A true first for Canon Camera Company – 1959

September 6, 2025September 6, 2025Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Canon Canonflex

Canon’s first 35mm SLR. This one is likely from late 1959 as the serial number is just below 6,000. If you have a chance to get your hands on one, you’ll see straight away that the build quality is top-notch. This one is in mint condition and, except for the slowest speeds, operates like new. The Canon Super-Canomatic R 50mm f/1.8 lens is crystal clear. It’s also an <E.P> marked body. It shares lots of DNA with my early F-1 from August 1971, which is also <E.P> marked.

Canon’s first 35mm SLR. Released in May 1959.

Although modern and advanced for 1959, it didn’t catch on. Sales were reported as being disappointing. It’s reported that just shy of 18,000 were sold.

My camera’s serial number indicates it was number 5,998 in the first production run. The prism is removable, just like the 1971 Canon F-1.

The film advance lever was mounted on the bottom. Unusual but not unheard of for the period. The <E.P> mark was somewhat common in the 1950s, especially on Canon’s rangefinder cameras.

It looks just like any modern Canon film camera through the 1980s.

A snip from the instruction book from January 1960.

It’s claimed that you could shoot and advance up to 3 frames per second!

Shared DNA. The Canonflex on the left and my Canon F-1 (1971) on the right.

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Comments are always welcome; I’ve learned a great deal from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by. While there, visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios, hosted on Etsy). – Chris Whelan

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris. Copyright © 2015-2025 Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris (Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic), Chris Whelan. All rights reserved.

An elegant machine designed to capture light on film.

September 5, 2025September 5, 2025Chris and Carol Leave a comment

From 1959. An Asahi Optical Company H2. Shown here with its North American market distributors’ engravings. No self-timer, accessory shoe, or light meter. A clean machine.

The Asahi Pentax ‘Original’ or just ‘AP’ as it came to be referred to. From 1957. Asahi’s first 35mm SLR with an eye-level pentaprism.

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USS Midway, still going strong at 80!

September 3, 2025September 3, 2025Chris and Carol 3 Comments

Thirty-two years after this picture was taken, I reported to the USS Midway (CV-41) in Yokosuka, Japan. My first carrier and one of the most challenging and rewarding assignments of my then young Navy career. I’m amazed that we’re both still “afloat” after all these years! GO Navy, the Best always have!
She’s basically a battleship with a flight deck.

She’s one of the best US Navy museum ships around.

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(almost) wordless wednesday

September 3, 2025September 3, 2025Chris and Carol Leave a comment

This building is the same one on the far right in the first image (Waas Drugs).

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Happy SUNday! – images from a 1959 lens.

August 31, 2025August 31, 2025Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Very nice colors and contrast. This 35mm lens, when used on a crop sensor camera like the Fuji, provides an effective focal length of approximately 52mm, which is considered a “normal” or “standard” lens.

A test picture showing nice contrast and color from a sixty-five-year-old lens.

An Asahi Takumar f3.5 35mm wide-angle lens from 1959 mounted on my modern Fujifilm mirrorless camera via an adapter.

This classic lens looks right at home on my Fuji X-T2.

I enjoy using classic lenses on my modern cameras. It’s easy and inexpensive to adapt your lenses to your mirrorless digital cameras.

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The ‘Original’

August 28, 2025August 28, 2025Chris and Carol 2 Comments

Asahi Pentax 35mm SLR

The original Asahi Pentax 35mm SLR. The first eye-level pentaprism camera from Asahi Pentax (1957-1958). It’s also known as the ‘AP’ and ‘Original’.

It’s shown with its proper lens, the Takumar f/2 58mm and Asahi 46mm UV filter.

This camera pre-dates the original Nikon F, which was released in 1959.

I believe it’s a much better camera than the original Nikon F (I use both). Its sleek, still modern-looking design is unmistakably Pentax.

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wordless (almost) wednesday

August 27, 2025August 27, 2025Chris and Carol Leave a comment

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Take your airplanes to the beach day.

August 25, 2025August 25, 2025Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Someone just needed to get in some quality beach time. They just happened to have a couple of airplanes on the trailer.

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A day at the beach with Hurricane Erin

August 20, 2025August 20, 2025Chris and Carol Leave a comment

A day at the beach. Amelia Island, Fernandina Beach. The clouds in the distance are cirrus clouds from Hurricane Erin. The surf was up, but I’ve seen worse. I’m glad this storm missed the US.