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My beloved Konicas
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 11:56 pm    Post subject: My beloved Konicas Reply with quote
I've been having huge amounts of fun with my Konica FT-1 and Autoreflex T the last couple of weeks, shooting my Hexanons 4/21 and 2.8/24 and Tokina RMC 3.5/17. I'll never part with any of them.





Tokina 3.5/17:



Hexanon 4/21:



Hexanon 2.8/24:



Tokina and Hexanon 24 shots are C-41 colour dev'd in BW chems so a bit soft and grainy, tomorrow I'll be shooting some proper BW film with them.


PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 12:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Really like the looks of the FT1, they must have built a better meter for that camera.


PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 12:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
The FT-1 is a great camera, I have had two of them, first was mint like new but not working so I gave it to Attila for his collection, second one was almost mint and works a charm. Not sure how accurate the meter is, I had underexposed shots with it but I was shooting the 21mm and the meter in the FT-1 is a spot type so not an ideal match. I'll try it again when I shoot a longer lens on it, for the wide angles I like to use, my old Weston Master II hand meter works great.

I like the FT-1 so much I bought the original Konica strap for it. It goes everywhere with me:



BTW, it cost me about 350ukp for the five bodies and 21 lenses in my Konica collection, beat that for price vs quality.

The 4/21 is my favourite Hexanon, easy to see why, this was Fujicolor 200, supermarket dev and scan:





Last edited by iangreenhalgh1 on Sat Apr 14, 2012 12:44 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 12:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
So it has a mechanical shutter, not power-dependent?


PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 12:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
The FT-1 is a great camera, I have had two of them, first was mint like new but not working so I gave it to Attila for his collection, second one was almost mint and works a charm. Not sure how accurate the meter is, I had underexposed shots with it but I was shooting the 21mm and the meter in the FT-1 is a spot type so not an ideal match. I'll try it again when I shoot a longer lens on it, for the wide angles I like to use, my old Weston Master II hand meter works great.


The meter on my FT1 is very accurate but it's "TTL centre weighted" so a dinosaur compared to what Canon were offering in 1983.


PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 1:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Not a mechanical shutter, the FT-1 is all electronic, needs 4 AAA batteries, but it's quite good for power consumption, I've shot 4 or 5 rolls on the current set of batteries.

Konica never made great bodies, sadly, but the lenses... well, I adore them.

Canon bodies are okay but they don't seem to have held up well over time, I've got two near-mint AE-1s and neither works, both are jammed, second one jammed 4 shots into the first roll. The FD lenses I've had (2.8/28, 1.8/50, 1.4/50, 3.5/135) were nowhere near the Hexanons, pretty average I thought.

Ideal situation would be Nikon body with Konica lenses, if they would fit, sadly not.


PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 1:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yeah, my question was silly, sorry.

Hey, like the 3D pop in that sundial!


PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 2:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yes, the 21, 24 and 28 Konicas all have that 3D pop. The 2.8/35 Konishiroku Hexanon in the earlier F mount is even more 3D.


PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 2:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
Not a mechanical shutter, the FT-1 is all electronic, needs 4 AAA batteries, but it's quite good for power consumption, I've shot 4 or 5 rolls on the current set of batteries.

Konica never made great bodies, sadly, but the lenses... well, I adore them.

Canon bodies are okay but they don't seem to have held up well over time, I've got two near-mint AE-1s and neither works, both are jammed, second one jammed 4 shots into the first roll. The FD lenses I've had (2.8/28, 1.8/50, 1.4/50, 3.5/135) were nowhere near the Hexanons, pretty average I thought.

Ideal situation would be Nikon body with Konica lenses, if they would fit, sadly not.



