Talk:Konica FT-1 and FT-1 Pro Half

Pro Half

We read:

There aren't a lot of FT-1 Pro Half cameras around, they are considered quite collectible. Most were not sold through retail channels. Instead, they were special gifts for corporate customers and executives.

I don't argue with what's in the first sentence. But where's the evidence for the rest? I have fairly authoritative evidence that within Japan, at least, they were sold via a Nagoya store or company called Nagoya Pro Photo (I have no idea about sales outside Japan). -- Hoary 09:09, 10 February 2007 (EST)

PS a bit of googling reminds me that this factoid also appears at the buhla.de page, which adds that the Pro Half "an extremely rare variation". Now, this site is excellent for the most part, but the editor doesn't specify his sources. Either (a) the Pro Half is not an extremely rare variation or (b) I witnessed an amazing fluke or (c) I'm lying when I declare that a couple of years ago I saw four separate examples of this camera for sale in Tokyo within the space of one (admittedly unusual) week. I wrote earlier to the editor of the site to correct one obvious, Pro-Half-irrelevant error and he corrected it quickly and thankfully; I wrote a bit later about the Pro Half (very politely, giving my source for the Nagoya Pro Photo account) and never got a reply. -- Hoary 21:33, 10 February 2007 (EST)

Being the owner currently of two FT-1 Pro Half's including one which has never been used and includes all the packaging I can confirm that the FT-1 Pro Half was at the very least issued with a price as I have an original price tag of ¥95,000 that came with it. My understanding that the Camera was not cataloged for sale officially, however it is highly likely that store owners and other people put them into stores to make them some extra money from the sale, without having the original internal memo's I do not think it is possible to be definitive. However this would account for the disparity in the stories and seems to me the most logical answer. Images of the FT-1Pro Half are available to view on my Flickr page (All rights reserved) https://www.flickr.com/photos/96619515@N07/ - KonicasOZ