The Balda Super Baldina name has actually been used on two different cameras, one is a folding rangefinder introduced by Balda Kamera-Werk in 1938 and the other is the one pictured above: a fixed-lens rangefinder from the mid 1950s. Both incarnations of the Super Baldina have been released alongside view-finder only ânormalâ Baldinas.
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 Kuribayashi Petri 2.8 Color Super is a fixed-lens rangefinder produced by Kuribayashi Shashin Kogyo K.K.. Confusingly, there doesnât seem to be an âofficialâ model number for this camera as itâs just one of many ambiguously named fixed-lens rangefinders made by Kuribayashi in the late â50s and early â60s. However, the well-known McKeownâs Price Guide To Antique & Classic Cameras identifies this particular model as the âPetri 2.8 Color Superâ so, for simplicityâs sake, thatâs what Iâm going to call it here.
The Revere Stereo 33 is a 3-D stereo rangefinder camera produced in the 1950s by the Revere Camera Co. of Chicago, Ilinois. Sadly, Revere only made three still cameras and two of them are stereo rangefinders (the other one was released under the Wollensak brand and is basically the same camera with different lenses and shutters), the third one being a plastic automatic camera that takes 127 film. There were a number of 126 film cameras sold under the Revere name in the â60s but they were produced by Minolta under license.
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 Nikon F was Nikonâs very first single-lens reflex camera which, arguably, single-handedly ushered in a golden age for Japanese camera manufacturers and SLRs in general. The legendary F was the first SLR system to gain widespread popularity among professional photographers who in turn used it to document everything from armed conflicts to rocket launches. Its modular design mean that there were a multitude of different viewfinders (mine has a black Photomic FTn meter finder installed), backs, grips, and, of course, lenses available. The F is also extremely well-built and incredibly durable, attributes that helped it become the first 35mm SLR to go into lunar orbit aboard the Apollo 15 space capsule and gave rise to a long line of tough, space-faring professional-grade Nikons that continues to this very day.
The Balda Super Baldinette is a folding rangefinder and became Baldaâs flagship camera in the early 1950s. Shortly after World War II, Balda moved from the eastern city of Dresden to B Ăźnde in West Germany where founder Max Baldeweg opened a new factory and began manufacturing modified versions of existing models. Along with the Super Baldinette, there is also a ânormalâ Baldinette which has no rangefinder assembly.
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.
Quite simply, the Argus C3 is one of the best-selling 35mm cameras in history. Aptly nicknamed âThe Brickâ for its size, shape, and weight, the C3 was wildly popular for much of its 27 year production run due to its simplicity, rugged dependability, and relatively low price. The C3 is the third C-series camera from Argus and the three of them are very similar. Argusâs original C features an uncoupled lens while the C2 and C3 are identical apart from the newer model having two holes on the side for the bespoke external flash unit.
I received this Konica MT-9 by mistake a few days after winning an auction for a Konica C35 EF. I opened up the package expecting a superb Hexanon-flexing wonder but was met with an unexceptional plastic compact camera instead. The seller (a charity shop) didnât believe my story until they attempted to put this very MT-9 up for auction and included a photo of the serial number which I quickly matched to the camera I had erroneously received. Story proven, they quickly took down the auction for the MT-9 and immediately sent me my C35 along with a hastily worded but very sincere apology.
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 Kodak 35 RF was rushed to production in Kodakâs attempt to catch up with Argus who, at the time, were having great success with their C series of consumer-friendly rangefinder cameras. Unfortunately, their entire strategy revolved around simply taking the Kodak 35 and slapping on a rangefinder assembly. However, despite their seemingly simple and cost-effective solution, the 35 RF still cost well over twice as much as the ubiquitous Argus C3 and therefore remained eating its proverbial dust until Kodak finally stopped production in 1948.
The FED-2 is a 35mm rangefinder built in Kharkov, Ukraine in a factory that was once an orphanage. After the groundbreaking Leica II was introduced in 1932, Soviet leaders tasked the FED factory with building a clone. The FED-2 is a descendant of that first Leica copy. And if thatâs not interesting enough, FED is named after Felix E. Dzerzhinsky who was the founder of the NKVD, the shadowy secret police organization that would eventually become the KGB.
