Post by pilote42 on Oct 12, 2017 8:33:28 GMT -5
I have been buying Beautys very, very, cheaply and I didnt want you all to know how good they were and jump in and raise prices. However, conclusively outbid on the third one in a row last night, I know it is my secret no longer, so I thought I'd publish a beginners guide.
Konica? Mamiya? Petri? Sorry folks (especially Ron) these Beautys are much, much better built. That is the early ones.
The last of the line, the Light o Matic 111 tarnished the reputation a bit, as it was built down to a price. In the end Dixons were selling it for £29 and more than any other camera model they smashed the old monopoly of the German Manufacturers in the UK in 1961. Retina/Zeiss/Agfa all had models that cost around £50 and only had a f2.8 lens. In the UK market, this camera, in particular, signified the Japanese had arrived!
The first one is a Beaumat (top left) - strange meter pod - a sort of transition between the built in meter and the annular ring ones (Beauty was definitely prior to Petri with this feature - so that's a few more of you offended then!)
The second (top right) is the original Lightomatic (sold as the Beauty LM in the States) I will do a complete post on this one. The quality of construction has to be seen to be believed and I have just acquired an "as new" one. (it weighs 1lb 11ozs! - just weighed a Nikon FE2 with 1.8 lens - 1lb 12oz)
The third (botttom left) is the Lightomatic 11 and the fourth (bottom right) the Lightomatic 111 (Quite commonplace and still very cheap)
A Beauty Beaumat.
I have been buying others since I took the photo and hope to write a web page's worth in the near future on this make.
Paul
P.S. Any other secret Beauty collectors here?