under construction – Happy SUNday v2

May 24, 2020May 24, 2020Chris and Carol Leave a comment

A new house on the beach on Amelia Island.

First images from my new to me old Nikon D800.

Memorial Day Weekend traffic on Amelia Island at the beach.

Can you spot the lizard?

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Camera: Nikon D800 with Nikon AF Nikkor 80-200mm f/ 2.8D zoom lens.

Be sure to visit my Etsy 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.

Friday Fotos! – Classic Rangefinders

May 1, 2020May 1, 2020Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Image courtesy of Paul Sokk www.yashicatlr.com

Recently my good friend Paul Sokk added this wonderful Leica IIIc to his collection of 35mm rangefinder cameras from the late 1940s and 1950s. The Leica is an original design made in Germany and the Nicca and Leotax are considered copies or clones made in Japan.

The Leica IIIc (front) is from 1946-47, the Nicca 3-F (middle) is from 1956, and the Leotax K is from 1955-58. These cameras use what is known as L39 (LTM) screw mount lenses of which literally thousands were made and thousands are still available today in a wide range of focal lengths.

If you’re looking to get into film photography with a totally manual camera then these should be on your list to take a closer look at.

On the left, the Zeiss Ikon Contax IIIa and on the right the Nicca built Tower Type-3.

Pictured above are a couple of contenders from 1951. The Contax is an original design from the 1930s and was manufactured in Germany. The Tower branded camera was made by Nicca in Japan and features a Nippon Kogaku Nikkor f/ 2 5cm lens. The Contax sports a Carl Zeiss Sonnar f/ 1.5 50mm lens. The Contax also has an attached selenium cell exposure meter that can be useful for setting the correct aperture and shutter speed. A word of caution about these 70-year-old meters, if they are working (responding to light) then assume that it’s not accurate until you can check it against a modern meter. Most of these types of meters have long since failed.

Zeiss Ikon Contax IIIa with selenium meter (top center) flap opened.

Paul’s beautiful Leica IIIc

Paul’s gorgeous Leotax F with Topcor f/ 3.5 5cm lens.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope my post stirs some interest in these wonderful cameras. I do have a Tower (Nicca) set available in my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com if you care to take a look at it, pop on over.

Take care and stay safe! – 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.

1951 Classics – Contax & Tower (Nicca)

April 18, 2020April 18, 2020Chris and Carol 2 Comments

Zeiss Ikon Contax IIIa and Tower (Nicca) Type-3

Two extremely different cameras that accomplish the same thing – recording an image on 135 film. The Contax is a much bigger camera and for the most part, it is an original design by Zeiss Ikon of Stuttgart. The Tower was made by Nicca Camera for the Sears, Roebuck Company for sale in the US and Canada. The Nicca was inspired by an original design by Leica and it’s often considered to be one of the better Leica “copies”.

Both cameras feature interchangeable lenses and both are rangefinders. The Contax has an attached exposure meter (non-coupled) and with the Tower, you would use a separate meter for determining proper exposures.

The Contax is a slightly larger camera and it’s a tad bit heavier due to the additional weight of the exposure meter. The Contax weighs 773 grams and the Tower weighs 591 grams.

The standard lens on the Contax is a Carl Zeiss Sonnar f/ 1.5 50mm and the Tower has a Nikkor H.C f/ 2 5cm.

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What’s interesting is that back in 1951 these cameras were considered to be “miniature” 35mm cameras per their advertising of the time.

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contax IIIa and IIa

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit my 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.

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

December 12, 2019December 15, 2019Chris 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”.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

Happy SUNday! – Trying out my new old lens.

October 13, 2019October 13, 2019Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Bunches of old lenses + a mirrorless digital camera + a bevy of lens adapters = lots of fun!

Fujifilm X-A10. One of Fuji’s most affordable mirrorless cameras mated with my cherished Nippon Kogaku Nikkor-H.C f/2 5cm lens from around 1956 or so. The adapter is from Fotodiox.

The adapter was about $17 direct from Fotodiox (that included shipping). The adapters from Fotodiox are of excellent quality and their customer service has been exceptional. M39 allows you to use Leica type screw-in lenses (L39) made by a variety of lens makers back in the day.

The results (so far). I’m pretty happy with the contrast, sharpness, and colors that the lens captures. Using vintage glass can be a lot of fun!

About f/11

f/5.6

f/8

About the trickiest part of using vintage manual focus lenses of a modern digital mirrorless camera is achieving an accurate focus in bright sunlight. Most of my focusing is guessing at the distance and knowing my depth of field limitations. On my Fujifilm X-Series camera, I set the exposure dial to aperture priority, select manual focus, set my ISO, then set the desired aperture on my lens and monitor the shutter speed selected by the camera.

Focused at infinity at f/16

None of these images received significant post production – pretty much as captured and certainly no cropping. Below is a different Nikkor lens that has a case of fungus.

Here’s another Nikkor-H.C f/2 5cm lens with significant fungus on the last internal lens element(s). Other than the fungus the lens is in mint condition.

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Same kitty different results. By using a digital adapter I can quickly test a lens and decide if it’s worth getting the lens serviced.

Here’s a different adapter made for a Sony E-mount body mirrorless camera.

Fotodiox adapter for mounting Canon FD lenses to my Fuji.

If you haven’t tried using an adapter for your old manual focus lenses you’re missing out on a bunch of fun. They’re inexpensive and you’ll probably like the “look” the vintage glass gives your images.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit my 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.

Nicca Bits

May 19, 2019May 20, 2019Chris and Carol Leave a comment

I love finding “new” bits of vintage photo gear especially when you’ve been hunting for them for years.

These bits may seem like no big deal but if you collect hard to find items in their original boxes and cases it’s rewarding when it all comes together.

Nicca-Hinomaruya Y2 filter and lens hood. Both are from at least 1955 but likely earlier.

Hinomaruya was the exclusive distributor of Nicca cameras and accessories.

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Using a Y2 yellow filter is a must when shooting with black and white film. It will generally darken a blue sky and provide more contrast between the sky and clouds. It can also help add better definition when shooting landscapes where haze and light atmospheric fog is present. When using a Y2 filter on a camera such as this one you must compensate by a factor of two when taking your meter readings. If you’re using an SLR with TTL metering then the camera’s built-in meter will compensate for you.

Nicca Type 33 sales brochure showing a slightly different box for the hood and for a color filter along with the older style filter box. The Type 33 was one of the last Nicca cameras produced by the company and was released in 1958 so this would represent the last style of filter and hood boxes. As with everything else, these items were distributed by Hinomaruya.

Studio Camera: Fujifilm X-A10

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.

Hinomaruya ひのまるや and Nicca Camera

May 5, 2019May 5, 2019Chris and Carol 4 Comments

Nicca camera made one of the better 35 mm rangefinder cameras in the 1950s. The style of camera is typically referred to as a Leica copy or Leica clone which is an unfair label to attach to the cameras of this design. One could argue that all cameras are copies of some previous camera – someone had to be first.

Here’s one of my favorite cameras in my collection – the Nicca 3-S rangefinder from about 1955.

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Seldom seen outside of Japan, here’s a nice lens hood with Nicca branding. It was distributed by Hinomaruya Co., Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan. The hood (or lens shade) was designed to be used with the Nikkor 50 mm f/2 lens and had a mount size of 40.5 mm.

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The attention to even the smallest details is what makes collecting these vintage bits of photo gear interesting and fun. The Yashica branded lens shades from this period look exactly the same so I will assume that the same manufacturer made them all. Could it have been Hinomaruya? No proof that they actually “made” things.

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The back of the leather case carries the Hinomaruya (in Japanese it’s ひのまるや) logo in a similar font as the Nicca logo (or at least close to it).

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Side view of the box – the translation is “Nicca Lens Hood”.

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There’s very little about the company Hinomaruya available on the web. It’s last known address was Tokyo-to, Chuo-ku, Nihonbashi Muromachi 4-3 (which was just around the corner from Yashica). The company was the exclusive distributor of Nicca up until 1958 when Yashica acquired Nicca. They also distributed the rather cool Melcon 35 mm rangefinder camera and the Nikkor lenses used on both the Melcon and Nicca.

Hiromaruya in hiragana is ひのまるや

Here’s a bag that has Nicca and Hinomaruya on it. Another direct link between the two of them.

I’m not sure if they made this slide projector or if they distributed it but this item is from about 1959 – interesting because it’s a year after the Yashica acquisition of Nicca.

Maruya Pet hinomaruya

There are a few (very few) advertisements floating around on the web from Hinomaruya and I haven’t seen that name anywhere on paperwork from Nicca associated with the camera. It’s unknown if they handled warranty registrations and related paperwork for Nicca or Nikkor.

Thanks for stopping by and BTW, if you have additional information about Hinomaruya or Nicca please feel free to share it with me! Thanks – Chris

Studio Camera: Fujifilm X-A10

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.

Some nice Nikon photo gear in my store!

January 15, 2019January 22, 2019Chris and Carol 1 Comment

I’ve just added some rather interesting Nikon stuff in my online store at http://www.ccstudio2380.com

It’s a nice way to add some nice Nikon photo gear to your collection.

All three items are now SOLD! Thank you!!!

In mint condition Nikon waist-level viewfinder/magnifier model DW-3 for the Nikon F3 SLR

Thank you!

Thank you!

I’ll be listing a “ton” of other items from my camera and photo gear collection over the next week or so. Stop back often.

Lots of other neat things in the shop so stop on by! Thanks, 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.

Fungus Among Us – “Is that a snow globe in your lens”?

November 10, 2018November 10, 2018Chris and Carol 2 Comments

A nice Nikkor lens from around 1951. When a lens is stored improperly you get a snow globe.

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I’m calling it fungus but I don’t see the typical filaments associated with fungus. Mold tends to be spotty. Haze is, well hazy. This whiteout is on the surface of the last internal lens element and is not reachable without a teardown of the lens. I’m sending this one off to a professional camera and lens repair service shortly. No promises made but for $90 its worth a try. The lens is in nearly mint condition otherwise.

The seller did offer a refund of $40 on my purchase to help with the repair costs which was appreciated. A lot of problems could be averted by simply shining a bright LED light through a lens before listing it. But this lens is on a rangefinder camera so simply looking through the range/viewfinder wouldn’t have spotted these issues.

Below is a scan of a page from the Sears Camera Catalog from Fall 1952. It goes into an extensive background of the Nikkor lenses that were available for the Tower 35 – aka Nicca Type-3.

I’ll let you know how it looks when it’s back from service. 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.

Historic Advertising Flyer – 1958

October 24, 2018October 24, 2018Chris and Carol Leave a comment

I’ll say 1958 because it looks like it was produced shortly after Yashima-Yashica acquired the Nicca Camera Co., Ltd. in May 1958. As best as I can tell this is the one and only time that a piece of advertising contained all three key players in the Nicca III-L. Nicca, Nikkor (Nikon), and Yashica. The address at the bottom of the page matches the address that Yashica used in 1958-1959.

My translation app has the address as 1-8 Nihonbashi, Muromachi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

The lenses for the Nicca cameras were almost exclusively supplied by Nikon and branded as Nikkor. Since this was a transition time (end of the line) for Nicca, this flyer clearly indicates that Yashica is the new player in the picture. Yashica would operate Nicca as Taiho Optical Company for a period of time with at least a few lenses getting produced with that brand name on the lens.

Yashica eventually (in well less than a year) started to supply lenses with the Yashinon name for these Nicca-Yashica crossover models. It’s not clear if these lenses were made for Yashica by an outside company such as Tomioka or that they may have been made by the newly acquired Nicca operating under their new name Taiho. There are at least a few Nicca branded lenses that I’ve seen so it’s not an impossible thought.

As always, thanks for your visit. Do you have something to add? I’d love to hear and see anything related to this dynamic period in Yashica’s history. – 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.

Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris

Yashica cameras and so much more!

Tag Nikkor Lenses

under construction – Happy SUNday v2

Friday Fotos! – Classic Rangefinders

1951 Classics – Contax & Tower (Nicca)

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

Happy SUNday! – Trying out my new old lens.

Nicca Bits

I love finding “new” bits of vintage photo gear especially when you’ve been hunting for them for years.

Hinomaruya ひのまるや and Nicca Camera

Some nice Nikon photo gear in my store!

Fungus Among Us – “Is that a snow globe in your lens”?

A nice Nikkor lens from around 1951. When a lens is stored improperly you get a snow globe.

Historic Advertising Flyer – 1958