Cameras - Page 29 of 33 - Facts, notes and thoughts about vintage cameras and other trifle matters

March 8, 2021

Carl Zeiss Werra family

Carl Zeiss Werra camera family model list For current Werra prices, see camdex.ca Prologue I can think of no mechanical product that celebrates 65, yet still looks fresh and is usable. 65 years are almost three generations, where technology, style, use, materials, and so on have evolved. Today, a product made just a decade ago is of no use and...

35 mm/Carl Zeiss Jena/Compact/DDR/Werra Comments: 18

January 26, 2021

Topcon IC-1 Auto

Topcon IC-1 Topcon IC-1 Auto current value Topcon IC-1 user manual There are phenomena that science is yet to address. Some items regenerate themselves once you are sure that there is no more. For example, we have a robotic vacuum that roams the house like a drunken goat, till it docks into its port. After each run, the canister there...

35 mm/Japan/SLR/Topcon Comments: 2

January 21, 2021

Topcon Uni

Topcon Uni Topcon Uni current value Topcon Uni user manual About two weeks ago I had looked into A Topcon Unirex, and reminisced about the encounters I had with the equipment made by Topcon. Little did I know, but yesterday I paid a visit to the eye doctor, to find that all the mighty optical instruments he uses are Topcon....

35 mm/Japan/SLR/Topcon Comments: 3

January 16, 2021

Yashica MG-1

Yashica MG-1 Yashica MG-1 current value Yashica MG-1 user manual The Yashica Electro 35 camera line and its variants had gone strong for over ten years, till the novelty wore out and automatic cameras became a common feature. In 1975, Yashica introduced the two last cameras with the continuous shutter and over / under exposure light alerts. The Electro 35...

35 mm/Japan/Rangefinder/Yashica Comments: 0

January 1, 2021

Topcon Unirex

Topcon Unirex I first learned about the Topcon name in the early ’70s. Topcon and Nikon’s optical comparators were used in the tool shop to follow complex shapes. Nikon had been a well-known brand, Topcon not so. Fast forward twenty years, fate brought theodolites my way, Topcon again. It took another twenty years for me to realize that Topcon also...

35 mm/Japan/SLR/Topcon Comments: 0

December 26, 2020

Yashica TL-Electro

Yashica TL-Electro Yashica TL-Electro current value Yashica TL-Electro user manual After looking into the Yashica Electro camera line, I pulled out a Yashica TL-Electro that has been humbly sitting on the shelf for several years. The camera has al the good reasons to be humble, being one of a large group of almost indistinguishable compact SLRs that were churned out...

Japan/SLR/Yashica Comments: 6

December 3, 2020

Yashica Electro 35

Yashica Electro 35 Preamble I was looking for a camera among the rangefinders and realized that there are Yashica Electro cameras everywhere. Six of them. I remember where I got two of the lot, where one was the first in my collection. Till now I had not looked closely at them, and it seems that although they carry different model...

35 mm/Japan/Rangefinder/Yashica Comments: 2

November 23, 2020

Walz / Lafayette Electrick

Walz / Lafayette Electrick Walz camera family list Walz Electrick current value Lafayette Electrick current value Walz / Lafayette Electrick user manual The Walz camera brand shows little in an online search. It is mentioned on the fly as both a manufacturer and distributor, with no hard evidence to support either fact. With Japanese camera brands, it is either...

Japan/Rangefinder/Walz Comments: 0

October 30, 2020

Canon Dial 35

Canon Dial 35 Preamble On a bright summer day sometime in the early 1980s, I was negotiating the narrow streets of Salzburg, Austria. Being a medieval city and spread around a hill, streets are winding to boot. As a navigation instrument, I used a large sheet of paper printed in many colours, which, for the benefit of the younger readers,...

35mm half frame/Canon/Japan/Spring loaded/Viewfinder Comments: 2

October 8, 2020

Yashica Rapide

Yashica Rapide Preamble Yashica Rapide current value Yashica Rapide user manual The days are both early autumn and mid-Corona. Being of the at-risk population, I stay mostly at home. As the weather changes it is time to switch from summer shorts to track pants which are my winter at-home staple. However, my girth has shrunk from extra-large to a mere...

35mm half frame/Japan/Viewfinder/Yashica Comments: 2