Presentation & questions - Konica Auto S2

[El Horla]

Hi, I'm Christian from Buenos Aires, Argentina and this is my first post here,
so let me tell you something about me...
(my english isn't as good as I'd wish, so excuse me if I can't explain myself properly)

I've started with photography in 2006, being my first camera a Fuji S5200 (digital),
soon I realized that photography would be something more than a hobby for me,
so I decided to be a member of a forum here in Argentina, Digireflex.net ( it's in spanish),
where my nickname is the same as here, (just in case you want to take a look)

Well, a couple of months ago I started to think about aquiring a RF camera,
and after a very long research, I finally bought a Konica Auto S2 in almost perfect condition.
(RFF was a great source of information that helped me taking that decision, thanks!)

Many "firsts" with this one, first film camera, first RF, first non-zoom lens, so you
can imagine the experience is quite odd for me, but i like the challenge and the output
I've seen from other people with the "KAS2" on the web.

I've shot three rolls so far and I like the results the camera delivers, beside my newbie
mistakes, but one thing that keeps annoying me is a "framing problem" I'm getting:

short story is that in some photos I've had a "crop" at the bottom, and some "extra space"
in the top side; so my theory was, that I was framing the picture in a wrong way,
because of my lack of practice, or that the viewfinder could have a problem.
¿Are you, KAS2 owners, having this problem? I've found one case from a flickr user, see:

Testing my Grandads old Konica Auto S2....

Well, enough camera talking!, i'll try to post some photos (hope I do it right)
[No major editing, just resize & unsharp mask from the lab's scans]


From my first roll, film was Kodak Portra VC at ASA 160:

1
"Going down"
f/5.6 - 1/500










2
"Window"
f/4 - 1/60









3
"Reflect"
f/16 Bulb (I guess 3 seconds) + tripod

From my second roll, film was Kodak Portra VC at ASA 400:

4
"waiting"
f/2.8 - 1/125 s.










5
"Sun"
f/8 - 1/125 s.









6
"Autum"
f/2.8 - 1/500 s

And from my third roll, film was Kodak Gold at ASA 400 (didn't lke it):

7
"Broken"
f/4 - 1/500 s.









8
"Calm"
f/1.8 - 1/500 s









9
"Working"
F/16 1/500 s

Comments & critics are welcomed



Cheers!

[triplefinger]

beautiful shots. good work.

[Bingley]

These are beautiful shots, and show off the S2's lens very well. Welcome, and keep posting!

[sooner]

I admit I'm easily impressed, but wow those are nice shots. Great job, and please keep posting. I just bought a cleaned up S2 from Greyhoundman so I'm looking forward to going out and shooting some with this terrific camera.

[vrgard]

Very nice shots. Don't see any framing problems in these. If you are having framing problems and wondering what may be wrong, let me ask a question. And please understand that I mean no offense by my question. But you did mention that you are new to rangefinder cameras. So, here is my question. Are you framing your shots using the entire rangefinder window or, instead, are you framing your shots using the somewhat smaller framelines visible within the rangefinder window? If the former, then that would explain why you are unintentionally cropping your shots more than intended. If the latter, then I wonder if the framelines are not moving as they should when you focus (this movement is called "parallax correction" if you want to do a quick search to understand what this means). Hopefully these questions, and their answers is helpful to you. And welcome to the rangefinderforum!

-Randy

[Steve Bellayr]

Ola. Very good photographs. I agree you do not have a framing problem. That is a good camera with a good lens.

[gavinlg]

Great shots - You've made me look for an auto s2 to try, and thats a compliment to you.

[El Horla]

Thanks everybody for responding (and so quickly!)

Originally Posted by vrgard

Are you framing your shots using the entire rangefinder window or, instead, are you framing your shots using the somewhat smaller framelines visible within the rangefinder window? If the former, then that would explain why you are unintentionally cropping your shots more than intended. If the latter, then I wonder if the framelines are not moving as they should when you focus (this movement is called "parallax correction" if you want to do a quick search to understand what this means). Hopefully these questions, and their answers is helpful to you. And welcome to the rangefinderforum!

-Randy

Randy, no offense at all, I'm glad you tried to help

I think I´ve should give more background about myself.
Before buying this kas2, I´ve tested as many RF as I could, and searched
the internet for information, so I'm in some way introduced to the RF
world, I know the basics.

That said, the number of photos with the problem is decreasing with
every roll (3 so far) but it persists, I thoght, it would be fixed by now...

I didn't include wrong-framed pictures in this post, I've chosen the ones
that were the best in my criteria, but if you want to see some I can leave
some links:

No legs

4 sticks (they should be 3)

No feet (ignore it's out of focus please)

Cheers!

[Mr_Flibble]

Are you saying the framingproblem is getting less and less?
I noticed that on my KAS2 the rangefinder would not return to infinity after having focused at short range.
I would turn the lens to infinity, but the prisms and framelines would not move back (or very slowly).
The grease had dried out on the mechanism and the spring wasn't strong enough to overcome the friction. It improved after I started using it more often and it is now working properly. It just needed a bit of exercise.

I took mine to a stunt car show yesterday. After seeing your pictures I hope mine turn out as great as yours. Truly wonderful photographs. I really like the bright colors on the one with the child on the slide.

Thank you for sharing,

[robin a]

Welcome ! Nice photos,I like the cat........Robin

[warren1960]

You reminded me, it's winter down there. I wish our winters were so filled with light. Nice work.

[DeeCee3]

Another convert to the AutoS-2!! Those are exceptionally good pictures, Christian...I wish I had shot them with my S-2. The shot of the cat peering through the hole in the window pane is superb! Looking at your work confirms Konica's old slogan from the 1960's, "The lens alone is worth the price."

dc3

[El Horla]

Thank you very much, you are very kind.

Originally Posted by Mr_Flibble

Are you saying the framingproblem is getting less and less?

That´s right.
Another possibility could be that I am "tilting" the camera when framing, in order to
check the meter, wich is in the top of the viewfinder.

Originally Posted by Mr_Flibble

I noticed that on my KAS2 the rangefinder would not return to infinity after having focused at short range.
I would turn the lens to infinity, but the prisms and framelines would not move back (or very slowly).
The grease had dried out on the mechanism and the spring wasn't strong enough to overcome the friction. It improved after I started using it more often and it is now working properly. It just needed a bit of exercise.

Same thing happened with mine, but the solution came from a different source:
My camera fell and I took it to service for repair , when I got it back the problem
with that lines was gone. I must say that the "framing problem" has nothing to do with
that hit, because there were bad framed photos before and after that.

Originally Posted by Mr_Flibble

I took mine to a stunt car show yesterday

Really hope you post them, I´m interested in seeing what people can get from
this camera.

Bye

[ruben]

Bienvenido hermano !,
Great great shots.

Cheers,
Ruben

[Mr_Flibble]

Originally Posted by El Horla

Really hope you post them, I´m interested in seeing what people can get from this camera.

I will, even if they turn out poorly. I did use an expired roll of film and the coating on the lens does look rough. That probably happened when I fixed the stuck shutter by unscrewing the front lens element and nudged the blades.

I find it is a very user-friendly camera to use. A lower workload compared to my older rangefinders.

[mfunnell]

I'm really hoping mine arrives in good condition - and that I can do half as well as you have here. I really don't need another camera - but the price was too good and I seem to be on an (almost ) accidental mission to acquire Konica cameras...

...Mike

[Moncho]

Exelentes fotos!! y mas las ultimas dos! Buena gente por aca
Se ve que también te pico la película! mismo para mi... asi empezé, primero una Oly SP, despues Yashica 35 cc, OM 2n y sigo! y hace muucho que estoy tentado con la K S2, mi duda eran las baterias, como lo manejas?
Saludos!!
Federico (Palermo!)

[El Horla]

Thanks everybody again for your comments

Originally Posted by ruben

Bienvenido hermano !,

¡Gracias!

Originally Posted by Moncho

Exelentes fotos!! y mas las ultimas dos! Buena gente por aca
Se ve que también te pico la película! mismo para mi... asi empezé, primero una Oly SP, despues Yashica 35 cc, OM 2n y sigo! y hace muucho que estoy tentado con la K S2, mi duda eran las baterias, como lo manejas?
Saludos!!
Federico (Palermo!)

Hey Moncho, thanks for your kind words, hope you don't mind, but I'll l keep writing in
English, because I think is the least we can do for the people that gives us this space.


I´ll send you an email so we can talk without having our brains overloaded, hehehe

For those who didn´t stand what Moncho said, I´ll try a modest translation:

"Excellent photos!!, especially the two last ones. Good people around here.
It seems that you started with film too, same here, I´ve started with an Oly SP,
then a Yashica 35 cc, OM 2n and keep going! . I´ve been tempted with the KS2 for
a long time, but have some reservations with the batteries issue, how do you
solved that?"

Bye!

[Mr_Flibble]

As promised some shots I did with my KAS2.

Pardon the less then ideal conditions. All are shot from about 30 meters away, 1/500th , f-4 to f5.6, using a roll of expired Fuji Superia. Cropping and downscaling did no good to the sharpness either.










The camera was not quite fast enough to capture the fastest action. But overal I'm very pleased with the sharpness.

I've got a long way to go before I'll be as good as you, Christian

[Atto]

Christian your pics looks great, and shows a superb Konica Auto S2.

I enjoy all your views. Keep posting.

A hug from Buenos Aires,
Nicolás.

[btgc]

Agree on "nice camera" and glad so many people love take pictures with it. I also fell in lust using one.

single pic from my first roll - http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=86502

[racoll]

Beautiful shots, Christian! The color and sharpness, not to mention your very nice compositions are all well done. It's one camera I don't have, but might have to get now.

Andy

[cweg]

Very nice shots, Christian. I can't say whitch I like most, they're all beautiful in color and composing.

best regards CHristoph