Pigeon 35 by Shinano Camera Co., Ltd.

April 30, 2019April 30, 2019Chris and Carol Leave a comment

A reblog of an earlier post about this amazing and seldom seen 35mm rangefinder camera made in Japan in the early 1950s.

Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris

Why show a 35mm viewfinder camera on a blog about the Yashica Pentamatic? Well, Shinano and Yashima-Yashica share a common history. The first camera that carried the Yashima name was the Pigeonflex… a twin-lens reflex (TLR) camera!

Anyway here’s a nice example of a gorgeous 35 mm viewfinder camera that we acquired recently. The lens is made by Tomioka… a sharp (we hope) Tri-Lausar f/ 3.5 4.5 cm lens. NKS shutter B – 1/200.

It’s a nice heavyweight camera that has a good feel to it. In our opinion, it’s far from being a cheaply built camera as some would say. In fact, it still functions as intended after 6 decades of use. Most leather cases would be a complete mess after this amount of time but the leather is nice and the stitching is intact.

20160801_183736 1952 Pigeon 35 by Shinano.

20160801_183800 Nice view of the Tomioka lens.

20160801_184255 Beautiful logo on…

View original post 68 more words

A Little More Pigeon Poo…

August 9, 2016December 7, 2019Chris and Carol Leave a comment

It would appear that this Pigeon may be a rather rare version. From late 1952 to early 1953… is this a Model IIA? It doesn’t match completely with the other known Pigeon models.

The Shinano Pigeon 35 was not a groundbreaking camera during its run… it was just a solidly built 35mm viewfinder camera that still works like a charm even after 6 decades of use. Shinano, which had its roots in Suwa, Nagano Prefecture in the early 1950s, would cross paths with another start-up manufacturer from Nagano… Yashima. Yashima would go on to make its first TLR and call it a ‘Pigeonflex’. Shinano faded and Yashima eventually changed its name to Yashica (1958) and the name Pigeon essentially dropped from sight and memory.

Complete filter set and lens shade from Shinano for the Pigeon 35.

Vintage view of the Pigeon 35 Model IIA.

More images soon… from the camera! If you would like to know more about the Shinano Pigeon and all things related to Yashima-Yashica twin-lens reflex cameras, please stop by my friend Paul’s amazing website http://www.yashicatlr.com/Pigeonflex.html#pigeon35

Thanks for the visit… Chris and Carol