Tag Japan

ABBA / Arrival – Japan

Chris and Carol 6 Comments

Here’s one of our favorite groups ever! and this LP is still in its original sleeve from the record store in Yokohama (Motomachi) that we purchased it from in 1977.

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It seemed fitting that we would purchase this album upon arriving to commemorate year one of our three years in Japan. At ¥2500 it was about $17! Big time money in 1977!

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Actually BA AB

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For your money you received a protective sleeve and the complete lyrics as well as an enhanced pressing.

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A simple time for simple music!

Chris and Carol ^.^

Modern Classics – Fujifilm Zoom Date 110EZ

Chris and Carol Leave a comment

No it’s not a 110 film camera as the name might imply but one of the last in a long series of 35mm super compact cameras from Fuji.

This one debuted about late 2003 – not that long ago when you think about recent film cameras vs. emerging digital cameras.

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As the name implies, it has a zoom lens (38-110mm) and can imprint the date on the film.

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Autofocus, exposure, flash and red-eye reduction.

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Electronic shutter from 1/2 to 1/500th second.

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Nice bright viewfinder – large LCD with date/time imprint and super fast two position zoom buttons. The red power button is almost impossible to push with a normal fingertip. Too small for me.

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Power zoom Fujinon lens 38-110mm (f 6.3 to 11.7).

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The camera is one of the smallest in our collection of plastic fantastic Fujifilm compact 35s. It weighs in at only 190 grams without the CR123A lithium battery.

Automatic DX film ISO setting from ISO 50-3200. Automatic film loading and film advance and auto pre-wind system.

As we’ve stated before, these cameras are getting harder to find in still brand new condition (with all original factory issued stuff)… so, they are somewhat collectable and if you’re looking for a super compact film camera to take on your next outing, the Fujifilm line is a very good choice.

Studio Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S9900W

Thanks for your visit!

Chris

Yashica Half 17 – by Camera Go Camera

Chris and Carol 4 Comments

Always interesting camera and equipment reviews with excellent photography to boot!

Peggy's avatarCamera Go Camera

When I saw this camera, I thought…REALLY??? A Yashica half frame? I hate half-frames, but I love Yashicas. Should I buy it? It isn’t cheap for a junk bin chance, but it is clean and a Yashica…OK, I will do it.

According to this reviewer it was produced in 1964. As you can see it has a selenium cell light meter and a f1.7 lens. It has zone focusing with an image scale inside the viewfinder that has the regular mountain, people, person symbols. On the right side of the view finder is a needle scale that tells you the speed. So you can choose the aperture and check what speed will be selected by the camera. Or everything can be automatic. When you press the shutter button half way, the needle moves…and this one did, which let me know the selenium cell was working 🙂 A good sign. Here…

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Nicca 3-S vs. Nicca 3-F

Chris and Carol 8 Comments

We’ve always assumed that the Nicca cameras were pretty much the same size from one model to another. The early 1950s models look for the most part, the same as the 1958 models. Now that we have two Niccas in our collection it’s time to do some comparisons.

Nicca 3-F on the left and the Nicca 3-S on the right.

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First off, without the lenses attached, there is a slight difference in weight between the two with the 3-F weighing in at 445 grams and the 3-S weighing 432 grams.

There is however a difference in size which surprised us. The later model 3-F (left) is taller than the 3-S (right) by about 4mm.

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The 3-F is also longer than the 3-S by about 7mm.

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The 3-F is about 7mm longer and 1mm wider than the 3-S.

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The 3-F is the top body with the 3-S on the bottom.

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Since these Niccas share the same specs it’s surprising that Nicca expanded the body of the 3-F.

Our best guess is that the later model (3-F) uses its extra length to improve the film path. Measuring the distance between the spindles with the baseplates off, the 3-F is 5mm longer than the 3-S (108mm vice 103mm).

So nothing earth shaking – just some subtle differences. As we have stated before, these are high quality cameras with exceptional fit and finish. Adding a Nicca will enhance any collection of 1950s Japanese made rangefinder cameras.

Studio Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S9900W

Chris

Nicca 3-S… Quality Rangefinder from 1955

Chris and Carol 2 Comments

A beautiful example of a mid 1950s 35mm rangefinder camera – made by Nicca Camera Company, Ltd.DSCF5405

Mated with a sharp Nippon Kogaku Nikkor f/ 2, 5cm lens.

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Main shutter speeds of 1/25 to 1/500th of a second.

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Added bonus on this Nicca – marked <E.P> for exempt purchase. Normally marked for purchases made at military facilities and duty free shops.

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Nicca cameras were considered to be well made cameras during the 1950s. This example is at least 62 years old and the fit and finish is almost flawless. Nicca was acquired by Yashica in 1958 and the merger of the two companies helped Yashica to design and release their first 35mm single lens reflex camera in 1960 – the Yashica Pentamatic.

Studio Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S9900W

Chris

Fujica GW690 from 1978

Chris and Carol 4 Comments

We acquired this beast early this year and fell in love with its capabilities. The only problem with it is that you only get 8 6x9cm images on a roll of 120 film. Talk about planning your shot!

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Last camera to carry the Fujica name.

One of our favorite images from the first roll – far from perfect – the focus is a tad off but we love the shallow depth of field and the amazing tonal range of the Neopan Acros.

