Konica’s AR system was introduced in 1965 alongside their first SLR, the Auto Reflex. It had auto in the name because the AR bayonet was the first SLR mount to offer automatic exposure. Simply select a shutter speed and the camera was capable of picking an appropriate aperture as long as the lens was set to EE, or ”Electric Eye” mode.

Konica would continue to use this lens mount for decades, eventually adding fully programmed exposure and other advanced features to their SLRs. Despite their excellence, especially in lens production, Konica cameras and lenses are generally less popular than alternatives from Nikon, Canon, Olympus, or Pentax.

Konica’s AR lenses, especially their Hexanon series, are of exceptional quality and can be adapted easily to mirrorless systems.