The Koni Omega Rapid - Pull It, Twist It, Bonk It

<p >I had a rush of blood to the head a few weeks ago and bid on a Koni Omega Rapid. To my surprise I got it for around £80 plus postage, which included two 120 and one 220 film backs. These contraptions are probably rarer in the UK than in some places, and it was something of a culture shock when it came, large, heavy and with bits sticking out everywhere. It reminds me somewhat of one of those dreadful electronic games where you have to manipulate various protuberances according to the “pull it, twist it, smack it, bonk it” system, at which activity I failed miserably once during an ill conceived team building excercise, in another life at work.</p><div></div>

<p >It was in super condition and apparently all working, apart from missing the bolt which secured the oh so ergonomic hand grip to the body, but a quick riffle through a tin of gubbins quickly provided a replacement.</p><div></div>

<p >This model doesn’t have dark slides so that you can’t change films mid roll, but never mind, undaunted I worked our what everything did and ran a couple of test films through, one 800 ISO colour print, one 50 ISO Black and White.</p><div></div>

<p >In use once you get used to the quirks including the left handed shutter button, its really quite easy to use. The rangefinder is clear and accurate and the large finder, with its moving frame lines for parallax correction, is one of the best on a rangefinder. You can easily use it in vertical format, too.</p><div></div>

<p >Inevitably it went to the Botanical Garden, then around a couple of local villages with the monochrome film.</p><div></div>

<p >It turned out the back was working well and frame spacing was uniform, despite much internet fuelled angst about failed clutches. I was a little nervous about the light seals but they were fine in the event. The push pull action of the plunger being the reason for the “Rapid” in its name. There’s a built in lens hood incorporating a clever depth of field scale. </p><div></div>

<p >The colour film being seriously out of date, I had to do a lot of correction in Photoshop.</p><div></div>

<p>Last one from the Botanical Garden:</p><div></div>

<p >For some reason the black and white negatives came out very thin and under exposed looking, but the Epson 4870 flatbed did a pretty good job of pulling out the images in them.</p><div></div>

<p>Another black and white shot:</p><div></div>

<p>And another:</p><div></div>

<p>A farm gateway - vertical composition!</p><div></div>

<p>Last one, a churchyard. I don't often photograph graveyards but when I do I always respectfully ask the occupants for permission. I've never met with a refusal, well, not yet ...</p>

<p>Thanks for looking, take care.</p><div></div>

<p>I've owned several over the years, with the 200 being the best. Excellent lenses, especially for the money, with the 135mm being the best and the 180 being the poorest, though still not bad. Probably the biggest band for the buck in MF film cameras. Enjoy. </p>

<p>If it weren't for the difficulty in finding 220 film (which makes the "Rapid" part make some sense) this would be ideal for many kinds of medium format shooting. You've done nice work with it.</p>

<p>I really like mine (Rapid Omega 100 model http://www.photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00YatJ , http://www.photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00c3RP ).</p>

 

<p>John,<br>

Nice photos and great presentation as usual. I have one of the Koni-Omegas (forget which model) that to my shame I have not yet put film through. So this serves as inspiration. In the first thread linked by JDM Peter G. notes that the advance sounds like racking the slide on a pump-action shotgun. I have to concur that it sounds a bit ominous and wonder what would happen if forced to demonstrate/operate the camera at the airport during our ritual security kabuki.</p>

<p>>an ill conceived team building excercise<br>

Has anyone experienced a good team building exercise? Not saying it's not possible, but boy, there sure are a lot of artificial, contrived and annoying ones out there.</p>

<p>I've always wanted one and you've made the desire worse.<br>

Excellent post.</p>

<p>Great results. I've only known one local photographer who even used one so it's great to see some results. My of the photographers in my area used Mamiyas. Thanks for posting.</p>

<p>Fine series of pics, <strong>John</strong>, from one of the more singular MF cameras. I never really grew to like the design, though the lenses were good, but I frequently had problems with the actions jamming. If ever you've been hanging out the door of a helicopter trying to get some aerial pictures when the Rapid Omega seized up, you would appreciate my dislike... However, you've demonstrated that they can produce fine work in the calmer moments... They seemed to be favoured by wedding photographers, despite the clatter of the action.</p>

<p>Thanks for the comments. Well mine worked flawlessly, the only lost frame being caused by the classic rangefinder error of failing to remove the lens cap. Perhaps the later models with dark slides are more complex and prone to failure?</p>

<p>I don't know when I'll be using it again, there are more candidates for putting films through in the pipeline. And I've got two more cameras to post about when I get time to scan the results etc.</p>

<p>Great photo's John, thanks for sharing.................Everything I see here, is a nice learning experience.</p>

John.. great results .. I have the Rapid 100 I believe it is. Mine has frame spacing problems ..intermittently.

I only have the 90mm Hexanon. I think this is first class lens. very sharp. Your results are great and an nod

to the photographer for delivering excellent results... These are heavy and clumsy to use but I will keep

mine and if I stumbled across one of the wide angle lenses.. well lucky me!

<p>Folks, don't forget the 60/5.6 (sort of a less symmetrical and faster f/8 Super Angulon) and 58/5.6 (a less symmetrical f/5.6 SA clone). I've wanted a 58 nearly forever, can't get one because I have a 60 that's much better than good enough.</p>

<p>John, if you like to shoot lenses shorter than normal, either will make you very happy.</p>

<p>I'm not actively looking for alternate lenses for it. I tend to shoot mostly with a standard lens these days. and do you need an auxiliary viewfinder for the wider lenses? Again they sren't so common in the UK.</p>

<p>I acquired a Rapid 100 several years ago but the film magazines were pretty beat up and there was considerable overlap on the film. Have not touched it since but are there good magazines to be had anymore? I would be happy to find just one.</p>