Cameras made in Japan
What is it? This is a Nikon One Touch AF3 auto focus 35mm point and shoot camera made by Nikon starting in 1987. The AF3 was the third version of the original L35 from 1983 which was Nikon’s first compact auto focus camera. The AF3 has a simpler 4 element lens …
This is a Fujica 35-ML rangefinder camera made by Fuji Photo Film Co. starting in 1958. Fuji would use the name “Fujica” on all of their film cameras until the late 1970s. It was an amalgam of the words “Fuji” and “camera”. The ML was otherwise identical to the Fujica 35-M released …
What is it? This is a Yashica Lynx-14 35mm rangefinder camera made in Japan starting in 1965. The Lynx was Yashica’s top of the line 35mm rangefinder series in the 1960s. The first two models, the Lynx 1000 and 5000 both had fast f/1.8 lenses with modern light meters. Then …
This is a Yashica 44 Twin Lens Reflex camera made by the Yashica Company, Ltd, in 1958. The Yashica 44 is designed for 127 film unlike most other TLRs of the time which used either 120 or 620 film. Using 127 film, this camera made images that were 4cm x 4cm, …
This is a Miranda D 35mm Single Lens Reflex camera made in 1960 by Miranda Camera K.K. Although made in Japan, around the time this model was current, most Miranda cameras were not sold in the Japanese domestic market. This camera was most likely sold in the United States by …
This is a Yashica Minister-D, which is a 35mm rangefinder camera made in Japan in 1963. This model was fourth in the Minister line which represented Yashicas’s mid-rage of 35mm rangefinders. The Minister-D signaled a shift to CdS based light meters as opposed to the earlier selenium cell meters. It had …
This is a Minolta X-570 35mm Single Lens Reflex camera which first went on sale in April, 1983. It was called the X-500 in Europe in Asia. The X-500 was available in both chrome and black, but the X-570 was black only. The X-570 was considered to be a “step down” …
This is a Minolta A5-1000 35mm rangefinder camera equipped with a 4 element Rokkor-TD 45mm f/2.8 lens and a Citizen leaf shutter capable of speeds as fast as 1/1000th of a second. This was an uncommon speed for a leaf shutter and meant that this relatively simple camera could shoot …
This is a Canon AF35ML 35mm auto focus camera made by Canon in 1981. This camera was also known as the Super Sure Shot in the US and the Autoboy Super in Japan. The AF35ML was the follow up to Canon’s earlier AF35M auto focus camera. It improved upon that …
What is it? This is a Petri Flex V 35mm SLR camera made by Kuribayashi Shashin Kōgyō K.K. in 1961. Kuribayashi wouldn’t officially take the name “Petri” until a year after this camera’s release. This camera is an evolution of Kuribayashi’s first 35mm SLR, the Petri Penta from 1959 which used …
This is a Mamiya M645 semi-professional medium format Single Lens Reflex camera. This was one of the most popular cameras for professional and advanced amateur photographers of the late 70s and early 1980s. It was a popular choice of wedding photographers due to it’s rugged design, interchangeable lenses and viewfinders, …
What is it? This is a Nikon N80 35mm SLR camera released by Nikon on January 27, 2000. The N80 is known as the F80 outside of North America, but otherwise the two cameras are identical. There was also a version with a built in data-back known as the N80QD. The …
