Have a beautiful and safe day and many thanks for stopping by! – Chris
I have some interesting new items in my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com which is hosted by Etsy.
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2020 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
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Before Yashica was Yashica they were Yashima and Yashima’s first camera was the oddly named Pigeonflex.
Proudly displaying 67 years of dirt, dust, soot, and grime. I’ve since cleaned it up (which was super fun) and as you see it here it was fully working! Credit goes to those talented craftspeople in Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, Japan those many decades ago.
I purchased this from a Japanese seller from Hokkaido, Higashi-ku, Sapporo, Japan a few years back.
Yashima’s Pigeonflex Twin-lens Reflex (TLR)
A short two years later, this was the first camera from Yashima to carry the Yashica name – confused yet?
Yashica Flex S from 1955
Have a beautiful day and be sure to stop by my camera shop hosted by Etsy at http://www.ccstudio2380.com – Chris
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2020 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
Today’s spotlight camera is the Leica IIIg which was the last Leica rangefinder camera that used L39 (LTM) screw-in lenses. This lovely camera set is from 1956.
The camera’s serial number indicates that it was in production in the latter half of 1956 while the lens looks to be from 1955. The Leicavit winder is appropriate for the models IIIf and IIIg so I believe it’s original to this camera.
Typical to cameras that are over 60-years-old, this one will need a complete CLA (cleaning internally, lubricating, and adjustment) professionally. The shutter is way out of adjustment so the shutter curtains are not operating properly and the speeds are off. The winder will need internal cleaning (mostly removing old lubricants) and installing fresh lubricant. Hopefully, that will enable it to operate as designed at about two frames per second (a stretch).
The lens works as it should and appears to have escaped the dreaded fungus and mold. The front and rear optics are clean and scratch-free but internally it does suffer from haze on all the elements. This appears to be typical with Leitz lenses from this era.
This camera set has a wonderful history and it would be nice to be able to shoot with it again. Here’s hoping.
Thanks for stopping by and have a beautiful day! Please feel free to visit my camera shop hosted by Etsy at http://www.ccstudio2380.com – Chris
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2020 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
Have a beautiful day – stay safe – thanks for stopping by!
Be sure to check out my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com – Chris
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2020 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
I hope your day is going well and you’re staying safe. Here’s a vintage 1950s metal film can from Fuji Film. Neopan is a black & white negative film.
Neopan SS – the SS is ASA 50. SSS is ASA 100
I’ve had this film can for years unopened. It was included with a Yashica Pentamatic that I acquired years ago.
Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S9900W at f/8, ISO 100, 1/60
Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com – Chris
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2020 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
Pictured below is from a Polaroid brochure from 1953. The Pathfinder 110 is the first camera listed.
In 1953, $249.50 for a camera was big bucks (still is).
Thanks for stopping by – have a beautiful and safe day and be sure to stop by my camera shop hosted by Etsy at http://www.ccstudio2380.com – Chris
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2020 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
Have a great and safe day and thanks for stopping by! – Chris
Be sure to visit my camera shop hosted by Etsy at http://www.ccstudio2380.com
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2020 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
Leotax TV advertisement from Asahi Camera Yearbook 1958. Other than this ad, I haven’t seen any other mention that the TV was also known as the Silhouette. Leotax went on to name two other cameras – Merite and Elite.
It’s important to point out that Leotax, for the most part, did not engrave the names of their cameras on the top plates so you won’t find cameras that have Silhouette, Merite, or Elite on them. So far I’ve seen these names in advertisements, in a sales brochure, and on a box.
My box with the name Merite vice Merit as it is incorrectly known.
Flyer from 1959 clearly shows the camera as being the Merite.
If you’d like to know more about the Leotax Camera Company please visit my good friend Paul Sokk’s site at http://www.yashicatlr.com/Leotax.html. Paul’s done an excellent job at compiling some of the best information anywhere about Leotax (and a bunch of other things too).
Thanks for stopping by and if you have anything you’d like to share with me about Leotax please do so in the comments. I would especially like to see more examples of Leotax boxes and advertisements (and brochures). – Chris
Be sure to visit my camera shop hosted by Etsy at http://www.ccstudio2380.com
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2020 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
The latest model camera depicted here is the Yashica YE (bottom center) but not yet the Yashica-Nicca 35 YF which was released in the latter part of 1959 (maybe September).
I haven’t been able to identify the model posing with the Yashica camera, some say he’s Mr. Banks from Mary Poppins. The mustache is wrong and the wink and the pipe seem to be some sort of known look of the guy. Thanks for stopping by! – Chris
David Cecil MacAlister Tomlinson – as Mr. George Banks – 1964
Asahi Camera magazine advertisement from 1953. Download courtesy of Paul Sokk http://www.yashicatlr.com
A very clean and streamlined design gives this camera a rather modern look even by today’s standards.
The standard lens is a Tomioka Optical Company Tri-Lausar f/3.5 4.5cm
A simple top plate features a film advance lever (far right) tucked into the upper right corner of the backplate. Maybe a first for a Japanese made 35mm camera.
A closer view of the film advance lever. Advancing the film did not charge the shutter.
Below is a scan of the original instruction sheet supplied with the Model III.
Pigeon Model III
My Pigeon Model IIA from 1952. This gorgeous camera is no longer in my collection.
These Shinano Pigeon 35 cameras are an interesting collectible but so far after owning two of them I’ve yet to be able to shoot a roll of film. The Model IIA pictured above had a non-functioning focus lever that somehow became detached internally. I didn’t catch that it wasn’t right until after I sold it. The Model II that I recently acquired at auction has two major problems. Again the focus lever did not work as it was frozen in the infinity position probably from lack of use and the second problem was that although the film advance lever moved it did not advance the film. That might have been a simple fix but since the focus lever wasn’t working I won’t try to get it repaired. The Tomioka lenses on both cameras were clean and clear and the shutters sounded accurate.
My advice is to proceed with caution before purchasing these early cameras as they are approaching nearly 70 years since they were made. Things happen over time and unless you’re a talented repairperson expect these to simply look good in a collection of early Japanese 35mm cameras.
Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com – Chris
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2020 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris 