Why is it my Mother's Day camera: Konica TC-X and the 40mm f1.8

Every Mother's Day, I take a black and white portrait of the boys. I've used all sorts of cameras to do it but the last few years I've relied on the humble Konica TC-X.

I own the Konica TC, T3, T3 in black, and a T4 but it's this little plastic SLR that jumps into my hands when I need a shot.

It's light. I never know where we are going to shoot and when the boys will be in the mood so I have to carry one around with me. The body is light.

As I've posted before, the plastic body is made by Cosina. So it's not even a Konica in some people's eyes. But indeed it takes AR lenses.

The batteries are straight forward and easy to get. It takes ONE AAA battery and only for the meter. No lousy motor drives here. Everything else is manual.

There are a few downsides. The mirror slap is horrible. Like little pistols with big calibres, the recoil can move your hands because the camera body is so light. It's also noisy -- like the shutter goes clack instead of click.

I don't think there is any missing foam that should be dampening the mirror slap.

The other problem is it has an on/off switch. Advancing the film doesn't automatically turn the camera on and so you can miss a shot. The shutter won't release unless the camera is on.

The other downside is the viewfinder is dark. I've mentioned all of this before and often.

I'm still surprised with all the cameras I have, this little rig gets into my hands.

I suppose it comes down to habit. And superstition. There are some cameras you use that gets you a photo you're happy with and you stick with it. Like a batter with a homerun hitter. You use it until it doesn't give you the result you want.

In many ways, the body is so slight, you can think of it not even being there. It hardly mediates the lens' relationship to the film. It's just an thing that keeps the light out until you need it.

All bodies do that. But I guess it has to do with the nearly nothing feeling of the TC-X.

Then there's the lens. So fun. I don't understand all that lens stuff but I just love the 40mm.

Here are the detailed specs on the TC-X from the amazing buhla.de Konica site.