Konica C35 AF
The C35AF is a "milestone" camera in that it was the world's first production autofocus camera. It used the "Visitronic" AF system developed and produced by Honeywell (see below for description). This was a "passive" rather than the subsequently more popular "active" system (annouced two years later by Canon in the AF35M).
Specification
- 35mm Autofocus & Auto exposure Compact camera
- Lens: Hexanon 38mm f2.8 3 group 4 element
- Shutter: Programmed - 3 speeds 1/60, 1/125 & 1/250
- Exposure; Fully automatic - 25 - 400ASA
- Meter: CDS
- Sensitivity: EV 9 - EV 17 with 100 asa film
- Viewfinder: Bright Line 0.41 Magnification
- Indication: Underexposure warning light, Parallax Correction Mark, Focus measuring square
- Flash: GN14 - Exposure determined by range measured by autofocus
- Film Winding: Manual - Leverwind + re-wind crank
- Features: Lens cap obscures viewfinder to prevent errors!
- Deimensions: Width- 132m Height-76mm Depth-54mm
- Weight: 375 grams
- Introduced: 1977
The Honeywell AF system
"Designed by Honeywell for 35 mm cameras (visible light), uses a separate set of detectors and charge coupled devices along with a microprocessor to effect automatic focus.
A correlation is performed between sets of detectors utilizing two different, widely separated small areas of the aperture. The technique is based, as in optical rangefinders, on the angular difference between separate receivers in superimposing the same scene.
This technique effectively determines not only whether the system is out of focus, but the amount and direction of lens movement required to achieve optimum focus."
"Electronic Focus for Cameras", by N. Stauffer and D. Wilwerding March, Scientific Honeyweller, Volume 3, No. 1 March 1982
Links
- Manual available on the Favorite Classics section of .kyphoto.com
- Konica C35 AF, Konica C35 AF2 on www.collection-appareils.fr by Sylvain Halgand
- JJ's French language page on the Konica C35 AF
in Japanese: