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Konica AiBorg
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Sep 21, 2022 22:35:06   #
waegwan Loc: Mae Won Li
 
Anyone ever use one, just curious.

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Sep 22, 2022 12:00:14   #
SandyAO Loc: Farmington Hills, MI
 
waegwan wrote:
Anyone ever use one, just curious.


Yes. I have used one and I still have it. A totally remarkable film camera with a sharp zoom lens. I used to carry it in my brief case as a "small" camera to photograph images when out and about and not wanting to carry 35mm gear. Highly "computerized" and menu driven for it's time. I think I purchased it around 2002. The menus and features would rival 35mm DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras currently in use today.

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Sep 22, 2022 12:02:48   #
User ID
 
SandyAO wrote:
Yes. I have used one and I still have it. A totally remarkable film camera with a sharp zoom lens. I used to carry it in my brief case as a "small" camera to photograph images when out and about and not wanting to carry 35mm gear. Highly "computerized" and menu driven for it's time. I think I purchased it around 2002. The menus and features would rival 35mm DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras currently in use today.

Not familiar. Was it an APS camera ?

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Sep 22, 2022 12:04:47   #
SandyAO Loc: Farmington Hills, MI
 
35mm film camera.

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Sep 23, 2022 09:23:19   #
waegwan Loc: Mae Won Li
 
SandyAO wrote:
Yes. I have used one and I still have it. A totally remarkable film camera with a sharp zoom lens. I used to carry it in my brief case as a "small" camera to photograph images when out and about and not wanting to carry 35mm gear. Highly "computerized" and menu driven for it's time. I think I purchased it around 2002. The menus and features would rival 35mm DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras currently in use today.


That is interesting that you bought it around 2002 and carried it in a briefcase. I bought one in late 1992 or early 1993 and used it a few times and ended up giving it to my In-Laws. Even then I had more cameras than I could use at one time. Since then, both Father and Mother In-Law have passed away and the the rest of the family have grown and moved on and the camera has come back to me. I had mostly forgotten about it all these years. I still have several film cameras that I want to use again when I have time to set up developing tanks to process the film. It will be fun to play with the AiBorg again. They are quite a unique item especially for their day and for being a film camera.

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Sep 23, 2022 09:35:06   #
waegwan Loc: Mae Won Li
 
User ID wrote:
Not familiar. Was it an APS camera ?


It was quite advanced as a film camera but it does not fall in the group of APS cameras as it is a full frame 35mm film camera.

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Sep 23, 2022 12:46:46   #
amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
 
The "Darth Vader" of cameras!



image by John Nuttall (Creative Common licensed)

As a collector of Konica/Konishiroku/Konishi/Rokuoh Sha/Cherry cameras, with virtually every 35mm film camera they ever made, almost every SLR lens and most of their medium format and sheet film cameras...

I don't have and have always wanted an AiBorg! It's my albatross... my Eleanor... my white whale... my unicorn. Sure, I've seen plenty offered for sale, but never been willing to pay the prices they wanted!

Here's how Camera Wiki describes it...

The Konica AiBORG super zoom 35-105 is a large, very distinctive (if not downright eccentric) 35mm point-and-shoot viewfinder camera. It was made in Japan by Konica, who described it as "futuristic, black, ellipsoidal." at its introduction in 1991[1]. It has become known colloquially the "Darth Vader" camera, thanks to its similar style to the helmet worn by the Star Wars character. With its fairly high-specification 3x zoom, non-traditional styling, and high level of automation, this was Konica's entrance into market segment for designer cameras briefly in the late 1980s and early 90s.

The heavy body is black plastic, with rubberized grips on the ends, and a subtle glitter effect on the front panels. Fittingly, for a camera whose name invokes Cyborgs and AI (artificial intelligence) there are 19 automatic "scene" modes offered. Some unusual multiple exposure modes are included; one shoots a burst of six shots, with the flash only firing for the final one[2]. An LCD panel on the top shows the camera settings, and a further small LCD display in the back shows the date settings. The AiBORG has a 3x zoom lens - with a hinged transparent plastic cover, motor drive and built-in flash. There is no facility for external flash.