In terms of serious cameras, this is my genesis: the Nikon Nikkormat FT3. My father bought this beautiful camera as a young man in Hong Kong and gave it to me when I began getting serious about photography in college. Iâve spent many hours shooting with this camera and have even lugged it overseas on assignment to various developing countries as my backup and film body. Itâs been a sturdy and dependable friend for many years now and has taught me many things about photography, the most important of which is patience.
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.
In 1961, Canonâthen an upmarket camera companyâshocked the industry by debuting the Canonet line, a series of modestly-priced compact rangefinders. The very first Canonet model completely sold out in just two hours while worldwide sales hit the one million mark in a mere two and a half years, an auspicious beginning for what would be a wildly popular line of cameras that would span over two decades. The Canon Canonet QL17 G-III is the final high-end model of the Canonet series.
The Konica C35 EF is the very first compact 35mm camera to feature a built-in flash. The âC35â in its name stands for âCompact 35mmâ and the âEFâ standing for âElectronic Flash.â In Japan, this camera is known by its nickname âPikkariâ which, as far as I can tell, translates roughly into âglittery brightness.â
The BelOMO Chaika-II Anniversary is a special edition of the BelOMO Chaika-II that was produced by the Belarus Optical and Mechanical Enterprise in its Minsk factory to commemorate the 50th year of the Soviet Union. The Russian word chaika translates into âseagullâ which was the call sign for Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman ever to go into space and the person who this line of cameras is named after.
The Yashica T4 Super D is one of the last models of the T* series of compact cameras made by Kyocera (who owned Yashica at the time) in partnership with renowned German lens manufacturer Carl Zeiss AG. All cameras in this series used high quality Carl Zeiss Tessar lenses with the legendary T* coating which meant superb image quality in a small package. The Yashica T4 and its variants were also sold as the Yashica T5 and the Kyocera T Proof.
The Olympus AF-10 Twin is basically the cheaper, non-weatherproof version of the Olympus Infinity Twin. Like the Infinity Twin, the AF-10 Twin has two lenses (a wide-angle 35mm f/3.5 and a telephoto 70mm f/6.3) that you can switch between with a touch of that wonderful, tiny red button on the top.
The Pentax P30T is a plastic manual focus SLR spawned during the peculiar limbo period that took place after manufacturers began moving away from heavy, all-metal manual focus SLRs but before plastic autofocus cameras became the norm. The P30T differs from the base P30 and its other variants in that it has a plastic film door as well as a diagonally split focusing screen.
The Yashica T AF-D is a high-end 35mm compact camera introduced in 1985. Shortly after acquiring Yashica in the fall of 1983, Kyocera took advantage of its existing licensing agreement with renowned German lens manufacturer Carl Zeiss AG and began production of the T* series, a successful line of compact cameras that use high quality Carl Zeiss Tessar 35mm lenses with the legendary T* coating. The very first model was the Yashica T AF which was closely followed by this data back-equipped AF-D variant.
The Ricoh R1 is a fairly high-end compact 35mm point and shoot camera that was also rebadged and sold under license as the somewhat poorly named Rollei Prego Micron. The R1 won the 1995 Camera Grand Prix Special Prize.
The Yashica Electro 35 GS is a variant of the wildly popular Yashica Electro 35, the first ever camera with full electronic automatic exposure. The GS model you see above also sports gold-plated electrical contacts and boasts a âColor Yashinonâ 45mm f/1.7 lens which is completely identical to the standard (greyscale?) Yashinon but was named as such by their marketing department to capitalize on the growing popularity of color film at the time.
The Olympus Infinity Twin (also known outside the US as the AF-1 Twin) is unusual among compact point and shoots in that it has two lenses (a wide-angle 35mm f/3.5 and a telephoto 70mm f/6.3) that you can switch between with a touch of a tiny red button. It also inherits the rugged body designed for the worldâs first weatherproof automatic 35mm camera: the original Olympus Infinity/AF-1 which makes it even more unique.
