Konica IIIA rangefinder camera

Posted by: Tim Lewis aka Paps September 01, 2025

Konica IIIA rangefinder camera

There is already a lot of information out there about the IIIA by Konica. I'm going to try to focus more on the user experience of the camera and less on all of the technical data, but in order to do that, I have to start somewhere.

The Konica IIIA rangefinder was released in 1958 and was the culmination of years of development after World War 2.This was the height of rangefinder production for many companies, and it was designed to compete with the Leica M3 and the Canon VI-L. It was marketed to amateur photographers as well as professionals, and it was priced at $124.75 ($1,147.00) today.

Eventually, it would be followed by the IIIM, which added a light meter and half-frame capability. After that, the company began shifting its focus to the SLR market that would dominate the 60's and 70's. Here are the specs.....

48mm f/2 Hexanon lens that was such a success that it rivaled the Leica 50mm f/2 Summicron.
In the 1958 models, they changed the lens to the 50mm f/1.8 Hexanon. The image quality remained, but the change gained some speed in an era when folks avoided using flash anyway they could, and film speeds were slow.
The 48mm and the 50mm have an aperture of f/22, which comes in handy on the other end of the light scale, when the subject may be too bright.
The filter size is an odd one, and it can be difficult to find filters for these lenses. The 35.5mm threads are not common and often command higher prices when you do find them. I was able to locate a red filter for about $30.00 on eBay. This is certainly an annoyance when using this camera.
The shutter is the Seikosha-MXL leaf shutter and tops out at 1/500th (another reason to try to locate a filter when you can, but the f/22 lens makes this less critical than other lenses), and it includes B mode.
The camera syncs at all shutter speeds, for flash, and was one of the other advantages it had over the Leica M cameras of the day.
The viewfinder is very bright and very large, magnifying to 1:1, and was yet a third advantage over the competitors.
The rangefinder is coupled and uses a yellow patch, though on my copy, I found myself struggling to see the focusing images. One of the reasons I may never like rangefinders over SLRs. There is automatic brightness adjustment of the framing lines as distance changes as well. (4th advantage?)

Trying to keep to my promise of focusing on the user side of this camera, I'll stop there. But as you can see, this was a flagship camera in its day, and it was taken seriously as such. I'll move on now to the actual experience of shooting one.

The IIIA does not have a meter and does not take a battery. So, like so many of the cameras we've come to love, you need to guess exposure or carry an external meter with you. To advance the film and cock the shutter, you use the same lever, located next to the lens, for both. You simply press it twice. It sounds stranger than it actually is, as I quickly got used to it.

The back opens by rotating a dial on the bottom of the case to the "O" setting and then pressing slightly on the dial itself. The back then pops open. After loading film, you need to remember that the back will close with a 'click', but it will pop open again from that same pressure unless you turn the dial back to the "C" (closed) position. It would be very easy to forget this if you are distracted and ruin a few shots by setting the camera down and popping open the back.

Now, the odd part, for those of us not alive in the 1950s. The camera uses the old EV system and couples the aperture dial (on the lens) with the shutter speed dial (also on the lens). This is not the only rangefinder that did this, but this one is particularly cumbersome to try to operate for us, more modern users.

If you're not familiar, the EV system used a single number to identify exposure instead of using two numbers, as we do today. So you could look at your meter and you would get an EV number that you then dialed your camera to, and theshutter speed and aperture would automatically have the correct exposure relationship for proper exposure. It was thought to be faster.

Some camera companies incorporated this into the camera by not only marking the lenses with EV scales but also by coupling the aperture and shutter rings together. So, no matter where you turned either dial, both would turn at the same time and preserve that same EV setting.

On the IIIA, this lock is a small, black 'sleeve' or metal ring that has to be pulled in toward the camera body to allow you to turn the shutter and aperture dials independently. So, while holding this sleeve in, you also have to turn each dial to obtain that EV ratio between the two. Then, when you release the black sleeve, you're theoretically 'locked in' and you can now change settings as much as you want, and that proper exposure triangle will stay the same. Creativity was not the priority. Exposure was.

