Before the dawn of the digital age, camera manufacturers produced some of their most technologically advanced 35mm SLR film cameras to date. Sophisticated autofocus systems, auto exposure, eye-control, and zone-assist focusing to name just a few features. The Canon EOS-1N (1994), the Nikon F4 (1988) which was Nikons first professional camera with autofocus, the F5 (1996), and the Contax RX (1994), AX (1996) which had a basic autofocus system and later, the N1 (2000) a true autofocus camera with a new line of Zeiss lenses.
My Contax RX set. The lens was initially sold separately.The RX’s ‘highlight’ was the Digital Focus Indicator (DFI) function—not quite autofocus, but close.It’s a handsome SLR with a timeless, classic look that, in my opinion, modern Fujifilm mirrorless cameras emulate.The list price of JPY 160,000 was about USD 1,600 in 1994.Contax RX brochure. Shoots at up to 3 frames per second.Canon EOS-1N RS (a film eater with autofocus). It’s capable of shooting 10 frames per second! Uses Canon EF lenses.Canon EOS-1N brochure – 1994.Nikon F5 1996. It’s capable of shooting 8 frames per second.Nikon F5 brochure.The Contax RX. The data back only indicates the year up to 2019. Thirty years on, it’s stuck in the 1990s. The data is printed between the frames on the film, not in the image.Contax craziness!
More soon. Thanks for stopping by, Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed, as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
The Contax 50th Anniversary Edition 137 MD Quartz 35mm SLR film camera.
The ’50 Years’ model had a unique leatherette and a gold Contax ‘button’ on the flash sync terminal.I don’t usually chase anniversary models, but this one struck me as pure in the early 1980s.
Contax celebrated fifty years, 1932-1982.
One of two standard lenses is shown here.Contax numbered their cameras, consequently. As far as I am aware, no date code is hidden in the serial numbers.It’s a simple manual focus aperture priority camera first released in 1980. Notice the location of the tripod socket. The entire baseplate is removable to be able to install the four AA batteries needed to power the meter and motor drive.Advertisement from early 1980.I believe the red sticker indicates that the color of the body is ‘fin’ or ‘wine.’ The Google Translate app isn’t apparent.There aren’t many of these models still available, but they are well worth being chased.
This particular camera was sold in Japan, and unfortunately, I don’t have the original paperwork or Japanese instruction booklet. I’d love to find the correct strap, too. The proper case is a bit of a mystery, but I believe it should have been C-004, according to my friend Graham in the UK. By the way, the period correct flash units made for the 137 MD is the Contax TLA20 and TLA30 Auto Flash units for true TTL flash metering. There is also a 137 Data Back and a 137 Grip Adapter. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit my camera shop (hosted by Etsy) at http://www.ccstudio2380.com – Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed, as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Dated October 1986.The brochure features some of the more hard-to-find (now) cases.Lens Hoods – they’re always a difficult item to match with their proper lens.Wouldn’t it be nice to own these now?
I have many Nikon brochures in my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (hosted by Etsy). I ship nearly Worldwide. Thanks for stopping by, Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed, as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
I’ve enjoyed acquiring camera and photography brochures over the years and now have quite an extensive collection of them (go figure). I’ll be listing some of them in my camera shop over the next few months so if you’re on the hunt for something specific, just let me know and or visit my shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com.
This is a large-format Fujifilm film brochure from 1998. Fujicolor Professional 160 film was a popular color negative film in the 1990s.Here is a relatively hard-to-find brochure on the not-often-seen Yashica Electro 35 Professional camera from 1970. It’s a Japanese camera shop brochure.A large (9 x 21 inch) Plexiglas camera dealer’s display sign is also available in my shop.I no longer own the camera but have the original boxes for it. It would add a nice touch to your collection.The Canon black and olive green camera bag is still new and unused and is available.A like-new Minolta 35mm SLR set with its original box and papers.
These are just a few of the neat items I have in my shop, all at a 10% savings! Thanks for stopping by, Chris.
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed, as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
I have the boxes, but I don’t own the camera anymore. If you want to make your AE-1 look complete, pop over to my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com.
Jean-Claude Killy from the 1968 Winter Olympics.Peggy Fleming’s picture from the 1968 Olympics is on this side.
Thanks for stopping by, Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed, as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
This lovely model was likely photographed while in the Japanese Alps in Nagano Prefecture. Yashima’s first factory was opened in the Lake Suwa region in 1953. The Winter Olympics were held in Nagano in 1998. Pictured is the Yashica Flex C. ‘Beautiful Seasonal Colors at Yashica.’ ‘Fuji Color Used’ in the bottom right.
