Konica C35EF3

The other night I found myself on the bay, suffering from a rather strong case of GAS (gear acquisition syndrome). At the end of this episode I ended up with (among other things) a Konica CF35EF3. I had heard a few things about this camera, and had seen some shots of/with it, but it was still a relatively unknown factor. So here's my two bits' worth.

First up, the necessary tech spec. Made by Konica (surprisingly enough), with a 35mm f2.8 Hexanon lens, ASA 25 through 400, scale focus at 1m/3ft, 1.5m/5ft, 3m/10ft and infinity. Built in pop-up flash, self timer arm above lens. Advance lever on top, rewind lever on bottom, as is an off-center tripod mount. Takes 2 AA batteries (which are essential for the camera to function, so take spares).


On first handling the camera, I found it to feel particularily 'right'. Although I haven't been able to find any information on this model, not through want of looking, I can tell you that the weight is well balanced; heavy enough to feel well made, but not hefty.
All the buttons are well placed, very easily accesible and not overly stiff or loose. The only exception to this is the timer lever above the lens, but then again you wont need to use this in a rush. I do however have a bit of a gripe about the shutter button. Given the fantastic build quality of this little camera, the button feels very plasticy, and there is very little resistance which makes it easy to fire off frames by accident (something I don't normally do).

The zone focusing on this thing is a charm; the dial is smooth and clicks satisfying into place. It has enough resistance that it is possible to tell if you turn it too far (or how far you've turned it) without having to look, but it is still smooth enough to do quite easily with two fingers.


There are two additional features that are nice extras which add a touch of class to an already lovely camera. First, on the back you will find an ASA/DIN conversion chart(see above). Secondly, when you open the back, the bottom of the spool holder pops out (see below), which is not such a big deal; however, when you close the back it pops back into place. That is a feature that really excites me far too much.


Finally, just to show you how beautifully this small, functional camera with a top lens in it functions, I'll show you a few shots from the test roll (out of date Fuji Superia 400) taken on a rather gloomy recent Tuesday.

On my shelf: the 35's

I find more and more that I am running out of storage space for my cameras. I got rid of one, but I've got three on the way, I just need more room. At least I can say (with the exception of two new additions to the group) that I use all of them. Collectors... do my nut, even though a lot of them are nice people. Anyway, here is a brief summary of my current collection, predominantly so I got to play around with Lightroom some more...

First up, the Akira TC-002 and the Cortland CX-7 (one of the two I haven't yet put a roll through). Two little toys that I picked up recently in the states for a total of $7.50 plus tax. They have identical lenses, but the Akira is very light and plastic, whereas the Cortland is far more substantial (frankly excessive given it's such a poor camera otherwise). These cameras have only one manual functionality, and that is choosing which aperture from the whopping range of 5.6, 6, 11 and 16. The rest is entirely preset. You can see some of the results over at my Akira set on flickr.

This here Minolta Hi-Matic F was my first rangefinder. It belonged to my dad before I... liberated it. I remember playing around with it as a kid, before I caught the photography bug. Those horrible cracks occured when the US customs people searched my bags and then didn't repack them correctly. That'll teach me to put things in my case. I love this camera; small, easy to use, just a shame about the lack of manual override.

My 'new-to-me' Canon Canonet QL19 that I picked up for $50 in Laramie, WY. It needs a CLA, and the lovely folks over at Camserve have told me they'll do it all in for £30 + VAT. Once that is done you'll get a proper walkthrough.

My Canon AE1. A really nice feeling camera, if a tad on the heavy side. But my god does the shutter sound gorgeous. This came from my late grandfather, and it is still waiting for a test roll to go through it.

This here is my Olympus OM20. This was my first SLR, and I love it to pieces. It belonged to my mother, so it is yet another camera with history. It is so small, and so sexy, and I will use it until it falls apart. I've just got a 28mm f2.8 Mitsuki so am putting a test roll through for that, which I will let you all know about too.

Finally, I've got my Trip 35, but instead of letting this post get ridiculously long I'll point you over to 35mm Tripping.

Things Camera

For the sake of argument, I will pretend that this blog may become regularly read. I have, in my past, run blogs, some more popular than others (but none vastly popular). Recently, as my knowledge of things photographic has increased, so has my desire to share things, opinions, arguments, criticisms. So where better to do that than on the interweb.

To begin with, I suppose a brief introduction would be the done thing. My name is Tom, and I 'do' photography. I've just finished an A level photography course, and will shortly be commencing a BTEC Certificate in photography. I work in a camera shop (the big evil one in the UK), who I am sure you will hear me complain about in the future. I would call myself a photographer, but only with a small 'p'. I have a fascination with film, and love being in the darkroom.

So, until my next post,
Cheerioh.
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