35 mm Archives - Page 23 of 26 - Facts, notes and thoughts about vintage cameras and other trifle matters

October 21, 2021

Kodak Retina I (117)

Kodak Retina I (117) Retina I 117 current value The first of the Retina line, a lovable and popular Kodak product. American as it comes but designed and made in Germany. A brainchild of Dr (jur) August Nagel, a trailblazer to whom we owe the 35mm film cartridge. Other klapp cameras of the time were larger than the petite Retina...

35 mm/Klapp/Kodak/USA Comments: 0

October 18, 2021

Kodak Retina I (119)

Kodak Retina I (119) Retina I 119 current value Retina I 119 user manual, French The third Retina, made in 1936. See more on the Retina family. Similar to the 117 and 118, with wind and rewind buttons made smaller, the frame counter moved from the rewind to the wind side, on the top. The manual frame advance lever is...

35 mm/Klapp/Kodak/USA/West Germany Comments: 0

March 10, 2021

Zeiss Ikon Contina family

Zeiss Ikon Contina family model list Zeiss Ikon of Germany was the equivalent of the American Kodak, where both companies had amalgamated several manufacturers under one roof. Zeiss Ikon was born out of the merger of Carl Zeiss, ICA, Contessa-Nettel, Ernemann and Goerz. The combined company kept using the original models’ names under the combined brand, which may confuse today’s...

35 mm/Rangefinder/Viewfinder/West Germany/Zeiss Ikon Comments: 0

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 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

September 13, 2020

Nikon EM

Nikon EM Nikon EM current value Nikon EM user manual To build a new tech product it takes several factors. First, to define a need or use, thereafter technical capabilities, then cost constraints and design limitation. Need or use are defined by how the maker sees the market today and in the future. Technical capabilities are both external – what...

35 mm/Japan/Nikon/SLR Comments: 2

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