Konica SLR

Konica FS-1 and FT-1 review – The Shape of Things to Come

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Konica produced Sakura film (later simply rebranded to ‘Konica’). They were the second-largest film producer in Japan after Fujifilm. As well as their own films, they produced films for lots of third parties. They had every good business reason to encourage rapid winding and exposure of their product.

In 1979 Konica produced a landmark camera with a winder.

It was not the first SLR with a built-in winder (that was the unmetered Minolta SR-M), but the FS-1 was the first automatic SLR to feature the winder integrated into the body (rather than bolted on the bottom). It also eliminated the manual wind-on lever. With a generous grip for the right hand to house the alkaline batteries required, It had a profile that was radical at the time, but which now seems rather familiar.

Konica TC and T4 SLRs – The Last of the Steam Powered Trains

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Back in the 1970s competition in the SLR camera market was fierce. Most companies needed to innovate regularly to maintain their profile and market share. Konica had been building up their Autoreflex system for some years. With the T3 they had produced a camera that did pretty much everything and was backed by a highly respectable system. However, there was still a need to keep up with trends and innovate.

Konica Autoreflex T3 Review – By Bob Janes

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Konica was the camera brand name of Konishiroku, one of the earliest photographic companies in Japan. The original company was the first in Japan to produce celluloid-based photographic materials. They produced film for many years under the Sakura name, before switching to using the Konica brand on that too.

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