The FT-1 was introduced in 1982 and was considered to be the top of the line for Konica electronic 35mm SLR cameras. The camera has many of the major features found on SLR cameras of the time including: AE lock, exposure compensation, and automatic exposure setting. In the case of the FT-1, shutter priority is an additional feature. The camera also has a built-in motor drive that allows the camera to be used in single frame or continuous modes at a relatively slow 2 frames per second rate. The FT-1 uses Konica's AR-mount series of lenses.
za/sd
Konica FT-1
Not much gets said about the Konica SLR system these days. It really is a forgotten series of cameras. In part because it was never as widely manufactured as other brands, in part because those other brands had better cameras. Some of the earlier Konica cameras are still quite solid, though we remain pretty ambivalent about their later bodies. This FT-1 falls into that ambivalence, it was the last model built by Konica - these cameras just haven't quite stood the test of time and really aren't the most reliable. On the other hand, the Konica AR lens mount is quite intriguing; surprisingly some of these lenses still fetch good prices as they are in demand from photographers adapting the lenses to DSLRs. The AR mount system can be a sneaky bargain for those looking for older analog optics for their digital still or video cameras.