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The Konica F was the first 35 mm single-lens reflex camera (SLR) produced by Konica, released in February 1960. A prototype was shown as the Koniflex at the International Trade Fair in 1959.
Konishiroku had very limited means of distribution for the new camera outside Japan. They were mostly sold by special order and through catalogs. Between 600 and 1500 total Konica Fs were produced, making it a rare and collectible camera.
A few years later, the company's 35 mm rangefinder cameras were sold under the Wards brand in the United States. Montgomery Ward was a major catalog seller of photographic equipment at that time, and many Konica items appeared in their catalogs during the late 1950s and early 1960s. The small number of Konica Fs on store shelves resulted in the model being largely unnoticed, with the Canonflex R2000 considered by many to be the first 35 mm SLR to achieve 1/2000 shutter speed, despite the Konica F preceding it by eight months.
| +Konica F-series cameras ! Model !! Image !! Intro. !! Meter !! Shutter (sec) ! Size (W×H×D) !! Weight ! Notes |
The Konishiroku shutter featured a fastest shutter speed of sec. This was the highest shutter speed attained to date in a 35 mm SLR camera. Typical cameras of the time commonly used or s as maximum speeds, and other premium models used s. Several months after the Konica F, in late 1960, Canon released the Canon Canonflex, the second model to achieve s shutter speed, but it still used the older, horizontally running, cloth shutter design. No subsequent Konica 35 mm SLR camera ever featured faster than s shutter speed. Most used the Copal Square variant of the shutter and many had s flash sync. There was even a Copal Square "Hi Synchro" used in the Konica T3 in the mid-1970s, known for its reliability.
The Konica F also featured a s flash sync, whereas other cameras of the time offered to s sync.
Lenses for the Konica F are known as Konica F-mount (aka "Mount I" or "Old Bayonet", not to be confused with the Nikon F-mount), distinguishing them from the mechanically incompatible Konica AR-mount (aka "Mount II" or "New Bayonet") introduced in 1965 with the Konica Autoreflex line. Within the F-mount, there were two sub-versions, one which coupled to the built-in meter of the Konica F, and another, which were not coupled, as the FS, FSW, FP, and FM successors to the F did not have a coupled light meter.
The 35, 52 and 85 mm all had a linkage that juts out from the side of the lens which inter-connects with a lever on the front of the camera to register the lens' aperture setting with the camera's metering system. Because of this linkage interface, lenses sold with later Konica early mount cameras are not easily fitted onto the F, and vice versa, although they all share the same bayonet mount. In 1965, Konica introduced the Auto-Reflex line of cameras and lenses, which do not share the same bayonet mount as the F and its immediate successors, up to 1964's FM model.
The 135 mm Hexanon for the F uses a manual aperture, but the other lenses featured a "fully automatic" aperture, which means the aperture diaphragm is held fully open when mounted on the camera body except when exposing the film. Because the diaphragm is open during focusing, this makes the viewfinder brighter and renders a shallow depth of field, both of which help with focusing. Once the shutter release button is pressed, the reflex mirror cycles up out of the light path and the aperture is allowed to snap down to the pre-selected setting, then the shutter opens to expose the film. Further, after the exposure is completed and the shutter closes, the aperture re-opens automatically and the mirror cycles back down. Almost all of the later F-mount lenses aside from the longer telephoto lenses (focal length ≥ 200 mm) were available with automatic diaphragms.
+Konica Hexanon F-mount lenses
! Focal length (mm) !! Aperture !! Coupled !! Uncoupled
! Angle !! Ele / Grp !! Min. focus
! Filt (mm) !! Wgt !! Dia × Len !! Notes Wide angle lenses 6/5 ?× Preset diaphragm version available (uncoupled)
6/5 ?× 4/4 ?× Preset and automatic diaphragm versions available
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