This is an Opema II, a 35mm rangefinder camera made by Meopta in Přerov, Czechoslovakia starting in 1954. The Opema II featured a coupled rangefinder, cloth focal plane shutter with top 1/500 speed and an interchangeable 38mm thread mount for changing lenses. Although very similar to the 39mm thread mount…
This is a Konica Recorder DD, a half frame 35mm point and shoot camera made by Konica of Japan starting in 1985. The “DD” in the model name indicates that this was a version of the camera with a data back as compared with the non DD model which was…
This review is part of the Cameras of the Dead series which features dead cameras that I’ve wanted to review that either didn’t work, or was otherwise unable to shoot. In the past, these reviews used to come out in a set of three every Halloween or what I called…
This is an Alpa Reflex, a 35mm single lens reflex and rangefinder camera made by Pignons S.A. in Ballaigues, Switzerland between the years 1944 and 1952. The Alpa Reflex was the first generation of Alpa cameras and is one of only a very few reflex cameras to also feature a…
This is a National Graflex Series II, a single lens reflex camera made by the Folmer Graflex Corporation in Rochester, New York, USA between the years 1934 and 1941. The National Graflex makes ten 2¼” x 2½” exposures on a roll of 120 roll film, has a cloth focal plane…
This is a Yashica Dental-Eye, a 35mm SLR camera made by Kyocera starting in 1985. The Dental-Eye, as the name suggests, is a specialized camera produced primarily for the dental industry allowing for extreme closeups, but it was also used by eye doctors and in other specialized medical and scientific…
This is an Ensign Commando, a folding roll film camera made by Barnet Ensign Ltd. between the years 1945 and 1949. The Ensign Commando shoots both 6cm x 6cm and 4.5cm x 6cm images on 120 format roll film and was originally made for the British military near the end…
This is a Bilora Radix 35 BH, a simple scale focus camera made by Kürbi & Niggeloh of Radevormwald, West Germany between 1948 and 1952. The Bilora Radix shoots double perforated 35mm film loaded in Agfa Karat cassettes. Marketed as a competitor to Kodak’s type 135 daylight loading cassette, Karat…
This is the Minicord, a 16mm subminiature twin lens reflex camera made by Optische Anstalt C. P. Goerz in Vienna, Austria between the years 1951 and 1958. The Minicord shoots 10mm x 10mm exposures on double perforated 16mm cinema film loaded in reloadable cassettes designed specifically for this camera. The…
This is an Envoy Wide Angle, an all metal box camera made by Photo Developments Ltd of Birmingham, England between 1951 and at least 1955. The Envoy Wide Angle shoots 2¼” x 3¼” images on both roll film and sheet film using a clever film compartment that can accommodate both…
This is a Gamma II, a 35mm rangefinder camera made by Gamma Officine Meccaniche de Precisione in Rome, Italy between the years 1947 and 1950. The Gamma II was the first in a series of Gamma cameras and the only one with a unique bayonet lens mount. Later Gamma cameras…
This is a Chinon Bellami, a compact 35mm point and shoot camera made by Chinon International Corp in Tokyo, Japan starting in 1980. The Chinon Bellami was one of the smallest full frame 35mm cameras ever made and has a design and feature set very comparable to the Olympus XA2…
