This is an Omega 120, a medium format rangefinder camera produced by Simmon Bros. Inc. of New York City, NY between the years 1954 and 1958. This strangely designed camera shoots 6cm x 7cm images on 120 format roll film and features a clever design in which the film can be rapidly advanced using a ratcheting lever that can be quickly pulled in and out of the body. This particular example is seen with the optional “pinwheel” Omegaflash gun and sync cord. The Omega 120 proved to be a very popular camera and was capable of excellent image quality, care of its Wollensak shutter and lens. It was the predecessor to the very popular Koni-Rapid Omega series of cameras released in 1964 after Simmon Bros merged with Berkey Photo who later merged with the American subsidiary of Konica.
Film Type: 120 Roll Film (ten 6cm x 7cm exposures per roll)
Lens: 90mm f/3.5 Simmon Bros (Wollensak) Omicron coated 4-elements in 3-groups
Focus: 3 feet to Infinity
Viewfinder: Separate Viewfinder with Automatic Parallax Correction and Coincident Image Coupled Rangefinder
Shutter: Omicron (Wollensak Rapax) Leaf
Speeds: B, 1 – 1/400 seconds
Exposure Meter: None
Battery: None
Flash Mount: Omegaflash Sync Cord
Weight: 1280 grams, 2062 grams (with flash)
Manual: https://www.cameramanuals.org/prof_pdf/omega_120.pdf
If you’ve never heard the name Simmon Brothers, you’re not alone. One of many marques of photographic gear that has largely been forgotten by the end of the 20 century, Simmon Brothers made a large number of pretty good photographic enlargers and other gear in the 1930s. Founded in 1935 by three brothers, Alfred, Fred, and Rudolph Simmon, during the war the company built their first camera for the US Signal Corps called the PH-501.
The Simmon Brother’s camera had a rugged magnesium body that was both strong and lightweight, and took 2¼ inch x 3¼ inch images on sheet film. The camera was well made and came with a focal plane shutter and one of many Wollensak lenses. The camera likely would have seen great use by the American military had it not been released so close to the end of the war. In the years after the war, work on cameras stopped and the company went back to making enlargers and other equipment.
In 1952, Alfred Simmon had the idea to get back into making cameras, except for the civilian market. While Alfred’s new camera shared very little with their wartime PH-501, it employed had a rugged all metal body with a similar shape, supported interchangeable lenses, and instead of shooting sheet film, shot 2¼ x 2¾ images on 120 format roll film.
Upon its release, the new camera, now called the Omega 120 looked nothing like the world had ever seen. Featuring a coupled rangefinder, both a 4-element Tessar type 90mm Wollensak Omicron lens, a Wollensak shutter, and a very specialized and rapid film transport system, the Omega 120 was truly a unique contraption. When it was previewed in the June 1954 issue of Popular Photography, the editor called it the most unusual and perplexing camera they’ve ever been called to survey, yet less than three sentences later, they describe it as effortless and superb.
The strange looking Simmon Brothers Omega 120 turned out to be fairly successful, although its retail price of $239.50 for the camera and another $49.50 for the flash attachment put it out of reach for those lacking in overloaded wallets. When adjusted for inflation, the combined retail price of $289 for the camera and flash compares to about $3390 today.
The Omega 120 was produced for about four years and was discontinued in 1958, however its story doesn’t end there as its DNA would be later reused in a Japanese camera called the Konica Koni-Omega Rapid. In my review for the Koni-Omega Rapid, I go into greater detail about the origins of the Omega 120 and how this transition occurred, so if you’d like to learn more, I recommend reading the history section of that review.
A quick summary of this transition revolves around a Russian/Ukrainian born citizen named Benjamin Berkey who formed his own distribution company called Berkey Photo in New York, acquiring the rights to make European and Japanese camera makers and selling them to various New York camera stores. In 1955, Berkey Photo would merge with Simmons Brothers and sell their products under his name. Then again in 1961, Berkey would merge with a man named Henry Froehlich who owned the rights to the American arm of the Japanese camera maker Konishiroku. With both the DNA of Simmons and Konica under the same umbrella, the idea to resurrect the Omega 120 into an all new camera was born.
The Konica Koni-Omega Rapid would be released in 1964 and retained a similar shape to the Omega 120, its unique rapid film transport, and use of 6cm x 7cm images on 120 (and 220) film, but improved the camera by offering an interchangeable lens mount with the option of lenses of differing focal lengths, combining the viewfinder and rangefinder into a single combined image coupled rangefinder, and offering a whole assortment of accessories.
