Koni-Omega M (actually Omegaflex) camera

[Dan Fromm]

The one I was looking at online said that there was a delay after the shutter was pressed. I wonder if that's the problem of being the weak spot of the camera.

Hmm. Some years ago I bought an Omegaflex lens panel with a pair of 58mm lenses. I just checked, with the flash sync set to X the shutter fires as it should. At M, the shutter hangs for quite a while before firing. If I had an Omegaflex, this would be a good reason to have the shutter overhauled.

But I don't have an Omegaflex. I bought the pair to pull one of the lenses, put it in a Copal #0 and use it on a 2x3 Graphic. Great lens, covers at least 2x3. Great price, too. I bid low, am surprised that I wasn't outbid.

The shutter and viewing lens are each held to the panel by four small screws. Given that the shutter has no cable release and is released from the rear, no point trying to repurpose it. The lenses' cells screw out easily.

 

[Chuck1]

I had always wondered about the omegaflex lenses, only the taking lens is capable of being reshuttered?

 

[Kodachromeguy]

What a fascinating camera. What shop or repair service in USA would overhaul the shutters?

 

[Dan Fromm]

I had always wondered about the omegaflex lenses, only the taking lens is capable of being reshuttered?

The only difference between the 58/5.6 taking and viewing lenses is that the viewing lens has a shorter hood. The cells are identical and both sets are direct fits in a Copal #0. Interestingly, they don't interfere with a #0 Press shutter's diaphragm but the cells from the 60/5.6 for Koni Omega do. Different designs, the 58s are, from memory, 8/4 and the 60s are 6/4.

 

[Dan Fromm]

What a fascinating camera. What shop or repair service in USA would overhaul the shutters?

Mounting, position of release lever and shape of the cocking lever aside, they seem to be pretty normal #0 shutters. Not clear whether Seiko/Seikosha or Copal. Any competent repairman should be able to work on them.

 

[Paul Howell]

As I posted above I had a Omegaflex for a couple of years, I also used the Konica Omega Rapid when in the Air Force. I currently have a Mamiya Press and Universal. I had 2 lens for the Omegaflex, the 90mm and the short tele, I think it was a 135, would need to double check the length. All of the Konica MF lens I have used are very good lens, as good as any I have used including Horseman. I had only one 120 back, having a dark slide and the ability to change backs in a shoot is a plus. I did not have the 45 degree viewing attachment, had use the direct view, upside down and backwards. As I recall no pop up magnifying lens as on my Yashica 124 or D. I never figured out a way to shoot a landscape using a tripod. When at a 180 degrees for a horizontal shot, really heavy, I could have found to support the weight of the camera with a second tripod. I don't recall ever shooting the Rapid on a tripod, I assume that we had an adaptor as part of the kit we got from supply, the body, 3 lens, 3 backs, and likely the adaptor. I traded the Omegaflex in for a C33 which I did like, just so much simpler to use then the Konica. Later I traded in the C33 for a Kowa SL66 which I still have, again simplicity of use, more compact, no issue with parallax compensation. 6X6 no need to worry about vertical or horizontal orientation, just crop as needed. As I shoot landscapes with my MF gear I use my Mamiya Universal with 6X9 back. The one advantage of the Konica Rapid was not having to cock the shutter, the push pull or it pull push plunger advance cocks the the shutter.

 

[campy51]

The camera came today and everything looks good except no dark slide. Just as I suspected the shutter problem was just the blades stuck. I removed the lens cells and used my electronic spray on the blades and now everything is fine. There was no dark slide so if anyone has an extra or could post a picture of one with it's dimensions I will try to make one from a 4x5 dark slide.

 

[Paul Howell]

Good news about the shutter, bummer about the dark slide.

 

[campy51]

Good news about the shutter, bummer about the dark slide.

Yes too bad. I just can't change backs but that's okay since the other back is a 220. I also have to remember not to remove the back before the roll is done.

 

[Paul Howell]

What you need the dark slide for is when changing lens. With a Mamiya C330 or 220 unless you have a changing bag you lose a frame when changing lens.

 

[Kodachromeguy]

What you need the dark slide for is when changing lens. With a Mamiya C330 or 220 unless you have a changing bag you lose a frame when changing lens.

NO. The C330 has an internal light shield. I recall alĺ models had this baffle.

 

[campy51]

If anyone is interested the Omegaflex M and the Mamiya Super 123 weigh the same.

 

[Paul Howell]

I have a Universal and Press, with 90 or 100mm lens pretty heavy.

 

[Paul Howell]

NO. The C330 has an internal light shield. I recall alĺ models had this baffle.

Your right, after 50 years details get fussy.

 

[Randy Stewart]

The camera came today and everything looks good except no dark slide. Just as I suspected the shutter problem was just the blades stuck. I removed the lens cells and used my electronic spray on the blades and now everything is fine. There was no dark slide so if anyone has an extra or could post a picture of one with it's dimensions I will try to make one from a 4x5 dark slide.

You can reliably buy one of these dark slides, usually new in the box, on ebay for $15-25. The fit of the slide in the film magazine is a tight tolerance. Cutting down one from larger material would be a fool's errand. Note that unless you want to exchange a film magazine or lens set in mid-roll, you do not need one.

 

[campy51]

I ordered one.

