Konica T3 + Hexanon 1.7/50, Vivitar Series I 35-85/2.8 & 70-210/3.5, $150 - a choice?

[eumenius]

Hello friends,

today I've seen a nice kit for $150, Konica T3 (not the best cosmetics, but apparently working quite well) and a heap of lenses, including those Vivitar Series I zooms... looks like a good deal, no? I wanted to get some decent 35mm SLR and two zooms, just like this system. Unfortunately, I have hever heard about Konica cameras - are they good, or it's just a piece of dreck? The lenses, too - I have no faith in zooms, but I've heard some very pleasing opinions about Vivitar Series I lenses. Maybe someone on APUG would give me a suggestion, is it a worthy purchase? I want this kit just for those cases when I go somewhere and don't want to carry my Mamiya C330 and its lenses To me, both camera and lenses look very sturdy and well-made, and the glass is flawless. Is it a suitable addition to my... er... pile of optics?

Cheers, Zhenya

 

[craigclu]

Konica gear is first rate and many of their Hexanon lenses can compete with anything, new or old. The zooms you mention are good examples of decent glass of that era and are quite functional. The T3 can be a bit dim compared to their later bodies such as the T4, TC and FT-1. If you buy into a Konica system, there are some great bargains on high performance optics for them. The 40/1.8 is very, very sharp and I've seen them go for $10-15 on eBay. The Hexanons with the best reputations are the 24/2.8, 28/1.8 (pricey), 35/2.0, 40/1.8, 50/1.4, 50/1.7, 57/1.2, 85/1.8 (superb!), 100/2.8 any of the 135's but the 2.5 is very good, 200/3.5 (avoid the 4.0's) and the 300/4.3. Also, avoid the Hexar series of slr lenses. Let us know what you decide. There's an excellent Konicaslr group on Yahoo with some very helpful and knowledgeable people.

 

[eric]

The 40/1.8 is very, very sharp and I've seen them go for $10-15 on eBay. The Hexanons with the best reputations are the 24/2.8, 28/1.8 (pricey), 35/2.0, 40/1.8, 50/1.4, 50/1.7, 57/1.2, 85/1.8 (superb!), 100/2.8 any of the 135's but the 2.5 is very good, 200/3.5 (avoid the 4.0's) and the 300/4.3. Also, avoid the Hexar series of slr lenses. Let us know what you decide. There's an excellent Konicaslr group on Yahoo with some very helpful and knowledgeable people.

That' 40mm is one of the best lenses I own. The last 35mm 2.0 went for over $250! Yikes. Just a matter of supply/demand, there's not much out there. Tons of 35mm 2.0 Nikkors. The lowly 135mm 3.2 was the best portrait lens I had. Focuses real close without tubes.
And there's Greg Weber, the only guy who fixes these bad boys. The T3 is really really nice, hopefully, you get the one with split prism.
The Yahoo group is a small tight group.

Oh, the 21mm Hexanon is my favorite lens. Also, true, the Hexars are the cheaper lenses, get the "Hexanons".

 

[Peter Black]

As Craig said, Konicas are much underrated and are generally sound cameras/lenses. The user group he mentioned is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/konicaslr/ and there is nothing they don't know about these cameras!

 

[copake_ham]

I'm a Nikon fan and don't know the particular camera you looking at. But you cannot go wrong for $150 for that kind of kit. Konica was never a market leader - but they had a good reputation for making reliable mid-range gear.

Same with Vivitar lenses. Zooms are somewhat of a compromise but I like them for when I want to travel light and don't want to carry a bunch of primes and be distracted constantly changing lenses.

Grab this deal and run!

 

[magic823]

The Vivitar Series I 70-210/3.5 is a great lens. Probably the best they ever had! Sounds like to can't go wrong with that kit.

Steve

 

[eric]

If you send your T3 to get CLA from Greg Weber, he charges about $150 or so. It'll be good for the next 30 years. The T3 is a very smooth body. It comes with vertical shutter.

A little trivia, ALL Konica bodies have a VERY TINY NOTCH in the lens box inside. So if you print your negs full frame with neg marks, you'll have a different notch in a different area for different Konica bodies. Even their cheapo AF cameras have that "notch".

 

[Peter Black]

Konicas in general never troubled the main camera manufacturers as they chose to go with shutter priority automation (as did Canon with the AE-1) while Nikon, Olympus and everyone else went with aperture priority. The choice was to go with the flow or go for shuuter priority, at which point the choice was to go for Canon (well known) or Konica, so Konica lost out on bulk sales as they had their own lensmount.

When Canon brought out the A1 with both shutter and aperture priority, the writing was truly on the wall for Konica, but their cameras are still good, reliable tools without frills.

 

[Peter Black]

If you send your T3 to get CLA from Greg Weber, he charges about $150 or so. It'll be good for the next 30 years. The T3 is a very smooth body. It comes with vertical shutter.

A little trivia, ALL Konica bodies have a VERY TINY NOTCH in the lens box inside. So if you print your negs full frame with neg marks, you'll have a different notch in a different area for different Konica bodies. Even their cheapo AF cameras have that "notch".

Never knew that the notch was a common feature, although I certainly have it in my FC-1 photos and had thought it was just a characteristic of that camera. You live and learn!