Testing a Konica Autoreflex TC (Part 1)

Sometimes my interest is sparked in some way when I watch Youtube videos. A few weeks ago, I watched a video called «Konica Autoreflex TC – The poor mans OM-1». To me, this title did not really make much sense. In my opinion, the Olympus OM-1 is extensive value for money and indeed very affordable both when it comes to lenses and camera bodies. They are also accurate like clockwork, and relatively hassle-free to service and maintain. I have shot a large number of rolls through my OM-1 and it has never given me any problems even in very cold winter days. So if there would be a cheaper camera that reliable, that had to be a gem for this blog indeed.

My lovely Konica Autoreflex TC with its marvelous Konica Hexanon AR 50mm f1,8 lens

I searched briefly online, and I actually found one incredibly cheap on a local Facebook sales page, and I got it for about 200 Norwegian Kroner (about 20 GBP) with shipping included. A real bargain there indeed. For the first tryout, I loaded it with a roll of Ilford FP4 plus that I shot at ISO50 and developed with Ilford Ilfotec Perceptol. I find that Perceptol really helps me get the winter tones I want for my shots, as well as a very fine grain.

The Konica turned out to be a lovely camera to work with. It is indeed a bit heavier and more bulky than the OM-1 but it fits my hand very well and everything is where you expect it to be, and it all seems to work rather well. I did not try the Aperture priority setting on the camera, but shot it on a variety of shutter speeds and aperture settings with a wide range of filters I found to be helpful for me at this location, which is an old museum. However, I do not see this camera and the Olympus OM-1 to be comparable as equipment.

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The Olympus OM-1 is a far more accurate camera with a broader selection of shutter speeds, all the way from a whole second to 1/1000th of a second plus BULB-mode. On the Konica, there is nothing between 1/8th and B, and the longer shutter speeds on my one «drags» a little bit. This could be the particular camera.

Konica Autoreflex TC w Konica Hexanon 50mm f1,8 lens. Ilford FP4 plus@50 F8 1/25th Yellow filter – Ilfotec Perceptol

Also in the perceived build quality, the Konica is clearly a cheaper and less sophisticated camera than the OM-1. But if you forget about the irrelevant comparison to a clearly better camera, the little Konica is a very pleasant camera to work with, and the 50mm Hexanon Lens, is just outstanding. It gives a really nice sharpness, even at wide apertures and it is easy to focus.

*Konica Autoreflex TC w Konica Hexanon 50mm f1,8 lens. Ilford FP4 plus@50 F2.8 1/8th Yellow filter – Ilfotec Perceptol*

Through my about 60 minutes photo-walk today, the Konica performed rather well for the first 20 minutes. After that, it coughed up a nice selection of issues and creative problems that I guess is it reacting with the cold weather. The temperature was about -12 degrees and some if these issues might be due to that.

Nr 1. Sticky shutter: After some shots the shutter started sticking every now and then. It did not matter which shutter speed the camera was set to. The only thing to do, was to tap the camera slightly so that the shutter would go off, and then shoot another frame to get one without immense camera shake.

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Nr 2. Slowed focusing. After a while out in the cold, the focusing ring got very slow, almost as if the lubrication thickened and became a gooey syrup.

Nr 3. Camera refused to rewind the film back into the cassette and ripped it instead. When I manually retrieved the film, it actually broke on another place as well. Luckily, I did not lose more than four shots, and all of them were bad. (happy days)

*Konica Autoreflex TC w Konica Hexanon 50mm f1,8 lens. Ilford FP4 plus@50 F11 1/25th Graduated Magenta filter – Ilfotec Perceptol*

All these issues aside, I like the Konica Autoreflex and the Hexanon lens. A ripped film could very well be my mistake and the other issues could be weather related. My next test out of this camera will be with a colour film, trying to capture some lovely, bleak winter colours.

*Konica Autoreflex TC w Konica Hexanon 50mm f1,8 lens. Ilford FP4 plus@50 Ilfotec Perceptol*

Trying out an expired film

I am normally not too enthusiastic about expired films. For me photography is more about precision and less about experimenting. However, a while back I bought a camera online, and with it came a full package of Svema Foto65 expired in 1986. As this package was full and dust-free, I guessed they had been stored properly, maybe frozen or refrigerated over time. Therefore I decided to give these films a go.

