Konica Autoreflex repair & common faults
Excellent coverageThe Konica Autoreflex line, launched in 1965, was among the first 35mm SLRs to offer through-the-lens automatic exposure, coupling a CdS meter cell to the aperture and shutter mechanism for shutter-priority operation. Its behaviour is largely governed by that electric-eye coupling and by a cloth focal-plane shutter, both of which show their age with wear and inconsistent battery voltage.
Shutter-priority auto exposure (EE) · CdS TTL metering · horizontal cloth focal-plane shutter · originally 1.35V mercury cell · Konica AR bayonet mount
Common Konica Autoreflex faults
Konica Autoreflex meter not responding
A dead or non-responsive meter usually comes down to the CdS cell losing sensitivity with age or, more often, corrosion or a broken connection in the meter circuit. It is worth confirming the battery is fresh and seated correctly first, since these cameras were designed around mercury cells and give a wildly wrong reading, or no reading, once a mismatched modern cell degrades or corrodes its contacts.
Konica Autoreflex exposures consistently wrong
This meter was designed for a 1.35V mercury cell, and a modern 1.5V alkaline in its place will throw the reading off consistently, usually biasing exposures a stop or so in one direction. If a fresh, correct-voltage cell is fitted and the fault persists, it points to CdS cell drift or a worn coupling in the auto-exposure mechanism, and is a mechanical rather than a battery problem.
Konica Autoreflex shutter uneven at fast speeds
Patchy or dark banding in frames, worse at faster speeds, points to the cloth curtains no longer moving at matched timing across the frame, known as capping. It is a wear fault in the shutter's escapement or spring tension rather than anything the user can adjust, and tends to worsen gradually rather than appear suddenly.
Konica Autoreflex shutter sticking or slow at low speeds
Slow speeds hanging or sounding uneven, while fast speeds sound fine, usually means the shutter's timing escapement has gummed with age. It is a mechanical fault inside the shutter mechanism itself, not something wind-on or the battery affects, and the camera is otherwise sound if fast speeds and the meter behave normally.
Konica Autoreflex mirror stuck up or slow to return
A mirror that stays up after firing, or drops back slowly, is usually the foam bumper pad that cushions its return breaking down with age, sometimes with the mirror hanging up on it. Winding on can sometimes free a partially stuck mirror, but a mirror that will not come down at all points to a mechanical fault in the mirror box rather than the shutter.
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Try it now ›Scatto is a reference tool for people who service film cameras. It explains mechanisms and quotes service data, but it cannot see your camera at the bench, so verify anything load-bearing before you act on it.