It got the looks - but does it have the charm?
The Konica Autoreflex TC (1976) often suffers from shrinking leatherettes that curls at the ends. It could have been a pretty and nicely designed little camera.
The metal bladed Copal square shutter is a mule, robust and trusty. You feel the vibrations in your finger tips as the shutter and the mirror perform their duty, but I have not had any problems with motion blur using a TC.
The TC requires the discontinued mercury batteries. I’ve used modern hearing aid batteries with 1,5V without problems. Maybe I should set the ISO speed to 300 with my Tri-X 400 film in the future, just to compensate? The pictures looks fine so I don't belive it to be necessary.
The meter seems accurate, but the ‘pointing finger’ on the right hand side only shows what the apperture setting SHOULD BE in manual mode, not what it actually is. That leads to a lot of gazing to and fro the viewfinder and the apperture ring.
In automatic mode however (you set ‘AE’ or 'EE' on the apperture ring on the lens) this system works just fine. A half pressed shutter button even serves as a exposure lock. Lovely! Shooting in auto mode - shutter priority that is - gives exposures with good accuracy. And the AR Hexanon lenses are usually pretty sharp. Great pictures, in other words.
Still I miss the dept of field preview and the mirror lock up function. This would really lift the TC a notch or two in my estimation. The mirror flips up however when shooting with the self timer. So it is an good idea to use the self timer for long exposures.
The camera house seems robust an sturdy. Still, there is a kind of plasticy feel to it. An early version had at least a bottom plate in metal. If that is important to you, look for a TC with the Konika logo on the front of the prism housing in capital letters only.
With less plastic body parts it would literally be among the top brass. The TC is great for holiday snaps, and will do a great job as an everyday shooter. But it lacks some of the features demanded by a film photo enthusiast. Some of the shortcommings of the TC would be taken care of by the more expensive and rare Konica Autoreflex T4 that in many ways is a more advanced edition of the TC.
"There was shrinkage!"
The design and finish is an important aspect of a camera ownership to many customers. It is really a shame that the manufacturer has made the TC with a glue and leatherettes that drasticly degrade over time. Some TCs looks quite crappy today because of this. Sloppy finish devalues the value of owning a camera for many photographers, even though it has no direct impact to the performance. A handy person may fix the problems with a bit of effort. Personally I don't care.
Pro:
- Cool design in pitch black and red an white detailing
- Seems to be long lasting and durable
- Light weight, nice size
- Wind lever in stand of-position is ‘on’ - fast and easy
- The Copal Compact Shutter (CCS) is accurate and durable
- Many good and reasonably priced lenses to choose from
Contra:
- The plasticy feel don’t provide confidence
- Crappy production finish result in shrinking leatherettes over time on many TCs.
- It requires the discontinued PX625 mercury batteries (1,35V)
- The meter is great for auto mode shooting, not so much when shooting in manual mode
- Shutter priority only when using auto mode
Verdict:
It has a certain charm to it, but lacks the final touch. It must be the performance that makes the TC a keeper. Especially with a Hexanon lens fitted to that neat AR bayonet mount, there are few other SLRs at this price point that can beat the TC. Holiday shooters have a perfect partner in the TC, but the advanced enthusiast should maybe aim a bit higher.
Here is a few picture samples from the Konica Autoreflex TC:
No comments:
Post a Comment