Konica Auto S3

Black and Excellent

Konica Auto S3 was available in black anodized aluminium only. It is a compact 35mm RF camera and it has an excellent six elements, four groups Hexanon 38mm f/1,8 lens. It's viewfinder is very bright and the rangefinder is also classy. As a downside, this camera lacks a manual mode. Auto S3 has a shutter priority battery dependant automatic exposure but the mechanical shutter works without a battery but because the lack of the manual aperture setting you can shoot only using the full aperture.

Another minus is that it has been designed to use PX675 mercury batteries which are no longer available. Luckily you can find an environmentally friendly replacement battery.

An excellent point is its sophisticated and very advanced ambient light flash exposure system. You can easily get surprisingly good back light pictures with this "fill in " flash of the Eighties. Konica Auto S3 is a good example of the compact rangefinder cameras in its own age and price group. Undoubtedly it was second to none in those years. Good-looking, compact in size, reliable, easy to use and above all it still takes excellent photos. About the sturdyness; I proved it once by reversing over it with my Triumph car. The result was; No visible marks or any kind or a malfunction !

History of Konica begun as early as 1873. During the years the company name has changed several times and in the year 2003 Konica and Minolta concluded a merger agreement. The company name is now: Konica Minolta Holdings Inc.

Lens	Hexanon 6-Element 38 mm f/1.8; 49 mm filter thread
Shutter	Copal leaf shutter, 1/8 - 1/500 + B. self timer.
Light meter	CdS-cel above the lens, within filter thread. Shutter priority AE, Film speed 25 - 800 ASA.
Focusing	Coupled rangefinder. Close focus 0.9 m .
Viewfinder	Bright frame, display of selected aperture.
Flash	Hot shoe. PC socket. Flashmatic (Guide number 7 to 56), Flash sync at all shutter speeds.
Film transport	Hinged back, advance lever, rewind crank.
Size	WxHxD 112x80x60 mm
Battery	PX 675 mercury. Not available anymore but can be replaced with 1,4 V hearing aid battery.

Konica EE-MATIC Deluxe 2 (1967)

The first Konica EE-MATIC camera was introduced in 1963 and untill 1967 when the last version Deluxe 2 came into market, seven different evolution models were made. The EE-MATIC serie of Point and Shoot Konicas was followed by C-35 serie.

Lens: Hexanon 42mm/F2.8
Shutter: Citizen, B- Auto (1/30 to 1/250sec.)
Size: 137 × 80 × 64mm
Weight: approximately 520 g
Batteries: Originally MR9, PX13,PX625
mercury cell battery which is discontinued
because of toxicity and environmental fears.

Replacement Battery can be found here.

Konica C35 EF3 (1981)

"The EF model was originally released by Konishiroku in 1975. It came in 7 colors and was one of the early 35's to have a built-in flash. According to an Olympus collector's website, it was the competitive sour that led Y. Maitani to develop the Olympus XA series.
The EF3 model is one of the last, and it has an improved 5 element /4 group 35/2.8 lens. The earlier models had a 38/2.8 which may have been a modified Tessar -type lens. The EF and EF2 has a top mounted rewind crank, while the EF3 has a bottom wind crank, almost exactly like the one on the entry level Konica POP."
A common feature in these EF Konicas is, that they are scale focus, programmed exposure, 35's with a built-in electronic flash and they use a pair of AA batteries to power the exposure meter and flash. Shutter speeds range is from 1/60 to 1/500 sec.

The Camera Site

Konishiroku Photo Industry Co.,Ltd.

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