The back features a large joystick-like switch which moves vertically for zooming and horizontally for manual focus or moving the focus point. The focus distance is shown on a small arc-shaped dial in the viewfinder. There are small coloured button controls for flash (red), self-timer (green, 3 or 10 secs or single/continuous shooting) and date setting, and several labelled in an inscrutable non-standard manner. The small viewfinder eyepiece has a rotary dioptric adjuster carefully placed to be on the cheekbone when in use, leaving little room for a finger to adjust it.

Lens: Konica Zoom, 35-105mm, f3.5-f8.5
Autofocus: Infrared active autofocus with movable sensor area
Shutter: Electronic programmed shutter 6.4–1/500th sec
Flash: Built-in, multimode flash with slow sync and fill-flash options
Power: 2CR5 6v battery
Weight: 20.15 oz


Some other views of the camera and its controls can be seen here: http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Konica_AiBORG

Personally, instead of Vader I always thought it it looked more like the Cylons of Battlestar Galactica, aside from the black color.

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Sep 23, 2022 13:17:33   #
SandyAO Loc: Farmington Hills, MI
 
I wanted a "small" light weight camera to carry around for "quick" shots if I saw something interesting. I don't recall the exact date of purchase, but I recall using in the early 2000's. I may have purchased it as early as 1996 because I recall photographing a sunset by a historic building that was used in the early 20th century in the auto industry. I live in Farmington Hills Michigan a suburb of Detroit, so there where many sites related to auto manufacturing and that image was taken around 1996-1997. It took excellent images and the menu / camera features were way ahead on any other fixed lens film camera of the era.

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Sep 23, 2022 15:10:56   #
User ID
 
waegwan wrote:
It was quite advanced as a film camera but it does not fall in the group of APS cameras as it is a full frame 35mm film camera.

Excellent. AFAIK you cant get APS film today, even from the specialty vendors.

Reply
Sep 23, 2022 19:56:45   #
waegwan Loc: Mae Won Li
 
amfoto1 wrote:
The "Darth Vader" of cameras!



image by John Nuttall (Creative Common licensed)

As a collector of Konica/Konishiroku/Konishi/Rokuoh Sha/Cherry cameras, with virtually every 35mm film camera they ever made, almost every SLR lens and most of their medium format and sheet film cameras...

I don't have and have always wanted an AiBorg! It's my albatross... my Eleanor... my white whale... my unicorn. Sure, I've seen plenty offered for sale, but never been willing to pay the prices they wanted!

Here's how Camera Wiki describes it...

The Konica AiBORG super zoom 35-105 is a large, very distinctive (if not downright eccentric) 35mm point-and-shoot viewfinder camera. It was made in Japan by Konica, who described it as "futuristic, black, ellipsoidal." at its introduction in 1991[1]. It has become known colloquially the "Darth Vader" camera, thanks to its similar style to the helmet worn by the Star Wars character. With its fairly high-specification 3x zoom, non-traditional styling, and high level of automation, this was Konica's entrance into market segment for designer cameras briefly in the late 1980s and early 90s.

The heavy body is black plastic, with rubberized grips on the ends, and a subtle glitter effect on the front panels. Fittingly, for a camera whose name invokes Cyborgs and AI (artificial intelligence) there are 19 automatic "scene" modes offered. Some unusual multiple exposure modes are included; one shoots a burst of six shots, with the flash only firing for the final one[2]. An LCD panel on the top shows the camera settings, and a further small LCD display in the back shows the date settings. The AiBORG has a 3x zoom lens - with a hinged transparent plastic cover, motor drive and built-in flash. There is no facility for external flash.

The back features a large joystick-like switch which moves vertically for zooming and horizontally for manual focus or moving the focus point. The focus distance is shown on a small arc-shaped dial in the viewfinder. There are small coloured button controls for flash (red), self-timer (green, 3 or 10 secs or single/continuous shooting) and date setting, and several labelled in an inscrutable non-standard manner. The small viewfinder eyepiece has a rotary dioptric adjuster carefully placed to be on the cheekbone when in use, leaving little room for a finger to adjust it.

