Are these previously unknown lenses made by Zunow Optical?
My good friend Paul Sokk (www.yashicatlr.com) spotted a rather unique lens name in a Yashica catalog that I sent him. The catalog is from 1958.
Look closely at the two boxes in the lower center part of the scan. Plainly marked is the name “Yasinon” and Yashica. Just to the right are two boxes made in the same style that displays the lens maker “Zunow”.
From the same year Yashica catalog here’s a grouping of three 8mm movie camera lenses – two marked made by Zunow and one marked with the name “Yasinon”.
What’s the most interesting about this discovery is that the name Yasinon was unknown to us prior to seeing these catalogs.
Yashica’s first 35mm camera – the Yashica 35. If you look closely at the camera lenses you’ll see that they’re marked with the Yasinon name.
Yashica incorrectly labels the lenses as Yashinon in the banners even though the lenses in the pictures say Yasinon.
Shortly after the marketing people put these catalogs together someone made the decision to change from Yasinon to Yashinon. It appears that some of these lenses have made it into the marketplace as Paul has shared some findings of such from Japanese auction sites. Of course, Yashica stayed with the Yashinon name from this point onward. Does this make the lenses marked Yasinon rare? In my view it does. Does it mean these lenses were made for Yashica by Zunow? Yes, in my mind it does. Do I have solid proof? No, but the circumstantial evidence points strongly towards Zunow as being the manufacturer.
Further proof as to how close Yashica’s relationship with Zunow was.
The box above in my mind is super unique – it places Zunow’s logo with Yashica’s logo on the same box – not something that was seen during the late 1950s in Japan.
Comments? Do you have a rare Zunow hiding in your closet? If you do let me know – I am actively looking to add some to my collection.
Thanks
Chris
I’m trying to find info on a small Yasinon lens I have. Pretty sure it’s for a movie camera, but I can’t find another one to compare it to. Only Yashinon, with the H
LikeLiked by 1 person
Zunow Optical made most of the cine lenses for early Yashica movie cameras. Just enter the info from the lens barrel on Google or search on eBay for a similarly marked lens.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic and commented:
It appears (after further review) that Zunow Optical did make some of the very earliest cine lenses for Yashica’s movie cameras. The Yasinon name also appears on the early lenses for the Yashica 35 rangefinder but there is no evidence that Zunow made the lenses for that 35mm camera. It’s more likely that Tomioka made these lenses.
LikeLike