Viewfinder Archives - Page 8 of 13 - Facts, notes and thoughts about vintage cameras and other trifle matters

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

January 8, 2024

Shinano Lacon C

Shinano Lacon C Camera Shinano!!!! I was looking online for Shinano when information poured down at a rate I did not expect for a seventy-year-old, likely defunct, camera factory. It took a while to realize that the elves in Google corrected my search term to Shimano, the bicycle and fishing parts maker, which oddly also has a camera. Back to...

35 mm/Japan/Obscure/Shinano/Viewfinder Comments: 0

January 7, 2024

Shinsei Monte 35

Shinsei Monte 35 The Monte 35 was made by Shinsei Optical, one of many Japanese post-ear camera makers of whom there is hardly any information. On the camera body, the name is marked as Monte35 or Monte-35. Per McKeown, there are two models, one with the trigger on the lens barrel and the other with the trigger on top. I...

35 mm/Japan/Obscure/Viewfinder Comments: 0

January 6, 2024

Meopta Opema

Meopta Opema Camera In the 1950s, Meopta had no 35mm camera to offer, while the format’s popularity grew like a fire in the hay. The Etareta, a solid and able camera, was adopted by Meopta from Eta to plug the hole. But, the Etareta still subscribed to the classic fixed lens, leaf shutter class. Meopta had higher aspirations, so at...

35 mm/Czechoslovakia/Meopta/Viewfinder Comments: 2

January 5, 2024

Meopta Etareta

Meopta Etareta Camera The Etrareta is a lovely little 35mm viewfinder camera, a sterling example of old-world workmanship, an era when cameras were made to last, not to be ‘upgraded’ and replaced every 24 months or so. A very well built, meticulously finished, sure not typical to the mass-produced East Block products of the 1950s. Made in the now-defunct Czechoslovakia,...

35 mm/Czechoslovakia/Meopta/Viewfinder Comments: 0

December 19, 2023

Bencini Comet / Koroll

Bencini Comet / Koroll Online information about Bencini feels like time travel. Sources state different, sometimes contradicting activity and model dates. Antonio Bencini seemed engaged with everything camera in Italy in the early 20th century. He was involved with FIAMMA and Filma before branching independently with ICAF, later named CMF. From his work, it seems that Bencini liked acronyms, classical...

120/127/Bencini/Italy/Viewfinder Comment: 1

December 15, 2023

Bolta Photavit

Bolta Photavit Preamble Using online sources for camera research is challenging, as available information does not always tally. In extreme cases, it seems like the tale about blind people describing an elephant, where each portrays the part he touches. Consulting the printed guides, one may find different classifications for a camera line, which adds to the uncertainty. Cameras in focus,...

828/Bolta/Germany/Mini camera/Viewfinder Comments: 0

November 29, 2023

Voss Diax

Voss Diax Cameras in review specs Diax camera family list Diax Standard images Diax Ia images Diax IIa images Diax accessories More on Diax IIb The city of Ulm in southern Germany sits where two ancient trade routes meet, one following the Danube, flowing from the Swiss Alps to the Black Sea, and the other the Alb Valley route, crossing...

35 mm/Diax/Germany/Rangefinder/Viewfinder Comments: 2

November 20, 2023

Manimex Hanimar

Manimex Hanimar / Finetta 88 The Finetta 88 / Hanimex Hanimar was the first real upgrade camera in the Finetta dynasty. Although it retains the previous generation’s overall looks, it has finer lines and a solid feel. The body is metal, unlike the early bakelite, and is much heavier, 475 gr vs 370 gr, which contributes to the impression of...

35 mm/Finetta/Germany/Hanimex/Viewfinder Comments: 0

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