Konishiroku Konica III M

Konica I
Konica II Bm
Konica III
Konica III M

The Konica III M is the last of a Konica legacy 35mm rangefinder cameras that began in 1946, as Japan had bailed out of the post-war industry collapse, till 1959. This model was the last pro-use rangefinder that ushered Konica into the era where compact SLRs became the choice of professionals and enthusiasts, and the rangefinders moved to be second best.

Konica’s journey goes back to the late 1800s, with mahogany and brass luggable folders, through the klapp models of the 1930s, to the first modern 35mm rangefinder, the Konica I. It is noted that they were not entirely convinced about the 35mm format, as they continued making klapp models till the late 1950s till the Pearl IV. The first compact SLR by Konica was the 1960 “F”, a rare model worth thousands today, with an honourable mention of the Domirex, that did not mature into production. I don’t know what magical meaning the letter F has, as Siemens, Nikon, Petri, Konica, Miranda, Nikon, Arca, and Canon, all had an F model.

Most 1950s Japanese rangefinder makers died without making a splash, with only the majors surviving to see the digital era.

The Konica IIIM seems to be a mix of the Konica  III and the IIIA, as if they randomly pulled sections of each and threw in a meter for good measure. The three cameras share the same body, with a different top assembly. The IIIM borrowed the general appearance from the III and took the rewind crank and the cocking lever from the IIIA. The annoying bottom lock that releases the back is still here, having a final curtain. The frustrating coupled shutter speed/aperture dials of the IIIA are gone; now, both dials are free.

The first impression is that the designers took the tried and true body of the III, and added a hinged selenium meter. Oddly, the earliest Japanese rangefinder with an integral meter were the 1957 Ogikon 35 E / Royal LE by Royal Camera, closely followed in 1958 by Samoca and Aires. All three manufacturers vanished from the face of the earth closely thereafter. I would guess that the concept of an integral light meter did not trickle down until the next decade.

The time was the dawn of plastic components in precision instruments, which here is an early example of embedding this mystic material into the metre’s hinge. Plastic use is why many of the IIIM units are offered for sale without the meter, which confused me when I first searched for it.

The camera exudes good build quality, on par with the Canons of the time, only the Canons had a wider body to accommodate the curtains and had interchangeable lenses, so they were not of the same class.

The peculiar feature of the camera is the ability to shoot half a frame on a 35mm film. Konica attempted the same trick again in 1965 with the Autoreflex SLR, but it did not gain many followers, so they finally dropped the idea. Here, the winder is double-stroke. The first stroke cocks the shutter and winds half a frame, and the second winds the 2^nd half of the frame. To enable a half frame, a dedicated mask is placed in the film path over the fixed frame opening, and it takes only one winder stroke. I don’t have this mask, so I don’t know whether there is a mechanical stop that bars the second stroke. A tiny slot at the back under the shoe will show red when it is set to a half frame. Konica supplied the mask with this model, but probably all masks came to rest forever in one drawer or another.

• The top has a self-reset frame counter, a nicely capped trigger, a hot accessory shoe and a rewind crank borrowed from the Konica IIIA.
• A hinged, sizable selenium meter folds down over the viewer windows. When folded, the camera is about the same size as its older sisters. The only downside is the vulnerable plastic hinge. A spring catch in the receiver hole on the top takes a pin on the meter and keeps it raised. To expose the meter, it gently folds up; no force is required.
• The back has a large and clear viewer, with live parallax marks that move with the focusing distance. Under the shoe are a round cover over the viewer mirror adjustment and a minuscule slot that turns red when the half-frame mask is installed.
• The hinged back is secured with an annoying lock inherited from the earlier models, with this model being the last it is used. To open the hinged back, lift the D ring turnbuckle at the bottom, move the arrow to the ‘O’ mark, then fold the D ring back towards the ‘O’ markand press it down. This will press the tiny bulge underneath and release the lock.
  Note that if the turnbuckle stays on the ‘O’ position and the camera is set on a flat surface, the back will flip open.
• On the front left of the lens, the meter reader is where the self-timer was on the Konica III. As with the folding meter lens, this looks like an afterthought, which it probably is.
• The large winding / cocking lever is mounted on the right side and takes two strokes for a full frame and a single stroke for half frame.
• On the lens barrel:
  • Closest to the body is the focusing dial, having long travel and is supported by a bottom-mounted finger rest that takes time to get used to.
  • Next is the aperture setting dial, with a window showing the film speed in ASA. It is strange, as the focusing dial is marked by meters, so I would expect to have the film speed in DIN. It takes good fingernails and athletic fingers to change.
  • The next ring carries the synch selector fin, marked V-X-M, where the V stands for self-timer, German convention.
  • At the front is the shutter speed dial, which lacks only the /1000 to be considered current.
  • A generous lense, Hexanon 1.8/50, completes the package.
• To shoot, set the shutter speed dial, then aim at the subject and match the needle with the chevron on the meter reader lens.

For the collector, this is an excellent example of Japanese camera making from the mid-last century. Quality is on par with the best of the time, with the price being half that of Canon-compatible models. For the shooter, it has all you need, even if the meter has failed or missing alltothther. No battery required, a bare-bones able camera.