Konica Auto S

The 1963 Konica Auto S is a milestone high-quality rangefinder camera as the first auto-exposure camera to employ a CdS metering cell. (It was also offered as Wards am450/am550, and Revue Auto S.) Offering auto exposure but not through-the-lens TTL metering; the metering cell is located alongside the rangefinder window with a high/low switch for meter sensitivity.  The bright 47mm, ƒ1.9, Hexanon lens (5 elements in 5 groups) provides the lens performance that Konica is famous for.

Like all Konishiroku's rangefinder cameras in the series starting with the Konica Auto S, the framelines in the viewfinder adjust not only for parallax but also for field of view. It has a dual-range CdS meter rather than the selenium meter of its predecessor, the Konica S111. Another novelty was the built-in "pull-out" lens hood.

A quiet Copal SVA leaf shutter ranges from 1 sec. to 1/500 sec. Flash sync at all speeds via PC connection as the camera is not fitted with a hot shoe. Flash synch can be set at X or M delay, and at X [Strobe] will synch at any speed, very useful for outdoor fill light.

The Auto S would be succeeded by the Auto S2.

Konica Auto S Specification

• f1.9 Hexanon 47mm five element/group lens
• Copal SVA ten-speed shutter - 1–1/500
• Coupled rangefinder
• Bright line viewfinder with parallax correction
• Dual range CdS meter (selector lever underneath front cell)
• Shutter-priority auto or manual exposure
• Aperture scale visible at top of viewfinder
• "Stippled" covering material similar to that of East German cameras
• Cold flash shoe with flash synchronization, X and M settings
• Lever wind
• Pull-out lens hood
• Filter Thread: 49 mm

• Width 138mm - Depth 75mm - Height 82mm, 750g

¥19,500 (1963), $89.95 USD (without case), £49.15.8  GBP (June 1965)

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Links

• Konica Minolta
• Auto S on Karen Nakamura's Photoethnography
• Konica Auto S on Matt Denton Photography
• Instruction manual on Mike Butkus' site
• Konica Auto S on www.collection-appareils.fr by Sylvain Halgand