Cameras - Page 14 of 33 - Facts, notes and thoughts about vintage cameras and other trifle matters

February 9, 2024

Halina 35X

Halina 35X / 35X Super In the post-war years, Japan was drawn into a cultural revision and economic and industrial rebound driven by General MacArthur’s reconstruction plan. Far from the scale of the Marshal Plan in Europe, but aggressive enough to set the wheels in motion to make Japan the superpower it is now. Under the occupying rules, Japan was...

35 mm/Halina/Hong Kong/Viewfinder Comment: 1

February 2, 2024

Nihon Seiki Nescon 35

Nihon Seiki Nescon 35 / Ranger 35 Writing about vintage cameras goes in two paths. On mainstream models, information pours off the screen and spills onto the desk and the floor. Regrettably, most are copy-and-paste pages used as clickbait. It takes a great deal of time and patience to sift through original information and fresh thoughts. Online plagiarism has become...

35 mm/Japan/Nihon Seiki/Viewfinder Comments: 0

January 31, 2024

Soligor 45

Soligor 45 Soligor was the brand name of products sold by Allied Import-Export, also named Allied Impex, or AiC, distributing photography hardware in the US. They had branch offices at most major centers at the height of their activity. The name Soligor is said to be based on the Japanese nickname of a lens series, Solid Gold, shortened to Soligor....

35 mm/Japan/Nihon Seiki/Soligor/USA/Viewfinder Comments: 0

January 28, 2024

Taisei Super Westomat 35

Taisei Super Westomat 35 There are two models under this name. The earlier is a three-windows version, viewfinder/rangefinder combination. The second has two windows, a rangefinder only, commonly called Super Westomat 35 II. It was sold as Welmy 35 M-3 and Super Welmy The naming convention echos the Welmy 35, also sold as Westomat 35. Taisei kept recycling model names,...

35 mm/Japan/Rangefinder/Taisei Koki/USA/Viewfinder Comments: 0

January 27, 2024

Kalimar Kolt 44

Kalimar Colt 44 / Hoei Anny 44 Paying tribute to the Kalimar brand, I pulled two identical cameras off the shelf, the Kalimar 44 and the Anny 44. Both are the same, just different name tags. Kalimar also sold the same camera under Kalimar 44. The 44 mark was popular with other camera models, relating to the frame size of...

127/Japan/Kalimar/USA/Viewfinder Comments: 0

January 24, 2024

Kalimar A

Kalimar A Kalimar was a photographic equipment distributor in the US, selling cameras and related paraphernalia. It was established in 1938 by MOT brothers Bob and Abe Lipshitz. Whatever value the brand had was taken over by Tiffen in 1999, just in time before the digital trend took over. The name appeared on many pieces of equipment; not much seemed...

35 mm/Japan/Kalimar/Taisei Koki/USA/Viewfinder Comments: 0

January 24, 2024

Taisei Koki Welmy 35

Taisei Koki Welmy 35 Preamble One language is understood worldwide, with no need for translation over cultures or borders. This is the decimal number system. The characters will be differently pronounced but will always carry the same value. To compliment that, keeping spelling within the Latin-based languages is straightforward; keep it as it is and pronounce it as you wish,...

35 mm/Japan/Taisei Koki/Viewfinder Comments: 0

January 18, 2024

Shinano Pigeon J II

Shinano Pigeon J II Three Pigeon models were the last offered by Shinano: Pigeon J II, a viewfinder, which I deal with here. Pigeon 35 IIIc, a viewfinder, mentioned in McKeown, Kadlubek and Sugiyama, shows the same image as the Pigeon III. No further information is available; I have seen none for sale for the past decade or so. A...

35 mm/Japan/Shinano/Viewfinder Comments: 0

January 16, 2024

Shinano Pigeon 35 IIa

Shinano Pigeon 35 IIa At the heels of the first Pigeon camera, came a flight of siblings. Most followed the leader as viewfinders, with a few nonconformists, a TLR and an elusive rangefinder. Some changed their names to Lacon, but all carried the same DNA, as evidenced by their looks. Shinano made cameras for a very short time, between the...

35 mm/Japan/Shinano/Viewfinder Comments: 0

January 15, 2024

Shinano Pigeon

Shinano Pigeon camera Shinano began making cameras in Japan in 1951, with the wave of camera makers coming out of nowhere to cater to the GI contingent stationed in Japan. Most camera manufacturers of that era are just a historical footnote, with only a handful of brands that have survived. A detailed history of Shinano is described on Yashica TLR...

35 mm/Japan/Shinano/Viewfinder Comments: 0