As they are 120 films, I rolled one of them into my Bronica ETR, and went back to my favorite old derelict train station. If you have followed my blog for a while, you will have seen me shooting at that location before. I chose to rate the film at ISO 20 and bracket one stop in each direction. As it turned out, ISO 10 would have been my best pick for this outing. The films original box-speed was once ISO 80, and with the «one stop pr decade» 10 would be the correct speed I guess.

Because I feared very low contrast in the images, I chose to shoot with an orange filter to give the film some extra contrast boost. It seems to have worked out the way I expected it to.

Bronica ETR w 150mm Zenzanon f3,5 – Orange filter – Svema Foto65 @Iso10 – Rodinal 1+100 70min

Despite the nasty mottling all over the frame, the Svema Foto65 seems to have been a very fine grain and sharp film once. My guess is that this mottling has come off the backing paper, there are visible discoloration on both the negatives and the backing paper. If I am mistaking, please let me know in the comments. All in all, the Svema performed acceptably I find, and maybe a well kept roll of this film would still make really nice images, despite its age.

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Derelict train station

I’ve always had a fascination for derelict buildings and other traces of human civilization that is let aside and forgotten. Today, I brought out one of my good friends, the Olympus OM-1, to an old, derelict train station a short drive from where I live. I equipped the Olympus with a roll of Fomapan 100 and the razor sharp 50mm Zukio 1,8 lens. I brought with me a selection of colored filters to boost contrast and play with the light in the lifting sun and shifting blue skies.

The lovely Olympus OM-1 with an orange filter added. As you can see, the camera is set to rewind as this was taken after the roll og Fomapan 100 was empty.

Valdresbanen, the railway I worked by, was closed for passenger traffic in 1988. Some freight trains were ran there later, but the old station buildings have been untouched since this time. Quite sad to think about the number of shut down railways in Norway really. Nevertheless, the old buildings are still characteristic and beautiful in their own way.

Today, I went to Fall station which is very close to Hov in Søndre Land municipality. This was never a big and populous station, and the only building there is a little shed where people would wait for their train to arrive. The main station building was burned down in 1982 by the Norwegian railway company and the shed was built after that. I have shot portraits at and around this location multiple times, but I have never before gone there to explore the location as a subject of its own.

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I have never tested out the filters I used today, so I did a lot of bracketing to understand how they work and see how to best compensate for their function. I only got to use the yellow and the orange filters, as they were what I found to match the lighting and location the best.

Playing with focus around an old signal light. Olympus OM-1, Zukio 50mm f1,8 – f5,6 – 1/125th. Fomapan 100, Xtol 1+0. Orange filter

I did some playing around with different items left aside by the old railway, and did heavy bracketing. I figured that the Orange filter needs two stops of compensation, while the yellow needs a bit more than one from how I interpret my negatives.

Working with dark colored filters can be a bit challenging due to the light loss, and hence difficulties to focus. With the Olympus, however, I found that working with colored filters were a dream. The viewfinder is wide and bright, and there was never any difficulties getting the focus where I wanted it with either the yellow or the orange filter.

*Working with the fog. Olympus OM-1, Zukio 50mm f1,8 – f5,6 – 1/125th and 1/60th . Fomapan 100, Xtol 1+0. Yellow filter*

The foggy train station lies up a steep hill, and at the bottom of this hill it was a hazy and relatively thick fog, removing pretty much all background scenery from many of my images. The station itself, however, was above the fog, and was shining for itself in the misty and cold morning light.

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I also shot an image of some crackled paint on the station building. I chose to shoot this with the yellow filter and I went all the way down to f2,8 to get a very shallow depth of field, but retain some sharpness. I haven’t tried this lens at f1,8, and even though I guess it would work very well, I did not want to risk a too shallow depth on this one. I forgot to note down my shutter speed for this image, so that information is not provided.

*Crackled paint – Olympus OM-1, Zukio 50mm f1,8 – f2.8. Fomapan 100, Xtol 1+0. yellow filter*

All in all, I enjoyed this little shoot, and I once again remembered why I love to shoot the Olympus. This is such a pleasant camera to use and its handy size and bright viewfinder makes it a great choice for all kinds of shoots.

All images are unedited scans from my Epson V600.