Miranda A

The first Miranda SLR model was the model ‘T’, sold in 1955 under the Orion brand and after that under Miranda. A similar model, the ‘A’, came to market at its heels. It had a top speed and lever winding, the rest similar to the ‘T’ and the ‘T II’ models. While the ‘T’ models are scarce and fetch high prices at the collectors market, the A  is (almost) commonly found yet brings more than the rest of the Miranda models.

The ‘A’ had evolved into the early non-metered Miranda models line till the Automex came on board. It vaguely resembles the Exakta style, with the front-mounted trigger and the lens’ arm, only here it is on the front right. Using the camera is straightforward. The double-decker speed selector has the slow speeds under the fast speeds dial. To use the slow speeds, set the main dial to X and hold the two arms on the bottom dial to set it, where it cocks the spring that activates it. Luckily, nothing close to the dreaded Exakta low speeds dial.

The lens stops down with a trigger press, and a tiny button under the lens arm locks the shutter in an off position. Removing the viewer takes pulling a pin by the rewind knob and pulling up the viewer assembly. Note that the viewer is removed by pulling backwards, unlike the Exakat and others, where it pops up.

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