to have a nice deep cut. Without the seeing the mating pinon gear it is hard to tell its condition.

Best of luck.

Paul

guardian · Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Posts: 1746

Hey, guys (most recent two posts which I'm only just seeing now) . . many thanks! I appreciate your remarks, especially regarding the bellows. Fingers are crossed!!

On the 35/2.8, I suppose it's true these lenses can go fairly high. Everything depends on condition. It is a good lens, no question. Thing is, I would not have bid at all to obtain only the lenses. I wanted that bellows but cannot really explain why. I'm not even sure it tilts!!

The only other bellows camera I own is my Graflex. It has an extremely slick, sexy, bellows. But it is, of course, a large format camera. Bellows, optically speaking, are very, very cool IMHO.

Remember: Tilt lenses . . . . not pinball machines! Very Happy

guardian · Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Posts: 1746

The lenses and bellows arrived today. I knew, before bidding, the bellows had Konica AR fittings front and rear.

What I did not know is that the bellows itself, the entire thing, was made by Konica! It is, as you would anticipate, well made and really quite a striking piece of Konica gear. The accompanying Konica instruction booklet mentions many of the Konica AR lenses we all own from "back in the day". The bellows is designed to operate with all of them, though with a different photographic outcome of course depending on the AR lens selected. The bellows should attach to my mirrorless camera, using a standard adapter, without any drama at all.

The lenses were a mixed lot. The most important lens, the Konica AR 35mm f2.8, is pristine. It is almost like new. The hood is a Konica metal hood labelled 35mm. So it's a set and pretty great.

The other lenses are merely in OK condition. The 50mm f1.7 looks just OK. A negative: somebody either took it apart or attempted to do so. That's never good.

The Sun lens is also in OK shape, at best. It shows quite a bit of use.

You buy a lot like this almost blind. Considering everything I'm quite pleased. If things had been the other way around, if the 35mm had been heavily used and merely in OK shape . . well . . that would not have been so great. It's good to be lucky, even when it's pure dumb luck. And I really like the bellows and like that it is made by Konica. It will add a bit of versatility to many Konica AR lenses I already own. Smile

kenetik · Joined: 02 Mar 2014 Posts: 521

That's great guardian. I saw a Minolta bellows at a store recently for peanuts and still kick myself I didn't pick it up (it was gone next time). Konica is a company that makes beautiful things. If you have lba at all, or are a collector, it's hard not to covet their stuff. The Hexanon and Hexar style is just really refined, precise and aesthetically pleasing. The amount of Konica equipment out there is also attracting. If I wanted to collect every Minolta lens and I would need a new house, but Konica's line is smaller and more attainable, albeit with some rare outliers you hardly ever see.

Add to that they make great cameras, lenses and accessories and you have a collector's dream. I am interested in seeing some output from your bellows!

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

I picked up the konica 35mm Hood recently and I don't have any Konica lenses... Laughing

kenetik · Joined: 02 Mar 2014 Posts: 521

Score one for Konica, mo! I actually just ordered their vintage extension tube set with a reversal ring. I don't know if I will use them, but I love the little leather cases.

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

Mine had the leather case as well,it was in better condition than the hood which had rough edges,no big deal really.

guardian · Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Posts: 1746

Great stuff, guys!

The genuine Konica metal (I think aluminium) hoods, labelled "Konica" and engraved as to lens focal length, customarily go for between $5 and $10 here in the USA. It's great when you also can get the hood case, along with the hood itself. The hoods are soft and the case offers a degree of protection.

I've been doing a bit of sleuthing on my Konica bellows. Mine is called a "Konica bellows 3". This is the latest version of which I'm aware. There are also "Konica bellows 2" versions. These seem to be selling for circa US$20 here, give or take. I've not yet seen a Konica bellows 3 offered for sale alone. But Konica bellows prices are all over the place, with some completed sales having gone quite high.

As mentioned above, I also received the original Konica instruction manual for the bellows (even though this was not mentioned in the auction itself). The instruction manuals are quite useful and interesting, with a great many lens references. They sell here for circa US$10-US$20 . . . just for the manual! The one I received is in very nice shape.

Yesterday I outfitted my new bellows with covers, front and rear. Fortunately I had these on hand to serve on Konica lenses and camera bodies I purchase from time to time.

It's fun owning the bellows, which is quite heavy by the way I think cast iron. If you smacked somebody over the head with that bellows just right you might kill them. It's that heavy!

Next on my list of "must have" Konica accessories is their slide copier. The slide copier mounts onto the front of a Konica bellows. It is a most interesting looking piece of Konica gear. There is provision for copying slides and also roll film.

kenetik · Joined: 02 Mar 2014 Posts: 521

Guardian, your post inspired me to order a Konica Bellows yesterday and I also will be receiving the Bellows 3. In Ex from KEH it was $39. Goid to know it is so solidly made. bhula.de indicates the plastic track is the only weak point. I like that you can reverse the front plate and mount hexanons with the ubiquitous 55mm thread backwards. Give us some shots, mine won't be here for a while!

guardian · Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Posts: 1746

kenetik · Joined: 02 Mar 2014 Posts: 521

Hey Guardian, my copy of the Auto Bellows 3 AR arrived today. It's a pretty sweet setup. If you have time and ever feel like scanning/taking shots of the manual, well, I wouldn't complain! Wink

kawasakiguy37 · Joined: 13 Jul 2010 Posts: 132

How sturdy would you say the bellows is? Strong enough to mount a decent sized telephoto?

kenetik · Joined: 02 Mar 2014 Posts: 521