Rare Camera?

I've been going through my collection recently trying to decide what to keep

and what to discard in preparation for a move. I came across my Konica IIIA.

I was given the camera in exchange for some family portraits. I've used the

camera and really should use it a lot more since it is wonderfully made and a

great image producer. The one I have is the export model with the 50mm f/1.8

Hexanon lens. The Japanese market model has a 45mm f/2 lens.

 

When I first got the camera I looked for it on eBay and there were only two,

going for about $200, and they were the Japanese market models. I looked again

and again and again last night and have not come across any since.

 

Anyone know why these are seldom seen?<div></div>

Photo taken with the Konica<div></div>

I don't know if it's rare or not, but it's certainly pretty and seems to work nicely. The fact that it goes for $200 on ebay and isn't up for auction often indicates that it's got some degree of value attached to it.

McKeown's places the value at around $150.

Dante Stella's website praises the camera extravagantly, with some real justification. The 1:1 viewfinder isn't a common feature. It has parallax and frame size compensation as you focus, something Leica still doesn't have. Konica made great lenses. It's really quiet. It's also unique and cool looking, which also attracts collectors.

 

Rarity? Well, it was a late RF camera, as SLR sales were taking over. It was fairly pricey new. I suspect that the left-handed trigger wind is something you either love or hate. Perhaps the subsequent IIIM model with the meter cut the production run short, meters became an important selling feature. So it probably didn't sell so many units in the first place, making it rare.

 

If I had one, I'd consider it a keeper. But I'm not going to hunt it down, my Topcon 35-S is a good substitute, another 1:1 finder camera.

It's a great camera, and I'd keep it. Incidentally, I'll bet that the f:1.8/50mm and f:2.0/45mm are the same lens, with the same viewfinder frames.

I agree. This is a real keeper and user. Without the meter, as on the IIIM, this IIIA is a very sleek camera and easy to use. The left handed film advance and shutter cocking lever is very simple and quick to use. The viewfinder is awesome. Thanks for the comments.

I agree with Bill, the lenses are probably the same; just marked differently for different markets.

I`m left hand boy, in case you hesitate about take any more pictures with it…:-))

Sorry, my keyboard is getting crazy. The lot of signs after the word: with, are only 3 stops and :-))

The lenses might be the same, but the as I recall, shutters are different.

They are an uncommon camera. Dantestella has nice write up on them.

If you need to know more about the lenses contact Greg Weber (Mr. Konica) at webercamera.com.

I'd guess it's uncommon on eBay because anyone who's got one wants to keep it. I certainly would.