The Petri Racer is a fixed-lens rangefinder introduced by Petri Camera Company, Inc. (formerly known as Kuribayashi Shashin Kogyo K.K.) in 1966. Similar to other Petri cameras like the 2.8 Color Super, the Racer features the signature âGREEN-O-MATICâ viewfinder which visually sets it apart from other Japanese fixed-lens rangefinders.
The Voigtländer Bessy AK is a viewfinder camera manufactured by Balda on behalf of fellow German optics company Voigtländer which introduced the camera in 1965. So called to imply a (in reality, very faint) connection with the legendary Bessa name, the Bessy was a cutting edge camera designed for Kodakâs now obsolete 126 film cartridge, a format overwhelmingly popular at the time among amateur photographers who didnât want to deal with the hassle of loading traditional roll films.
The Nikon Nikkorex 35 II is the second of a new series of affordable, fixed-lens SLRs introduced in the 1960s and marketed as a budget alternative to Nippon Kogakuâs flagship camera: the legendary Nikon F. While the F was quickly gaining popularity for SLRs among photojournalists and other professional photographers, the Nikkorex line was designed to offer TTL (through-the-lens) capabilities to the general public at a much lower cost.
The Konica Auto S is the first ever automatic exposure 35mm camera to be powered by a cadmium sulfide meter. Introduced by Konishiroku Shashin Kogyo K.K. in 1963, decades before it became officially known as Konica, the Auto S is also the first automatic exposure model in the âSâ line of classically designed compact rangefinders.
The KMZ Zorki 10 is a fixed-lens rangefinder produced during the Cold War by the Krasnogorsk Mechanical Works in the city of Krasnogorsk just outside Moscow. The Zorki 10 is recognized for being the very first camera with automatic exposure ever produced in the USSR as well as the first Soviet camera to disregard the government-established GOST scale by indicating film speeds with the American/German ASA/DIN systems that would eventually become ISO, the current international standard. There is also a Zorki 11 which is basically the same camera minus the rangefinder assembly.
The Seagull 4A is a twin lens reflex camera introduced in 1968 by the Shanghai Seagull Camera Ltd and purportedly manufactured to the present day. The Seagull 4A is considered to be a Rolleiflex copy (the premium version of the Rolleicord) and many Chinese photographers in the â60s and â70s regarded it as a professional-grade camera although much of that is probably due to its hefty professional-grade price at the time.
The Agfa Optima 500 is the second-to-last model in Agfaâs Optima line and is the direct descendant of the very first mass-produced camera ever to feature automatic exposure: the original Agfa Optima. The Optima 500 is also unique because it was released in 1964 during the corporate merger of Belgiumâs Gevaert Photo-Producten N.V. and Germanyâs Agfa AG. At the time, Agfa AG was owned by pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG which eventually upped itâs 50% stake in Agfa-Gevaert N.V. to 100% and controlled the company until 1999.
The Olympus Pen EED is a direct descendant of Japanâs very first half-frame camera: the original Olympus Pen. As it was one of the smallest available 35mm cameras at the time, the Pen was named as such because its portability could be compared to that of a (very oddly shaped, large, metal) pen. Seven years after the Olympus Pen debuted, the Germans launched the hallowed Rollei 35 which was just as small but could make normal 35mm frames and effectively heralded the end of Japanese half-frames. In defiance, this EED variant was released one year after that supposed end and, quite stubbornly, Olympus continued making Pens well into the 1980s and then revived the name in 2009 for its line of Micro Four Thirds cameras.
The Argus Autronic II is an automatic fixed-lens rangefinders produced by Argus in 1962. Like many Argus cameras of that era, the Autronic II is fairly unremarkable at a glance with its simple but vaguely awkward styling.
The original Minolta Hi-Matic is one of the first mainstream fixed-lens rangefinders and the first Minolta to feature automatic exposure. The Hi-Matic was also rebadged and sold in the United States as the Ansco Autoset and gained some notoriety after American astronaut John Glenn purchased one at a local drug store shortly before embarking on the Mercury-Atlas 6 space mission. Although there were other cameras on the Friendship 7 spacecraft, Glenn burned through five rolls of film with his new camera while on board, shooting many historical images including this photograph of the earth.
The Polaroid Land Model 104 is Polaroidâs first lightweight, plastic Land Camera (named after inventor and Polaroid co-founder Edwin Land). It belongs to the lower end of Polaroidâs 100-400 series of instant cameras which, despite sometimes wildly varying levels of affordability and build quality, all feature folding bellows, clearly labeled operating sequence, and automatic exposure.
The Sears 2.8 / Easi-Load is a rebranded Ricoh 126-C EE, a fixed-lens viewfinder camera designed for Kodakâs now-obsolete 126 film cartridge. It features a 43mm f/2.8 Rikenon lens with a minimum focus distance of three feet. Like many 126 cameras of this era, the Easi-Load has no integrated flash and must rely on top-mounted flash cubes, plastic rotating cubes that have four single-use flash bulbs good for four exposures. Other notable features include an interesting âatomicâ Sears and Roebuck logo next to the viewfinder, nicely recessed film advance lever, and a threaded shutter button to accept a soft release or shutter release cable.
The Kodak Instamatic 304 is one of the more technologically advanced cameras in Kodakâs famous Instamatic line with a then-sophisticated automatic aperture system controlled by a selenium meter (seen on the front next to the viewfinder). It has a relatively simple Kodar 41mm f/8 lens with two shutter speeds: 1/90 and 1/40 for flash photography.
