We all love cameras and film. Most of us spend hours searching for detailed reviews of a prospective camera we might be interested in purchasing, searching for a specific need or function, e.g., size, lens, control, ergonomics, etc. A decent camera review is usually the determining factor on wether we buy the camera or not. The single most important factor determining a purchase, for me, is image quality…and we all know image quality is determined by the glass. I always look at the photo a camera makes for the last word. Enter the Konica Auto S3.
The Konica Auto S3 makes my favorite images of any camera I have ever used in 35mm format. The S3 has a fast f/1.8, 38mm, six-element four-group lens, and to quote Modern Photography, “One of the best semi-wide angle optics of its speed we have ever tested. All apertures demonstrated center values between 64 to 82 lines per millimeter of resolution providing Leica-class performance.” Now, I have no idea what that means, and I don’t really care. All that matters to me is how the photo looks when I’m looking at it, and every photo from the Konica Auto S3 is damn pretty. Since they mention Leica class performance with the glass, I’m glad the Konica costs about $1000 less than a Leica. The Konica goes for around 200 bucks.
Now that we have the most important factor settled, I’ll tell you about the guts of the Konica Auto S3. My user experience. It’s a black anodized aluminum body that feels solid. It’s small. One of the smallest rangefinders around. I was able to shove it in my front jeans pocket. It bulged quite a bit, but I’m a happy-to-see-you kinda guy. I mentioned it’s a rangefinder. It doesn’t have the brightest finder, but it does the trick. I’ve never had an issue finding focus. One interesting thing is the shutter priority mode the camera is forever at, hence Auto in the name. This might be an issue for people who prefer to shoot in aperture priority or require full manual control. The viewfinder shows an analog needle of your aperture. It’s a breeze to get used to and control the aperture by adjusting shutter speed which is a ring on the lens. Since it’s a leaf shutter you can handhold it down to whatever your steady hand can handle. I shoot it at 1/8 hand-held and photos are still sharp. One feature that is a must for me is exposure lock. The Konica has it. Just half press the shutter button and your exposure is locked until you push it the rest of the way. The meter is accurate enough to shoot slides. You can take a picture with the lens cap on, but you’d have to be blind to do it – the analog meter in the viewfinder will be in the red, well below the 1.8 aperture marking. Even though the meter is not TTL, the meter is located on the lens barrel just above the glass so you don’t need to compensate for filters. This also saves battery power. I’ve had the same battery for the last two years. If the battery goes the camera can shoot, the aperture stays fixed at f/1.8. Even with the quirks of a shutter priority camera, the Konica is lightning fast to compose and shoot. Speed is good.
I have over 50 film cameras. Many of them I sell off to try new ones out. The Konica Auto S3 will never be sold. I always have it with me. It’s an excellent travel camera and street shooter for its size and stealth. The shutter is a whispery click you can hardly hear. I love this camera and rave about it all the time to my friends. People are usually impressed when they see the images it makes. If you are looking for a small camera with excellent glass that packs a huge punch, check out this Konica Auto S3. It’s pretty tough – I even carry it in my bunker pants when I’m firefighting.
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Hamish Gill on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 30/08/2015
Comment posted: 30/08/2015
Gábor on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 30/08/2015
Anyways, great post. Gábor
Comment posted: 30/08/2015
Donal on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 30/08/2015
Comment posted: 30/08/2015
Lester on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 31/08/2015
J-BO on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 04/09/2015
Comment posted: 04/09/2015
Comment posted: 04/09/2015
Comment posted: 04/09/2015
Matthew on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 28/09/2015
Michael Dominic K. on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 22/12/2015
After reading this review around 6 weeks ago I went straight to eBay and bought this camera from a guy in France who specialises in Canonets and similar small rangefinders. It was 250€, mint condition, CLA'ed, calibrated some spare mercury batteries.
It's one of my most satisfying gear purchases so far, I absolutely love this camera. Few points:
- The quality of the lens is truly great. At typical apertures 2-2.8 it's sharp and shows none of the (color) fringing arficacts I sometimes get with my classic Nikon SLR lens at wide apertures. Compared to my Voigtlander 40mm f1.4 (on digital) it has much more pleasant rendering and higher contrast. It's amazing.
- I love this camera for it's tiny size/weight and the beautiful pictures it produces. The size vs. power factor here is the key. I wear it on a very short leather strap around my neck and you can easily just walk around all day like that without feeling it and without looking like a dork. I kind of see it as a part of my "wear" rather than "equipment". It's almost a fashion statement.
- Rangefinder design weight make it a perfect handholdable camera. I'm shooting sometimes at 1/30 or even 1/15 and I never got a pictured blurred because of camera shake.
- My major gripe with this camera is the lack of lock/poweron switch (the light meter always works). This means I have to keep the lens cap on when not in use, otherwise it'll drain the battery quickly. I don't use lens caps on my cameras (especially when wearing them) so this annoys me. It's extra effort to remove it and the camera looks much more honest without it.
- The extremely short rangefinder baselength can be tricky when shooting close at wide apertures. It's definitely possible to focus a portrait at ~f1.8 but it can be inconsistent. I tend to shoot 2-3 images when I feel that the focus can be a challenge. This is true especially indoors. In general, it’s more a daylight camera.
I run few rolls through it so far, put some pics here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaeldominic/albums/72157662629952755
All in all, it's a great walkabout camera, exactly what I was looking for.
Thanks for the excellent review.
Comment posted: 22/12/2015
Comment posted: 22/12/2015
Comment posted: 22/12/2015
Fernando Filipe on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 10/01/2016
[ Konica ] Konica Auto S3 on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 05/04/2016
Marcin on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 30/04/2016
I have never shot a slide film with it but I definitely will try after having seen some lovely pics of yours.
Cheers
Weldon Poapst on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 10/09/2016
Love it!
Chanon on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 20/09/2016
andrew on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 15/03/2017
Comment posted: 15/03/2017
Mike Caputo on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 18/03/2017
Comment posted: 18/03/2017
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Comment posted: 18/03/2017
Winston on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 11/12/2018
Hope you're all doing well on the Big Island with the eruptions; we went there for our honeymoon a decade ago and it remains among my favourite places in the world.
Konica Auto S3 review - Kosmo Foto on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 02/04/2019
5 Frames With A Konica Auto S3 - By Marcus Harris - 35mmc on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 23/04/2019
BenHeijermans on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 07/05/2019
Five cheap but capable old-school film compacts - Kosmo Foto on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 25/08/2019
Kevin Eyewanders on Konica Auto S3 review – by Mike Caputo
Comment posted: 10/12/2019
The Cosina-built cameras so often mentioned as "clones" (and often speculated even to be the same camera as the AutoS3/C35FD) are a variety of models those badged as Revue, Prinz, Vivitar and Minolta, are NOT Konica clones at all. They do share a few internal parts but the design is entirely different and they're separated by at least 5 years between the discontinuation of the AutoS3 in the early 70s and their release in late 70s. They certainly took inspiration from the Konica, but they are in no way the same camera.
Thanks for the write-up (I know I'm 4 years late) - well done and fantastic examples of images from this little gem.