COSINA COPIES!

[rogprov]

ARGUS STL1000
BAUER RX1
BAUER RX2
CANON T60
CARENA CX-300
CARENA CX-500
CARENA KSM-1
CARENA KSM-2
CAVALIER MSTL
CIMKO LS-1
COSINA C1
COSINA C2
COSINA CS-1
COSINA CS-2
COSINA CS-3
COSINA CT-1
COSINA CT-1 SUPER
COSINA CT-10
COSINA CT-1A
COSINA CT-1EX
COSINA CT-1G
COSINA CT-20
COSINA CT-4
COSINA CT-7
COSINA CT-7D
COSINA CT-9
COSINA CT-90
COSINA CX-2
COSINA EL SOLAR
COSINA HI-LITE
ELICAR MN-1
EXAKTA HS-10
EXAKTA HS-2
EXAKTA HS-3
EXAKTA HS-4
EXAKTA HS-40
EXAKTA KE-5
EXAKTA TWIN TL
HAKING HG1
HAKING HG2
HANIMEX DR-1
KENLOCK KG1
MIRANDA MS-1
NIKKOREX F
NIKON FE-10
NIKON FM-10
OLYMPUS OM-2000
PANAGOR CT1EX
PANAGOR CT90
PENTAX P30T
PETRI GX-1
PETRI GX-2
PETRI GX-3
PETRI GX-4
PETRI MF101
PETRI MF102
PETRI MF103
PETRI MF104
PETRI MF2
PETRI MF3
PETRI MF4
PRINZFLEX SUPER TTL
QUANTARAY DZ-RZ
QUANTARAY R400
QUANTARAY RZ800
RICOH KR-5
RICOH KR-5 SUPER2
RICOH KR-500
RICOH SINGLEX TLS
RICOH XR-1
SEARS SL2
SEARS TLS
SEIMAX SV7
SEIMAX SV9
SOLIGAR SC-1
TOPCON AM-1
VIVITAR 220SL
VIVITAR 420SL
VIVITAR 650SL
VIVITAR V2000
VIVITAR V6000
VIVITAR XV2
VIVITAR XV3
YASHICA FX3 SUPER 2000

[Randy]

You guys can get to the list page by following the link below the board logo.

[herron]

vintageslrs said:

Jack

thanks for the link and for posting.....
but from the photo....I don't think it's a Cosina.....
I could be wrong....but I think perhaps this SLR was badged by Chinon but really made by Mamiya for Chinon, who then sold a number of them to Revue........

Perhaps Ron Herron could shed some light on this.....

Bob

There was so much inter-company collaboration going on in Japan (in this country corporate heads would have rolled over the "collusion") that it's hard to say. Revue had a lot of cameras made for them by other companies. I know there were Mamiya ZE clones with the Revue name, but this would have to be the TL/DTL or SX series to have the 42mm threaded lens mount indicated by that Mamiya lens.

Unfortunately, I have never been able to locate production data for the cameras and lenses Mamiya made for themselves, let alone the rebranded clones! However, Mamiya was widely known for their rebranding efforts, all the way back into their early rangefinders.

Still, something doesn't look quite right about the camera body for it to have been made by Mamiya, although I suppose they could have "altered" it somewhat for Revue.

So, my "final answer" is could have been! Although it looks remarkably similar to that Argus/Cosina!

[John Parry]

You can try to explain as much as you like Ron. At the end of the day, whatever you say, that list is getting bigger and bigger. It's only a matter of time before all the cameras we own turn out to have been made by Cosina. In fact, it's probably a toss-up whether that happens before they stop making film altogether!

Regards - John

ps In order to satisfy Bob's empire building tendencies (obviously on commission), I finally bought a Cosina. To avoid any of this duplicity, I bought one that had Cosina on the front. (Just wish I'd gone for an M42 one as opposed to a Pentax 'K' one)!!

[Randy]

Stop the presses! I just got this from a magazine dated February 1975. Here is the article:

Cosina is the successor to Niko (or "Nikoh"), a company set up as a manufacturer of lenses in 1959. In 1966, it started to manufacture 35mm compact cameras and 8mm cine cameras, in 1968 it started a glassworks, and a year later started the manufacture of 35mm SLR cameras.
Niko changed its name to Cosina in 1973.

I found this information elsewhere: The name COSINA is explained here...Cosi was from the Koshi area within Nakano, where the founder came from; Na again from Nakano. In 1982 it began to manufacture lenses in a variety of SLR mounts. In 1991 it started to produce glass molded aspherical lenses, and in 1996 plastic molded aspherical lenses. It began producing digital cameras in 1997.
At about this time, plans were started to produce wide and ultrawide lenses for the Leica screw mount, and also a basic camera -- similar to a rangefinder camera but without a rangefinder -- for mounting these. Having obtained the rights to the name Voigtländer from Ringfoto in Germany, Cosina sold a 15mm f/4.5 and 25mm f/4 lens (neither of them rangefinder-coupled) and the Bessa L body in 1999.
The Voigtländer cameras and lenses have been of great personal interest to Kobayashi Hirofumi ? (b.1953), the President of Cosina since the death in 1988 of his father (??), the founder.
The name Cosina has previously appeared on compact and SLR cameras for 135 film, and it is well known that the company manufactered cameras for Nikon and other companies. For example, Cosina manufactured the Nikon FE-10 and FM-10 and Olympus OM-2000.
The name Cosina now appears (conspicuously) on lenses for various SLR mounts, and less conspicuously on a widening range of cameras and lenses with the Voigtländer brand. Cosina manufactures a Rollei-branded rangefinder camera, and is acknowledged to manufacture (and to have helped design) an Epson digital rangefinder camera as well. Its manufacture of a new Zeiss Ikon line of rangefinder camera and lenses was announced in October 2004.
Cosina products are distributed in Japan by Kenko.

