All,

I was extremely fortunate the other day to land a good deal on a pair of FT-1's offered on eBay. These two bodies had been altered (slightly) to inteface with some sort of electronic device (apparently to trigger ths shutter and flash externally). The cameras had "...never been used..." according to the seller, though she believed they were only good for parts.

Well, to make a long story short, the cameras each had a small black metal box attached to them, that LOOKS like it was custom-built for the FT-1s. They attach via a Hex Bolt into the tripod attachment for the camera. There's a "pass through" for the film rewind release and a little access panel in the bottom of the box. The black box is very nearly the size and shape of an autowinder for an FC-1, but it is NOT an autowinder box!

From the front of the box, there was a wire coming from the FT-1 AAA battery compartment. The AAA holder had been modified to receive power from the black box, it appears. There was some de-soldering I had to do to whip the AAA holders back into reasonable shape.

There were also 2 wires coming from the fron, one going to the X sync socket and the other to the Accessory Terminal. The front of the box had a connector and inside was a small circuit board with 4 small capacitors and some DIP switches. The overall dimensions of the black housing are about 1 inch high, 1.5 inces deep and 5.75 inces long. It fits EXACTLY on the FT-1 baseplate and even has a "cut out" that conforms to the film-side of the baseplate.

Anybody know what this is? I didn't receive any info on the Interface.

Re: the Cameras, I fixed up the AAA battery holders to working order (I plan to get some new AA's soon) and tried them out. The cameras themselves seem to be in PERFECT order and I really don't think they've been used at all (certainly not much)!

Anyway, does anyone know what the attachments are? I haven't seen anything like them advertised before, yet they seem "too good" to be cobbled together (they look like "Konica-specific Equipment).

-- tm in (still) COLDorado Springs

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2001

Answers

I have heard of these boxes.

Hi Tom,

I have heard of these boxes with the FT-1's in them, was the FT-1 missing its mounting ring too?

Trying to remember correctly, but I think it was a device used to copy slides (or copy something if not slides). They are a large box that the FT-1 fits into and are used for high turnover reproduction. While the FT-1 is totally protected and not used by hand, it is part of a "machine" that used the FT-1.

I do know, while the FT-1s from these machines look new, they are not at all "new" inside and may have had thousands of shots of film though them. I know this isn't what you wanted to hear (heck, I wouldn't want to hear it myself), but you might of got 2 FT-1 TAXI's, great looking on the outside, but really run down in the engine department.

Do you remember if they were set on continual shot mode?

Mike.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

Another possibility...

Mike's information sounds pretty good...

I've also seen custom modified FT-1's used in stereo/sync setups.

Definitely get the AA battery holders, Tom. The cameras work much better with AAs than with AAAs, IMHO.

Cheers!

Alan Myers Freezin' in SJ Calif. (just cause we can't afford to heat the houses, hah!)

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

Adapted FT-1's inside machines

Greetings, I purchased an FT-1 from a fellow in Belgium about two and a half years ago on Ebay for a ridiculously low price. The camera was missing the lens mount and had had some work done on the battery compartment. A small hole had been drilled through the front of the case and wires attached to the terminals. The lens mount had been replaced with a nicely machined M42 mount. I have also assumed that this camera had been part of some high-colume copy setup. I had the mount replaced with a genuine Konica mount (from a TC-X), and filled in the hole in the battery compartment with a small dab of epoxy glue. To date I've shot countless rolls of film through this camera all over Europe, Canada, and the Middle East, and I've had virtually no troubles (had to tighten the clutch mechanism in the winder once). Best of luck to all who pick up cameras like these!

Thomas Hulit Durham, England

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001