As I wrote earlier, the answer to the question “How is your collection organized” is: “by accident”, and the newest entry is one of these “happy accidents”. We were rewatching “Northern Exposure” and during one episode my wife asked: “which camera is Ed holding here?”. Great question. Luckily the days of rewinding VHS tapes are over, so getting a sharp frame from a streaming service was far easier than in those long forgotten day. But the camera was no “product placement” and thus the manufacturer badge was blacked out. As you can imagine, a search for “black SLR from the 80ies or 90ies” got plenty of results but led nowhere. I could exclude some obvious ones based on my collection like Olympus and Zenit.
Next stop were TV series Reddit subreddits and finally fan pages, looking for hints of the camera. The only camera mentioned there was the Holly’s Nikon, which was shown with the logo in later episodes. Before I was about to give up, I went back to “The Alaskan Riviera” fanpage and the post about “A Kodiak Moment” and looked very long at the last picture on the site. Somehow the colour and typeface of that “TC” in the still reminded me of something. As I was going through the camera shelf to pick a camera for a trip days later, I looked at my Konica C35 EF, and the “EF” put me finally on the right track. Could the mysterious camera be a Konica?
The rest was easy: short search for “Konica SLR TC’ and I found it. As some search results were already from “Kleinanzeigen” (formerly eBay classifieds) here in Germany. I found a nice looking one with the 50mm f 1,9 lens. And while searching I also found the the earlier kit lens, the 40mm F1,8 with the fitting orange description.
About the Konica Autoreflex TC
I wrote earlier about Konica, so let’s focus on the camera. In 1965 Konica produced the Auto-Reflex, (one of) the first SLR with auto exposure. The name later changed to Autoreflex, with the T2 and T3 as the most famous and sought-after models, followed by the T4. The TC was a simpler version of that T4 and directed to hobby photographers who wanted to use the Hexanon lenses, which are the reason most people get a TC: they have six elements as the name suggests and are famous for their sharpness. For the lenses I bought I quote:
“Image quality of the Hexanon AR 40 mm / F1.8 is outstanding – some photography magazines praised it as one of the sharpest lenses ever built by any manufacturer for 35 mm cameras. Whether or not this is true is left open, but certainly the lens renders razor-sharp images with very high contrast and even illumination from edge to edge. The lens does not leave much room for improvements and plays in the same league as the Hexanon AR 50 mm / F1.7, which is also an absolute premium lens.”
The camera itself is quite compact, very close to my Olympus OM-1n in regards of size and weight, although with more plastic parts and thus with a “cheaper” feel. But again, this is an entry level camera. The camera is equipped with the usual features of the time: TTL lightmeter, shutter priority auto exposure, hot shoe for a flash and an additional pc sync terminal, tripod mount and a self timer.
Taking pictures with the Konica Autoreflex TC
Although the camera can be operated manually, I suggest using the built in lightmeter and the auto exposure function. Sadly the camera needs PX 625 mercury batteries, which are not produced any more (for really good reasons). Although LR44 / SR44 batteries would fit by size, the light meter readings are quite off as I tested. (As they do work fine in the Konica C35 EF it was worth a try). Instead I used PX 675 hearing aid batteries and some cardboard as replacement, tested against the Nikon FA readings and decided, as I don’t shoot slide film, this works good enough for me.
To insert the film, open the camera with slider on the lower left side of the body. Do NOT pull the rewind crank, as you might break it. Insert the film and close. To set the film speed, pull and turn the outer ring of the exposure wheel. Forward the film and you are ready. As you will realize, the advance lever does not fully close and works also as an “on” switch not unlike on the Nikon FA. To close it and to switch off the camera, press the little “off” button and it snaps back.
To use auto exposure, select your desired speed, set the lens f stop to “AE”, check if the light meter reading is between the over and under markings, focus and release. The camera selects the right aperture for you. For manual selection, press the silver button on the lens so you can select the aperture manually. For flash photography, select 1/125, attach a flash to the hot shoe and you are set. Film counter is set to “0” by opening, to rewind the film press the button on the bottom and rewind as normal.
The Konica Autoreflex is an affordable compact SLR with great lenses, easy to operate and as I can say from the first roll, really nice results.
| Brand | Konica |
| Model | Autoreflex TC |
| Year built | Unknown, production was from 1976 – 1982. Plastic bottom plate was used in the last production round, so I would guess 80ies |
| Serial number | 971051 |
| Lenses | Konica Hexanon 40mm f/1.8 7001749 Konica Hexanon 50mm f/1.7 7197504 |
| Shutter | Metal Leaf shutter B, 1/8 – 1/1000 |
| Film format | 35mm |
| Special features | – |
| Accessories | – |
| Manufactured by | Konica |
| Date of purchase | 08/2025 |
| Price | 44 € Body + 50mm lens, 39 € 40mm lens |
| Place of purchase | kleinanzeigen.de |
Tips & Tricks shooting with the Konica Autoreflex TC
Use cheap 675 hearing aids as batteries if you want to use the light meter and autoexposure.
Film purchase & processing
The camera can use any type of 35mm film, ISO 25 to 1600 if you want to use the built in meter / autoexposure.
Useful Links
https://buhla.de/Foto/Konica/eTCHaupt.html (description & technical data)
https://alaskanriviera.com/ (A Northern Exposure Fan Site)
https://butkus.org/chinon/konica/konica_autoreflex_tc/autoreflex_tc.htm (Manual from Mike Butkus)
Pictures
Konica Autoreflex Pool on Flickr
All my cameras 