When I started my journey in analog photography, I, like so many quickly fell victim to GAS (gear acquisition syndrome). The big difference was that whereas the digital cameras folk would obsess over pixels, deep:-) or otherwise, $500 designer bags, sensor size, and Instagram worthiness, my needs turned out to be much simpler; i.e. scoring a deal on a film camera on my Top 50 list (more on that in a future post). One such camera was the sometimes elusive Konica Auto S3.

Production of this little gem ran from 1973 to 1977 with more than 200,000 cameras reportedly in production. I say elusive because unlike either Konica rangefinders I could not find a decent and yet affordable copy for quite some time. The camera is a shutter priority rangefinder with fixed bright lines and parallax compensation marks. The shutter, a Copal automatic leaf shutter features speed from 1/8 to 1/500 + B and self-timer. The camera supports film speed ranging from 25-800 ISO. The highest speed film I used on this camera was Fuji Superia 400, but in my tests, I mostly stuck to Velvia 50, Neopan 100 and a few other slower speed films.

The 'legendary' 1.8 38mm, six elements in 4 groups lens uses helicoid focusing. If you search online, you will eventually stumble upon a much-circulated quote from an old Modern Photography review stating that "…The six-element, four group lens is an exceptional performer called one of the best semi-wide angle optics of its speed we have ever tested with apertures center values between 64 to 82 lines per mm…" which apparently places it alongside Leica. While it is a great camera, Leica it is not.

The Auto S3 was an upgrade of Konica's C35 from the late Sixties, a camera very familiar to me. I owned several C35s, and they felt like point and shoots. I don't mean that was bad, I actually quite enjoyed them but had to deal with lack of almost any control over how you take the pics.

This camera is much-touted about its ambient light and flash exposure system, which I never got to test. The Konica designers found a perfect way to balance ambient and flash exposure making it the only rangefinder camera with this feature at the time. I also learned early on that you must have the lens cap on at all times to preserve the battery, the abominable mercury 1.35V battery. Despair not, there are many choices now available online.

So how did I like it? The camera is super quiet with a stealthy silent shutter click making it perfect for street photography. It is almost tiny with a weight of 17 oz, and measurements 4 9/16" long x 3" high x 2 5/16" deep or 115mm x 77mm x 60mm. It felt good in my hands certainly when you use it all day, but I kind of missed the heftiness of my Canonet QL17 III. My camera was overhauled by Mike Zack who did a great job overhauling and calibrating it. I'd certainly consider the AutoS3 for travel again, but it just doesn’t give me the manual control I am used to and fees like a toy in my hands most of the time. As for the colors, contrast and such - you be the judge. I have included some of the pics I took with the Konica on a recent trip to Lisbon. Enjoy!