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The 6x9cm format is, in our opinion, nearly perfect for big time enlargements. This image by the way, is not cropped and hasn’t received post production.

If you want to go big in medium format, the Fujica GW690 and the Fuji GW690II and III are worth a look.

Chris

 

Original Pentamatic Accessories

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Some of the original accessories that were available for the new Pentamatic…

When Yashica’s first single lens reflex (SLR) 35mm camera hit the world markets in the May-June 1960 time period, they were ready with a host of well designed accessories. From simple screw-in filters to extension tubes and the new bayonet mount lenses, Yashica had a nice selection to choose from. Here are just a few examples…

Pentamatic Right Angle Finder for low angle and close-up photography. This simple finder mounted securely to the camera's eyepiece and had adjustments for focus and could be rotated 90 degrees to the left for vertical copy work. The image is reversed so it does require some getting used to. Here it's mounted to my Pentamatic-S.

Pentamatic ‘Right Angle Finder’ for low angle and close-up photography. This simple finder mounted securely to the camera’s eyepiece and had adjustments for focus and could be rotated 90 degrees to the left for vertical copy work. The image is reversed so it does require some getting used to. Here it’s mounted to our Pentamatic-S.

A small collection of boxes gives some idea as to the diversity of the early accessories. Note the general theme of the design... each shows-off the "pentaprism" design of the camera. The right angle finder box appears to be from a slightly later design as it has a different look from the other two.

A small collection of boxes gives some idea as to the diversity of the early accessories. Note the general theme of the design… each shows off the pentaprism design of the camera. The right angle finder box appears to be from a slightly later design as it has a different look from the other two.

Pentamatic Extension Tubes mounted on my Model-S Pentamatic camera body and Auto-Yashinon 5.8 cm (58 mm) f/1.7 standard lens. The lens is super bright and is super heavy! Camera and lens weigh-in at 2 lbs 5 oz (1056 g)!

Pentamatic ‘Extension Tubes’ mounted on our Model-S Pentamatic camera body and Auto-Yashinon 5.8 cm (58 mm) f/1.7 standard lens. The lens is super bright and is super heavy! Camera and lens weigh-in at 2 lbs 5 oz (1056 g)!

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Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

Early Yashica Pentamatic Brochure – US

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Very early if not the earliest printed in the US sales brochure for the new Pentamatic.

We’re thinking the summer of 1960…

We haven’t found an earlier brochure that features the Pentamatic then this one – “Printed in the U.S.A.” on the back cover using the 234 Fifth Avenue, New York 1, N.Y. address. The cover is amazing in that other than Yashica’s name and an image of the camera, there’s no other writing. No “Pentamatic” – just an image of the camera. That was a first for Yashica as best as we can tell.

The first magazine advertisement was June 1960 in the US so we don’t believe this brochure was out before that. The only problem with our thinking is that most of the other cameras featured inside this brochure are 1959 model cameras and in some cases late 1958. There could even be a few that came out in early 1960. The two pages we’ve scanned (see below) contain an interesting wealth of info on the features and accessories for the Pentamatic. Of note, the lens serial number (No. 59100036) puts that lens to be one of the first lenses Tomioka made for Yashica with the new Pentamatic exclusive bayonet mount – 59 = 1959, 10 = October, 0036 = the 36th made in the production run.

We know from our research that the October 1959 date for the lens is 2 full months early from the first Pentamatic bodies (December 1960). Our best guess is that Tomioka Optical (the maker of the lens) needed to start production of the standard lens early in order to meet the demand for the camera body itself. No proof exists yet but it’s the best decoding of the lens serial number we can come up.

Page 1 provides a wealth of info for Yashica's first 35mm SLR.

Page 1 provides a wealth of info for Yashica’s first 35mm SLR.

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Page 2 shows (with prices) a nice selection of accessories for the Pentamatic. It appears that at the time of this brochure that there were 5 lenses available in the Pentamatic bayonet mount.

 

 

 

 

 

Yashica Pentamatic II at a recent auction.

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If you’ve been following our blog about the Yashica Pentamatic II, then you know that it had one of the shorter production runs of any 35mm Yashica SLR camera. Released in September of 1960 – only a few months after the original Pentamatic went on sale in May of 1960, the model II was replaced by the Pentamatic S by January 1961.

So few of these come up at auction that’s it difficult for a collector to find a good example of one to bid on. This Pentamatic II (pictured below), just sold on an online auction for ¥8,500 with fairly robust bidding activity. While that’s not an extremely high final sales figure, it was rather high in our opinion for a camera that may not be functional with a lens that may have some issues (fungus, mold). Having said that, given just how rare the Pentamatic II is, it is certainly undervalued by some collectors. The camera set looks to be in good condition overall – no major issues seen with the body and it looks complete.

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The serial number (NO. 96001891) would indicate that this body was made in September 1960, and that it was number 1,891 in the production run. For one month that is actually a high amount produced compared to the monthly totals of the original Pentamatic. We will point out that the only change that we’ve been able to find between the two models is that the model II uses a different standard lens – 5.8cm, f/ 1.7 Auto-Yashinon vice the original’s 5.5cm, f/ 1.8 A-Y lens.

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So there you have it – a Pentamatic II with the correct lens, strap and a genuine Yashica filter sold for around $80. You should expect to pay in the vicinity of $100 for a clean version with certified working shutter.

Thanks for your visit and as always, happy hunting!

Chris