Category Nicca Collectibles

In the Shop – New for 2020

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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.

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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.

In the Shop – some interesting classics

Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Hello all! Happy almost Christmas! Here’s a few new and not so new items in our camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com – there are some truly unique and collectible items that you won’t see every day and everywhere.

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Thanks for stopping by and feel free to stop by the shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com – Chris

Rare Tower Type-3 35mm Rangefinder Camera made by Nicca

Chris and Carol 2 Comments

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”.

NiccaTower T3 Logo

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.

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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.

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The camera features a clean simple design on the top plate. The shutter’s top speed is 1/500th of a second.

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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.

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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.

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The original instruction booklet and guarantee-registration card are included with this amazing set. 

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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.

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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.

Nicca Type 33 Brochure – 1958

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One of the last cameras made by Nicca just before the takeover by Yashica was this simple 35mm rangefinder camera – the Nicca Type 33

Nicca Type33 Logo

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.

Nicca 33 Bro Logo

The front and back covers of this rather rare brochure.

Nicca 33 Bro LOGO 1

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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.

 

 

Nicca 3-F Brochure – 1957

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Here is a very nice brochure for the popular Nicca 3-F (lever) 35mm rangefinder camera – a sophisticated Leica inspired camera from Japan.

Nicca 3-F Bro

An inside view of the brochure. The serial number on the camera is No. 151144

Analysis of the serial numbers indicates that about 6,000 cameras were made. This assumes that there were no breaks in production and that the numbers were assigned consecutively.

Nicca 3-F Bro Cover

The front and back cover of the brochure. Hinomaruya ひのまるや (upper left corner) was the sole distributor for Nicca in Japan – I’m not sure if they handled distribution outside of Japan.

Nicca 3-F Bro Logo

Nice assortment of available accessories for the Nicca 3-F

This brochure has survived in near mint condition – it’s obvious collectors have handled it carefully over the years.

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.

Nicca Type-5 35mm Rangefinder Camera – 1955

Chris and Carol 3 Comments

The Nicca Camera Company was well known during the 1950s as producing high-quality Leica inspired 35mm rangefinder cameras often of better quality than what Leica produced.

The Nicca Type-5 was released in March 1955 and it was the first Nicca camera to feature a rear film door that opened from a hinge on the right side of the body. This made it easier to load film as the film path was accessible directly from the rear. It was the only Nicca to open this way until a top-hinged model was introduced with the release of the Nicca 5-L (the L added a film winding lever vice dial shown here).

Nicca Type 5

Another feature of this Nicca is the added high-speed shutter which has a top speed of 1/1000 of a second.

The film back (rear cover) is side-hinged which is a unique feature of the Nicca Type-5.

Nicca T 5

From the front, an easy way to identify the Type-5 is by the black band that runs around the body just above the leatherette.

Nicca Ty 5

The film cassette is inserted on the left side of the camera and the film leader is drawn across the shutter curtain and is wound around the take-up spool on the right side. When the rear cover is closed the film pressure plate will keep the film flat. In the above picture, the bottom plate is reversed from its mounted position.

Nicca T5 apart

Another feature of the Type-5 is that the film door can be removed for even better access to the camera’s interior to facilitate film loading. The film take-up spool is on the far right.

The Type-5 is not a common Nicca today although it appears that nearly 6,500 were made during its run based on the thought that the serial numbers ran consecutively with no breaks in production. The earliest serial found is 125001 which is the camera depicted in the instruction book and the latest serial number found in the wild is 131531. My camera depicted here has a serial number of 130109.

Here’s an ad from May 1955 for the Type-5.

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The advertisement is dated May 1955 which is a few months after the initially reported release date of March 1955. The distributor’s name is Hinomaruya ひのまるや which can be seen just below the Nicca name on the lower right of the ad. Scan courtesy of Paul Sokk.

For more, much more, please check out my good friend Paul Sokk’s wonderful site. 

Thanks for stopping by and please visit our 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 © 2015-2019 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.

 

 

Nicca Camera Box – 1953

Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Most of our camera collection revolves around, no surprise, cameras and lenses. However, collecting camera boxes can be just as fun (and infinitely more difficult). Here’s a rather rare box from Nicca for the Type 3-S and Type 4 35mm rangefinder cameras.

Nicca Type 3-S Box

From 1953 – the top design on the box is the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens elements and groups.

Nicca Type 3-S Box 2

The inside of the box is lined with fabric.

Nicca Box with Camera

The camera (Type 3-S) safely tucked inside.

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.

New In the Shop – 10.10.2019

Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Lots of goodies were added to my camera shop this week as I continue to list items from my personal collection and some recent acquisitions from other collectors.

My shop is always open and can be found at http://www.ccstudio2380.com

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The Sony tripod is in mint condition and it’s rather cool – it features a built-in remote control right in the handle! The Nikon F book is from 1971 and it’s also in mint condition – these are getting much harder to find this nice after all these years.

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The Fujifilm Fuji DL-7 is awesome as it’s still brand new in the box – never used! The Fuji Zoom Cardia is as close to an SLR slayer that you can get in a 35mm compact point and shoot camera. How about the Minolta Six medium format camera from around 1936! It’s the very first one to carry the Minolta name.

Lots more to see in the shop so pop on over to http://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 © 2015-2019 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.