Diese Seite auf Deutsch
Konica Auto-Reflex
Revue Auto-Reflex (Konica Auto-Reflex)
When the Konica Auto-Reflex was introduced in 1965, it was a sensation: one of the world's first 35mm SLRs to provide automatic exposure control. With this feature, the Auto-Reflex was far ahead of its time – some other manufacturers could not provide automatic exposure control until a decade later, up to the end of the 70s automatic exposure control was nothing that could be taken for granted. Only the Topcon Auto 100 provided fully automatic exposure some months ahead of the Auto-Reflex; the Topcon even had TTL metering, the Auto-Reflex did not.
The Auto-Reflex was distributed in Germany by 
Foto-Quelle under their own brand Revue, these specimen carry the designation Revue Auto-Reflex on the prism housing, the lettering is also different. The on / off switch is marked in German language instead of English, the frame size switch is marked 18x24 and 24x36 instead of Full and Half. The override switch on the shutter speed dial is only marked by an arrow on the Revue variation. It came with a 
52 mm / F1.8 standard lens designated Hexanon only (without Konishiroku or Konica). This lens had only metric distance scales, none in feet. In Japan, the Auto-Reflex was marketed as Konica Autorex.
The Auto-Reflex was the first Konica SLR to feature the new AR bayonet – not yet in its final variation, though. Because the Auto-Reflex does not meter through the lens (TTL), it is not necessary to couple the widest aperture of the mounted lens with the meter. All later Konica bodies apart from the meterless Auto-Reflex P have TTL metering, therefore the bayonet was supplemented with a respective coupling around 1968, with the introduction of the Autoreflex T. Later lenses already providing this coupling mechanism can be used without problems on the Auto-Reflex. Early lenses made for the Auto-Reflex, which do not have the coupling mechanism, can only be used on later bodies in automatic mode after a respective upgrade, because the meter does not give correct values without it. Further informations on this topic you find in the section about the AR bayonet on the lens page.
Auto-Reflex film plane
at format 24 x 36 mm
Auto-Reflex film plane
at half format 24 x 18 mm
The Auto-Reflex has a very special feature: the image size can be changed anytime between normal 24 x 36 mm and half size 24 x 18 mm with the flick of a switch – even mid-roll. The smaller size is accomplished by two metal sheets being brought before the film plane, the transport travel is adjusted accordingly. The film counter travels only every second image when the camera is set to half size. The boundaries of half size images are indicated in the viewfinder by two vertical lines. With half size, up to 72 exposures can be made on a standard 36 exposure 35 mm film, but due to the smaller negative size, the possible maximum size of prints is more limited. The half format images have portrait orientation, for landscape orientation the camera has to be tilted by 90°. However, you should avoid changing the image size mid-roll if you do not want to upset your photo dealer – such films with different image sizes, changing mid-roll, can not be treated properly by automatic enlarging equipment.
Konica even had a lens specifically designed for the half format, the Zoom-Hexanon AR-H 47-100 mm / F3.5. This lens covers in half format a range from light to medium telephoto, image angle is roughly comparable to a 65-135mm lens with normal 24x36 mm image format. The lens cannot be used for the full-sized 24x36 mm images, because the image circle is too small and the light fall-off in the corners is too strong for proper exposure.
Like all its successors from the big Autoreflex series, the Auto-Reflex is extremely sturdily built and takes abuse well. The Copal metal focal plane shutter works reliably even under extremely cold conditions and after a very long time of use. As everyday camera, I would not recommend the Auto-Reflex, however – the meter with its external sensor is not as exact as the through-the-lens (TTL) meters of all successor models, especially under difficult lighting situations. The handling is more complicated, and the viewfinder indications are not as informative as on later Konica SLR models. Additionally, from today's point of view a hot shoe for flash photography is missing, the flash operation via PC synch cable ist quite cumbersome for snapshooting – although for demanding exposures the fitting of the flash on top of the camera is usually not the best position anyway.
The Auto-Reflex is a fully equipped SLR. Beside the automatic exposure control with shutter priority, it provides a depth-of-field preview lever, a bright viewfinder, and a mirror lock-up function (with the self-timer).
Like all the successing big Autoreflex cameras, the Auto-Reflex is quite big and – especially by today's standards – quite heavy. The Copal metal focal plane shutter is quite noisy, the sound can be disturbing on some occasions.
Like many other cameras from this era, the Auto-Reflex uses a mercury oxyde battery for the light meter (1x type PX625). These batteries are not manufactured any more for environmental reasons and become more and more difficult to get. The usage of silver oxyde or alkaline batteries of the same size (V625U) causes wrong meter readings, because these batteries have different voltages. There are several possibilities to fix this problem. You can find more information on the subject of mercury oxyde batteries if you follow the link.
A detailed overview over technical data and features you'll find here.
In 1968, the Auto-Reflex was superseded by the new Autoreflex T, the world's first 35 mm SLR camera to combine through-the-lens (TTL) metering and fully automatic exposure control.
More pages on the Auto-Reflex:
Main page | Technical data | Images overview | User's manual |
Top of page
Guestbook | 
E-mail