Cameras - Page 6 of 34 - Facts, notes and thoughts about vintage cameras and other trifle matters

June 22, 2025

Yashica EZ Matic

Yashica EZ Matic In 1963 Kodak introduced the simplest camera possible, eliminated the agony of loading a #135 cartridge, and, on the way, also eliminated all other settings. Camera use was dead simple: open the back, drop the Kodapak cartridge, close, aim, and shoot. It was aptly named Instamatic, meaning from zero to 100 in an instant. I had one...

126/Japan/Viewfinder/Yashica Comments: 0

June 11, 2025

Yashica Minister D

Yashica Minister D At about the same time as the Yashica Lynx series, Yashica also issued the Minister models. The latter was meant for mid-market users, as Yashica’s home-brewed 35mm rangefinder that replaced the Nicca-based Y models but at a favourable price point. The Minister series debuted between 1960 and 1966 and were followed by the Electro models. The Ministers...

35 mm/Japan/Rangefinder/Yashica Comments: 0

June 4, 2025

Yashica Lynx 1000

Yashica Lynx 1000 Unlike most Japanese camera makers, Yashica did not go through the early camera styles and dug straight into the TLR models. It began in 1949 as an alarm clock maker, also making camera parts for the booming camera industry. The company name was Yashima, and it sold cameras under ‘Yashima – Camera’ in the US, shortened to...

35 mm/Japan/Rangefinder/Yashica Comments: 0

May 28, 2025

Steiner Brelland – Hunter 35

Steiner Brelland – Hunter 35 A couple of almost identical cameras have landed on my bench. The Hunter 35, a 35mm rangefinder, and the Brelland, a 35mm viewfinder. Other than the viewer and the engraved name, both are the same. Tracing back the manufacturer was easy, although searching for ‘Hunter Camera’ yielded tons of hunting/trail/wildlife cameras. However, once I ignored...

35 mm/Germany/Rangefinder/UK/Viewfinder Comments: 0

May 3, 2025

Druopta Vega

Druopta Vega camera Druopta camera list Czechoslovakia was a country artificially put together in 1918 in a shotgun marriage as a break out of the fallen Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was made up of several reluctant ethnic groups, much as the make of post-war Yugoslavia. It was disintegrated in 1993, split into Czechia and Slovakia, the largest ethnicities. In an overall...

35 mm/Czechoslovakia/Viewfinder Comments: 0

April 30, 2025

Mimosa Mimosa II

Mimosa – Mimosa II Camera Camera collecting, as with collecting any other subject, can be a sign of some mental disorder, I hope minor. An entirely normal person will not invest resources in a collection of, say, matchboxes, spoons, lighters, or cameras. Having a pet takes less effort, costs less, and gives much more in return. I am yet to...

35 mm/DDR/Viewfinder Comments: 0

April 19, 2025

Konishiroku Konica III M

Konishiroku Konica III M Konica I Konica II Bm Konica III Konica III M The Konica III M is the last of a Konica legacy 35mm rangefinder cameras that began in 1946, as Japan had bailed out of the post-war industry collapse, till 1959. This model was the last pro-use rangefinder that ushered Konica into the era where compact SLRs...

35 mm/Japan/Konica/Rangefinder Comments: 0

April 19, 2025

Konishiroku Konica II B-m

Konishiroku Konica II B-m Konica I Konica II Bm Konica III Konica III M Rangefinders made in Japan in the 1950s. The Konica II is the second generation of the Konica post-war triplets, between the Konica I and Konica III. Each generation had several variants, all paving Konica’s way to the small circle of camera makers that lasted till the...

35 mm/Japan/Konica/Rangefinder Comments: 0

April 9, 2025

Closter Family list

Closter IIa / Princess Junior Closter IIa Closter Princess Junior Closter family list Images The Italian photographic industry saw pioneers making cameras since the early last century, but products were meant for professionals. Mass market production began at the ‘Italian economic miracle,’ a decade that started some about five years after WWII had ended, where fresh faces entered the field....

35 mm/Italy/Viewfinder Comments: 0

April 7, 2025

ELOP Ucanett

ELOP Ucanett The Ucanette roots go back to Jena, Germany, where Franz Robert Neubert, a Zeiss engineer, found himself in the wrong part of post-war Germany. Hoping for a better future, he set up his shop under the Neubert name and began production of two camera models: the Elca, a simple 35mm camera, and the Neuca, a Leica clone leaning...

35 mm/Germany/Viewfinder Comments: 0