Konica FP-1 (1981–1983)

Name: Konica FP-1
Brand: Konica

The Konica FP-1 is an SLR that works like a point-and-shoot. Konica introduced it in 1981 and built it until 1983. It was their only SLR with a fully automatic program exposure mode, and the only one without any manual overrides. You get no control over shutter speed, aperture, or depth of field. The camera decides everything the instant you press the release.

The TTL metering system reads the scene through a CdS cell, then selects one of only three apertures - f/2.8, f/5.6, or f/11 - paired with a non-stepped shutter speed from 1/30 to 1/1000 second. The shutter-priority philosophy goes for the fastest speed to avoid camera shake, then picks the best of those three apertures to match. The viewfinder confirms the choice with a green LED for proper exposure or a red LED warning that you need flash. Exposure range is EV 8 to 17 at ASA 100, with film speeds from ASA 25 to 800.

The FP-1 uses the Konica AR bayonet mount, so it takes the full Hexanon lens line. The three-aperture program does mean lenses wider than f/2.8 are effectively incompatible. The shutter is a vertically traveling electronic metal focal-plane type, and everything runs off a single 6V battery (4LR44 alkaline or 4SR44 silver oxide). There is no mechanical fallback. If the battery dies, the camera is dead. The shutter release and self-timer are electric buttons, so a standard cable release won't fit. You need an electric remote release in the accessory socket on the right side of the body.

Konica carried over the automatic film-loading system from the FC-1. Drop in the cassette, pull the leader across the gate, and the camera advances to the first frame without firing the shutter. The back is interchangeable and opens by pulling up the rewind crank. The FP-1 accepts the Auto Winder F for about 1.5 frames-per-second shooting. With dedicated Konica flashes (X-18 Auto, X-24 Auto, or X-36 Auto) the camera automatically sets the shutter to 1/100 second and the aperture to f/5.6 or f/11 per the flash unit's setting. X-sync is 1/100 second via the integrated hot shoe.

The body comes in black only. It weighs 495 g without battery and measures 140 × 89 × 45 mm. The viewfinder offers 0.67x magnification with a split-image rangefinder surrounded by a microprism ring. Controls are sparse: an on/off switch, self-timer, film advance lever, and a film speed dial around the rewind crank. The electronic self-timer runs 10 seconds with an LED countdown indicator.

Konica positioned the FP-1 as an affordable entry into electronic SLRs, about $155 USD in mid-1982, aimed at amateurs who wanted total automation without learning exposure theory. It reflected Konica's shift in the early 1980s from the mechanical Autoreflex series toward fully electronic bodies competing with the Canon AE-1 and Nikon F3. German-language HI-Fi-Stereo-Buyers-adjacent sources like buhla.de describe the FP-1 as "an unusual and exotic camera - an SLR with no adjustment controls." The trade-off was no creative control whatsoever, and the niche appeal meant it wasn't a major commercial success. Discontinued in 1983, it was replaced by the FT-1, which added aperture-priority AE for users who wanted some say in the matter.

Today the FP-1 is scarce on the used market. Its two-year production run and fully electronic design mean working examples get rarer each year as 40-year-old circuits fail. One caution from buhla.de: regular use of Tamron Adaptall-2 mounts on the F-series bodies can wear down and eventually destroy the aperture coupling mechanism. Those mounts are safe on mechanical Konica SLRs but risky here.