Konica A4
The heat wave is messing with me. I've already been sick once this month and now I'm feeling a familiar scratching in my throat again. Honestly, life is so much easier whenever it's just not summer.
I'm going to attribute my own tardiness and laziness to that. It's summer and I just can't be bothered to do anything that's above bare minimum. This post won't be in depth, then. Just a snapshot of my experience with Konica A4, illustrated by snapshots I took with the two that I currently own.
(or so I thought, before I started writing)
Big Mini?
It's been mentioned by many photo bloggers that I read, that the A4 is a predecessor to the actual Big Mini series. This first one was released a year prior to the actual namesake for the series, in 1989. While the name itself doesn't seem to appear anywhere on the body, it clearly has the same bones as the rest. I actually have an og Big Mini, though not working atm (actually, I just checked and it DOES work now? what the hell), and the design is much the same, although with several tweaks that make the A4 appear a bit less polished in comparison. Paradoxical, because it's clearly more shiny, and that actually is one of the less-polished aspects of it. Ahem.
A4.
Mom jokes aside, the A4 is technically a bit of an outsider. Some of the things that are different about it include the close up setting, which I presonally like a lot because it disables infinity focus which makes it certain to focus where you want it to. Which, with point and shoot cameras, you never know what it sees, do you? I mean, until you see the actual photo. It's okay if your digital camera misses focus in that one shot, but with auto-focus film cameras, especially those that aren't, say, a Konica Hexar AF that's reliable af, ahem, I seem to be full of mom jokes today, that can be a bummer. So I like that setting. That setting is fine. It's a finely tuned control that I enjoy in photography, only adjusted to the level of very limited control that you can have over a point and shoot. It's a blip, really. But it's useful.
Other than that, an interesting bit is that it has a wide range of shutter speeds. 1/3-1/500 is pretty sufficient in most cases for the kind of use this camera was designed for. It's where this one is much better than the iconic Mju-1, with its meager 1/15 slowest speed. I mean... that was super disappointing, and one of the many qualms I have with the Mju-I. But that's for another review.
You know what I especially appreciate about A4's design? The viewfinder. I've handled a lot of point and shoots these past months as my shop has been growing. And I gotta tell ya, if you can't comfortably and easily fit your eye into the viewfinder, that drives me nuts. It's pretty much a deal breaker for me. Some point and shoots have these infuriating tiny, squinty, blackened viewfinders that I swear if you move your eye 1° to the side, you'll obscure half the viewfinder image. Olympus Mju-1 has that, Canon Prima Mini has that, Minolta Rivas have that. Why? It makes taking photos so much more difficult, when it should be extra easy, especially on cameras like this, that are made to be easy. Rant over.
So yeah, Konica A4 doesn't have that. The viewfinder is large and bright and easy to see through, with parallax markings for the close up mode. It's great. It's a pleasure to use. It's pretty quiet too.
Operation
It's a good point and shoot and it delivers what a good point and shoot should. The lens, 3.5/35 mm is sharp both up close, and at infinity. The autofocus action is quick and smooth. Frame, snap, enjoy the results... or not. But if you don't, it's not the camera's fault. It's a bit like that with most pns's: you're mostly to blame if the photos turn out bland. This is definitely so with the A4, as the lens is just so good it won't give you much distortion or vignetting or any additional aesthetic characteristics that could sometimes help and turn an otherwise bland pic into something moody or sensational, or at least lomo-esque, if you're into that. So it's all on you. You have to know how to handle the wide-ish lens to take interesting pics. The camera won't add much on its own, it's an almost transparent tool. And a very good tool at that.
A4dable
(I apologize, but this had to be done.)
I think this camera is very underrated, and I'm not sure why. I think part of it is that it's on the more rare end of point and shoots. It's just not as well known as some others, and has not been hyped ad infinitum like some others. (See what I did there?)
Should you get one? If you're on the lookout for a good point and shoot that has good specs, is pocketable and lightweight, never misses exposure and has a tack sharp lens and can easily focus up close, AND whose price is not out of reason --yeah. If you're looking for something quirky, unexpected, that will deliver results that are aesthetically surprising, I say leave this one to those who are simply looking for a very good, solid shooter.
Side note, there seems to be a common problem within the series, that the lens motor can get slow. It certainly is the case with one of my A4s, and with the BM. I wonder if that can be fixed. Will update to reflect when I've shown it to my trusty serviceman. Anyway, you should probably check for that if you're planning to buy. It didn't matter to me or the results, but it's simply good to know what to expect of the camera's state.
I do not know this camera from my own experience, but I can see your description and interesting photos. I especially appreciate the night scenes because I always have trouble with them. A very interesting article. Thank you!
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