Konica Auto-Reflex

The Konica Auto-Reflex is a SLR camera. It was produced by the Japanese company Konica and presented in the mid-1960s. In Japan it was sold as Auto-Reflex and in international sales it was called “Autoreflex”. A version adapted for Germany was available from the German photo dealer Foto Quelle, the Revue Auto-Reflex.

The lenses of the Konica Auto-Reflex are interchangeable. A Konica AR bayonet was used for this purpose. The Konica Auto-Reflex was the first camera with this type of bayonet mount, but, as usual for the time, has no autofocus. The lens must be focused manually. The SLR is often found with a 52 mm f/1.8 or 57 mm f/1.4 lens.

The 35 mm camera has a built-in light meter. It is designed for films in a range from ISO 12 to ISO 800. The exposure meter is designed to measure exposure through the lens of the camera. The Konica Auto-Reflex has an automatic exposure mode, in which the photographer must select the exposure time and the camera sets the appropriate aperture.

Bulb mode is available for long exposures. An external flash can be used via the PC flash socket. The max. shutter time for X-Sync is 1/125 sec.

Films for the Konica Auto-Reflex

The Konica Auto-Reflex needs photo film, more precisely 35mm film. This type of film is still being produced and can be processed by most photo laboratories without any problems. Possible films for the Konica Auto-Reflex are the Fujifilm Superia 200* for color pictures and the Kodak T-Max 400* for black and white photos.

One of the special features of the SLR camera is the possibility to expose 35mm film in different ways. Either it covers the normal exposure area of 24 x 36 mm (full) or it exposes the half with 24 x 18 mm (half format).

The change must be done at any time, you should only pay attention to a change, first to spool the film in full frame mode and then to change. This prevents the overlapping of images. On a normal 36-frame 35mm film, up to 72 images can be displayed in half-frame format. A lens, the Hexanon Zoom Lens Size 24×18 47-100 mm f/3.5, was also developed especially for the half-format.

The Konica Auto-Reflex has a built-in self-timer and an option to connect a cable release. The self-timer expiration time can be selected between 4 and 9 seconds. There is also a thread for a tripod.

The camera weighs 675 g. The dimensions are 14.55 x 9.45 x 4.5 cm. The 35 mm camera is powered by a 1.35 V mercury PX625 battery (eBay / Amazon*).