Joining the Konica club

[apples]

Hi guys I bought a Konica IIIa and just developed a test roll last night! Pretty excited about this camera.

Still have some questions about how to use such a camera, my first rangefinder, wondering if you guys could help out?

samples:


IMG_20120414_123220 by hyaluronidase, on Flickr


025_25 by hyaluronidase, on Flickr

[ruby.monkey]

You may already know this, but you can set the shutter speed and aperture independently - pull back on both sides of the black shutter speed ring to turn it, or pull back on the left side and use your other hand to change aperture (the aperture control ring has one tiny serrated patch under the lens).

And make double sure you've locked the film door properly when you close it. If you leave the door release in the open position, the door will still close on the catch - but then pop open when you put the camera down. Go on, ask me how I know.

[apples]

I actually opened the back before I rewound the entire film back, surprisingly though I don't see any damage. Perhaps it was the leader that I saw...

still getting used to the EV scale, and I find it really hard to focus into things like trees, grasses and anything that is very "busy." I ended up using the distance scale to do those and everything seemed to be okay.

[pinkarmy]

which lens do you have on your IIIa?

edit: now i know, it's a 48mm f2. i want one too.

[apples]

I heard the 50mm f/1.8 is a marginally better lens, but i'm overall happy with it.

I think my rangefinder patch is a bit out of brightness, it's getting hard to tell when it's in focus...