Cameras made in Japan
This is the Topcon RE Super 35mm SLR made by Tokyo Kogaku of Japan between the years of 1963 and 1972. It was a historically significant camera as it was the very first 35mm SLR camera to offer through the lens (TTL) metering. The RE Super was a large and…
This is a Nikon S2, a 35mm rangefinder made by Nippon Kogaku of Tokyo, Japan. The S2 was a significant upgrade to the original Nikon S rangefinder from 1948 and was made between the years 1955 and 1957 when it was replaced by the Nikon SP. By the time the…
This is a Kowa SET-R single lens reflex 35mm camera made by Kowa Optical Works between the years of 1968 and 1970. It was the third to last model in a series of leaf shutter SLRs made by Kowa, starting with the Kowaflex from 1959. The SET-R was the first…
What is it? This is a Chinon CE-4 35mm SLR made by Chinon Industries Inc starting in 1980. It was Chinon’s first SLR using the Pentax K-mount, after they abandoned the M42 screw mount. The CE-4 was quickly upgraded to the CE-4s model which revised the shutter speeds and meter…
What is it? This is a Minolta A, a 35mm rangefinder made by Chiyoda Kogaku Seiko starting in 1955. It was Minolta’s first attempt at an entry level 35mm rangefinder aimed at the amateur market. Despite it’s stance as an entry level camera, it had modern features like a 4-element…
What is it? This is a Ricoh FF-90 Super, an advanced and fully automatic 35mm point and shoot camera made by Ricoh Co., Ltd in 1987 The Super is a slight upgrade to the original FF-90 from two years earlier, and was very popular in it’s home country of Japan…
What is it? This is a Minolta Auto Wide 35mm camera made by Chiyoda Kogaku Seiko K.K. in 1958. It was a scale focus camera that had a unique combination of a wide angle lens, a coupled selenium exposure meter, and a unique click stop focus system to simplify focus and exposure…
This is a Nikon F single lens reflex camera which was made by Nippon Kogaku in Japan from 1959 through 1973. It was Nippon Kogaku’s first attempt in the SLR market and was aimed at the professional photographer. The Nikon F both raised the bar for what a professional camera…
What is it? This is a Ricoh 519M 35mm rangefinder made by Riken Optical Industries Co., Ltd, which first went on sale in 1959. It is an evolution of the earlier Ricoh Five-One-Nine which was a very similar camera, except without a built in meter. The Ricoh 500-series cameras were very…
What is it? This is a Minolta Uniomat III 35mm rangefinder camera made by the Minolta Camera Company between the years 1963 – 1965. It is the third model in Minolta’s Uniomat series which was also sold in the US as the Ansco Anscoset. The Uniomat series is an early example of…
What is it? This is a Minolta SR-7 Single Lens Reflex camera made by Minolta Co., Ltd. between the years 1962 and 1966. It was the last in Minolta’s original SR-series of SLR cameras which started with the SR-2 in 1958. The SR-7 is a historically significant camera as it…
What is it? This is a Brumberger 35, which is a rebadged Neoca 2S 35mm rangefinder camera made by Neoca Kabushiki Kaisha in Japan in 1955 and 1956. Brumberger Co. Inc. was a photographic equipment retailer, distributor, and importer based in Brooklyn, NY in the 1950s. They often imported and rebadged photographic…