 

[campy51]

Here are a couple from a test roll after light leak was repaired.

 

[Paul Howell]

Konica made some of the glass on the market, nice work.

 

[Stolk]

My parents bought me one when I graduated from college in 1970. Interchangeable backs, lens are very sharp, but it not a TLR, it is direct view, the 45 degree finder attachment does turn it into sort of a TLR. As a direct view, your looking though the camera not down into a viewfinder. The image is like that of a view camera, upside down and reverse, the 45 degree attachment allows for a right side view view at an angle. There is no WL viewing. As a 6X7 it is designed to be used in portrait orientation. What I did not like was it is very difficult use for landscape mode. I eventuality sold it and bought a Mamiya C33 that I used for several years before trading it in for a Kowa SL66.

The Omegaflex were made in somewhat small numbers, not surprised that the price is higher than for a Mamiya C33 or 330. Unless you intend to use for portraits I would give it serious thought about how you will use one for landscapes.

Hot damn… a 1970 graduation present! New in box, or used by that time?

I won an Omegaflex with 135mm on eBay this week, for usd$500 and look forward to trying it. I suspect shipping will be slow as usual, to Canada.

Do you have the 45 degree viewer? I think you can mount that rotated 90 deg on body, and use it as waist level landscape camera?

 

[Dan Fromm]

I won an Omegaflex with 135mm on eBay this week, for usd$500 and look forward to trying it.

Wow! The K-O 135 (same lens as yours, but you have two of them) is rare and, I've read, coveted. Good snag.

 

[Sharktooth]

I'm a big fan of the Koni-Omega rangefinder cameras, and have several. The first one I got was back in the late 70's, and was purchased new. Since then, I've built up quite the collection, since they've always been very cheap to buy used.

For many years I'd seen pictures of the twin lens version, and wanted to add one to my collection, but I'd never seen one "in the flesh" for sale. I think I finally saw one for sale at a camera show in the early 2000's, and was able to handle it. The shortcoming became immediately apparent. The standard viewfinder is just plain awful. There's another mirror in there to direct the image to your eye, so things are very dim. It's sort of like the horrible eye level prisms on the Mamiya twin lens cameras. They made the viewfinder an eye level type, since the camera is very awkward to hold for waist level viewing.

After handling it, it was clear that it was an ergonomic mess, and impractical for use. I lost all interest in the twin lens version after that. It probably explains why so few of them are around. They didn't make sense then, and age hasn't helped.

 

[ags2mikon]

I had a friend that had one and he let me play with it and it was an ergonomic mess. To do verticals you had to rotate the camera and use the inline viewer and that made everything upside down in the viewer. The omegaflex was a solution in search of a problem.

 

[OrientPoint]

I have the 45 degree viewer. It makes the camera a lot more pleasant to use for standard landscape orientation. You can rotate the viewer 90 degrees for portrait use, but really nothing will make the camera make sense for portrait orientation. It's just super-awkward bordering on unusable for that.

If you like odd cameras, as I do, I think you'll find the Omegaflex fun to work with. The lenses are all quite good and can be found for cheap. I find the viewing screen to be excellent. However, it is quite bulky, especially with the 45 degree viewer mounted, and in the end all you're getting for that weight and volume are 6x7 negatives.

 

[Stolk]

The lenses are very good. I like the way it handles. The viewing screen is nice, and there are different attachments for angled viewing, etc. But it's pretty large and pretty heavy. In practice having detachable backs isn't as useful as it sounds.

I have two, one a little rough cosmetically, that were inherited. Both came with the 90mm and 135mm lens sets. The 90mm is the standard lens and is the most common to find. There are also 58mm and 180mm lens sets, but I've never been able to find them at reasonable prices. The lenses are basically the same as the ones for the non-reflex Koni-Omegas, just doubled.

If you're looking to buy one I'd be happy to shift the rough one (which works fine, just needs recovering) with two lenses at a reasonable price. No one needs two of these.

OrientPoint, do you happen to have the close-up kit and willing to sell it?
That 20mm spacer (pictured on the left) is hard to find.
I have an Omegaflex with 135mm lens-set coming in from eBay, and I would love to use it for close-ups.
And the lack of bellows makes me think that the focusing range is quite limited on the 135mm lens?'

If I can't find a 20mm spacer, I wonder if it is possible to 3D print one. The part seems simple enough.

Lastly, do you happen to have a flickr account or blog with your Koni Omegaflex photographs? It would be cool to see some samples. It's been decades since I last shot film, I bet it will take me a while to get good shots out of it. But the sheer quirkiness (or should I say, plain ugliness) of that Twin Lens camera has me intrigued.

 

[OrientPoint]

I do have the 20mm spacer. I don't believe they made a specific "close-up kit" for this camera, although there are ones for the Koni Omega Rapid with googles, if memory serves.

With the 135mm, minimum focusing distance on the OmegaFlex is somewhat less than 1m. With the 20mm spacer it's more like 30cm. Not insanely close. With the 58mm lens and spacer minimum focus is maybe 10cm.

I'm not looking to sell my spacer, sorry. I supposed you can 3d print anything, but it looks to me like it might a bit challenging to get it to clip on reliably. The real thing does show up now and then, usually inexpensively. There are no Omegaflex fan clubs out there.