This is a quick review of the Konica Autoreflex T (my variant is the T2). This is a thrift shop find - i paid a bit more than i usually am willing to pay but it looked in so good condition so i ended up buying it.
There are four variations of this camera, all of them look pretty much the same but they are updates of the original T which went out in 1967, one offering hot shoe, the other multiple exposures, the last one having a split microprism etc. The T2 reviewed here is virtually an T with a shutter lock and a redesigned shutter button. Now, don't confuse the T-line with the A-line which is the more economical line with certain features being removed. There is also the original Auto Reflex (two words) which is the firs AE SLR camera and a very different beast altogether - offers also half frame. After the final incarnation, the T3N came the TC-line and others that are very different cameras.
First impressions are mighty good - this is a very heavy camera, very substantially made. Fit and finish is superb, if it was saying "LEICA" on the prism, i would have easily believed it. Winding on the shutter is super smooth - pressing the shutter the camera makes a noise of an artillery cannot - definitely not a discrete camera to lug around. One thing i didn't like is the long distance the button has to travel to take the picture - there is also friction from the spring (that probably needs replacing) and engages the aperture on the lens.
 |
| The Konica compared to the Olympus OM-1 |
Viewfinder is nice, not very bright and no split microprism (the updated T3 offers it) but it shows aperture on the right and the selected shutter on the bottom of the frame.Once you turn the lens aperture to "AE", the camera goes into shutter priority mode, the needle in the viewfinder shows the selected aperture. The light meter is designed to work with the old mercury button cell that is long discontinued so you need to adjust the ISO scale to get the correct exposure with newer batteries. Actually, adjusting the ISO is not ideal, it works well in good light, the brighter or dimmer the scene there is an exposure error depending on the light levels.
 |
| Konica's Viewfinder |
Two things to watch out for: First of all battery leaks, this can cause the battery contacts of the cables to corrode and break - no easy way around that - an experienced technician needs to take it apart and this is not an easy task on these cameras - it requires a full disassembly.
Another thing to watch out for is the dreaded 'shutter pre-firing'. Some of these cameras fire the shutter at the end of the cocking cycle - unfortunately my camera suffers from it. From a 36 roll i ended up getting only 29 pictures - the rest were destroyed by it. So unfortunately i ended up returning the camera. The pictures that came out well we beautifully, the Hexanon lenses are beautiful.
 |
| Hexanon lenses are really nice pieces of glass |
Conclusion:
Fantastic cameras if you find one working well. Due to their age they will need a service but as you can expect spare parts are getting scarce nowadays. Konica lenses are beautiful and relatively cheap. If you find one in good working order, get it, they are beautiful. Watch out for the dreaded shutter pre-firing, expensive to repair and erratic enough to miss it when checking a camera - make sure you buy them with some sort of warranty.