With a wider range of features and the support and reputation of a larger company like Konica, the Koni-Omega Rapid was a huge success, staying in production for a decade and a half and in 1975 being made by Mamiya instead of Konica.
My first experience with a Koni-Omega came in 2019 when I picked up a rough condition model which I had intended on shooting for a review. It took me a while to shoot that camera as the original lens was badly hazed, so I had to get a replacement before I’d get any useful images from it. In my review for that camera, I commented that this was perhaps the most “left handed” camera I had never used. Re-reading that review today, I should have said the Koni-Omega Rapid is an ambidextrous camera as it is designed to be used with both hands. With your left, the large and ergonomically comfortable hand grip allows you to support it, while giving your left index finger easy reach of the shutter release.
With your right, advance the film with a quick ‘in and out’ of the rapid film transport and then easily control focus with the large knob on the side. In addition to the unique controls, I fell in love with the enormous coupled rangefinder and viewfinder which has projected framelines that automatically correct for parallax, but also correct for field size as you focus the lens. The Koni-Omega Rapid was an very fun camera to shoot which checked off all the boxes for me in that it offered a fun and unique shooting experience that was unlike other cameras I had used, but was still easy and intuitive to use, while delivering images with excellent quality.
While doing my research for that camera, I had learned a great deal about the earlier Omega 120 and had wanted to play with one, but these being far less common models meant that they show up for sale less frequently and for a higher price. I would finally get my change in 2024 when I picked up one from an estate sale, complete with the very cool Omegaflash attachment. With the flash attached to the camera, the entire contraption is very large and heavy, weighing in at 2062 grams (4.54 lbs).
Compared side by side with the Koni-Omega Rapid and without the flash, the Omega 120 is quite a bit smaller than the later camera. The top of the camera is smaller due to the smaller and uncoupled rangefinder. The left hand grip is a single piece molded into the body and is non-removable like on the later camera. In addition, the lack of interchangeable lenses means the lens mount is smaller too. Overall, the Omega 120 is smaller, but I would hardly describe it as compact. Even with its smaller size, this is not something you’re going to be able to fit in any pocket and with it on a strap dangling from your neck, you will definitely develop muscle aches on a long photo shoot. On the plus side, the all metal body feels more dense than the Konica, giving it a very high quality feel.
Since I had the benefit of using a Koni-Omega prior to the Omega 120, I compared my first experience with that one, and found it to be pretty similar. Had I experienced these cameras in chronological order however, I suspect that first time users of the Omega 120 would have been flabbergasted at the control layout. The odd shape of the body, the location of the left handed grip and shutter release, right handed focus knob, and rapid film advance lever would have all seemed strange and unusual, yet it all works wonderfully.
Featuring separate viewfinder and rangefinder windows, the main viewfinder is surprisingly large and bright and easy to see through with prescription glasses. Although the Omega 120 shoots ‘near-square’ 6×7 images, it is difficult to not see the viewfinder as square. As with most non-TTL viewfinders, what you see is mostly an estimation of what will be captured on film. The location of the viewfinder at the highest point of the camera means there is a large angle of difference between it and the taking lens below. Normally, such a difference would cause parallax error, but thankfully the designers of the Omega 120 thought of this and the viewfinder is coupled to the focus knob and will tilt down to overcome parallax error as you focus to the minimum distance.
Loading film into the Omega 120 is quite an interesting experience. I wouldn’t say it is difficult, but there are several steps that are unique to this camera. The first step is opening the camera which requires following the instructions written on the back of the camera. A large knob locks and unlocks the film door, but cannot be operated unless the film counter is in the OPEN position. This prevents accidental opening of the film back with film in the camera as it requires you to always advance it four times beyond the 10th exposure. If the camera is unloaded and someone played with the film advance, you just need to go through the entire sequence until you get to the LOCK position. This is a very useful feature and one that was continued into the Koni-Omega cameras, but you should note that the Omega 120 does not have double advance protection meaning you can accidentally advance the film past an exposure without making one, so care must be taken when advancing film.
Once the camera is open, loading film is done the same way you would on any 120 format roll film camera. Film transports from left to right onto standard plastic, metal, or wooden spools. Inserting or removing spools is done first by pulling up on small metal knobs on the very top of the camera to lift the center shafts out of the way of the spool. Under normal operation the camera uses the rapid advance lever to advance film, but since the camera back and the advance lever are one piece, you must spin a knob on the bottom of the camera to secure the film leader to the take up spool. In the images here, I have the flash attached to the camera, but thankfully the designers thought of this and added a film advance knob to the bottom of the flash which accomplishes the same task.
