Everything is on sale for the remainder of March and the first week of April – take 15% off my already value-priced items.
Lots of other great items in the shop too – pop on over to http://www.ccstudio2380.com and see if there’s something you like.
Thanks, Chris
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This is just a small sample of what’s available in the shop. 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.
Have a great day and 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.
Hi all! I hope that your new year is going well and that this year brings a little peace to the world. I’ve listed a few new items in my camera shop which you can visit at http://www.ccstudio2380.com. The shop is hosted by Etsy so I can ship to almost every corner of the planet and you can use a variety of payments that fit your lifestyle.
This is just a small sample of what I have available in the shop. If there’s something that you want and you don’t see it listed I may have it in my collection. Just send me a message at ccphotographyai@gmail.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.
Thanks for stopping by and feel free to stop by the shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com – Chris
Thanks for stopping by! – Chris
Made by Nicca for the Sears, Roebuck and Company for sale in the United States and Canada under the Tower brand. This beautiful camera set is from 1951.
Collectors “Dream Set”.
The Tower Type-3 is a 35mm rangefinder camera made by Nicca in 1951. The design is based on the original camera from Leica Many people call these types of cameras “Leica Clones or Leica Copies” but I like to refer to them as Leica inspired as many of the cameras made by Nicca were equal to if not superior to the Leica.
The camera is fully working at all speeds and the rangefinder is bright and accurate. There’s no dents, no marks, and no corrosion. It’s nearly perfect even after all these years.
The camera body accepts all M39 / L39 screw-in mount lenses. This camera is fitted with its original Nikkor-H.C f/ 2 5cm lens made by Nippon Kogaku.
The camera features a clean simple design on the top plate. The shutter’s top speed is 1/500th of a second.
Cameras made in Japan prior to April 1952 were required to be marked “Made In Occupied Japan” somewhere on the baseplate. This camera is properly marked.
Not many presentation boxes from the early 1950s still exist and few exist in such good condition as this one. A nice find and its the proper box for the camera.
Below is another amazing survivor from the early 1950s – the original leather camera case and strap. I can’t begin to explain just how rare it is to find an intact leather case from Japan made over 65 years ago. Usually, they come apart at the stitching and the leather separates at the joints. This case looks as though it was just made. A beauty.
The original instruction booklet and guarantee-registration card are included with this amazing set.
The aperture blades look great – they function smoothly and show little wear. The optics are also free of distracting marks such as scratches or cleaning marks. The rear element does have some whitish fungus which means the lens would need to be cleaned in order to use it fully.
Below is a test picture that I took using the lens on my Fujifilm mirrorless digital camera. You can clearly see the “haze” from the fungus but you can see that it’s not a total loss either. I believe the fungus can be cleaned if you know how to service these types of lenses or if a professional camera repair facility does the work.
Test image taken with the Nikkor lens mounted on my Fujifilm X-A10 mirrorless digital camera.
Thanks for stopping by! If you’re interested in my set it’s available in my online camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com which is hosted by Etsy. – 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 © 2015-2019 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
The Nicca Type 33. Released around May 1958 just as Yashica was taking over the company. As best as I can tell, Yashica had no part in the design of this camera or the first-ever Nicca lens.
Although the top plate isn’t engraved “Type 33” there are markings inside on the bottom plate that identifies it as the Type 33. If you look closely at the lens pictured it’s marked as a Nicca f/2.8 50mm lens with an interesting serial number of No. 8002. The first-ever Nicca branded lens of any type. Origins of this lens are not known as Nicca had never produced a lens on their own.
The front and back covers of this rather rare brochure.
The inside of the brochure showing the available accessories.
The Nicca Type 33 is a worthy addition to any collection that features Japanese made 35mm rangefinder cameras – it’s not often available for sale outside of Japan and it can be rather hard to find (in good condition) on Japanese online auctions. Finding one in collector condition and with its original Nicca lens and box would be an interesting challenge and would test your collecting skills.
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 © 2015-2019 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
