Classic SLRs:

Konica Autoreflex T

by Karen Nakamura

 

Overview and Personal Comments

The Konica Autoreflex T is an interchangeable-lens SLR made by the Konica Corporation between 1968 and 1970. It uses the highly regarded Hexanon AR lenses, which easily rival the best from Canon, Pentax, or Nikon. Unfortunately, Konica was not as good in its marketting as it was in technical design. They retreated from the SLR market, then the point and shoot, and finally in 2003 they merged with Minolta.

The proprietary bayonet AR mount isn't compatible with any of the other SLR system mounts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Technical Details

Camera Name
Autoreflex T  
Manufacturer
Konica  
Place of Manufacture
Japan  
Date of Manufacture
1968-1970  
Focusing System

Single lens reflex

 
Lens Mount

Konica AR mount

 
Shutter

Hi-Synchro Copal Square-S
Vertical travel focal plane shutter
Stainless Steel Blades

1 sec - 1/1000 sec

 

Metering System

TTL metering
Aperture priority auto exposure
Full manual metering

Needle in viewfinder gives current aperture

EV 1.5-18 (at ISO 100)

 
Flash
X Sync at 1/125 sec.
M + X PC sync sockets on front
Cold accessory shoe
 
Film type / speeds

Type 135 film (35mm standard)

ASA 25-1600

 
Battery type
2 x 1.35v PX625 mercury-silver  
Dimensions and weight
737g (body only)  
Retail price
¥19,500 (1963)  

 

Lens 52mm f/1.8  
Manufacturer Konica Konica
Place of Manufacture Japan Japan
Date of Manufacture    
Lens Construction 6 elements in 5 groups  
Lens Mount

Konica AR mount

 

Focusing range

0.45 meters - infinity
1.5 ' - infinity
(right focusing, infinity on right)

 

Apertures

f/1.8, 2.0 ~ f/16 (0.5 stop steps)
6 aperture blades

Filter Mount

xx mm.

 

Dimensions and weight    
Retail price ¥ ¥

 

 


About Konica

Konica is Japan's oldest camera manufacturer. It was founded in 1873 as the Konishi-ya and it sold photographic supplies. It was renamed the Konishi-honten in 1876. In 1902, they built their own factory called the Rokuoh-sha. The company was reorganized in 1921 and called the Konishiroku Honten.

In 1936 they incorporated as the K.K. Konishiroku, then in 1943 they became Konishiroku Shashin Kogyo K.K.. In 1944 they merged with Showa Photo Industries.

The first Konica brand camera was the Konica I which came out in 1948. It was a coupled-rangefinder 35mm camera with a 50mm f/3.5 non-interchangeable-lens.

Konica's heyday as a camera manufacturer was during the period 1950-1970s when it came out with quite a few 35mm rangefinder cameras and their own line of 35mm SLRs. Wedding photographers in the 1970s fondly remember the Koni-Omega. However, despite electronic SLRs such as the FS-1 and FT-1, Konica did not successfully make the step up to auto-exposure, auto-focus SLRs in the 1980s. In the last two decades of the 20th century, they were reduced to mainly making point-and-shoots (the Hexar and Hexar RF were the two exceptions).

In Japan, Konica is famous as a film manufacturer. They started making film in 1929. However, most of their films were not exported or extensively marketted outside of Japan.

In 2002, they merged with Minolta and became the Konica-Minolta Corporation.

 


On the Net


Copyright © 2002-11 by Karen Nakamura. All rights reserved. This page and its images may not be reduplicated in any form. Use in ebay auctions strictly prohibited, violaters will be reported. Please do not jeopardize your feedback ratings by engaging in copyright violations, it is a violation of Federal and International Copyright law as well as ebay terms of service.
Last modified: Friday, 07-Jan-2011 15:26:41 EST , [an error occurred while processing this directive] .