Thanks for stopping by, Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed, as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
In the Contax RTS instruction booklet, the baseplate pictured either has a “real” serial number or one “made up” by the marketing department. RTS models out in the wild don’t have a serial number that is easy to decode (date manufactured), but this one does, at least if you know how to read Yashica serial numbers. I interpret this SN as February 1975 (502), and its number is 166.
The original instruction booklet (dated 06/76) has an 8-digit SN.My RTS baseplate has serial number 087024, which looks nothing like the serial number in the instructions.Here is a baseplate from an RTS-Fundus Scientific / Medical camera. I see 091238. I don’t see a date code in there – do you?
Anyway, this is just a quick post to gather my thoughts. Do you own a Contax RTS first model? I’d like to see more serial numbers as a pattern may appear. Thanks for stopping by, Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed, as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by 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.
There is still plenty of conjecture about the exact meaning of the two letters that appear in a diamond design on Japanese-made photo gear made in the 1950s and 1960s and gradually disappearing in the mid to late 1970s. Some suggest that it meant “Exchange Purchase” since the mark often appeared on cameras sold in military exchanges throughout Japan during that period. The catch is that not all of the cameras sold in the exchange stores had that mark – probably only 30% or less, depending on the decade and store. Stereo equipment was also marked as was binoculars. Expensive jewelry and watches didn’t have the mark. So what gives, and exactly who ordered the symbols to be placed on, at times, random items within these few categories.
Here is a never-before-seen (by me) mark on the presentation box of a <E.P> marked Nikon S2 35mm rangefinder camera from the 1950s. The camera bears the mark, and so does the box. It’s too bad the box doesn’t have an affixed price sticker. It would have been interesting to see which exchange it sold in and for how much.
Look closely at the image of this Nikon box pictured below. In the upper right-hand corner is a price sticker. The sticker has quite a bit of good information, but it also leaves out some vital info. The “Japan Tax Exempt” and dollar amount printed on the sticker are such a tease. The camera was from the early 1970s, so it could have had the <E.P> mark, but not necessarily. From memory of my time living in Japan and shopping at the Navy Exchanges in Yokosuka and Yokohama, I don’t ever recall seeing a price sticker with “Tax Exempt” printed on it since everything sold in the exchange was tax-free and therefore tax exempt. If it wasn’t sold at the exchange and in fact sold at a duty-free or tax-free shop in Japan, why would it be priced in USD and not yen?
Intriguing find.My 1955 Nicca 3-S with a <E.P> mark on the rewind knob (typical placement of the mark).
No record exists that explains precisely what the “E & P” stood for or why the program existed and, for that matter, who instituted and administrated the process. I believe the mark was primarily intended to deter the black market reselling of photo gear to Japanese civilians by military personnel since the cameras were tax-free in the military stores and were more than likely also priced lower than the same camera “out in town” in a Japanese camera shop. It’s likely “EP” stood for “Exempt Purchase” or “Exempt Product” and not “Exchange Purchase” for the reasons I stated in this post. Do you have additional information about the program? Do you fondly remember purchasing a great camera at the exchange, please share it.
Thanks for stopping by, Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by 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.
Rare Yashica dealer display ‘Yashica Sailor Boy’ 20cm size with green shoes. Made in 1962 by Modern Plastics Co, Japan. He’s in collector condition and he’s available in my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com
It’s time for another collector to add this rare find to their collection.
The green shoe ‘Sailor Boy’ is a full 8 inches tall. The smaller guy is 4 inches. My camera shop can be found at http://www.ccstudio2380.com – Thanks for stopping by, Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by 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.
Or, a ‘Plastic Fantastic’! I’ve always enjoyed using these well-built Canon point & shoot 35mm cameras from the early 1990s and this model is no exception. If you’re looking for a solid film shooter then this is it.
Also known as the Canon Autoboy Zoom 76 in Japan and the Prima Zoom 76 in Europe.A complete set from Canon (and me).
Modern Classic! From 1991 and still Made in Japan, a Canon Sure Shot MegaZoom 76 35mm film camera set. It’s one of my favorite Canon cameras from that time period. This one is in like-new condition – fully tested and ready for you. It features a super-sharp Canon 38-76mm f3.8 zoom lens (7 elements 7 groups). I’ve even included a new Panasonic battery – just add your favorite film. It’s available in my camera shop at www.ccstudio2380.com Follow me on Instagram @ccphotographyai Thanks, Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by 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.
Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris 