Great video, as I support any video which makes a good presentation of this line of cameras. adding a few points: The first Koni Omega from 1964 was a collaboration between Konica and Omega, the US-based enlarger maker, in concept reviving the commercial failure of the Omega 120 from the late 1940s-50s. Omega dropped out later, so Konica redesigned the camera, mainly the film back, and introduced the new version in 1967 or so. Accessories and lenses fit both versions, except the backs, which do not interchange. Be careful when buying backs that you get the right model. The Koni and Mamia parts and accessories are interchangeable. The viewfinder lens framing uses a mechanism which Konica used only on their best cameras. It moves the frame to compensate for parallax error during focusing, as do many others. However it also changes the size of the framing to match how the image size changes during focusing - very cool. Lenses: Konica "borrowed" lens designs to make the lenses for this camera system, and only from the best. The original lenses camera were copied from: 60mm - Angulon; 90mm - Tessar; and 180mm - Tele-Xenar or similar. The later 135mm is a copy of the Zeiss Sonnar. The 58mm replaced the 60mm - Super Angulon copy. (My 60mm was a stinker, but it may just have been my copy.) IMO there are no weak links in this system, but the part which will fail first is the film back, usually for frame spacing. These are surprisingly complex and tricky to work on. There is a YT video somewhere showing how to disassemble a Koni Omega film back. One view will put you off the idea of DIY. There may be some shops which will work on these cameras today, but the Man was Greg Weber. Unhappily, he retired recently, so do not buy a junker cheap with the idea of having it overhauled, without finding your repairman first. You can sort the age of your camera by whether it has a rangefinder scale for the 135mm lens, which was introduced in the late 1960s. The 135mm installs and rangefinder couples on the earlier camera models. The 135mm was originated as the primary lens for the Koniflex TLR system, only later remounted for the Koni Omega RF. In TLR mount, it is common as dirt; for the RF system, it is unobtainium class. The accessory flash bracket really only couples to the old Graflex-style flash guns, which were the industry standard of the day. They are a dime a dozen on eBay because all of those flash guns were converted into light sabres after 1977. If you are a masochist in search of accessories, these items were offered. Two rangefinder "coupled" close up lenses for the 90mm (exactly like for the Mamiya 7 today); glasses protecting eyecup (uses that left cold shoe); custom-made cable release for that bracket on the hand grip; glass plate back for direct focusing with several back spacers to enable close up photography. The "sports finder" is both useful and commonly available, mounts in one of the cold shoes. They come in both pre-135mm and post--135mm versions.
I have the exact same camera and I love it ! Extremely sturdy, very well thought and full of clever features... Super easy to service and fine tune (even the rangefinder) with basic tools... I own the 90mm only and it is very sharp.
These are great cameras. A Koni Omega Rapid was my first medium format camera back in the '90s. I still have it, but the film backs are getting a bit tired, so I recently added a 100 to the kit. Thanks for sharing.
I have the Omega 120 by Simmons brother which is the precursor to this camera. IT IS A BEAUTY and incredibly rare these days. If you find the only 2 other listings on the internet make sure you snatch it up before they're gone.
I love my Omega Rapid 200. I originally thought the film back was broken because as I shot, the lever didnt seem to fully go back into the film back. Finally realized it was meant to do that for proper film spacing. I picked up 2 220 film backs for kicks to see what would happen if could run 120 film through it. Plus 220 film backs are super cheap since the only company producing 220 film is in China. Anyways, ordered the film backs and the cocking lever stuck on both of them. Kind of a hassle but actually easy to rebuild the clutch assembly on these film backs. Mine had lots of dried up 40 year old grease in them. Just be careful not to loose the incredibly tiny springs!!!!
What an epic tank of a camera - I loved it while I owned it. I cut a flash gel and put it over the viewfinder to increase the contrast. I swapped to a Fujica because my hands and neck didn't like the weight of the Konnie. Great stuff!
I have an earlier Koni Omega Rapid and while I love it the clutch in the film back does need maintenance or else you get overlapping frames. for changing the lenses it had a knob that rotate two slats into place instead of a dark slide.
Great video! I’ve been shooting on a rapid m and I’m planning a sort of brain dump video since I’ve ended up working on my camera a decent bit. Did you have to troubleshoot any light leaks with your camera? I’ve mostly been battling light leaks since I’ve owned mine, although I believe I’ve fixed all of mine now.
One of those was a prop in Space 1999. It's what the camera of the future looks like. 😁 I thought about one of those for years, but decided a Baby Graphic was the better option.
Ha! I was going to mention this. Was recently re-watching The Genius of Photography documentary and in it there is footage of Gossage using a pair of these.
