Cameras made in Japan
This is a Merica flex Model 2, a twin lens reflex camera made by Merica Camera Works in Japan in the early 1950s, probably around 1953. It was one of a large number of Japanese clones of German Rolleicord TLRs made in Japan around this time and like many others,…
This is a Hanimex 35 Micro Flash, a compact 35mm point and shoot camera released by Hanimex in multiple markets around the world. The camera was made in Japan, most likely by the Sedic Camera Company, but this is difficult to confirm. The Hanimex 35 Micro Flash is a small…
This is a Mamiya 6, a medium format rangefinder camera produced by Mamiya Camera Co. Ltd in Tokyo, Japan between the years 1989 and 1993. Although sharing a similar name and shooting the same size images, it is not at all related to the earlier Mamiya Six folding camera produced…
This is a Fujica GL690 Professional an interchangeable lens medium format rangefinder camera made by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. starting in January 1974 in Tokyo, Japan. The GL690 was the successor to the earlier G690 which was first released in 1968. This original camera is said to have been…
This is the Konica FT-1, a 35mm SLR produced by the Konica Corporation of Japan between the years 1983 and 1987. The FT-1 is often referred to as the FT-1 Motor as that is how it is displayed on the camera. The inclusion of the word “Motor” highlights the camera’s…
This is a Miranda Sensoret, a 35mm rangefinder camera made by the Miranda Camera Company in Tokyo, Japan and was released in July 1972. The Sensoret was the only rangefinder camera made by Miranda, a company exclusively known for SLR cameras. The Sensoret was a compact rangefinder camera with fully…
This is a Leica CL a 35mm rangefinder camera designed by Ernst Leitz, but made by Minolta in Osaka, Japan between the years 1973 and 1976. The Leica CL was the first of several cameras produced through a partnership with Minolta as the two companies worked together, Minolta to gain…
This is a Pentaflex 24×36, a 35mm SLR produced by Tokiwa Seiki K.K. in 1955. The Pentaflex was the first Japanese SLR with an eye-level viewfinder, beating the Orion Miranda T by about four months. Unlike the Miranda however, the Pentaflex does not uses a pentaprism, but rather a system…
This is a Minolta 35 Model IIB, a 35mm rangefinder camera produced by Chiyoda Kōgaku in Tokyo, Japan in 1958. The Model IIB was the last model in the Minolta 35 series of interchangeable lens rangefinder cameras, dating back to the original model from 1947. Despite being Minolta’s last hurrah…
This is an Alpa Si 2000, a 35mm Single Lens Reflex camera made by Chinon Industries Inc. between the years 1977 and 1979 for the Swiss manufacturer Pignons S.A. as a cost effective alternative to that company’s high end hand built Alpa cameras. The Alpa Si 2000 is based off…
This is a Miranda T, a 35mm Single Lens Reflex camera made by the Orion Camera Company in Tokyo, Japan starting in 1955. The Orion Miranda T is a historically significant camera for a number of reasons. It was not only the first camera made by what would become the…
This is a Pentax Super A, a 35mm SLR camera made by Asahi Optical Co. Ltd in Tokyo, Japan between the years 1983 and 1987. When sold in North America, the Pentax Super A was called the Super Program. The only difference between the two is that the Super A…