[rayg]

Wow, impressive list. I may have missed this, but shouldn't the Olympus OM-10 (and of course, the Bessaflex TM) be included?

[Randy]

We're adding to the list daily, there is an official page with a list under Member's Links on the home page of this forum.

[Randy]

Our friend Mr. Kobayashi Hirofumi, President of Cosina Camera is a real camera buff. He not only owns the rights to the name Voigtlander, his company owns Petri Camera (purchased 1979) they own Vivitar. Vivitar was purchased by Hanimex which later became Ponder & Best. We get questions now and then asking us where we got our information. The answer to that question is to follow this thread about Cosina from the first page and you will get your answer. This is, the first group effort to seek and Archive information about cameras made by Cosina. Studies have been done about other manufacturers in the past, but this historical record is an ongoing and up to date effort by the Members of The Camera Collector. To this date, there are still new 35mm SLRs being introduced by Cosina and I tip my hat to Mr. Kobayashi of Cosina Camera!!!

[vintageslrs]

Bravo Randy!

Well said.......


Bob

[casualcollector]

Hi Guys,

Just discovered this message board today. Private labeled SLRs have been an ongoing interest of mine. I'm surprised at the range of brands you've attributed to Cosina.
I'll weigh in with a few opinions on the screw mount cameras. Cosina, Chinon and Ricoh each produced a basic, mechanical, camera of similar specification. Copal Square S shutter and stop down metering and usually an M42 lens flange. Each camera was sold with the manufacturers name and under private labels.
I believe the Ricoh Singlex TLS to be the first of these to enter production. The front mounted shutter/ASA dial and square rear corners of the body are distinguishing features. All versions I've seen open the loading door by pulling up the rewind knob.
I think Cosina was the second to go into production. They named the camera Hi-Lite. A front mounted shutter/ASA dial distinguishes the early version. The shutter/ASA dial later migrated to the top plate. I believe all opened the film door via a lever recessed in the baseplate.
I think the Chinon was last to enter production. The shutter/ASA dial was on the top from the beginning, the rear corners are rounded, the film door opens by lifting the rewind knob. I believe the Chinonflex with the front mounted control dial to be an earlier camera and, simply, a rebadged Ricoh.
Internally, the Ricoh and Chinon have very similar mechanisms, but are not identical. The metering systems are very different. The only Cosina I've looked into is the Vivitar SL-220 and the mechanism differs significantly from the Ricoh and Chinon cameras. I really believe the Ricoh Singlex, Chinon SLR and Cosina Hi-Lite to be seperate and distinct products of the three manufacturers. Some resellers may have bought cameras from all three makers over time.
Anybody have opinions on the Topcon RE-200, RE-300 and its Quantaray/Exakta/Lindenblatt variants? I really don't think they were made by Cosina, but really don't know who to pin them on. The two RE-200 examples I have show Topcon inspector stamps under the baseplate.

Bill

PS: That photo at the top of the Cosina page looks awfully familiar! Where have I seen it before?

[Randy]

I fixed that familiar picture for you. I own enough Cosinas that I should have had one of my own pictures up there. As for our list...it stands. If you looked at the bottom of our Cosina page you'll see there is a link to your Cosina Page. Welcome to the Camera Collector, did you find the link at Wikipedia?

[casualcollector]

admin said:

I fixed that familiar picture for you. I own enough Cosinas that I should have had one of my own pictures up there. As for our list...it stands. If you looked at the bottom of our Cosina page you'll see there is a link to your Cosina Page. Welcome to the Camera Collector, did you find the link at Wikipedia?

Didn't need fixing, Randy. I realized when I created the site that any photo would be up for grabs. I did notice the link, thanks. A Yahoo search brought me here. I Google or Yahoo CasualCollector periodically to see where links have popped up. My Cosina page is most often linked to. The numbers have suprised me! Looking forward to some lively discussion.

[casualcollector]

Here's a site I discovered several years ago. The links are to pages that describe the Cosina screw mount SLR in three guises.

www.mattdentonphoto.com/cameras/argus_stl.html

www.mattdentonphoto.com/cameras/argus_cosina_1000.html

www.mattdentonphoto.com/cameras/vivitar_400sl.html

Great site!

[casualcollector]

Here's an auction for the Soligor badged Cosina.


cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=014&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=330052645324&rd=1&rd=1

[Reiska]

I did not find this GAF(??) on the list of Cosina made cameras. Please check if it should be assosiated with the group.

cgi.ebay.com/GAF-L-CS-SLR-made-by-Cosina_W0QQitemZ190056373226QQihZ009QQcategoryZ15241QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Sorry the huge ebay link

Regards
Reijo