Even if you would like to try to use this system, the unfortunate part is that it seldom functions accurately any longer. On these older cameras, they often don't stay 'coupled' and you will accidentally turn the rings only to discover that they didn't both change, only the one you happened to have your fingers on.

The good news is, on the IIIA, it is very easy to uncouple this EV system with nothing more than a small, slotted screwdriver. Here is one of the better videos on how to do so.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtlTCrc_u5c

I followed this video and had no issues removing the little bracket that links the two dials. It should be noted that once you do, the aperture dial becomes 'clickless" and it is easy to inadvertently turn it without realizing you did so. This happened to me a couple of times, but I soon got used to the idea of checking it before each frame.

The frame counter looks slightly prehistoric, located where the film advance dial is on most cameras, but it works flawlessly and accurately. There is a cold shoe mounted on top that can be removed to get access to the rangefinder adjustment screws, if needed.

Speaking of the decoupling and other adjustments, this is one of the easiest cameras I've ever run across for doing DIY maintenance. If you have a sticky shutter, simply following the above video on decoupling will give you quick access to the shutter blades. It's almost as if Konica made routine maintenance intentionally easier for the camera techs of the day. The above video will also allow you access to wipe down the lens on both sides, and as I stated, you can access the rangefinder adjustments without removing the top plate.

The lens is the 'beef' under all of this. While it may all sound cumbersome, looking for filters and decoupling dials, it all makes sense when you see the images that the lens creates. So if you want a smooth, thoughtless way to snap photos, this camera may irritate you somewhat. But if you are the type of photographer whose only goal is the final product, you'll love it.

My biggest gripe about using the IIIA is that I have difficulty obtaining focus. This is undoubtedly due to my aging eyes and the aging focus patch on the camera. Everything else is similar to other vintage cameras of the day, with the exception of the double-stroke lever to advance film and cock the shutter.

I would also like to point out that while my copy has strap lugs on it, I found it impossible to put a split ring on the one closest to the cocking lever. Perhaps if you can locate one that's small enough, you might have more success. The rings I tried all interfered with the cocking lever's action. So in my case, I had a choice of using the very old case I was fortunate enough to get with the camera or using a wrist strap on the other lug.

Also, if you buy one of these, look to see if you get the soft shutter release button that originally came with it. Due to the camera's design, a replacement or aftermarket button will not fit on it. There simply isn't enough room.

There are aftermarket strap mounts as well that attach to the tripod mount on vintage cameras. I have not tried one of those. The camera is heavy, and although I didn't have to try it, I'm not sure a wrist strap would be very comfortable for carrying it around with one hand all day.

Shooting the camera was a very strange experience for me in only one regard. The shutter is so quiet and so undetectable compared to other rangefinders that I found myself wondering if I really took a photo at all. The only confirmation I got, due to the noise around me, was when I advanced the next frame with the cocking lever. The camera will not let you advance the film if you do not fire the shutter.

THE SNAP

The Konica IIIA is a typical rangefinder of its era, and if you enjoy that experience, there is no reason not to get one. As I suggested above, the real highlight of this camera is the lens. It competes with any in its own time as well as today. If the image is the most important part of your journey, it will save you thousands on the cost of a Leica. If you are not crazy about manual cameras or rangefinders in general, there is nothing here that will change your mind.

I suppose being a child of the 1960s and growing up in the 1970s, I will always prefer an SLR where focusing is quick and easy, and I see what the lens sees. Still, I could see myself putting the IIIA in a suitcase when I pack and taking it along as a backup. I continue to search for that one rangefinder that might convince me to give up my affinity for the SLR, but this one is not it.

The lens is incredible, and if I were being paid to shoot images on a rangefinder, it would certainly be my first choice. After all, the image is what we ultimately have to show for our efforts, and only another photographer can understand what it took to get it.

These cameras are expensive and getting more so on the vintage camera market. I'm not certain that I would consider mine "worth it" compared to other, newer range finders that are much more reasonable. But the repeated comparisons to the Leica lenses are driving up the prices. I paid around $250.00 for mine (with shipping), and that's about what all of the 'mint' versions were asking. I suppose, if you're on the fence, you could buy one and use it while the prices (undoubtedly) continue to rise. I doubt you would ever lose money on it.