A long time ago I bought one of these at a garage sale. I do not recall exactly which model. The man showed me that he slammed in the film advance. My first roll of film had part of the next image on each. I took it to a repair shop, and he said that it had a bent post, and he fixed it for $50 USD. Went back to the seller with the bill and photos and we agreed to split the cost of repair. Took it to a summer photo school and people never seen anything like it. Good times.
one warning about this camera, due to that lever cocking system, you MUST PULL and push ALL the way, otherwise you won't get consistent frame spacing, so even if the lever gets pulled 1/2" from pulling out of a bag, FORGET that frame, advance the rest of the way, so be it, you MUST waste it, to keep the frame spacing, so choose a good bag, strap the lever, etc. to stop this accident from occurring. Also the counter ONLY advances at the last cm of outward stroke!
Back in the day when I was an assistant , the guy that I worked with shot with this camera. The camera itself was great, but the backs were very delicate and even slightly rough use would result in frame spacing issues .
Also since you're shooting more medium format - Blackscale Labs 120 is the best camera rig I've found for MF. No leveling, copy stand, the holder keeps it super flat, worth every penny. I used to use a more expensive Valoi setup, but I *hated* the copy stand taking up space and the time to set it up.
I’ve got a 100 with a whole set of lenses, and while the 135 is a very nice portait lens, the 180 is nothing to write home about. It’s quite heavy and ultimately you’re using it at infinity because the RF isn’t precise enough.
I bought one in like new condition a couple of years ago with the cable release for $125. The 90mm on this camera is my favorite medium format lens. Sadly mine has been sitting on the shelf for at least a year now. On a side note mine has the original lens cap and it’s a friction fit cap that fits over the built in lens hood.
For anyone reading this for reference, it is very similar in design to the f/5.6 Super Angulon (1-3-3-1 arrangement) as opposed to the f/8 Super Angulon (1-2-2-1 grouping) or the f/5.6 Super Angulon XL (2-2-2-2 grouping).
When loading new film, there’s a small mark you use to align the starting arrows on the film paper. Then you attach the back. The film counter says “Load” so you advance the cocking handle three times to get to frame “1”. There isn’t any kind of lock to keep the handle from being moved if it snags on the camera bag or something
Oh, Sort of. It was the go-to camera system for wedding photographers from introduction around 1964. By the 1970, much of that business had shifted to 35mm SLRs. Konica sold the entire production plant to Mamiya around 1973. Mamiya rebranded the Koni Omega M as the 200, and finally remade the Koni Omega Rapid from 1975 as the 100, removing the mid-roll interchangeable film back feature as a cost-cutting, price reduction, ending around 1976. Its life cycle was roughly parallel to the Mamiya 23, Super 23, Universal series of cameras, which served the same market. Among Koni nerds, it is undecided whether Konica continued to make the lenses for Mamiya, or Mamiya took over making the lenses directly. As one of the club, I made a point of buying the Konica lens versions.
The Mamiya and Koni-Omega's were superior to Graflex as they improved film loading. The Graflex backs, while plentiful, were thick and made using the viewfinder difficult. I made a Superwide Graflex XLW pancake camera using a helical focus and upgraded 47mm Super-Angulon for 6x9 negatives. I sold it back in the 90's for over $1000 . . . to a buyer in China! Strange fact: I was able to sell the camera to a Chinese buyer, but only because it didn't have a battery. Battery operated or assisted cameras are BARRED FROM IMPORT to China!
my God, what a struggle, that's the reason why I'm sticking with 35 mil, placing the shutter on the left hand is a major design flaw, and every reasonable priced medium format camera comes with at least a couple of these
Right hand is for focusing, that's where you need presession and control. But its really beginner like to find some tiny flaws in cameras and then claim they are useless without ever understanding the functionality. This camera has one of the best ergonomics and ease of use of any camera i have ever used. So it might be, that the people who designed this know a bit more about how to build a functional camera than you.
If you want to see the ugliest camera ever made, Google the original Omega Rapid 120. Like they rummaged through the parts bins, and said, "Eh, that should work". Dr Frankenstein would approve.
Great video, as I support any video which makes a good presentation of this line of cameras. adding a few points:
The first Koni Omega from 1964 was a collaboration between Konica and Omega, the US-based enlarger maker, in concept reviving the commercial failure of the Omega 120 from the late 1940s-50s. Omega dropped out later, so Konica redesigned the camera, mainly the film back, and introduced the new version in 1967 or so. Accessories and lenses fit both versions, except the backs, which do not interchange. Be careful when buying backs that you get the right model. The Koni and Mamia parts and accessories are interchangeable.
The viewfinder lens framing uses a mechanism which Konica used only on their best cameras. It moves the frame to compensate for parallax error during focusing, as do many others. However it also changes the size of the framing to match how the image size changes during focusing - very cool.