Once the film is in the camera, and the backing paper is attached to the spool, attach the back to the camera. Sometimes you must wiggle the film advance lever a bit to make sure the gears mesh properly, but do not pull it all the way out yet. With the back securely attached, turn the locking knob to the Lock position and then observe the round starting window on the left side of the door. This window normally has a metal door which protects the film from light passing through the window except when the exposure counter is in the OPEN position. You should be able to see through this window to the backing paper. Assuming you can, rotate the film advance knob until the number ‘1’ appears in this window and then pull out the film advance lever until the number ‘1’ appears in the exposure counter. Doing this will automatically close the door in the starting window.
The shutter is branded as a Simmon Bros Omicron, but is really just a specially adapted Wollensak Rapax shutter. Other than different cosmetics and slightly different flash sync settings, this shutter is the same as on many other American cameras like the Ciroflex and Graflex cameras. Cocking the shutter is done through the film transport, so there is no way to accidentally double expose your image. A red flag visible in a small hole below the shutter is a shutter readiness indicator. If it is red, the shutter is cocked, if black, it is not. Shutter speeds and f/stops are selected the usual way, as is a lever for changing flash sync delay. A clever bottom hinged lens cap is permanently attached to the camera so you won’t lose it, unfortunately with the cap closed, there is nothing to prevent you from firing the shutter and making a blank, or partially obstructed exposure. While using the camera, care must be taken to ensure the lens cap is fully out of the way of the lens.
While taking the beauty pics of the camera, I had the Omegaflash attached to the camera, but I never attempted to shoot any flash photos with it. While I think the rotating design of the flash in which you can have up to six bulbs ready to go is a really terrific idea, it adds considerable size and weight to the camera, making it rather impractical for using as a candid camera.
The first thing I did before shooting the Omega 120 was to take a roll of backing paper (no film) attached to a 120 spool and practice loading it into the camera. While I wouldn’t say any part of the film loading process is difficult, its just different. Whether this is the first time or the 100th time using a camera like this, a bit of practice to freshen your memory is never a bad idea!
Feeling pretty confident the Omega 120 was in perfect working order, I took it out on a rather gloomy early spring day and loaded in a roll of Arista.Edu 400 film. I figured with a top shutter speed of 400 and a fully overcast day, I could shoot the Tessar style Wollensak lens at its sweet spot of f/8 and f/11 while walking around my favorite photographic spots in downtown Crown Point.
A quick note about the entire roll above of nine shots (I double advanced one exposure) is that all of them had a muddy black line near the bottom of every exposure. After seeing this, I checked the camera for any sort of obstruction in the film gate, in the lens, or anywhere that would have caused this and I found nothing. Everything I could see inside the camera itself suggests this was not a result of anything in the camera. After looking closer at the dark sections, I came to the conclusion that this happened during developing. My best guess is that I did not have sufficient developer in the tank and part of the film was sticking up above the surface of the liquid. Whoops!
Beyond my developing snafu (which I could have just cropped out and hidden my mistake from you all but I chose to show what happens), the rest of the images look excellent. The Tessar style Wollensak Omicron delivered the goods as good as any medium format lens I’ve used. The vanity ring on this lens may not have said Zeiss or Schneider, but make no mistake, this is a capable combination. Images are crisp and sharp corner to corner with no obvious signs of vignetting or softness near the corners. I would like to one day shoot a roll of color through this camera to see what it can do, but at the time I used it, I had nothing in stock. I suspect however, that the images would look great.
There is a lot to like about the Omega 120 beyond its strange ergonomics. It is clear that for every left handed control or extra step required to load film, everything was thought out well. The designers of this camera didn’t haphazardly place controls wherever they felt like, without there being a reason for it. It is clear they started this camera with a clean slate, valuing speed and efficiency and for the most part, it worked! The later Konica-Omega Rapid improved the camera by combining the viewfinder and rangefinder together, giving the option of interchangeable lenses, and interchangeable backs to support 220 film, but otherwise kept the soul of the camera in tact.
If you can live without those extra features (yes, you can) the Omega 120 might actually be the better camera for its slightly smaller size, smaller and easier to handle hand grip, ergonomically superior curved shutter release, and simpler shutter. As long as you don’t require a camera to fit in your shirt or coat pocket, there is almost nothing not to like about the Omega 120. This camera exudes coolness, will definitely attract attention while out shooting, and definitely produces images with excellent quality! Highly recommended!
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External Links
http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Omega_120