Category In the Shop at www.ccstudio2380.com

In the Shop – New Arrivals for May

Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Hi all! I hope you are doing well and staying safe. Here are some items that I’ve listed in my camera shop recently which can be visited by popping over to http://www.ccstudio2380.com

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Lots more in the shop and a big thank you all for stopping by! – 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.

Friday Fotos! – Classic Rangefinders

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Image courtesy of Paul Sokk www.yashicatlr.com

Recently my good friend Paul Sokk added this wonderful Leica IIIc to his collection of 35mm rangefinder cameras from the late 1940s and 1950s. The Leica is an original design made in Germany and the Nicca and Leotax are considered copies or clones made in Japan.

The Leica IIIc (front) is from 1946-47, the Nicca 3-F (middle) is from 1956, and the Leotax K is from 1955-58. These cameras use what is known as L39 (LTM) screw mount lenses of which literally thousands were made and thousands are still available today in a wide range of focal lengths.

If you’re looking to get into film photography with a totally manual camera then these should be on your list to take a closer look at.

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On the left, the Zeiss Ikon Contax IIIa and on the right the Nicca built Tower Type-3.

Pictured above are a couple of contenders from 1951. The Contax is an original design from the 1930s and was manufactured in Germany. The Tower branded camera was made by Nicca in Japan and features a Nippon Kogaku Nikkor f/ 2 5cm lens. The Contax sports a Carl Zeiss Sonnar f/ 1.5 50mm lens. The Contax also has an attached selenium cell exposure meter that can be useful for setting the correct aperture and shutter speed. A word of caution about these 70-year-old meters, if they are working (responding to light) then assume that it’s not accurate until you can check it against a modern meter. Most of these types of meters have long since failed.

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Zeiss Ikon Contax IIIa with selenium meter (top center) flap opened.

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Paul’s beautiful Leica IIIc

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Paul’s gorgeous Leotax F with Topcor f/ 3.5 5cm lens.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope my post stirs some interest in these wonderful cameras. I do have a Tower (Nicca) set available in my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com if you care to take a look at it, pop on over.

NiccaTower T3 Logo

Take care and stay safe! – 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.

Camera Manuals & Brochures – excellent reference sources

Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Hi all! Carol and I enjoy collecting classic camera instruction books and sales brochures as it’s a great way to connect with photo gear that has captured our interest over the years. We especially enjoy collecting booklets that are still in mint and like-new condition… but we find ourselves with enough books to open a library so we’ll be offering some of these in our camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com over the next few days (and weeks). If you’re looking to add one of these hard to find items (in new condition) for your collection, now’s the time.

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Thanks for stopping by! These books and brochures are available in our camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com. If they’re something you need and you don’t see it be sure to ask us – we might have just have it! – Chris & Carol

Rare Nicca lens cap – 1958

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Nicca’s one-off lens cap for their last 35mm rangefinder camera mid-1958. The cap fits the Nikkor-H 5cm f/2 lens that was pretty much the standard lens for Nicca. The Nicca in the background with the traditional cap is my 3-S.

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BTW, the black cap is made from brass and weighs 12 grams whereas the silver cap is aluminum and weighs 10 grams.

The distinctive all caps block lettering style of this black cap was a major departure from Nicca’s traditional silver script style which was presented in the spirit of Leica. You can see in the ad below that it matches the style of the name on the top plate of the camera.

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This ad (above) is from Mikio Awano’s article in the September 1978 edition of Japanese magazine, Camera Collectors’ News. The magazine’s text at the bottom translates as “Nicca III L, 1958 September, Asahi Camera”. For more about this interesting camera, please visit my good friend Paul Sokk’s excellent site on Nicca.

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The Nicca III-L was the last camera made by Nicca before their acquisition by Yashica in early 1958. Below is an example of the style of the last box.

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Carol and I do not have an example of the Nicca III-L in our collection. They are super hard to find, extremely rare actually so very few show up on auction sites. If you know of someone who has one please have them contact us as we would be interested in obtaining one.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit our camera shop 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.

Yashica 635 – shoot 6×6 cm and 35 mm all in one TLR

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Back in 1958 (May-June) Yashica released or introduced the inventive model 635 twin-lens reflex (TLR) camera to the export markets. It would be a short while before the camera would make its debut in Japan.

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The only film it couldn’t shoot was movie film!

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This one is from one of the first batches of cameras made in June 1958. Its serial number puts it at the 231st made.  It was purchased new by the original owner at the RAF Changi base in Singapore.

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Close-up view of the 35 mm conversion kit that originally came with the camera.

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A general idea of how to install the 35 mm film cartridge and kit.

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A gem from 1958.

As Carol and I continue to downsize our camera collection we’ve made this camera and kit available in our online camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com

If you’re looking to get into medium-format film photography and still want to use 35 mm film to make color transparencies (slides) this is a perfect combo camera to invest in.

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to hit us with an offer if you’re so inclined. Chris & Carol

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.

In the Shop – New this Week!

Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Hi all! I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe and happy. It’s best to keep your spirits up during these uncertain times. Here are some new items in the shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com

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There are lots of neat stuff in the shop so pop on over to http://www.ccstudio2380.com and check them out. Also, if there’s something you’ve been looking for please ask – we may have it and it’s just not listed yet.

Thanks a bunch! – Chris & Carol

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.

Canon EF – A Classic 35mm SLR

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Canon EF 35mm SLR film camera from 1977. This one includes a super nice (and fast) Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 S.S.C. lens.

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This is one of our all-time favorite Canon cameras to use – the Canon EF 35mm SLR film camera. Also known as the ‘Black Beauty’ for its generous expanses of semi-gloss black paint. It’s a close cousin to the famous Canon F-1 (the original from 1971) with the exception of no removable prisms.

It’s available for purchase direct from our collection in our online shop at https://www.ccstudio2380.com

Thanks for stopping by! – 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.

 

In the Shop – New This Week!

Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Hi all! Here’s a look at what’s new in my camera shop this week – you’ll find my shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com

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You’ll find much more rare, unique, and hard to find camera and photogear at http://www.ccstudio2380.com

I ship almost worldwide and my shop is hosted by Etsy for safe and secure shopping. Thanks for stopping by! – 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.

Happy SUNday! – Minolta Six

Chris and Carol 1 Comment

Minolta’s first 6×6 medium-format camera. The body is made almost entirely from Bakelite. 1936

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Minolta six ad

It’s kinda hard to find a pre-war Minolta especially one that has a working shutter. What a lovely picture machine from another era. It’s available in my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com

Have a beautiful day and as always, thanks for stopping by! – 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.