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Post by yashica1943 on Jun 4, 2014 3:51:19 GMT -5
I have just bought, in a car boot sale, a Robin 35 Rangefinder camera with 45mm f 2.8 Neokor lens. With ERC and instruction book. The guarantee card shows that it was bought from Willoughby Camera Stores Corp. of 110 West 32nd street. NY 1. In March 1960.
I believe that this is a a rare camera and I am seeing values of up to $200. I want to sell it and any information/values would be appreciated.
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Post by philbirch on Jun 4, 2014 4:19:00 GMT -5
Nice find. This particular camera was available in a number of guises. Made by Taron, a short lived camera manufacturer in the 50's. It was available under a lot of names. I suspect 'Robin' may have been a shop brand like Tower for example. This is my guess though. The Robin has a glass frame going round the viewfinder and rangefinder. This was added to bring the appearance up to date.
The parent company was a shutter manufacturer originally (NKS) who jumped on to the Japanese camera band wagon in the late 50's. The Robin/Taron is fairly rare in UK because of the import tax (and I suspect other parts of the commonwealth too..) Realistically I would estimate its value at $30 to $50 US. In working condition.
Very rare cameras do not necessarily attract big prices. The Luxa Six mentioned elsewhere on this forum is a very rare beast only a few hundred ever made. I have one of them and its resale value is $20 to $30.
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Post by yashica1943 on Jun 4, 2014 6:13:04 GMT -5
Thanks for that,one sold recently on ebay for £23. But there is a very dirty, damaged one for sale on US ebay for a lot more than that. As long as I get more than I paid for it I will be happy. I think that the instruction book would be much rarer than the camera and might attract somebody. There was a very old Agfacolor CT 18 film still in the camera.
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Post by Peltigera on Jun 4, 2014 9:08:23 GMT -5
The price that has been achieved is the one to look at - it suggests yours is worth £23. The chap in the USA might be asking for a lot more but that does not mean anyone is going to pay it. And, of course, desirability varies from country to country. Americans might be willing to pay a lot more than Brits are.
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Stephen
Lifetime Member
Still collecting.......
Posts: 2,718
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Post by Stephen on Jun 4, 2014 14:46:24 GMT -5
There was a Neoca Robin as well as the Taron maker. Robin was also used on the Hit type miniature cameras as a brand. Worth more as part of a collection than as an individual camera. Japanese post war camera are difficult to find in the UK, most came via US service personnel, or tourists selling cameras, as the import duty and purchase tax made them too costly here.
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Post by philbirch on Jun 4, 2014 18:13:22 GMT -5
The manual will be of value to manual collectors other wise it will be just part of the package. It's a difficult business having accessories and manuals too. I would be interested if you are in the UK. PM me. Perhaps contact Mike Butkuss he may want your manual. Check out his page. This is a link to the Taron 35 manual, you can navigate to his home page from it. Mike Butkuss' manual site
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Post by yashica1943 on Jun 9, 2014 4:58:47 GMT -5
Phil. From what I can make out from the internet, (Camerapedia) the Taron Robin 19 is a completely different camera made by a different company. They look similar as do many rangefinder cameras from that era............The one I have is a Neoca Robin made by Mizuho.
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Stephen
Lifetime Member
Still collecting.......
Posts: 2,718
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Post by Stephen on Jun 9, 2014 14:30:02 GMT -5
The Neoca Robin is by far the rarer camera, it was the last Neoca before they went bankrupt in the avalanche of closures of smaller cameras makers in the late 1950's in Japan. The Robin tried to style it's self after other more expensive Japanese designs, rather the previous generation that tended to ape German designs, the early Neocas looking a bit "Contax" in style. Stephen.
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Post by philbirch on Jun 9, 2014 16:44:02 GMT -5
Neoca Robin. Yes different and wow what a difference in price.
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