Japan Archives - Facts, notes and thoughts about vintage cameras and other trifle matters

May 26, 2026

Tougodo Toyoca 35S / Strato 35

Toyoca 35S / Strato 35 Tougodo was a prolific camera maker that began as early as 1930 and lasted till the mid-1970s. On the face of it, they made about 200 camera models, but this figure should be heavily discounted, as most models were duplicates. A list of the Tougodo models is on the dedicated page. In comparison, the camera...

35 mm/Bolta/Japan/Tougodo/Viewfinder Comments: 0

May 22, 2026

Tougodo camera family list

Tougodo camera family list The Tougodo company was established in Japan in 1930 as a maker of Yen cameras. During the war, production shifted to military devices. After the war, the company continued in the camera trade, producing an impressive array of Hit as well as TLR models, some styled after the Rollei brand and others with side-by-side lenses. Furthermore,...

120/127/Bolta/Box/Hit/Japan/Rangefinder/TLR/Tougodo/Viewfinder Comments: 0

April 26, 2026

Chinon Bellami

Chinon Bellami One of the best comedy films of all time is the overlooked 1941, by Steven Spielberg, available on Prime, with a host of comics not assembled since It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Guess I reveal my age). 1941 is a string of over-the-top spectacles, with John Belushi immortalized as Captain Wild Bill Kelso in scenes never...

35 mm/Chinon/Japan/Mini camera/Viewfinder Comments: 0

April 19, 2026

Condor Camera Condor

Condor Camera Condor After the Italian Condor by Galileo, I pulled out another Condor, this time from Japan. Where the Italian Condor has a good information trail, the Japanese Condor family is confusing, with little information available. It is best to consult the Condor Camera entry on the Camera Wiki. The article there describes the Condor as a part of...

35 mm/Japan/Rangefinder Comments: 0

February 24, 2026

Lone Rider Gno III

Lone Riders Gno III I have written about over 300 cameras on this website, and all of them were mentioned online. Some had a lot of data; some were mentioned on the fly, but there were some records. The camera on my bench now seems to be an exception. Not a word online. There are 181 Zettabytes of online data,...

35 mm/Japan/Lone Rider/Viewfinder Comments: 0

November 22, 2025

Yashica Sequelle

Yashica Sequelle Looking back at the history of photography, there were two major stepping stones. The first, and most important, was the transition from plates to roll film, which meant moving from a specialized trade into a free-for-all, no-skill-required hobby. The second turning point was the move from #120 and #127 paperback roll film formats to 35mm cartridges. The early...

35mm half frame/Japan/Viewfinder/Yashica Comments: 0

November 4, 2025

Goyo Oplen Junior

Goyo Oplen Junior Preamble I am not sure about collectors who are after other subjects, but collecting cameras is like going on a hunting spree without knowing what you will find. Item in the subject, Catawiki. Catawiki is a mini eBay version, supposed to be an echelon above eBay, where items offered are supposed to be specialized, vetted, and verified....

#620/Japan/Pseudo TLR Comments: 0

November 1, 2025

Yashica YK

Yashica YK Yashima, the forefather of Yashica, was established as a machine shop towards the end of WWII. Once the war was over, it shifted its focus to consumer goods and further began producing TLR cameras in the early 1950s. The first two models were Yashimaflex and Pigeonflex, and the Yashica name, short for Yashima Camera, was first seen in...

35 mm/Japan/Rangefinder/Yashica Comments: 0

October 29, 2025

Beauty 35 Super / Canter

Beauty 35 Super / Canter Beauty was known for its TLR cameras and made 35mm rangefinders for a short period, towards the end of its production. The first, the ‘35 Super’, was introduced in 1956, and the company stopped making cameras soon after, in 1963. The ‘Super’ term was added to this model to differentiate it from their first 35mm...

35 mm/Beauty/Japan/Rangefinder Comments: 0

October 23, 2025

Beauty camera family list

Beauty camera family list Preamble Researching camera information can be tedious. Where information is available in print, it takes a long time to retrieve. Online research is much faster when the search subject is unique, such as ‘Konica Autoreflex’. I mentioned this in the past while searching for Taron and had a massive yield of results about actor Taron Egerton,...

16mm/35 mm/Beauty/Japan/Klapp/Rangefinder/Sub compact/TLR/Viewfinder Comments: 0

Category: Japan