Lens: Konica Zoom, 35-105mm, f3.5-f8.5
Autofocus: Infrared active autofocus with movable sensor area
Shutter: Electronic programmed shutter 6.4–1/500th sec
Flash: Built-in, multimode flash with slow sync and fill-flash options
Power: 2CR5 6v battery
Weight: 20.15 oz


Some other views of the camera and its controls can be seen here: http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Konica_AiBORG

Personally, instead of Vader I always thought it it looked more like the Cylons of Battlestar Galactica, aside from the black color.
The "Darth Vader" of cameras! br br i... (show quote)


Wow! that is an amazing collection. I'm pretty sure the AiBorg is the only Konica camera I own. "It's my albatross... my Eleanor... my white whale... my unicorn" Well if I ever decide to donate mine to a worthy cause I'll try to remember you. :D Thanks for your interesting write up.

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Sep 23, 2022 20:04:37   #
waegwan Loc: Mae Won Li
 
SandyAO wrote:
I wanted a "small" light weight camera to carry around for "quick" shots if I saw something interesting. I don't recall the exact date of purchase, but I recall using in the early 2000's. I may have purchased it as early as 1996 because I recall photographing a sunset by a historic building that was used in the early 20th century in the auto industry. I live in Farmington Hills Michigan a suburb of Detroit, so there where many sites related to auto manufacturing and that image was taken around 1996-1997. It took excellent images and the menu / camera features were way ahead on any other fixed lens film camera of the era.
I wanted a "small" light weight camera t... (show quote)


It is interesting your consider it to be small and light weight, I do too. However some of the write-ups about it say it is heavy and bulky. I've never been to Michigan but I'd love to visit your town. I love automobiles and old factories. Thanks for your comment :-)

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Sep 23, 2022 20:05:03   #
waegwan Loc: Mae Won Li
 
User ID wrote:
Excellent. AFAIK you cant get APS film today, even from the specialty vendors.



Reply
Sep 24, 2022 11:49:36   #
lukevaliant Loc: gloucester city,n. j.
 
amfoto1 wrote:
The "Darth Vader" of cameras!



image by John Nuttall (Creative Common licensed)

As a collector of Konica/Konishiroku/Konishi/Rokuoh Sha/Cherry cameras, with virtually every 35mm film camera they ever made, almost every SLR lens and most of their medium format and sheet film cameras...

I don't have and have always wanted an AiBorg! It's my albatross... my Eleanor... my white whale... my unicorn. Sure, I've seen plenty offered for sale, but never been willing to pay the prices they wanted!

Here's how Camera Wiki describes it...

The Konica AiBORG super zoom 35-105 is a large, very distinctive (if not downright eccentric) 35mm point-and-shoot viewfinder camera. It was made in Japan by Konica, who described it as "futuristic, black, ellipsoidal." at its introduction in 1991[1]. It has become known colloquially the "Darth Vader" camera, thanks to its similar style to the helmet worn by the Star Wars character. With its fairly high-specification 3x zoom, non-traditional styling, and high level of automation, this was Konica's entrance into market segment for designer cameras briefly in the late 1980s and early 90s.

The heavy body is black plastic, with rubberized grips on the ends, and a subtle glitter effect on the front panels. Fittingly, for a camera whose name invokes Cyborgs and AI (artificial intelligence) there are 19 automatic "scene" modes offered. Some unusual multiple exposure modes are included; one shoots a burst of six shots, with the flash only firing for the final one[2]. An LCD panel on the top shows the camera settings, and a further small LCD display in the back shows the date settings. The AiBORG has a 3x zoom lens - with a hinged transparent plastic cover, motor drive and built-in flash. There is no facility for external flash.

The back features a large joystick-like switch which moves vertically for zooming and horizontally for manual focus or moving the focus point. The focus distance is shown on a small arc-shaped dial in the viewfinder. There are small coloured button controls for flash (red), self-timer (green, 3 or 10 secs or single/continuous shooting) and date setting, and several labelled in an inscrutable non-standard manner. The small viewfinder eyepiece has a rotary dioptric adjuster carefully placed to be on the cheekbone when in use, leaving little room for a finger to adjust it.

Lens: Konica Zoom, 35-105mm, f3.5-f8.5
Autofocus: Infrared active autofocus with movable sensor area
Shutter: Electronic programmed shutter 6.4–1/500th sec
Flash: Built-in, multimode flash with slow sync and fill-flash options
Power: 2CR5 6v battery
Weight: 20.15 oz


Some other views of the camera and its controls can be seen here: http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Konica_AiBORG

Personally, instead of Vader I always thought it it looked more like the Cylons of Battlestar Galactica, aside from the black color.
The "Darth Vader" of cameras! br br i... (show quote)


i started out 35 mm with a konica fs-1

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Sep 24, 2022 15:03:53   #
User ID
 
lukevaliant wrote:
i started out 35 mm with a konica fs-1
I started out with a 1967 96 850 Special. I recall we had 3 rooms all heated by the space heater in the kitchen stove.

Reply
Sep 25, 2022 05:29:47   #
Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal
 
amfoto1 wrote:
The "Darth Vader" of cameras!



image by John Nuttall (Creative Common licensed)

As a collector of Konica/Konishiroku/Konishi/Rokuoh Sha/Cherry cameras, with virtually every 35mm film camera they ever made, almost every SLR lens and most of their medium format and sheet film cameras...

I don't have and have always wanted an AiBorg! It's my albatross... my Eleanor... my white whale... my unicorn. Sure, I've seen plenty offered for sale, but never been willing to pay the prices they wanted!

Here's how Camera Wiki describes it...

The Konica AiBORG super zoom 35-105 is a large, very distinctive (if not downright eccentric) 35mm point-and-shoot viewfinder camera. It was made in Japan by Konica, who described it as "futuristic, black, ellipsoidal." at its introduction in 1991[1]. It has become known colloquially the "Darth Vader" camera, thanks to its similar style to the helmet worn by the Star Wars character. With its fairly high-specification 3x zoom, non-traditional styling, and high level of automation, this was Konica's entrance into market segment for designer cameras briefly in the late 1980s and early 90s.

The heavy body is black plastic, with rubberized grips on the ends, and a subtle glitter effect on the front panels. Fittingly, for a camera whose name invokes Cyborgs and AI (artificial intelligence) there are 19 automatic "scene" modes offered. Some unusual multiple exposure modes are included; one shoots a burst of six shots, with the flash only firing for the final one[2]. An LCD panel on the top shows the camera settings, and a further small LCD display in the back shows the date settings. The AiBORG has a 3x zoom lens - with a hinged transparent plastic cover, motor drive and built-in flash. There is no facility for external flash.

The back features a large joystick-like switch which moves vertically for zooming and horizontally for manual focus or moving the focus point. The focus distance is shown on a small arc-shaped dial in the viewfinder. There are small coloured button controls for flash (red), self-timer (green, 3 or 10 secs or single/continuous shooting) and date setting, and several labelled in an inscrutable non-standard manner. The small viewfinder eyepiece has a rotary dioptric adjuster carefully placed to be on the cheekbone when in use, leaving little room for a finger to adjust it.

Lens: Konica Zoom, 35-105mm, f3.5-f8.5
Autofocus: Infrared active autofocus with movable sensor area
Shutter: Electronic programmed shutter 6.4–1/500th sec
Flash: Built-in, multimode flash with slow sync and fill-flash options
Power: 2CR5 6v battery
Weight: 20.15 oz


Some other views of the camera and its controls can be seen here: http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Konica_AiBORG

Personally, instead of Vader I always thought it it looked more like the Cylons of Battlestar Galactica, aside from the black color.
The "Darth Vader" of cameras! br br i... (show quote)


https://www.ebay.com/itm/394252579110?hash=item5bcb48f126:g:MvIAAOSw4w5jKt1Y&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4MDvrG1TUwxKlYvt16TntCnhDSszSCN%2BbFIZOJYII4bdpENdaYmNRl2Ws8KaV9jSJpZiLkFYzC6qQKJOvX2NpPUiAYIoF2igT8Gwo3O1XfWTID4BVHbEyxNOe7QaCogPF8xM%2BHd24OLr4kGmOww%2F%2FncxwqAIzf90Mx3pgFoso7Yc8jDTJ51v9MzMAAiwl%2FcrRxR14XGS15K%2FFEczbZAicblP2dOGBXkRdvQ0zgeSgWNE5ecaxIU5tpNm34xLX5MByjpedAskB3VA6nEaZAFAutKyPWUS5fq1JFOY6K5i9ckH%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_il07_uYA

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