Beauty 35 Super / Canter

Beauty was known for its TLR cameras and made 35mm rangefinders for a short period, towards the end of its production. The first, the ‘35 Super’, was introduced in 1956, and the company stopped making cameras soon after, in 1963. The ‘Super’ term was added to this model to differentiate it from their first 35mm camera, the ‘Beauty 35’ viewfinder. However, if only for confusion sake, the ’35 Super’ forehead is marked just ‘Beauty’. From there, the company followed with the ‘Super II’, AKA ‘Varicon S II’, and then the ‘Super L’, AKA ‘Vericon SL’, which had added a light meter. These models were aptly marked. I do not know what the ‘Vericon’ target market was.

Alongside the ‘Super’ models, Beauty offered the ‘Canter’ in 1957, very similar models, which together with the Super II are the subject if this page.

An outlier, the ‘Beaumat was thrown in in 1960, but had no descendants.

The last camera suite was a line of auto models under variants of the ‘Light-O-Matic’ name, with the 1963 ‘Light-O-Matic SP‘closing the list as the last Beauty-made camera.

Beauty Canter

The Canter was introduced at the seam when Taiyodo Koki was renamed Beauty. Perhaps the change in naming convention was to introduce new concept models, moving away from the classic Beauty cameras.

‘Canter II’ and ‘Canter S’ are mentioned in some sources, but without any supporting information, I believe they are the same ‘Canter’ with different lenses, either the 1.9 was ‘Canter’ and the 2.8 was ‘Canter II’, or vice versa. Across the models, there were a few marginal cosmetic variations, but they were meaningless to the basics.

At first look, the camera much resembles the ‘Super 35’, with more chrome on the lens barrel. The top is stylized with a deeper step on the winder side.

• The camera is a pre-battery generation, so it is ready to shoot at any time. It is simple to use; reading the manual doesn’t add much.
• The top has a self-resetting frame counter and a film memo embedded within the winder base. A tiny pin by the winder pops up with winding and drops down when the trigger is pressed. I wonder why this is added. A cold accessory shoe in the middle, and a pull-up folding rewind crank handle at the other end. To release the crank, pull the mushroom head on the knob outwards.
• The viewer is large and clear, with a well pronounced patch. The parallax frame is almost at the viewer’s outer limit, takes hunting for it. The front-viewing lens is convex and mirrored, a harbinger of today’s selfies.
• The film chamber is a cookie cutter mid-1950s Japanese style, well-made and finished. The customary machined film track, two guide sprockets, and a back-mounted roller and pressure plate.
• On the lens assembly, closest to the body, is the focusing dial, marked feet, to match the target market. It has a relatively short travel, and the ring is smooth rather than knurled, so it takes pulling on the finger rest.
• Next thin ring is the aperture setting, with the synch X/M toggle lever and the self timer fin, marked ‘V’ on the fixed ring in front of it.
• The shutter speed dial is at the front, an era typical B, 1-500.
• The Canter came with two lenses, either 2.8/45 or 1.9/45. Mine is the cheaper version, the 2.8.

Beauty 35 Super II

The ‘Super II’ followed in the heels of the ‘Canter’, but had its own dynasty. The first was the 1956 ‘Beauty 35 Super’, the first 35mm rangefinder by Beauty. It was an upgrade from the ‘Beauty 35’, a viewfinder. To make future collectors’ lives more complicated, it was simply marked ‘Beauty’ on the front cover. It is often confused with the ‘Canter’. The ‘Super II’ was introduced in 1960, with a refined look but few upgrades. The ‘35 Super L’ of 1958 added an uncoupled selenium meter, and the shutter speed offering was reduced to B and 10-200. The ‘Super L’ was also rebranded as ‘Varicon SL’, I’m not sure for which market.

As said, the ‘35 Super II’ looks very similar to the ‘Canter’.

• The main difference is the top cover, which is flatter than the ‘Canter’.
• The self-reset frame counter shows through a lens in the top cover. The rewind crank folds down into its base. The ‘Canter’s pop-up pin by the winder is gone.
• The viewer is bright and large, the patch is nicely visible, and as with the Canter, the parallax frame is oversized; it takes searching for it in the outer perimeter of the viewer. At the front, the silvered convex lens is helpful for selfies.
• The body, inside and out, is the same as the ‘Canter’.
• The lens assembly is in an arrangement similar to the ‘Canter’, just here the rings are black accented rather than all chrome in the ‘Canter’. Please see above.

I have both models on my bench. The ‘Canter’ looks neat, but I assume it had a rough life as it hardly performs. The ‘Super II’ clicks and buzzes as if it just came off the line.

For collectors or shooters, the Beauty rangefinders are readily available at a low cost, so getting a fully operational one is a welcome addition to the shelf or the field.

Models comparison

Specification

Beauty Super II images

Beauty Canter images