Remember the Koni-Omega?

[LakeMary]

I started my Pro career with the Koni. It had a standard 50mm lens and was a wedding work horse. I loved the crank of the film advance. It took alot of punishment. The backs would seem to leak in light after advanced usage.

Anyone still have one of these or still use it?

 

[D W]

Used one early in my career. It was my first 120 film camera. But the standard lens on mine was a 90mm????

--
Retired commercial photog - enjoying shooting for myself again.
Hoping to see/shoot as much as I can before the eyes and legs gives way

WOW you were able to do that without photoshop!!!!

 

[LakeMary]

It also had a 220 back. Heavy sun of a gun. I loved pulling that film advance crank. Thought I was pulling the guts out of the camera.

 

[Timberwolfpuppy]

I have three Koni Omega's right now. I have mint condition 58mm biogon clone. 90mm tessar. I believe in them after my Mamiya Super 23 Press failed on me at a wedding, the focusing went out of alignment. So, I chose the Koni Omega and never had such a problem again. They are tough. The flash cord never fell out which saved me many wedding pics. Of course, it screwed in!

I took the handle off of a Koni and used it to customize a Stroboframe R7 bracket to perfection.

The sharpness figures for the 90mm Koni Omega are as sharp as Zeiss 80mm when stopped down to f11. That is, all excellents. Someone said the Hexanon lens was sharper than the Omergon or whatever it is spelled like. Anyway, it has a very sharp lens when stopped down.

What a tough camera! Focusing was fast for a rangefinder! And you could calibrate the lens or the focusing handle for flash distances for perfect fill in flash.

I used 220 film, and never had a scratch. It advances film really fast. It looks so wierd though! But once you get past it's ugliness, you realize that everything is placed in a logical position. So much better than trying to use a Mamiya RB 6x7 handheld!

The younger photographers here don't appreciate rangefinder cameras. They have auto everything. There's a place in my heart for the Koni Omega 6x7.

...Timber...

 

[LakeMary]

Can a Koni still be bought in todays market?

 

[Timberwolfpuppy]

For about $200 on Ebay.

 

[Timberwolfpuppy]

Here is a link that agrees that the lens was as sharp or sharper than a Hasselblad 50mm FLE lens.

http://www.mir.com.my/michaeliu/michaeliu/medformat/konireview.html

 

[dscf]

I still use an Omega Rapid, the old version that doesn't take a dark slide. Lenses are the 58mm, 90mm, and 180mm. Results are always razor sharp and the camera has never failed.

 

[Mr.Film]

Hi LakeMary,

Boy do I ever remember those Konis! We used them on the Chicago Fire Dept for arson investigations, fireground and public relations photos for about 6 years. They replaced the the 4x5 Crown Graphics. The Konis were nearly indestructable and fireman proof;-) We eventually replaced the Konis with Mamiya C330's, but they couldn't take the abuse. After two years they were replaced by Nikon FM2's. Those were good workhorses and lasted about 15 years.

I bought a couple of Konis for my own personal use. I keep telling myself that I will go back to using them one day, but since I went digital they're memories just sitting around waiting for that day.

--
Sincerely,
Mr. Film