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May 11, 2024

Okaya Lord II A

Okaya Lord II A Okaya Koki, translated as Okaya Optical Machinery, was one of several hundred post-war Japanese camera makers that bloomed briefly and withered without leaving any legacy. Little is known about the factory besides its location and a short camera list. I read that Okaya was associated with the Hattori stores that held the rights to the Lord...

Categories 35 mm/Japan/Obscure/Rangefinder Comments: 0
May 8, 2024

Nikon FE

Nikon FE Camera makers entered the industry at a particular market stage. The early makers began with brass and mahogany, graduated into smaller folder models, shrunk further with lens technology advances, then into even smaller klapp models and matured into compact monoblock bodies. Nikon came on board in the late 1940s, hitting straight into the monoblock segment with the L,...

Categories 35 mm/Japan/Nikon/SLR Comments: 0
May 2, 2024

Teraoka Auto Tera IIb

Teraoka Auto Tera IIb / Auto Terra The Auto Terra camera line was made in Japan by Teraoka Seikosho. The company was named after the founder’s name, Teraoka Takeharu, with the suffix ‘Seiko’, a term that appears on many Japanese products. It translates to success or excellence, with an added ‘Sho’ for place or home. It could be something like...

Categories 35 mm/Japan/Obscure/Rangefinder Comments: 0
April 24, 2024

Kokusaku Auto Keef

Kokusaku Auto Keef Now and then, I come across an odd camera, which is the case now. The Auto Keef could be a top contestant for the weirdest camera title. Very little is mentioned on it, online or in print. There is a long Camera-Wiki article about it, but other than the obvious and some immaterial data, there is no...

Categories 127/Japan/Obscure/Rangefinder Comments: 0
April 23, 2024

Dai-Hyaku Seiki Novo

Dai-Hyaku Seiki Novo I was recovering from sorting through the Yamato smorgasbord, looking for a simple, one-off camera model. I picked up a Novo 35 rangefinder, a lesser-known post-war Japanese camera. There is hardly anything about the camera and its siblings in print or online. I had to pick up data fragments, yet I am unsure if I got them...

Categories 35 mm/Japan/Obscure/Rangefinder Comments: 0
April 19, 2024

Yamato Pax M2

Yamato Pax M2 Following the Pax I and her sisters, Yamato introduced a similar model under Pax M2. The Pax I was just two years old, and the new model offered little over it. Unique to this model is that it has no siblings, whereas most of the time, Yamato offered the same cameras under different names/brands. The M2 had...

Categories 35 mm/Japan/Rangefinder/Yamato Comments: 0
April 18, 2024

Yamato Atlas 35

Yamato Atlas 35 / Sears Tower 55 After the PAX I, The Pax Ruby, and the Pax M 4 groups, the fourth generation of Yamato-own cameras is headed by the Yamato Atlas 35. I chose this model as the leader, as the other two do not carry the Yamato name and were made for different distributors. This group comprises the...

Categories 35 mm/Japan/Sears/USA/Viewfinder/Yamato Comments: 0
April 14, 2024

Yamato TAC Deluxe

Yamato TAC Deluxe After the 1955 launch of the Pax Ruby / Konair Ruby twins and their sisters, Yamato Added a fresh lot. The newcomers were named TAC Deluxe, Atlas Deluxe, Pax M4, Pal M4, and Rex M4. All are the same except for the nameplates and perhaps lens markings. Yamato built the rebranding option in the design, where the...

Categories 35 mm/Japan/Rangefinder/Yamato Comments: 2
April 14, 2024

Yamato Pax Ruby

Yamato Pax Ruby / Konair Ruby Three years after the successful 1952 launch of the Pax triplets, Yamato took a step back from coping Leica and introduced a set of down-to-earth-looking rangefinder models. Two of the newly born are identical twins, the Conair Rubi and the Pax Rubi. The other four are dissimilar with a different style top cover: the...

Categories 35 mm/Japan/Rangefinder/Yamato Comments: 0
April 12, 2024

Yamato Pax

Yamato Pax The Pax, also named Pax I and Pax 35, is the first 35mm camera made by Yamato Koki Kogyo. Earlier models seemed to have been borrowed from other manufacturers and were in Bolta format. There were two additional identical models, the gold-plated Pax Golden View and the Super Dan 35. Yamato used the Pax for several other models,...

Categories 35 mm/Japan/Rangefinder/Yamato Comments: 0

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