Lenses: Konica "borrowed" lens designs to make the lenses for this camera system, and only from the best. The original lenses camera were copied from: 60mm - Angulon; 90mm - Tessar; and 180mm - Tele-Xenar or similar. The later 135mm is a copy of the Zeiss Sonnar. The 58mm replaced the 60mm - Super Angulon copy. (My 60mm was a stinker, but it may just have been my copy.)
IMO there are no weak links in this system, but the part which will fail first is the film back, usually for frame spacing. These are surprisingly complex and tricky to work on. There is a YT video somewhere showing how to disassemble a Koni Omega film back. One view will put you off the idea of DIY.
There may be some shops which will work on these cameras today, but the Man was Greg Weber. Unhappily, he retired recently, so do not buy a junker cheap with the idea of having it overhauled, without finding your repairman first.
You can sort the age of your camera by whether it has a rangefinder scale for the 135mm lens, which was introduced in the late 1960s. The 135mm installs and rangefinder couples on the earlier camera models. The 135mm was originated as the primary lens for the Koniflex TLR system, only later remounted for the Koni Omega RF. In TLR mount, it is common as dirt; for the RF system, it is unobtainium class.
The accessory flash bracket really only couples to the old Graflex-style flash guns, which were the industry standard of the day. They are a dime a dozen on eBay because all of those flash guns were converted into light sabres after 1977.
If you are a masochist in search of accessories, these items were offered. Two rangefinder "coupled" close up lenses for the 90mm (exactly like for the Mamiya 7 today); glasses protecting eyecup (uses that left cold shoe); custom-made cable release for that bracket on the hand grip; glass plate back for direct focusing with several back spacers to enable close up photography. The "sports finder" is both useful and commonly available, mounts in one of the cold shoes. They come in both pre-135mm and post--135mm versions.
Probably the most overlooked camera system there is, just a joy to use the ergonomics and overall usability are extremely good on these cameras.
I had never heard about these!
I had this camera in 1973. It was great. Fast shooting. Great for functions. Easy to use and load.
I have the exact same camera and I love it ! Extremely sturdy, very well thought and full of clever features... Super easy to service and fine tune (even the rangefinder) with basic tools... I own the 90mm only and it is very sharp.
I used both the RB67 and Koni Omega doing wedding photography for a studio while I was in college. The Koni Omega was nice for candid shots
These are great cameras. A Koni Omega Rapid was my first medium format camera back in the '90s. I still have it, but the film backs are getting a bit tired, so I recently added a 100 to the kit. Thanks for sharing.
I have the Omega 120 by Simmons brother which is the precursor to this camera. IT IS A BEAUTY and incredibly rare these days. If you find the only 2 other listings on the internet make sure you snatch it up before they're gone.
I love my Omega Rapid 200. I originally thought the film back was broken because as I shot, the lever didnt seem to fully go back into the film back. Finally realized it was meant to do that for proper film spacing. I picked up 2 220 film backs for kicks to see what would happen if could run 120 film through it. Plus 220 film backs are super cheap since the only company producing 220 film is in China. Anyways, ordered the film backs and the cocking lever stuck on both of them. Kind of a hassle but actually easy to rebuild the clutch assembly on these film backs. Mine had lots of dried up 40 year old grease in them. Just be careful not to loose the incredibly tiny springs!!!!
Well now I have another camera to keep on the lookout for! Great video and a great suggestion.
I used one when I was in the Navy late 70’s.
What an epic tank of a camera - I loved it while I owned it. I cut a flash gel and put it over the viewfinder to increase the contrast. I swapped to a Fujica because my hands and neck didn't like the weight of the Konnie. Great stuff!
I have an earlier Koni Omega Rapid and while I love it the clutch in the film back does need maintenance or else you get overlapping frames. for changing the lenses it had a knob that rotate two slats into place instead of a dark slide.
Great video! I’ve been shooting on a rapid m and I’m planning a sort of brain dump video since I’ve ended up working on my camera a decent bit.
Did you have to troubleshoot any light leaks with your camera? I’ve mostly been battling light leaks since I’ve owned mine, although I believe I’ve fixed all of mine now.
That's a beautiful quirky camera, thank you for sharing 🧀
One of those was a prop in Space 1999. It's what the camera of the future looks like. 😁
I thought about one of those for years, but decided a Baby Graphic was the better option.
Do you know what episode?
If memory serves this is also john gossage's favorite camera. Good Video.
Ha! I was going to mention this. Was recently re-watching The Genius of Photography documentary and in it there is footage of Gossage using a pair of these.
A long time ago I bought one of these at a garage sale. I do not recall exactly which model. The man showed me that he slammed in the film advance. My first roll of film had part of the next image on each. I took it to a repair shop, and he said that it had a bent post, and he fixed it for $50 USD. Went back to the seller with the bill and photos and we agreed to split the cost of repair. Took it to a summer photo school and people never seen anything like it. Good times.
