Post by nikkortorokkor on Aug 9, 2007 1:12:59 GMT -5
My promise to my wife not to bid on any more shiny chrome, glass and leatherette has been broken, and my defence will be 'far cop, Guv, but what was I s'posed ta do?'
You see my local online auction site is looking like a replication of the 60s trade war with a plethora of lovely high end Japanese rangefinders up for grabs.
A sampling:
Yaschica IC Lynx-14E WITH YASHICA-DX 1:1.4 f=45mm lens &
COPAL- SVE (woof!)
Fujica 35EE (1:1.9)
Petri 1.9 & Canonet Junior
KONICA AUTO S2 (1965) HEXANON F1.8/45MM & COPAL-SVA B-1-500 (Yum!)
Canonet
Konica EE Matic S with Natinoal PE-204 Flash
Olympus 35RC with accessories
Durst Automatica (OK so it's Italian, but still technically interesting enough to be honorary Japanese)
Yashica M with Yashinon f=45mm 1:1.9
Yashica Lynx 1000 (2 of these)
Minolta Hi-matic 7sII (silver)
Yashica Electro GSN
Hanimex Loadmatic R404 Auto Rapid format (OK, not a rangefinder, but top marks for weirdness)
Minolta Hi-matic 7sII (black)
All this in a country with a total population of just over 4 million souls (or 8 million soles).
I just realized that in one fell swoop I could get a potted developmental history of the 60s fixed lens rangefinder! Of course I'd be divorced, so...
being addicted to the comforts of domesticity, I've limited myself to bidding very modestly on the Konica Auto S2 and a Lynx 1000 (which I've just got for reserve: NZ$20). I'd like to try both of these against the Hi Matic 7 which I'm already enjoying. All 3 are similar in that they are physically big, fast and have manual capabilities (great for 'users'). I'd love that super fast Lynx 14 (lens envy?) but figure it will fetch more than my limited resources. The 'slow' 1000 will do me
Isn't it interesting that right through to the Seventies, many of us were prepared to believe that the Japanese were slavish plagiarisers of Euro-American engineering, with no design ability of their own. I'll probably get pilloried, but when I look at all the Voigtlander Vitos, Brauns and so on I feel a stir of historical interest, but not a great urge to pick up and use. Yet the Hi-Matic, Lynx, FujicaEE, Auto S2 call to me, begging me to try them. Why? Compared to the 1956 Voigtlander Vito BL that I started out with, the Hi-Matic 7 is so fun to use. And yet the Vito BL, with it's built in Selenium meter, was pretty sophisticated for an amateur German 35mm. When I add up what the Minolta has that the Voigtlander doesn't it is pretty clear why I reach for Japanese:
End of lens CDs meter.
AE/manual choice
Rangefinder WITH parallax correction
Viewfinder exposure info
1:1.8 lens
So who were the Japanese copying when they added all this stuff to their cameras? Certainly not Voigtlander!
Personally, my favourite Japanese 60s innovator is the Fujica V2. I have one but, unfortunately, it is so sad (stuck shutter, delaminated viewfinder, fungus galore) that I've never got to use it. The EE is nice too, but in my book the V2 is the purtiest camera I own and the EE is just too messy with that hulking great selenium meter on the front. Here are some pics of the V2 (before I cleaned it). The shape echoes an M series Leica, but the bits that make it go are in all sorts of weird places. As well as the focus wheel on the back and the rewind on the side, the V2 has shutter AND speed info in the viewfinder. Like the EE it can be operated all with the right hand (assuming you have a strong hand) - a paparazzo's dream. d**n those copycat Japanese!
You see my local online auction site is looking like a replication of the 60s trade war with a plethora of lovely high end Japanese rangefinders up for grabs.
A sampling:
Yaschica IC Lynx-14E WITH YASHICA-DX 1:1.4 f=45mm lens &
COPAL- SVE (woof!)
Fujica 35EE (1:1.9)
Petri 1.9 & Canonet Junior
KONICA AUTO S2 (1965) HEXANON F1.8/45MM & COPAL-SVA B-1-500 (Yum!)
Canonet
Konica EE Matic S with Natinoal PE-204 Flash
Olympus 35RC with accessories
Durst Automatica (OK so it's Italian, but still technically interesting enough to be honorary Japanese)
Yashica M with Yashinon f=45mm 1:1.9
Yashica Lynx 1000 (2 of these)
Minolta Hi-matic 7sII (silver)
Yashica Electro GSN
Hanimex Loadmatic R404 Auto Rapid format (OK, not a rangefinder, but top marks for weirdness)
Minolta Hi-matic 7sII (black)
All this in a country with a total population of just over 4 million souls (or 8 million soles).
I just realized that in one fell swoop I could get a potted developmental history of the 60s fixed lens rangefinder! Of course I'd be divorced, so...
being addicted to the comforts of domesticity, I've limited myself to bidding very modestly on the Konica Auto S2 and a Lynx 1000 (which I've just got for reserve: NZ$20). I'd like to try both of these against the Hi Matic 7 which I'm already enjoying. All 3 are similar in that they are physically big, fast and have manual capabilities (great for 'users'). I'd love that super fast Lynx 14 (lens envy?) but figure it will fetch more than my limited resources. The 'slow' 1000 will do me
Isn't it interesting that right through to the Seventies, many of us were prepared to believe that the Japanese were slavish plagiarisers of Euro-American engineering, with no design ability of their own. I'll probably get pilloried, but when I look at all the Voigtlander Vitos, Brauns and so on I feel a stir of historical interest, but not a great urge to pick up and use. Yet the Hi-Matic, Lynx, FujicaEE, Auto S2 call to me, begging me to try them. Why? Compared to the 1956 Voigtlander Vito BL that I started out with, the Hi-Matic 7 is so fun to use. And yet the Vito BL, with it's built in Selenium meter, was pretty sophisticated for an amateur German 35mm. When I add up what the Minolta has that the Voigtlander doesn't it is pretty clear why I reach for Japanese:
End of lens CDs meter.
AE/manual choice
Rangefinder WITH parallax correction
Viewfinder exposure info
1:1.8 lens
So who were the Japanese copying when they added all this stuff to their cameras? Certainly not Voigtlander!
Personally, my favourite Japanese 60s innovator is the Fujica V2. I have one but, unfortunately, it is so sad (stuck shutter, delaminated viewfinder, fungus galore) that I've never got to use it. The EE is nice too, but in my book the V2 is the purtiest camera I own and the EE is just too messy with that hulking great selenium meter on the front. Here are some pics of the V2 (before I cleaned it). The shape echoes an M series Leica, but the bits that make it go are in all sorts of weird places. As well as the focus wheel on the back and the rewind on the side, the V2 has shutter AND speed info in the viewfinder. Like the EE it can be operated all with the right hand (assuming you have a strong hand) - a paparazzo's dream. d**n those copycat Japanese!