Well as you know film users have to have 100% reliability and trust for a camera as unlike a digital user you don't get a 2nd bite of the cherry if the shot goes wrong...unfortunately I can't trust the FT1 (for electronics) or TC (once had two blank frames in the middle of a roll and they were shots of the first transporter bridge in the world in Spain), so when I go abroad the TC is the backup camera (if it wasn't for the Hexanon lenses I'd use a mechanical Pentax S3 with M42 lenses).

Last edited by Excalibur on Sat Apr 14, 2012 3:47 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 2:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Sure, reliability is important. Yesterday my FT-1 failed to wind the film on after 4 or 5 shots, I had to open the back and jiggle the film about, then it worked fine for the rest of the roll. Couple of days earlier, my Carena SRH760 all mechanical M42 SLR had some kind of shutter/mirror issue on 3 frames, but it sorted itself out.

I suppose for reliability I would always chose an all mechanical camera, running out of battery power mid-roll is bad news, happened to me twice with FT-1, both times I had spares in the bag though.


PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 3:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
My T-4's, never ever let me down. Yes, the meters are shot and I have to use a Gossen Digisix, but
they are cheap as chips, almost a throw-away, used for a bottom cap on a lens:



PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Katastrofo wrote:
My T-4's, never ever let me down. Yes, the meters are shot and I have to use a Gossen Digisix, but
they are cheap as chips, almost a throw-away, used for a bottom cap on a lens:


Lovely cameras...but Bill you didn't tell me about 4 years ago to get a T4 Wink

Last edited by Excalibur on Sat Apr 14, 2012 4:16 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Pair of beauties there Bill, I must get a T4 one day. I am also envious of the square hood, those are not so easy to find here and when they do come along, they want too much dinero for them.

Is that the UC 80-200 I see on the right?


PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Excal, forgot to mention what a nice bright VF they have, much better than the T, T3.

Ian, yes, my beloved UC 80-200 zoom. The 3.5/28 on the left is the newer, not as good
as the 7-element, but gives pretty decent results. Bought lens with carry case, strap and
separate case for OEM hood (all on the strap), and mint condition.


PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 5:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I love the UC too, best zoom I've ever tried.

I shot a roll of BW with the Hexar 3.5/28 in the FT-1 today, just about to dev it, 1:100, 20C for 60 mins, it's Chinese Lucky 100SHD.


PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 7:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Should yield a good result, looking forward to those images.


PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's hanging to dry now, negs look nice and dense, 1:100 for 60 mins, 20C.


PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 12:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Have you scanned any, yet?


PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 12:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Sure, I'm two-thirds through the roll, I'll post a thread as soon as I'm done.

Here's a taster:



PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 10:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have an FS-1, that is the forerunner of the FT-1.
I would like to have an FS-1 too, this are my reasons (in order of importance):
- a possibility to lock the metered exposure value (just like in the mechanical Konicas)
- exposure compensation up to +/-2 exposure values in automatic exposure mode
- brighter viewfinder (I hope)

On the other hand I would like to know how the switch for single or burst (continuous?) exposure works.
The FS-1 exposes as long as you push the button. How does the FT-1?

Also I understand his meter is not as sensitive, beginning at 0,7 EV, not 0 EV as the FS-1. But it is faster SPD senzor. Does this make any difference?

Greetings,
Eugen


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 11:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I'm not sure Eugen as the meter in my FT-1 doesn't work properly, so I use it with a handheld meter.

I can tell you the VF is one of the largest and brightest I have tried, I like it very much and the split screen focus aid is very good, I always get accurately focussed images from her.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 11:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Ian,
what most interest me is how that switch single/burst mode works in practice. (That must work without lightmeter too, I think.)

Eugen


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 12:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I don't know, I only shoot single frames, never fast bursts.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Mostly me too. But I am curious if this feature goes in your way or not. Or you can simply ignore it and it doesn't bother?

Well... I also don't understand his utility. When shooting the FS-1 you can shoot single or burst without needing an extra switch.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 3:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It has never gotten in my way, no. I just keep the switch on S instead of C and it works like normal SLR.
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