ir1001 – Camera Collector Pages

July 1, 2020

KMZ Zenit C / S

KMZ Zenit C / S It is said that the Inuit have many words for snow, though it is a myth spread for a reason unbeknown. The English language, however, has plenty of words for stealing: Pilfer, swipe, thieve, purloin, plunder, ransack, pillage, loot, and many more. All well describe how the Soviet Union established its sorry optical and camera...

KMZ/SLR/USSR Comments: 0

June 19, 2020

Yashica 35

Online research is much like panning for gold. There is information like sand, but only a few and far between nuggets of any value. Moreover, most of the useful information is copied over and over, just to create a critical mass for the search engine to bite. About five years ago I looked for information about Linhof. Texts I found...

Japan/Rangefinder/Yashica Comments: 0

February 13, 2020

Light, camera, Jews!

The Jewish communities in Europe were socially and culturally isolated from the communities in the host countries. It was fueled by the inherited resentment of the populace and leadership towards the Jews; as well as the self-isolation the Jews imposed upon themselves, wishing to remain intact as a religious and ethnic group. The Jews were spread in Europe, where the...

AGFA/Jewish camera Comments: 0

November 28, 2019

Topcon R

Topcon R Some two years ago I had my evening stroll at the avenue of online classifieds Kijiji for the enlighted, where I stumbled upon an ad for several old cameras. There was only a phone number to contact, so I texted a request for more information. The day after there was no response so I took it as sold....

Japan/SLR/Topcon Comments: 0

November 27, 2019

Ricoh Singlex TLS

Ricoh Singlex TLS List number 4770 Brand Ricoh Format 35mm Model Singlex TLS Introduced 1967 AKA SEARS TLS; Focal 1000 TLX, Cavalier Country Japan Type SLR Body material Metal Mode Manual Weight 760 gr, Body only Class average weight 580 gr, Body only ASA range 10-800 Kit lens 1.4/55 Lens make Auto Rikenon Filter size 55 mm Lens mount Thread...

Japan/Ricoh/SLR Comments: 0

November 20, 2019

Ricoh 35 Flex

Ricoh 35 Flex Another honourable entrant to the same-name-not-same-camera list is the Ricoh 35 Flex. Born in 1963, the first SLR from Ricoh, it was equipped with an uncoupled selenium meter. A year later it saw a change to a CdS meter, under the same name. Rest features and appearance unchanged. The CdS bulbous meter housing was carried over to...

Japan/Ricoh/SLR Comments: 2

November 1, 2019

Zeiss Contaflex

Zeiss Contaflex My stepfather was a professional photographer, as had his father before him, at the beginning of the last century. His father did mainly family and events photography, where during the war my stepfather served in the British Army in Egypt, decoding aerial photographs and drawing maps. After the war, armed with a camera, he roamed all over Europe...

SLR/West Germany/Zeiss Comments: 2

October 18, 2019

KMZ Zenit B / Zenit E

KMZ Zenit B / Zenit E KMZ Zenit B / Zenit B Global / Kalimar SR100 – US / Revueflex-B / Prinzflex-500 / Meprozenit Pro In 1980 I was posted to Lagos, Nigeria, the chaotic commercial capital of West Africa, perhaps all of Africa. Saying West, This place is as remote from the Western world concept as it could be....

Kalimar/KMZ/SLR/USSR Comments: 0

October 8, 2019

Mamiya Sekor 500 DTL

$20 is all it takes to get a fully-fledged 35mm film SLR in operational condition, as classic as the Bullitt Mustang. At about the same year Mr Cool raced the said Mustang down San Francisco streets Mamiya came out with a revolutionary camera. Evident by the blue sticker on its front, it was able to take spot or average light...

Japan/Mamiya/SLR Comments: 0

October 1, 2019

Mamiya ZM Quartz

Mamiya ZM Quartz Camera makers are often associated with a certain style. As from the top, Leitz is associated with rangefinders. Rolley with TLRs; Olympus, Canon and Pentax with SLRs; Agfa with viewfinders; Graflex with press cameras and so forth. All these makers produced other camera styles as well but none made the complete styles range. Mamiya was an exception....