Re: Konica S3

[Joe Wilensky]

I had an Auto S3 for a while -- a beautiful camera and lens, though it feels just a bit flimsier overall than a Canonet GIII, for example.

The S3 doesn't have TTL flash, but it does have a unique flash feature to rangefinders of that era. Like most '70s rangefinders, it uses guide number flash -- you can use pretty much any flash, set the guide number (or the closest guide number to it on the S3's scale) and the aperture will adjust based on the focus distance. This is more accurate than auto flash, since overly light or dark subjects won't alter the exposure. The S3 has a leaf shutter that synchs at all speeds, and when a flash is mounted, the ambient light meter stays on. This lets you easily match the ambient light exposure for the scene by adjusting the shutter speed, which doesn't affect the flash exposure.

Joe