Love the film advance action 😄
one warning about this camera, due to that lever cocking system, you MUST PULL and push ALL the way, otherwise you won't get consistent frame spacing, so even if the lever gets pulled 1/2" from pulling out of a bag, FORGET that frame, advance the rest of the way, so be it, you MUST waste it, to keep the frame spacing, so choose a good bag, strap the lever, etc. to stop this accident from occurring. Also the counter ONLY advances at the last cm of outward stroke!
Back in the day when I was an assistant , the guy that I worked with shot with this camera. The camera itself was great, but the backs were very delicate and even slightly rough use would result in frame spacing issues .
It works like a shotgun, love that cocking mechanism.
Also since you're shooting more medium format - Blackscale Labs 120 is the best camera rig I've found for MF. No leveling, copy stand, the holder keeps it super flat, worth every penny. I used to use a more expensive Valoi setup, but I *hated* the copy stand taking up space and the time to set it up.
I’ve got a 100 with a whole set of lenses, and while the 135 is a very nice portait lens, the 180 is nothing to write home about. It’s quite heavy and ultimately you’re using it at infinity because the RF isn’t precise enough.
I bought one in like new condition a couple of years ago with the cable release for $125. The 90mm on this camera is my favorite medium format lens. Sadly mine has been sitting on the shelf for at least a year now. On a side note mine has the original lens cap and it’s a friction fit cap that fits over the built in lens hood.
The 58 mm is a Super-Angulon design (similar lens was made by Schneider), so it should be sweet performer.
For anyone reading this for reference, it is very similar in design to the f/5.6 Super Angulon (1-3-3-1 arrangement) as opposed to the f/8 Super Angulon (1-2-2-1 grouping) or the f/5.6 Super Angulon XL (2-2-2-2 grouping).
a nice steam punk machine, only the chimney is missing.
The pressure plate retracts for film advance
What did you use to develop the 120 TMax 100? Have you tried xtol? Seems to shine in the 120 tmax100
I like Xtol, especially replenished. This was developed in 510 Pyro however.
A bolt action camera!
Does the wind-on lock after winding on, or is there a fear of catching it on something and wasting a frame?
When loading new film, there’s a small mark you use to align the starting arrows on the film paper. Then you attach the back. The film counter says “Load” so you advance the cocking handle three times to get to frame “1”. There isn’t any kind of lock to keep the handle from being moved if it snags on the camera bag or something
Was this originally intended as a press camera?
Oh, Sort of. It was the go-to camera system for wedding photographers from introduction around 1964. By the 1970, much of that business had shifted to 35mm SLRs. Konica sold the entire production plant to Mamiya around 1973. Mamiya rebranded the Koni Omega M as the 200, and finally remade the Koni Omega Rapid from 1975 as the 100, removing the mid-roll interchangeable film back feature as a cost-cutting, price reduction, ending around 1976. Its life cycle was roughly parallel to the Mamiya 23, Super 23, Universal series of cameras, which served the same market. Among Koni nerds, it is undecided whether Konica continued to make the lenses for Mamiya, or Mamiya took over making the lenses directly. As one of the club, I made a point of buying the Konica lens versions.
@@randallstewart1224 Thank you for your very comprehensive answer.
Technically, that is an insert and not a back. Great video.
The Mamiya and Koni-Omega's were superior to Graflex as they improved film loading. The Graflex backs, while plentiful, were thick and made using the viewfinder difficult. I made a Superwide Graflex XLW pancake camera using a helical focus and upgraded 47mm Super-Angulon for 6x9 negatives. I sold it back in the 90's for over $1000 . . . to a buyer in China! Strange fact: I was able to sell the camera to a Chinese buyer, but only because it didn't have a battery. Battery operated or assisted cameras are BARRED FROM IMPORT to China!
I prefere the "GOOSE" Polaroid 600SE, or Mamiya Press.
my God, what a struggle, that's the reason why I'm sticking with 35 mil, placing the shutter on the left hand is a major design flaw, and every reasonable priced medium format camera comes with at least a couple of these
I’m left handed
Right hand is for focusing, that's where you need presession and control. But its really beginner like to find some tiny flaws in cameras and then claim they are useless without ever understanding the functionality. This camera has one of the best ergonomics and ease of use of any camera i have ever used. So it might be, that the people who designed this know a bit more about how to build a functional camera than you.
That's why it's forgotten! Very weird camera indeed
If you want to see the ugliest camera ever made, Google the original Omega Rapid 120. Like they rummaged through the parts bins, and said, "Eh, that should work". Dr Frankenstein would approve.
I just bought one of those, I love it. Ergonomics are pretty good